Lazysaurus

This past week I've been extreeeemly lazy. And unfortunately I still am. So not only do you get a late post, but a pretty lame one.

No duh, this past week was Thanksgiving. There were plenty of other people who were much more bent up about than I was, but needless to say I was missing my friends, family and food. It was definitely after last Thursday that I knew I was ready to head home. Or at least get out of this precipice of the hellhole that can be Bilbao. We didn't have to eat crappy dorm food for the grand old Turkey day, though. The school organized for us (all of the American students) to eat at a hotel that served some more normal food. Although, I think the Spaniards believe that we are obsessed with pumpkins...Menu: 1st course - pumpkin soup. 2nd course - stuffed turkey. 3rd course - pumpkin bread.

It was all pretty good though. The turkey literally was stuffed - like little nuts and berries inside the meat. The sauce was even sweet! But like I said, very good.

That night there was an Erasmus party (as per every Thursday). This one was at Sala VIP, our favorite club so we headed there after the dinner. Who would've thought that I'd be clubbing on Thanksgiving??? I guess that was one perk of it not being an important holiday in Spain. I ended up staying until about 2:30 so I got some good dancing in to work off my food. Though it was nothing in comparison to all the good food I could've had at home. I think my stomach is slowly stretching back out, but there are several impediments to eating a lot of good food here. One - good food does not exist. Two - if one is to find good food, it costs money cuz it sure isn't coming from the dorm. Three - the aforementioned "good food" is hard to eat in large amounts because the prior lack of eating has shrunk the stomach.

Friday was a whole lot of nothing. Literally.

On Saturday morning Molly and I went to a market and picked up a few gifts for people and just to look around. We thought about hitting up a comic book festival to check out the freaks, but we didn't quite make that happen. Of course when we get back there is a dish for lunch that we enjoy - roasted chicken but there is only one piece left so we split it. The lady tried to get me to eat some of the many seafood mysteries they were also serving up that day but I declined. That evening we went bar hopping in Casco Viejo and I ate my weight in Pizza.

Nothing exciting that I care to elaborate any more on I guess. I'll be in the south of Spain for the long weekend here (Dec 4-8) and after that, 2 more days of classes and then finals. OH ME, OH MY!!!

Vegetarian Meatloaf?

Another week another trip. I'm spoiled. Be jealous. Mostly kidding.

I can't recall anything significant happening last week so I'll get right to the good stuff. Friday mid morning I had a flight out of Bilbao with my friends Brittany, Grace and Tiffany. Brittany goes to GVSU but I didn't know her before Spain. I was glad that our flight was a little later so that we could take the metro and bus to the airport because otherwise a taxi costs about $40 one way! The flight was only 2 hours and beautiful - got to see the snow capped alps from the sky.

When we arrived at the airport,  we found  our bags and headed out to find a huge market outside of the terminal. It was an open but covered space that was full of little huts selling hats, slippers, jewelry and knick-knack Christmas stuff. And lots of bratwurst and beer! We watched a couple ice skate and a few rounds of a game that was very similar to curling. I picked up pretty quickly that the majority of people know English and that the weekend would see very few severe language barriers.

Taking advantage of Europe's ridiculously wonderful public transportation, we took a train to our hostel but it took a little while to find. Along the way we saw some cool shops and found some weird pizza. (I didn't eat it. I was waiting for some good German food!) I instantly noticed that not everyone on the street stared us up and down and gave us the stink eye. Munich was populated with many different races and unlike Bilbao, they were used to seeing people who don't all look like clones. If you're going to Munich, Easy Palace Hostel is the place to stay. The staff was great and as soon as we walked in we got a great, chill vibe. Compared to the hostel in Barcelona this room we had did feel like a palace! It was huge. We booked a 4 bed but they had run out so had to give us a bigger 6 bed room free of charge. OKAAAAYYY!

Spent a little time settling in a then got going to the main square Marienplatz to go on a beer and brewery tour. It was 530 but already pitch black outside. The square was full of people and all lit up for the Christmas markets that were starting this week. Our tour guide was from...guess...WISCONSIN and we ended up having a really good sized group - 7 people and off we went. Some great history and trivia about beer was shared on our way to a popular restaurant Paulaners. It's still run by a direct descendant of one of the original brewmaster's of Bavaria that made the royal recipe a success back in the day. We went in and our guide explained a little more about the different beers we could get. I got a dark wheat beer that actually had double the alcohol content as most beers in Bavaria (12.6%) It was really good and made me happy.

Our next stop was via metro and that is where we took a tour of a small brewery. But first, a tale from the metro where the most interesting things usually happen. The metro is about 2 floors underground like in Bilbao, and we were about to go up when the guide (I guess I can use his name Levi...) said, "This is the part of the tour where I challenge you to run up the down escalator!" Feeling incredibly courageous I started running up the huge stairclimber. I was making good time when my heart started beating out of control, my legs started hating me, and my stomach felt like it was gonna fall out of my butt.

I was a little over halfway and thought I had to stop. But when I turned around to admit defeat, there were people standing on the central stairway and traveling up the other escalator cheering me on. Not just my tour group, lots and lots and LOTS of Germans. So I couldn't give up. I took a quick breather and a bunch of quick painful steps later I was at the top looking into the eyes of a little German lady who took me by the shoulders and kept saying "GOOT JUBS! GOOT JUBS!" I was in serious pain for a while but I got free beer later!

So we take the tour of the brewery and even tried the wheat that beer is make out of in its grainy state. Afterwards we went upstairs and had 3 samples of the most popular beers there. We were going to eat at our final stop, the famous Haufbrahaus, but Levi told us that the food here was cheaper and better and they gave u bigger portions. Don't gotta tell me twice! I ordered pork knuckle with dumplings. DEEEELICIOUS! God bless the Germans and their love of pork and beer. We met a group of guys at the restaurant that were celebrating their final exam in an

accelerated brewmaster's course there in Munich. Real brewmasters must go to school for 5 years to receive a degree because it's illegal to brew beer in Bavaria otherwise. Crazy California kids!

On our walk to the Haufbrahaus (which means royal brewery, I think) we saw some other cool stores and stopped to listen to one of the best street bands I'd ever seen! We had a short tour of the place including upstairs where they had a band playing and the super long tables with lots of drunkards sitting around and...well, drinking. There was a cool traditional thing that the "regulars" (usually crusty old German dudes), had specific tables that if you were sitting at, they could make you get up and move. There was even a special room where they kept a personal stein that was locked up. You can only get a spot by having one handed down to you. The waiting list is hundreds of people long! Back downstairs we found a table at the back of the huge beer house and ordered up some liters.

That's the only size they serve at Octoberfest! And heck yeah I finished mine! By this time, we realized that this 3 hour tour had taken us about 7.5 hours. That's how much fun we had. Our guide said we were a great group and he definitely was a great guide.

The late night that it was, we headed back to our Palace to rest up for Saturday.

I the morning we were up bright an early to pack in as much as possible. We noticed the night before that it got dark really early so we tried to plan accordingly. After a stop at McDonald's and the bakery we headed to the metro to get to Dachau. It was a 40 minute metro ride and then a short bus ride outside the city. This was the site of one of the first concentration camps in Nazi Germany.

I had taken a class last summer all about the Holocaust and it's always interested me so I thought it would be a good trip to take. The main museum building that is currently the museum used to be the maintenance building that had work shops and administrative stuff. There were a lot of posters with pictures and testimonials and biographies of prisoners and other people involved in the process. It was really interesting to read all of the biographies and learn more about specific people and groups of people that were persecuted in that depressing place. Out side there were a lot of memorial sculptures.

From here you walk to the other end of the camp past where the huge roll call square and the barracks to the religious memorials. There was some kind of cloister where nuns live called the Carmelite Convent. There was the Protestant Church of Reconciliation, the Jewish Memorial and the Russian-Orthodox Chapel. From here you walk off of the main road to see the Krematorium. There are actually two, a small old one and a larger one. Not to say that the visit had no effect on me, but having studied and seen pictures before the experience wasn't completely overwhelming. But it was a heavy morning, and in many ways unbelievable. That I was standing and walking around freely in a place where so much fear, hate and death had once been present. The other girls I had traveled with hadn't gotten as in depth in the past, and the effect was a little more profound for them. I was really glad I went and hope to visit other sites in Europe sometime and the Holocaust Museum in Washington D.C. as well in the future.

After this we headed back and could already tell that the sun was going down! We hit up a Palace just outside of Munich - Nymphenburg. This was built as a summer residence to celebrate the birth of some heir in the 17th century. Gosh I thought kids these days were spoiled!

Later kings expanded the huge palace to what it is today. There were only a few rooms that we could see and they were emmaculate to say the least. Lots of fancy drapes, beds, furniture, yadda yadda. There was a carriage museum that had the most tricked out carriages and sleds that the royal family used on a regular basis. Talk about pimp my ride. There was also a porcelain museum/exhibit that we saw but all that breakable stuff makes me nervous so we took a walk through the gardens. They were very beautiful and seeing the fall colors was really nice. Out in the middle of the gardens was a house (mini palace) that was constructed for a queen so that she could escape and relax. She actually liked to go out there and hunt pheasants from the roof! This was called the Amalienburg. There are three other things you can see in the summer months but they were closed now.

Our next plan was to go to the English Gardens but by the time we would've gotten there it would be too dark to enjoy. Instead we went to have dinner at the restaurant we had tested beers the night before. On our way we walked down a street that had every couture store you could think of and then some. If you were bursting with money and needed to do some Christmas shopping, that was definitely the place to be. At the restaurant we ate upstairs and had to sit at a table with another couple until they left. I'm not sure if that is the custom in Germany, to seat one party at a table with another unknown party, but they kinda did their own thing and left shortly. Instead of bread we got a basket of pretzels and ordered beers. We all got something different - I had ordered a cheese thing and some roasted pork. Here's the weird part.

The waitress brings out the pork first and I'm like oh well...I dig into the coleslaw that is on a different plate and then she comes back and says, "Oh, you ordered something else let me go get it." And snatch...there goes my pork. I never see it again. My cheese ball comes out instead. It was delicious. It was good that the pork never reappeared because I wouldn't have been able to eat it. My stomach has shrunk so much from not eating at the dorms that I'm not the hoss I used to be. I split a delicious apple strudel for desert instead.

We did a bit of souvenir shopping and then made our way back to the hostel. It was a little after 8 when the free beer tasting at the hostel started and we sat down to listen and try them out. Our bartender was from Montreal, Canada and was traveling all around on a "6 year plan." Sounded fun, but it wasn't much of a plan. We actually heard that from a lot of people: That they had sold all of their possessions and were wandering around the world. After the tasting was over we stuck around and got to know the other people who had joined us. 2 Australians, a Russian, and there were 2 others at one point from the States. Later during happy hour, more people including some mid western Americans showed up and we got to meet a lot of cool people. Went to bed pretty late and loaded. I packed up as much as we could since we were leaving the next day.

The hostel let us keep our luggage in a special locked room since they kick us out at 10 but our flight wasn't until 3. This gave us some time to hit up the English Garden. This public garden began in 1789 and was originally the hunting grounds on the River Isar. It's one of the largest public parks in the world. One of the main sights was the Chinese Tower. That's right, a Chinese tower in the English Garden in Munich, Germany. No - I have no explanation. The other main thing was the Eisbach (the name of the insanely strong beer I had on the tour!) Just past one of the bridges, the river forms a 1 meter wave that makes it possible to surf in. We didn't see this crazy thing, but pictures of it are pretty cool. Strangely enough there have been surfing competitions held there but rumor has it that authorities want to get rid of it due to liabilities...hmmmmm. It was a beautiful day and we walked through the gardens for a bit. We were asking for directions to the wave and one man said, "Oh no English. Hablo español." Hey spanish! We can do that. He told us how to get there, although we never reached it, and we talked to him and his family for a while. They were the nicest people from Barcelona and when I told the woman that I love that city best in the world she said she lived in a big house on the beach and would have me anytime. Definitely might call her up sometime!

Well our time was unfortunately up so the boring stuff: back to the hostel, to the airport and headed home. We had a little bit of time to walk around the airport market again and get a brat and hot wine. (some kind of Christmas drink...gross)

In summary: Munich is colorful, diverse, rich in culture, modern, and more often than not, drunk. Absolutely loved the city and my travel companions and hope to go back soon. Perhaps next year for the 200th anniversary of Oktoberfest?!?!

Valencia - The Best Kept Secret

Well this past weekend was picturesque, relaxing and fun. True, the only thing that ever came to mind when I heard "Valencia" was an orange. But now I think gardens, beaches, history, and modern architecture.

I took an early bus from Bilbao. It ended being around an 8-hour trip. I had stayed up late the night before so I slept most of the time and it wasn't so bad. There were 2 other stops where more people got on and there was a stop to eat. The country side that I saw was very beautiful - Lots of vineyards that made a good contrast to all of the trees that were still lush and green. Not much for fall colors, this Spain. When I arrived, I easily found my hotel which was just around the corner from the bus station. Check in was easy and I was off to explore a little before it got too dark. I found my way to the Torres de Quart. These twin towers formed part of the medieval wall that surrounded the old city of Valencia. I climbed to the top and got a good view of the sun setting over the city. It was already starting to get a little dark, so I strolled around to see some of the night sights of the old city. Ate dinner at Bocatta, A Panera-like restaurant that is popular in Spain. It was part of a huge shopping complex that surrounded my hotel. It wasn't too tempting because it was just a big mall and I can shop here in Bilbao. But there was also a big Christmas tent that had a lot of goodies inside. They really don't have a lot of Spanish stuff though. Everything says "Merry Christmas" and is covered in Santa. Could find it in a K-Mart back home. This was right next to my hotel and I went back to get my jacket and headed down to the metro.

The Plaza de Toros Valencia was the sight of un Feria de Gastronomía = Food Fair. Inside the ring but in the outermost walkway, there were places to buy souvenirs and big stands with food and drinks. To buy things inside you have to buy some tickets and then pay with just the tickets inside. I bought a
few and decided to try my luck in the arena. Inside the ring was more food - Arabic pastries, cheeses, wines, sausages, candies and much more. Some of the best stuff I've ever smelled and tasted! It was fun to just walk around the look at everything. There was also a man giving a life infomercial about some Teflon cookware, another with a floor
buffing system, and one of those vibrating platforms that help you get in shape. I had a sausage sampler, a chocolate crepe, a pistachio pastry and two types of wine. All very good! I had a lot planned the next day so I went back to the hotel and made my route for the next day before hitting the sack.

The next morning I was up bright and early in search of the Central Market. After getting of the metro I walked a way through the open bright streets. It was supposed to be cloudy all day but the weather turned out to be marvelous! I came to a square that held a bunch of Rodin's sculptures. Even the Thinker! I ran into a couple of other cool buildings and stores on the way to the market, most of which I had no idea what they were but looked pretty interesting anyway. The best building was definitely the Starbucks I visited and had some of the best coffee of my life! The Central Market was constructed in the 20th century in a Valencian style - lots of colors, ceramics and mosaics. It was bustling with people doing their grocery shopping. There were sections just for bread,


seafood, meat, fruits and veggies, nuts, herbs, and oils. I strolled down the isles sipping my white mocha and enjoying the energy. Some of the stuff though was too much to be surrounded by at once. Mostly in the seafood section!

My next site was just across the street. The Lonja de la Seda is the silk exchange that was built between 1482 and 1548 in a Valencia-Gothic style.
It's currently protected by Unesco. There isn't anything to do inside except look around. It was incredible and would be interesting to see how the exchange operated inside the building back in the day. I got caught up in a Japanese tour guide so I got to hear a little bit of history but soon was on my way to the next destination.







On the way from the Lonja and Market, I saw some cool buildings and churches. Can't really tell you what any of them were though. The cathedral was located in the Plaza de Reina (Plaza of the Queen) so it must've been a pretty important one!

These are a couple different shots of the church from Plaza Reina

After this I went to see the other set of towers - Torres Serranos. After this I strolled down the main boulevard that takes you from the north end to the south end of the city. The River Turia used to run through the city but after a few devastating floods in the 1950s, they Valencian people decided to divert the course of the river and now we have the lush Turia River Bed Gardens.
Over 9km of gorgeous trails where people sit relaxing, run, bike, and play sports. There are quite a few soccer fields and other athletic fields along the way - at one point I stopped to watch a soccer and rugby match. I could've spent the whole day just relaxing and taking in the sights from the park!

Along the way, I passed the Palau de Música - a modern concert hall built in 1987.



Then I came upon something that I discovered before I left for Valencia, but still couldn't believe it until I saw it. Gulliver in Lilliput. This is based on the story by Jonathan Swift and is a huge park in the middle of Turia that is always crawling with children that appear like the little Lilliputians from the story. Pretty intense!

The large thing on top is referred to as the "Plume"

And then I saw it....The space ship. The aliens came down the platform 2 by 2 and took all of the dogs in the city and every magnet from the souvenir shops to fix their sick and wounded. Okay, mostly kidding. But when I saw these next few building in the distance they looked completely out of this world! The first was the Palau de les Arts Reina Sofia - An opera house. I have no idea what was inside...maybe aliens. Or opera house type stuff. This is part of the Ciutat de Artes and Ciencias - City of Arts and Sciences that includes many buildings that I saw on Saturday. Construction began in 1995 and it was inaugurated in only 2005and designed by Valencia-born architect Santiago Calatrava. It's 14 stories tall and has 3 additional levels below ground.

 After the Opera house came the Hemisfèric. This is the largest hall in Spain containing two systems projecting onto a concave screen of 900 square meters. The Hemisfèric was inaugurated in 1998 and was the first building in the City of Arts and Sciences to open its doors to the public.
  This building was also designed by Calatrava, with an ovoid roof over 100 meters long that contains in its interior the large sphere that constitutes the projection room. They show planetarium type stuff and other educational and entertainment shows. Probably alien propaganda.

The Hemisfèric, Science Museum, and Oceanografíc

And in this corner: The Príncipe Felipe Science Museum is known for it's interactive science exhibits and was inaugurated in 2000. Guess who designed it? That's right - ALIENS.....

Or maybe that Calatrava guy. The current exhibit was about space, flying, and super heroes. I'm not sure how scientific that all is, but cool anyhoosen.

Hey look - More Plants. The Umbracle or the shade house that actually sits on top of the parking

ramps for visitors. The plants inside it are Mediterranean and there are also some cool sculptures inside as well.

 

















Okay but really, let's get to the good stuff that the aliens let us keep. The largest aquarium in Europe. Drum roll please, the Oceanográfico. It wasn't just one building called an aquarium - It was a whole park with different buildings for each type of marine life. Including: The Mediterranean; wetlands - aviary; temperate - fish, seals and penguins; oceans - sharks; arctic - belugas and walruses; antarctic - penguins; dolphinarium; red sea auditorium; islands - sea lions; tropical - corals.

Now I've seen my share of fish but there was some freaky ish in this one that I had never seen before. in the aquarium, over 100 million gallons of water support the 500 species of water critters. That's 15 Olympic swimming pools of creatures! Also, it was cool because in between certain buildings there were underground tunnels you could walk through and feel like you were right there among the fish. I spent a good couple hours in there and it was absolutely beautiful and worth it!

At this point I was getting pretty hungry and couldn't get my hands on any seafood as easily as I would've thought. i walked a little ways and then took a trolley/metro the rest of the way to the beach where I decided to scrounge up some grub. The beach wasn't completely deserted, but it was a very calm day - on the sand and in the water as well.



I had a late lunch (around 3PM) at a place called Cafe Zaragoza. I had the traditional dish of the region, Paella Valenciana. Rice with veggies, chicken and rabbit. It was DEEEELISH! I went down to the water afterward and man it was cold. I didn't expect it to be swimmable or anything, but it was like ice! Strolled back to the metro and made my way to the Royal Gardens - Jardines Real. These royal gardens were once home to a castle built almost 1000 years ago. This is a perfect park. People were jogging, sitting and enjoying the evening air, having picnics and just relaxing.

From the royal gardens, I walked via the Turia gardens back towards my hotel but my last stop of the evening was the botanical garden. The garden was originally founded in the mid 1500s to study plants for medicinal use. It was relocated to its currently location on the outer edge of the old city in 1802 and restored in 2000. It had lost of tropical plants, cacti and green houses with some other more exotic plants. It was a cool stroll. I did see a lady in there with like 8 cats and others that were straggling behind. It was kinda creepy. there was even a sign at the exit of the garden that said in Spanish, "Do not abandon your cat." I wonder if it was installed just for that woman...


For the evening I relaxed in the hotel for a little bit and then headed back to the bull ring for a second installation of foodies. This time I had the most delicious bratwurst looking thing. It was just sausage that they grilled right there and then it was covered in this buttery, chili garlic sauce. mmmmmmm. What else, a couple small glasses (sample size) of wine, a plate of different Spanish cheeses and some chocolate covered pistachios. Def some great cuisine! Then I did call it a night.

The bus ride back was legit and I again managed to sleep though most of it.

I think my experiences on the eastern coast of Spain have been the best here. My trip to Barcelona and now Valencia (little less that 500 miles) have me already wanting to come back. Valencia was a gorgeous place full of art, history, modern attractions, and some of the most gorgeous parks I'm sure I'll ever see!