Portugal

Madrid. But not to worry. We didn't stay there long. About an hr or two after we arrived, we jetsetted to...

Lisbon
Just so you know, this is my new favorite city. Even though we arrived at night and we didn't get to see much of the city that first night, I knew that I was going to like that city. I was...right of course. We had decided to try couch surfing on this trip, and it turned out to be a pretty good idea. Our first host, Luis, lived right smack in the middle of Lisbon. He was super cool and had the most interesting books on his coffee table. He's a journalist/surfer so I'm sure you can imagine some of the books you would find. Anyway, we met Luis and he took us to a look out point to see the city at night. Then we with him to a restaurant to celebrate his friend's birthday. At the restaurant, we got our first taste of Portuguese wine. It wasn't bad.

We went back to his house early (he had given us a key), and went to bed. The next morning, we woke up, say bye to our host, left, walked to the Ofama, Graca, and other historic sites in Lisbon. We returned to Luis', got our stuff, dropped our key, and headed to the...

Beach (or Cascais)
And this is why I enjoyed Portugal so much. The beach. The sun. The hostel in which we stayed. The view. Ridiculously awesome. E. and I seriously stayed in like a penthouse/mansion/home straight out of those home decorating magazines. The house was beautiful, spacious, clean, airy, and about a 10 min walk from the beach. The first day we got there, we chilled on the beach. Did the same the second day. It was pretty sweet. We don't have beaches in Soria. On the second day, we went to Sintra, a popular vacation spot of the old Portuguese kings.

Anyway, E wanted to do a bit more than chill on the beach, so we rented a scooter and explored the coast. The girl almost killed me thrice. Once, we crashed into a gate, the second time, almost into a bus, and the third time, we ran off the road. The coast is beautiful and I think I got some good shots. Unfortunately we only spent 2 days on the beach, but if we did have to go back at least it was to Lisbon.

Lisbon
So we went back to Lisbon. We had contacted our second host the night before and had arranged to meet him at 6:30pm at a certain bus stop. Since we arrived in Lisbon at 12ish or thereabouts and had a long wait ahead of us, we decided to drop our bags off at the train station and then go to a huge outdoor market. From the market we walked 10km to Belem. That was taxing especially because it was hot. When we got to Belem, we decided to screw sight seeing and turn right back around. By this time, it must have been 5:45. We couldn't find a bus to take us back to where we needed to go until around 6:20ish. We arrived at the station at 7:00. Our host was upset! Rightfully so.

But he kind of forgave us. He took us to a look out spot in the city, and we paid for his dinner. Then he took us out for drinks. And we paid for that too. But, he woke up at 5:30am to take us to the airport. So, in the end, I think we lucked out.

Christmas in Madrid and New Years too

I had actually prepared a somewhat meaningful post, but in lieu of not having my notes with me, a quick summary of the past month or so will have to suffice.

In more ways that not, the last month was like the previous months. Students were still students. There were still conversations that flew waaaay over my head. Yoga was still painful. However, I did get to do a bit more travelling. I took advantage of a four day weekend in early December and went to Salamanca and Avila. In Salamanca, I ventured outside of the city into the countryside and took some phenomenal pictures. With some friends, I went to the pueblo of Pena de Francia and observed the city from "such great heights." I believe at one point, we were actually up in the clouds.

Avila was the other city that we visited. It is a city that exists within a city wall, well at least the older section of the city. I enjoyed seeing it, but I don't think there was much to the city beyond the wall. Truth be told though, I 'm done with looking at churches and other old buildings. I know that Spain prides itself on its history, but I'm really more into modern things, like modern architecture, modern art work, etc. If I never see another church, I'll be ok.

I returned from my Salamanca/Avila trip quite refreshed with a new dish to add to the list of Spanish cuisine that I've tried: cocido. It's a soup made from the broth of different meat, with parts of bread and vegetables floating in it. Other than it being too salty, it was alright.

On the 22ncd, we had a lunch (read: snack) with all the teachers followed by an improptu Christmas/popular song session. It was really fun even though I wasn't familiar with many of the songs. Little by little I will understand Spanish culture.

And now I am here in Madrid, up at 5 am typing out my holiday plans. My sisters are with me and shall be here for a week or so. I've never spent New Year's day in a big city before, so I might just take advantage of my being here in Madrid.

Well Christmas is gone, but have a fantastic new year. I hope that 2010 brings good tidings and great surprises.

Madrid

The better part of this past week I spent in Madrid. It was quite nice to be back in a big city although by the second day or so, I was ready to return to my small town. When I first got my plaza, teaching placement, I was kind of disappointed that I didn't get Madrid. Now, I am so happy that I didn't. I realize that I would never learn Spanish and I would be even more disappointed if I spent a year in Spain and only walked away with the few measly words that I currently know.

Aside from that, Madrid is n-i-c-e. I tell people that it's cleaner than Miami, and I stand by that. They always have people out cleaning the street. The street cleaning brigade is hard to miss since they sport bright neon yellow/green vests and walk around with dustbins and brooms in hand. Also, there are trash receptacles everywhere so there is no reason to litter. You only have to look up to see billboards asking people to reduce their usage of plastic bags or electricity or what have you. Even the hotels where I've stayed seemed to be in to promoting environmental causes. In order to turn on the light, you had to place your room card into a socket of sorts. Thus, because you needed your card to turn and keep on the lights, chances are you wouldn't leave the lights on when you weren't in the room because that would have meant that you would have locked yourself out.

Heh, I got lost in my train of thought. Anyone who knows me knows that I favor comfort over fashion so that usually means a pair of shorts, a t-shirt, and flip flops. But since I didn't want to stick out, I tried to find out what the Spaniards wore. Fortunately, I found that I could get a way with jeans, a t-shirt, and decent kicks (boat shoes in my case, but Converses would have sufficed).

Anyway, Madrid was nice. I went to the Palacio Real with my roommates for the weekend. We ended the night by going to Huerta which is a street full of bars and other species of night life. It was pretty cool. I got to hear flamenco music and such. On Friday, I changed lodging to a nice hostel right in the city center. I think Puerta del Sol was about 7 minutes away walking. I met up with a friend from high school and she took me around to her father's place. He lives in a pretty swanky apartment right across from El parque del Retiro. We ended the night by going to some mall right on the city limits (unfortunately I can't remember its name) and ordered tapas. I had goat and cow cheese, sardines in vinegar, patatas bravas, croquetas, grilled vegetables, and sangria. It was good. And then I went back home and "fell asleep."

Actually I tossed and turned all night. I feel bad for the kid in the bed next to me because he seemed like a light sleeper. I wasn't expecting a Madrid night to be so chilly and it wasn't until 7 o'clock in the morning that I realized that the blanket in the cupboard was for me. There was a moment when I realized that the guy to my left and the girl to my right had the same style blanket and their blankets were the same as the one in the closet. Silly.

By Saturday, I was ready to leave. Taking the metro to the bus stop was ridiculously easy and it was smooth sailing after that. Hopefully I'll know my way around Madrid a bit better by the time my sisters come.

Good times. Next post: pix.