Navidad in Spain

   Instead of going home for Christmas, my family came to Spain to see me! It was really neat to experience Christmas in another country.  I walked them around the city center to see the Christmas lights that were up on display. Typical of our family vacations, we were going, going, going. I wasn’t kidding when I warned them that we would do a lot of walking. I mean, if you’re only here for a few days, you have to see it all! For Christmas dinner, we baked at my friend Amanda’s house. 

   For Christmas day, we rented a car and drove north to the city of Vielha, in the Pyrenees mountains. Getting there was a series of unfortunate events  which began with the fact that we could not put the manual car in reverse. As the office was closed that day, we were forced to only go or park in places we could get out of without reverse. We had trouble finding the hotel in Vielha and tried a random street, only to realize it led uphill and we had no way to turn around except to start up one part of the street and then let ourselves roll a little backwards in a cul-de-sac . I hopped out to ask a woman how to get to the hotel, and unbeknownst to me, my phone fell out. After stressfully making it back down the hill, I realized it was gone and we had to go back up there to get it. When we found it, they screen was broken. Great. So now we couldn’t call the hotel or anyone the rest of our trip. (Also, trying to replace a phone was a task, but that’s another long, boring story.)

  But we got there and Joel and I went skiing the next day in Baquiera-Beret. The views from the top of the slopes were incredible and the snow was so thick! I soon came to see that our intermediate slopes were like their easy runs. I’m glad for all the practice I’ve done back home because this place was not for beginners! From there we drove to Barcelona and did all the touristy things. We stayed in an apartment near the Ramblas. And for my third time in this city, it still confirmed to me that I am more of a Madrid girl. It’s a great place, but Madrid is where it’s at. Just saying… All in all though, we had a great time in Barcelona and we parted ways at the airport: they were heading back stateside, I was going back to Madrid for New Year’s Eve!

 Christmas tree up in Sol

 City Hall 

 Typical Spanish meal: eggs, potatoes, and bread

 City's biggest Nativity scene

 Joel is too tall for the Metro

 Vielha

 Pyrenees

 Las Ramblas, Barcelona

 Sagrada Familia

View from Parc Güell

Christmas Markets in Germany

  Here are some pictures from our trip to Munich right before Christmas. We stayed with our roommate from Munich and went to all the famous Christmas markets!

Marienplatz

Residenz- former palace of Bavarian monarchs.

English Garden

Markets everywhere!

Trying beer at the famous Hofbrauhaus.

Pretzels!

Nymphenburg Palace

Staying warm with  Gluhwien (hot mulled wine) at the Tollwood Festival, the location of the Oktoberfest.

       

If there's a line in Spain, get in it!

. Spanish people love a good line. Seriously. It's common knowledge that you never eat a place unless it's full of people inside. My German roommate, informed us about this phenomenon because she had studied a semester here before. According to her, if they see a line, they just get in it. "It must be good!" And that's proved to be exactly true. Everywhere we go, we see the lines. When we're in the airport, people line up a good hour before boarding the plane. The only people sitting around looking confused are the Americans (and probably the Germans too). It's not like you're going to get on any faster, especially if you already have your seats assigned.
  The best line story we witnessed was a few weeks ago, outside an Abercrombie and Fitch store. Caitlin and I saw this massively long line and could not make out what it was for. There was no visible sign marking any kind of big event. We could hear music coming from inside the building and there were bouncers at the door. We thought it might be a discoteca (as people commonly stand in long lines for discotecas), but it was way too early for that. We asked some guy what the story was and he informed us that this was the line for the Abercrombie and Fitch store. Well is the king inside or was everything for free?? Nope, he informed us. Nothing special. It just opened recently, last April....  April?!? Oh well, I guess patience is a virtrue. We didn't dare say that there are three A&F stores in the Alpharetta mall alone.

 Check out this one from a Comic Convention:

The infamous Abercrombie video:

The last one is from Sol before the big Christmas lottery.

Paris, Part 2

  We started our second day by getting a delicious croissant from a crowded bakery on the way to the Luxembourg Gardens. This is the location of the French Senate, as well as a very population spot for joggers and people practicing some form of tai-chi or self-defense.(Seriously, it was strange how many people were doing it. Maybe it was a class?) From there we walked to Notre Dame. There was a huge Christmas tree in front of the Cathedral and a very intricate Nativity Scene inside. Our next stop was the Sacre Coeur Cathedral in the Montmartre district.

   And that’s when the strangest thing happened. Unbelievable even. As we were exiting a Metro train to change lanes, Caitlin turns to me to whisper that the guy right behind us looks like our Italian roommate. (Oh by the way, did I mention his name is Fabio?? Yes, Fabio. From Italy. No resemblance though.) So I sneakily turn around, and, to say he looks like Fabio would be an understatement. We let him pass to get a better look.  Same features, same clothes and everything. It dawns on us that this could be his identical twin that we’ve only seen once on skype. We follow him onto the train and decide it worth a shot to ask him if he has a brother. He does. And it’s our roommate. Turns out he and his friend were going to Sacre Coeur too, so we went together to the cathedral and the art district nearby. It’s a small world after all.

                We walked back to Montmartre that night to have a glass of hot wine and watch the people posing for portraits and caricatures. We had an early flight back to Madrid, but we really enjoyed our fall weekend in the City of Lights!

Luxembourg Gardens (above and below)

Notre Dame

Coincidental Metro run-in 

Sacre- Coeur

Montmartre art square

In the square with some hot wine!

Thanksgiving in Paris! part 1

  The actual truth is, Caitlin and I didn’t really plan a trip for Thanksgiving. We forget about it. Back in September, we decided to start looking for cheap flights around Europe in advance. We found the best fares over the weekend of November 24^th-27^th. We checked our school calendars and didn’t see a conflict, so we booked them! It wasn’t until about a week later that we realized that was Thanksgiving weekend. Woops.  But since we weren’t going home, why not go to Paris?

  We stayed in a studio of an American girl who is doing our teaching program in France. Her apartment is in the Latin quarter of Paris, with a view of the Eiffel Tower.  The tower was lit up, and shortly after arriving, the lights began to twinkle. I tried to get Caitlin’s attention by exclaiming, “the Eiffel Tower is sparkling, like diamonds!!” Thinking I was in some kind of cheesy romantic mood, she didn’t even look up. “No, literally!” Luckily, she saw it just in time. So for your future knowledge, be sure to look for the Eiffel Tower right before 1:30am so you can watch it change lights before it turns off for the night.

  We went walking around to check out the action and look for food. (Yes, at 2 am. We didn’t get to eat dinner because of our flight!) The streets were so quiet; we were very confused. In Spain, everything is open until at least 4. The only place we found open was a sports bar near the apartment. And as luck would have it, they were having an American Thanksgiving party. We joined all of the 7 other people there were able to grab a quick slice of pumpkin pie before it closed. So that was our Thanksgiving feast- one piece of pie. But we enjoyed every bite.

  The next day we started out bright and early to head to the Eiffel Tower. Unfortunately, it was a super foggy day and you could barely even see the top of it. At the base, it was roped off and surrounded by guards and emergency cars. I’m not sure what was going on, but we couldn’t go up. We crossed the river and walked into the Christmas markets on the Champs-Elysees. Rows and rows of tents were up with crafts and treats. This was the weekend the city started the markets and lights around town. Que suerte (how lucky)!  

  We continued down until we got to the Lourve and went inside to wander around the massive museum. Although we didn’t have any room in our carry on suitcases to make many big purchases, we felt we had to at least go through some stores. We were in Paris after all. Aside from the countless streets of shopping, there are several huge malls, decked out with all their Christmas decorations. Every year, they put up Christmas displays in the mall windows that draw big crowds. Most had robotic toys that moved or danced. We went back to the Christmas market that night to get crepes with Nutella. First day in Paris=success.

Day 2 of Paris to come…

 

         

Yall take out your English books...

  All the English taught in Spain is British English, which I'm learning is very different from what is spoken in the States.  The materials for my students are made from Oxford University, so all the listening activities have very strong accents. Poor kids. Whenever I read the activities and then we listen to it on the CD, words are not pronounced the same. I'm finding myself trying to adjust the things I say so it'll match their books. I'll probably come home with some really strange sayings. Here are a few examples:
  British version = American version
-"Have you got any...?"= "Do you have any...?"
-"Can I go to the toliet?" = "Can I go to the bathroom?"
-The only answer to the question, "How are you?" is "I'm fine, thanks." Never "Good", or "Well", or "Great", or anything else. Only "fine".
-rubber = eraser
-bin = trashcan
-lift = elevator
-patio = playground
-pavement = sidewalk
-lorry = truck
-timetables = schedule
-trousers = pants
-biscuits = cookies
-spellings: favourite and colour
   Even though I don't think I have much of an accent, I am from the South and it's harder for the students to understand my instructions than their professors who were taught British Spanish. Plus, I have to try really really really hard not to use 'yall'. :)

Puente de Octubre

   Spaniards have several breaks throughout the year called "Puentes" (bridges). This one was the Puente de Octubre because we had the last days of October off. My friends, Caitlin, Angela, Amanda and I went to Northern Spain for the long weekend and we lucked out! Not only did we have a great trip, the weather was nice! We flew out of Madrid at 6am Friday morning and arrived to the sleepy town of Santander. This was a much needed break from the craziness of Madrid. We walked along the water and to the vacation house of the Spanish royalty. Along the way, we saw a mini-zoo with penguins and seals! That evening was cool and Caitlin and I tried our first roasted chestnuts. Our German roommate Angela couldn't believe we hadn't had them before! They're in our Christmas songs!

Santander: Dreaming we lived here...

Penguins in Spain? Who knew?

  Chestnuts roasting on an open fire....in Santander.

  The following morning we took a 1 hour bus ride to Bilbao. I won't write too much about Bilbao because we spent most of our time wandering lost. We did make it to the Guggenheim, so check on the list for being cultured! (although modern art is really not my thing.) Here are a few shots...

 Conquering Europe, one city at a time: Bilbao.

 G-Heim. Holler.

Huge artsy spider in front of the museum.

  Our final destination was San Sebastián. We loved this city! Famous for its surfing, we hiked to the top of Monte Urgull to get some incredible views of the beaches. That night we went out for "pinchos", the small servings of meat or fish on top of bread slices. Each one costs about a euro and so you go from bar to bar, trying one or two at each place. I like to call this "pincho hopping." Check it out:

 San Sebastián

 Views from the top of Mont Urgull.

 Pinchos galore!