Lovely Lisbon

This past weekend I went to Lisbon, Portugal, with API. As the weekend approached, I was very happy to be going since I had to miss my trip to Prague with WSA (see my other post about missing trips!).  I very much enjoyed my time in the city, wandering through the streets by myself, looking up at the beautifully-tiled buildings lining the streets, and doing a bit of what I like to call “urban hiking”. The streets of Lisbon can be pretty steep!

The trip itself was a little lengthy, six hours more or less by bus. The Portuguese countryside is verdant and mostly rolling hills out to the cost. We arrived around 7pm (Lisbon is an hour behind Sevilla) and had the evening to ourselves.  After making the uphill trek to a restaurant we decided not to go to upon checking it out, some friends and I stumbled upon a place called O Prego. This peixaria provided an absolutely lovely meal, such that on our last night in Lisbon we went back! I enjoyed a red tuna steak “burger”, fries, and blackberry hard cider. I don’t have any pictures of my food because I was too excited (read: hungry) to wait the few seconds, though below is the blackberry cider I enjoyed.

The following morning, I woke up slightly too early for my taste to take a bus tour of the city with API. We drove through the city and eventually headed out to the river to visit the monastery of San Jerónimo, Tower of Belem, and the Monument to Discoveries. On the way to our destination, we passed by the Puente de 25 de Abril (Bridge of the April 25^th), formerly known as the Puente de Salazar (Bridge of Salazar), which was intentionally constructed in the same manner as the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco (…something about the cost of designing a new bridge/a lazy architect).

The Tower of Belem sits out in the sapphire-blue water of the River Tajo, and the waves break and on the walled banks, creating a lovely atmosphere. The inside of the monastery was breathtakingly beautiful, as was the outside, though I didn't get to snap any photos.  

While we were down at the riverside, API shared some delicious little crème filled pastries with us, called pasteis de nata in Portuguese. 

After our time by the riverside, we headed back into the city and walked around a bit with a very sweet guide.  Per her recommendation, I stopped at Santini, which purportedly has the best gelato in Lisbon. I certainly agree! 

Later in the day, after lunch and a siesta, the API group went on an urban hike in order to see a fado show and eat. Fado is the music and dance tradition particular to Portugal. Men and women danced in pairs, taking turns on the stage with some talented musicians. All in all, the day was worth the long bus ride, though very tiring.

The following day was my favorite day spent in Lisbon. After a yummy breakfast at a local pastry shop, I commenced with the urban hiking by making the trek up to Castelo de Saõ Jorge (St. George’s Castle). They have a great student rate (5 euro) and even better view of Lisbon, the river, and beyond. The castle itself is simple, more like a fortification, with the views being the star of the show. I climbed various towers in the castle to take in the various vistas. Following my time in the castle, I went back down to town for a bite to eat, a quick rest, and then I was back out on the streets.  I intended to go to the botanical gardens, and “found” them, by which I mean I located them but the pesky ticket booth eluded me, and no one knew where I ought to go, but I did find a cute, bustling market near the gardens! I munched on some freshly made garlic bread (not the kind of garlic bread you initially think of! Just yummy bread, which contained garlic) while I wandered through the market, stopping to purchase a few trinkets. I also stumbled upon a quaint used books store, and picked up a copy of an Ancient Greek Loeb book (which was far cheaper used here than in the States).  I began my descent of the urban mountain and made my way to the Igreja do Carmo (Church of Carmo).  Long ago, Lisbon experienced an incredibly destructive earthquake which leveled much of the city. This church was one of the buildings damaged in the process, though its damaged form is nothing ugly—it is hauntingly beautiful, in fact. The ceiling is no longer present, and the elements have ravaged the stone through the years.  It’s somewhat eerie, yet not. After looking at the other museum displays in side chambers, I simply sat on the steps looking out into the former church, and soaked it all in.

I took this photo outside of the Igreja do Carmo

Wandering the streets and just seeing where they took me was a wonderful way to spend the day. I saw some really neat graffiti and tile work, which I documented photographically for a friend who loves street are (Spider!!).  The night ended well as we returned to O Prego. Knowing I had an early morning and long day ahead of me, I decided it was too late to head out to Rua Nova de Carvalho to do some bar hopping (as recommended in a NY Times article).

 The tile design progressed chromatically all the way down the highway

While I was in Lisbon, I managed to get by on a mixture of English, Spanish, and a few Portuguese phrases. It hurt my heart a little (ok, it hurt my hear very much!) to not be able to speak the local language, which is not atypical when I go somewhere other than a Spanish speaking country. Thus, I asked our guide what one who does not speak Portuguese ought to do, so as not to appear rude to the locals.  She told me that most of the younger people speak a little bit of English, at least, those working and who I’d be interacting with would, and that the older folks typically only speak Portuguese. In that case, I would use whatever Portuguese phrases I could, apologize for my inability to speak Portuguese, and proceed with whatever I needed to say either in English or Spanish.  Perhaps I’ll spend some time in Portugal in the future, when I travel the world, country by country, language by language.

Next time I’m in Lisbon, I would really like to head to the neighborhood known as Alfama, check out that street and bar hop, and visit the botanical gardens. Many friends spent the day in the nearby town Sintra and told tales of its beauty, so perhaps I’ll head there. There is so much more of the city to see and taste that I must return one day.

I will post more photos soon, as well as a link to the album on Facebook. I'm packing for my trip to Morocco tomorrow, which leaves bright and early in the morning, so I'll upload plenty of photos early next week! Check back soon for more!

On my travel plans:

I’ve got a lot going on in the next month! Tomorrow, I’m heading to Morocco with WSA Europe and WeLove Spain! Next week, my mom will arrive in Sevilla following her time in Italy.  I’m heading to Grazalema, Spain, with API for a day, and then I’ll have some quiet weekends (read: midterms, and I don’t want to be irresponsible because they’re worth 50% of my grade) before Semana Santa! I’m in the process of booking flights and finding lodging, but I’ll be heading to Florence and then to Tuscany to stay with some friends during Holy Week before returning to Sevilla for Easter. With one weekend of down time between Semana Santa and Feria (I have both weeks off from classes), there isn’t much time to relax. I’m hoping to get out of the city, and avoid all cities, by heading somewhere in the mountains/wilderness—that’s my current future-travel project. Then it’s a weekend in Extremadura, then the end of the program, and I’m off on my own travels! These plans are still in the making, but I’ll be all over the place! Thanks for reading, and stay tuned! I’ll do my best not to take such a long break from writing now that things have “settled” down!

When You Have to Miss a Trip

Two weeks ago, I was supposed to check out Prague with the company I’m interning for, WSA Europe. Key words: Supposed to. Unfortunately, during my second week in Sevilla, I came down with a nasty head cold, augmented by asthma.  I was incredibly stressed and nervous about the trip (flight problems!) and feeling ill, and ultimately had to decide not to go.  I was absolutely exhausted, had a lot of trouble breathing, and my immune system was down. It was not the time for me to travel, exhaust myself further, and get even sicker.

It was a really difficult call for me to make, and one I did not want to make.  This isn’t the first time I’ve been ill abroad. I had strep throat in Mexico and stomach bugs in Spain. I’ve been exhausted to the point of deciding not to do something awesome because I don’t want to push myself too far, but this was different. I was alone and really wanted to visit a cool city with my fellow WSA interns. I wanted to be a part of it, but I could only be apart from it due to my physical state. The last few weeks took a lot out of me, traveling and then being in a less than ideal homestay, and then having to cancel the trip sort of felt like being defeated, in a way. 

The entire weekend, while API went to Granada for two days and WSA Europe tore up Prague, I stayed in bed to sleep, only leaving to try to get ahold of a darn textbook for my poetry class, which evaded me.  I got much needed rest and an endless supply of tissues for my cold. 

My head cleared up just before I left for Lisbon, though I still have a cough and some lung troubles as I sit here writing this post in a cute little café down the block from my new homestay.   Looking back on the lost weekend, I am glad I took the time to rest, particularly as my condition worsened over the next few days—I was utterly useless in that period of time.  I still feel like I missed out on Prague, and can only hope I’ll get to go in the future.  It’s emotionally hard to miss a trip because I feel like I only have so much time here in Europe, and I need to maximize my time here, as if I’m not coming back. I’m not sure when I’ll be back, though I know I will, and who knows what obligations I will have when I do return!? Sometimes I feel guilty for not going out at night or on the weekends, though clubbing/going out drinking is not something I enjoy, and the meals my host mom makes are so delicious! I have long days of classes and some work to do, and I’m often tired. I like to bike around, explore the park, and read on the steps by the river while the sunsets, but it feels like a chore to explore sometimes since so much of the city is far away, at least it seems so to my tired self.  That, coupled with feeling guilty over missing a really great opportunity, is tough.

The bottom line is that it’s okay to not go on a trip, to take a step back and take care of yourself when you need to, and you need to learn when to do this. Travel is not easy on your mind or body, contrary to popular belief.  It’s a lot of work, effort, and energy.  For now, I just have to think that I will visit, and absolutely enjoy, Prague when the universe wants me to.

A Long Overdue Update about Sevilla

Greetings from SEVILLA, SPAIN!!!!!!!! I know, it’s been a while since I’ve arrived here and the last time I posted here. It’s been almost a month, actually… sorry about that! Things have been more than a little nuts here. I really like it here in Sevilla, and have had no problems with the lovely warm weather here (sorry to those back at home on the east coast…)! I could go on, but I’m going to get started with the tale of what’s been going on in the last month of my life, so, without further ado…

-Madrid: Jan 21^st-25^th: Enjoyed my time in the city. You can read about it here and here!

-Toledo: Jan 26^th-27^th: It was nice to return to the city, but I honestly enjoyed my first visit there far more.  Everyone was exhausted and we had very little time there. It’s a city filled with twisty, windy streets and isn’t the easiest to navigate. We went on a walking tour and saw some cool sites, including a church which contained some of El Greco’s work (I’m a huge fan of his).  We spent one night here before continuing on to…

-Córdoba: Jan 27^th: Coming from Córdoba, we stopped in Córdoba for a few hours on our way to Sevilla. On my last trip to Spain, I went here. I got to return to the Mezquita, which I don’t think I could ever get tired of wandering around. It was originally a mosque, which then was turned into a Christian church, then it went back and forth between the two and is used as a church today. The Christians built the church right in the middle of the mosque, so much of the mosque still stands. It’s a fascinating mix of two religions and cultures. We had lunch at an awesome place on the river called Regadera, before hitting the road again and arriving in…

La Mezquita

The oranges are all queued up!

The courtyard at La Mezquita

La Mezquita

-Sevilla: Jan 27^th: It was late, I was tired, and my roommate and I went to our homestay.

A view of Sevilla from the Giralda

Now that you’re all caught up… I’ll write about things in categories, so that I don’t go off on too many tangents.

The Homestay Situation

This was the source of much of my stress in the first week or so in Sevilla. I won’t go into all the details, but where I was placed was causing many health related problems for me.  I waited out the weekend before contacting API (hoping it would improve) and changing homestays. I now live with an absolutely lovely and sweet woman, her mom, brother, and two other girls studying here with API.  Everyone was very welcoming when I switched to my new homestay, and I am very happy with where I am now, and far healthier (other than the very nasty head cold/asthma combo I had from Feb. 9^th or so until now, which contributed to me missing a trip to Prague). 

Classes

My classes have thus far gone well. All of them are taught in Spanish with other American students. My schedule is as follows:

-Monday/Wednesday

            -Contemporary Hispanic-American Poetry (9-11am)

            -Cultural Gastronomy of Spain (11am-1pm)

            -Spanish Literary Myths (1-3pm)

-Tuesday/Thursday

            -Contemporary Spanish Cinema (9-11am)

            -Spanish Grammar (11am-1pm)

The poetry class I’m taking is definitely the most challenging course, though very interesting. I have two professors, and we cover different material according to who is teaching the class. On Mondays, we have been studying Vincente Huidobro’s poem Altazor, and on Wednesdays we have been studying Girondo’s Veinte poemas para ser leidos en un tranvía (Twenty poems to be read on a cable car). Studying completely different material each day is a bit confusing, but both profs are great and I’m enjoying the subject matter. 

I also am really loving my gastronomy class. I love food, food science, learning about food, and eating food. On Wednesday, we are actually cooking, so I’ll report back soon on how that goes! (Edit: It was fantastic! I don't have pictures because we were all too hungry to wait, and there are no phones in class. We made pisto (a mixture of peppers, onions, pumpkin, and other yummy things), spinach with garbanzo beans, garlic, break, and fried quail eggs, and torrijas (kinda like the Spanish version of french toast. It was suuuuuuuper yummy!))We’ve talked about the three main cultures of Andalucía, their food, olive oil, Iberian ham, and more.  Again, I have a fantastic prof teaching the class—she’s very lively and makes class interesting! 

I am, for the most part, enjoying my other classrooms.  I’m not someone who watches movies frequently, so this class has certainly contributed to my knowledge of cinematic works/technical terms, as well as more of the culture of Spain.  We are about to watch La lengua de las mariposas (The Language of the Butterflies), which I watched in Hispanic culture and film class during high school, and I’m looking forward to watching it again with a bit more understanding and better Spanish skills. I also appreciate the knowledge I’m gaining through my Lit. Myths class. We are reading/discussing figures such as Celestina, Don Quijote, Lazarillo, Don Juan, and Carmen La Cigarrella (and possibly another figure, but I can’t recall at the moment)—myths which have influenced literary works since their publication.  I am happy with my classes, though I’m sorely missing studying Latin and Greek.

Exploring Sevilla

The first few days in Sevilla are a blur. I was still pretty tired from all the travel, though I had adjusted to the time difference. API took us on tours of the Cathedral, Giralda, and Alcazár in the city. We also went on a kick ass bike tour. It felt so good to get out and bike around the Centro and along the river. I’ve thus gone on to take advantage of the company called Sevici (the words Sevilla and bici, short for bicicleta, meaning bike, mixed together) here. I rent a bike for a week at a time, and I simply go to a Sevici station, sign out a bike, and return it at any other station in the city.  I bike to class in the morning, and pretty much anywhere I go, like to the movie I'm seeing tonight with API!

On the note of going to class, I have to bike through the Maria Luisa Park every morning, past the Plaza de España (you might know this place from one of the Star Wars movies. They filmed some scenes there!). I’ve gone back to bike and walk around the park, and there are so many beautiful little spots tucked away. There’s the Plaza itself, a little tower with a waterfall cascading down one side, and a duck/pigeon pond with bright flowers. There are gorgeous places to sit. One day, I’m going to take my camera to the park and snap away. The park is also home to a few museums, one of which is an archaeological museum. I’ll be heading there soon!

During the tour with API I mentioned above, we went to the Cathedral, Giralda, and Alcazár. The Cathedral is a stunning work of architecture, and the Giralda yields lovely views of the surrounding city, but my favorite place by far was the Alcazár. For those Game of Thrones fans out there, the Alcazár may be better known to you as the Water Gardens of Dorne.  I really can’t describe how grand and absolutely beautiful the palace is, so I’ll leave photos for you to look at. I just do not have the power to describe it properly and do it justice with my words alone…

The Water Gardens of Dorne, or the Alcazár

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The river Guadalquivir and the steps where I like to read and watch the sunset

As I said, I like to bike everywhere I go here, including down to the Guadalquivir, the river which runs through Sevilla. There are some steps by part of the river, which I like to sit on and read while I watch the sun set. I’ve watched some stunning sunsets doing this.  I see many people out on the river rowing and kayaking, and would like to rent a kayak and get out on the river sometime, too.  There are boat tours on the river, a massive ferris wheel situated on the river’s edge, and more which I want to do in the next few weeks.

I know there’s so much more to do in Sevilla, and I can’t wait to do it all! I’ve found some good eats and good sites, and am really enjoying my time here.  Again, I’m sorry about the delay in posting about my time here, and will be better about it in the future. I’m posting some photos here, but you can view even more photos in albums I’ve created on Facebook for my time in Madrid, on excursions with API, and in Sevilla (they’re accessible to the public!). Keep an eye out for future posts, and thank you for reading!

I’ll update with a Spanish translation soon, I just wanted to get this and a few other posts up as soon as I could!