Monday, October 29, 2012

Excursion to Santander 

I hesitate in calling this past weekend a trip; considering I didn't leave the country, not to mention the brevity of our stay, excursion seemed more fitting. At any rate, I spent the past weekend in the northern Spanish city of Santander as the second of my two Suffolk-sponsored "trips," the first being the welcome/orientation trip to Salamanca. The north of Spain is considerably greener than the south, not to mention much more mountainous. Granted it was also much wetter than Madrid, but it was well worth shuffling through the drizzle. We had the chance to tour the small medieval town of Santillana del Mar, as well as two of the ancient caves the north of Spain is famous for, and our hotel in Santander was a mere 5 minutes from the beach. And so, without further ado:




Palace of the Magdalena, which overlooks the ocean.


Street view of Santillana del Mar




The north of Spain is well known for its milk and all milk products, and this giant bar of chocolate was well worth 2.50.


 We weren't technically supposed to be taking photos in the caves, but luckily I was able to take a few without blurring them. 



From our brief (rather anticlimactic) visit to the city center


The beach at night...the weird thing about October being that the ocean water is still warm, and in this case it was warmer than the air




Sunday, October 21, 2012

Trip to Germany

As the title suggests I recently took a 4-day trip to the Rhineland, which is, especially this time of year, absolutely breathtaking. I stayed with a family I met two years ago through an exchange program, and they were kind enough to welcome me into their home again this time around. Although I wasn't able to stay nearly as long as I liked, I was able to tour the cities of Bonn and Cologne, as well as the small town of Rheinbach nearest to their home. Below is a sort of photo diary of my excursions there; image-heavy, but includes food documentation as well. Enjoy. 




View of the Rhine river.






The small dog pictured in the photos above is named "perro"--my host family adopted him on their last trip to Mallorca, about eight years ago.



The famous Cologne cathedral offers visitors a chance to climb 509 steps to the its topmost tower (not pictured). It took my host sister and I about 20 minutes to make it to the top, but the view was well worth the effort. 




Food

Self-explanatory.



The most common form of water in Germany is sparkling mineral water...I'm not a fan personally, but it is refreshing.











Saturday, October 13, 2012

The Madrid River

Considering yesterday was a national Spanish holiday, I had planned to put together a slightly more cultural post...but despite my best efforts I ended up sleeping through all the festivities (ie the parade). In brief, la Fiesta Nacional de España is the Spanish equivalent of Columbus Day in America, although in some ways it could also be compared to the American July 4th, in the sense that it's a celebration of national identity and culture as well. 

Still, yesterday wasn't a total loss; our Spanish professor planned a small class outing for us along the Madrid river. Nearby points of interest include the Royal Palace, Egyptian Temple of Debol, Palace Gardens and the 4,000 acre Casa del Campo. According to our professor, the Casa del Campo, formerly the private park of the Spanish royalty, served as a battleground during the Spanish Civil War. In more recent years the Madrid River project has converted the riverside into "a long park, and including an urban beach, rowing lanes on the river, walks, bicycle paths, kiosks, cafés and restaurants, terraces, cultural and sports facilities, areas for pensioners and children's play areas." (via Go Madrid) At any rate, our class didn't end up going very far, but I was able to get a few photos in.  







After our brief tour we stopped at a nearby cafe for hot chocolate and churros, an infamous Madrid snack. 



Friday, October 5, 2012

King of Spain



Above is a video by Swedish folk artist The Tallest Man on Earth, performing his song "King of Spain" live at Joy Esalva yesterday night in Madrid. Great show. One of my friends introduced me to his music a few years ago, and I was pretty excited to hear he was coming to Spain...there are so many concerts in Madrid it's hard to choose just a few (student budget) to go to. Hoping this was the first of many more to come. 

Wednesday, October 3, 2012

Madrid Botanical Gardens

Earlier today I had the privilege of visiting the Madrid Botanical Gardens as part of an Environmental Studies class I'm taking. The park boasts shrubs and trees from all over the globe, some of which are sustained in greenhouses on the far side. Surprisingly, its central-urban location doesn't detract from the effect at all; once you step inside it's easy to forget you're in the heart of the city. Not necessarily a must-see, unless you're either a botany major or really into plants. (hint: I'm not a botany major)






Apparently there's only 40 of these trees left in the world...that pole in the background supports a security camera that monitors this specimen 24-7