On Saturday, Jacklyn and I decided to go on a wine tour (can you believe it, dad?) with some new friends in the town of Haro, part of the La Rioja region of Spain where the country's best wine originates. Tired from the night before (yes, another night of clubbing at Fever. Not sure I'll go for round 3...), Jacklyn and I hopped on a bus to Haro and arrived with 30 minutes to get to the Bodega Bilbainas to meet up with the group and take the tour. As is customary for Jacklyn and I, we arrived at our destination without any sort of preparation: no map, no minutes left on our phones, insufficient clothing... So as you can guess, we got off the bus and were immediately lost, and to make it worse it seemed we were in a deserted town with nobody to be found on the streets or the stores to ask for directions.

Haro (pic courtesy of Ashley)

Jacklyn and I wandered the streets thinking it would be easy to find what we knew would be a cluster of different bodegas, where we would be sure to find our Bilbainas. Easier said than done. We hunted down any person we could find to ask directions, each pointing us towards the so-called "river". We couldn't find any such river, and you'd think that'd be the easy part, right? Jacklyn asked a man where the "río" was, and he said he didn't know what that was. I said it, and he said... "¡aah! rrrrío", rolling his "r"'s... yeah, that's what we said!! Then we started running, realizing we had found the hidden river and bridge we had to cross.

Crossing the bridge was easy... but then what?? The bodegas were far apart, and even though Ashley managed to call and tell me where it was we were still completely hopeless at finding any sort of Bodega Bilbainas. Then, low and behold, a Guardia Civil (one of the 3 police forces in Spain) pulls up and stops to ask us if we need help, knowing well that we were lost and American. Instead of telling us where to go (we only had 5 minutes to make it for our reservation), they offered to give us a ride. So, as you can imagine, the group of maybe 30 Spaniards waiting for us at the bodega immediately started to laugh when two American girls, in nothing but cardigans on a 40-degree day, show up late for the tour in a Guardia Civil truck. Needless to say, we sure made an entrance.

So, the tour began. And all I could think of the entire time was how damned cold I was. Our tour guide spoke very fast in Spanish, and while I tried paying attention in the beginning, that quickly went downhill. The tour began with an explanation of the wine made at this particular bodega, then we went outside (brrr!) to the barren vineyards, then to the fermentation plant, and then to the cellars.

Storage cellar.

Thus far, the tour had been freezing, and I couldn't help but think it would be so much better in the Summer months. However, as we headed into the cuevas (caves), the temperature rose, as did the creepiness. I swear Gollum lives in these caves- the smell of mildew, the dim lighting, the stone walls covered in a black, slimey mold (which Jacklyn almost pushed me into)- it was all pretty scary, but I didn't mind because I was back into good spirits with the warmth. This is about the time when Jacklyn and I couldn't stop laughing, and only made ourselves look more like goofs in front of the natives :)

¡Las cuevas!

The wine tour ended with a wine tasting in a cozy room, where the guide showed us the proper way to hold the glass and appreciate the taste of the wine. We were only offered two reds, and I didn't find the taste all too appealing. Sorry dad, I didn't get you a bottle of this stuff.

The group during the wine tasting.

We ended the day with a MOVIE NIGHT! Finally some down time. Nina, Jacklyn and I all settled down in the theater room in the dorm to watch Mamma Mía and sing Abba.

Oh, and I am currently recovering from a cold I contracted from this adventure. :/ I knew wine tours were a bad idea, see mom and dad?

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Another party in the Guggenhem! This time all of my friends were there...

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This past Friday, the CIDE group had another scheduled day trip, this time to the Urdaibai Biosphere Reserve. Despite the name, the Bioshpere Reserve is just an area that spreads across 22 different cities in the Basque Country, two of which we would be visiting on our excursion. 

Our first stop was to Gernika where we visited the Assembly House, the Tree of Gernika, and the Museo de la Paz. Though Gernika is considered the historical capital of the Basque country, I didn't find the Assembly House nor the Tree of Gernika all that impressive. The current Tree of Gernika was just planted in 2005, so it's status as symbol for the Basque people was hard to appreciate, especially in February without any leaves.

The entire CIDE group in front of the Tree of Gernika.

Jacklyn and I posing in front of the Tree.

Next we visited the Museo de la Paz in order to understand the significance of the tragic bombing of April 26, 1937 that obliterated the town of Gernika. Seeing the effects of the the Civil War on the Gernika definitely left an impression. Though I had seen Picasso's painting Gernika depicting the bombing during my school trip back in 2006, it was a different experience being in the town itself.

After a lunch that consisted of seafood paella (claws, feelers, and all) and fish, we headed to Mundaka. The beach at Mundaka on a sunny, warm day I'm sure would be the place to be (especially for surfers). However, as is our luck, rain and wind was in the cards for us so we weren't able to fully enjoy Mundaka. However, Nana, I'll have you know that your hot-pink flower umbrella is coming in handy... even if it makes me stick out from the crowd :)

Mundaka.. hopefully I'll go back when it's warm!

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I found boots that fit over my calves! Right when I was about to hunt down the only fat person in Spain and ask where they bought their boots. Thanks for the thunder calves, DAD!

Ta-da!

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Carnaval, 2010= crazy! This past weekend was a constant party in Bilbao, and was full of new adventures- one of which I know my mom would be proud of, hence the title of the blog. First, let me start from the beginning.

Thursday night: The start of Carnaval (at least for the Americans). While we thought we were to dress up every night, as the weekend progressed we realized that most people only dress up on Saturday night. In any case, Thursday night my friends and I planned on going to a party for both foreign and Spanish students (Erasmus parties) in downtown Bilbao called Sala V.I.P. I dressed as a cowgirl ("vaquera"), Jacklyn as a Native American, Kelly as a devil, and Nina as an angel. The night wasn't all too different than any other night out in Bilbao, but it was made 10x better by the fact that I could shoot everyone with my plastic guns. There's a new sheriff in town.

Jacklyn and I goofing off in the metro station.

Jacklyn, Lizzie, Michelle, and I.

Friday: A few of my friends and I went to the tapas bars in Casco Viejo during the afternoon to try the renowned pintxos in Plaza Nuevo. It was a nice surprise on the way back to the dorms to find a carnival set-up in the plaza, complete with cotton candy, churros, games, and rides. Jacklyn, Santi and I shared THE BIGGEST cotton candy I have ever seen. And it was amazing. Friday night, we had planned to go to another Erasmus party, this time having rotated the costumes amongst ourselves. Somehow we went to the wrong club, but decided to stay there despite the fact. It was kind of comical, though, because we were the only people in the place, save maybe 5 others. Mind you, this is the club ("The Loft"), that was so packed the last weekend I thought I would have a panic attack. Let's just say it was the opposite this time- but we made the best of it. Jacklyn, Nina and I went to the top part and had a dance party all to ourselves... :) (We found out later that the DJ could see us the whole time)

Jacklyn and I.

Some Scottish guy picking my nose.

Saturday: THE night. As background, the week prior I was assigned to what is called a "Tandem" conversation partner- a person who goes to my university that I can meet up with so that she can learn English and I can practice Spanish. During the meeting, I met my partner, Olga, and we only briefly spoke in order to exchange contact information as we were both running late to class. We spoke via Skype later that day, and I suggested meeting for a bocadillo or coffee, just to get to know each other. Olga had something a little different in mind. Seeing as it was Carnaval, she invited me to come to her house for the weekend, stay with her family and go out with her friends. If you know me, you would know then that I was trying to find an excuse to get out of it- until I realized that, what the heck, I should just... go! I knew mom would tell me to go try something new, I knew I would have a good time, and I for sure knew I would regret not doing it. As dad said, it's very "European" to just invite me over like she did.

So, on Saturday at around 6pm I took the bus to Olga's town, Castro, which is about a 30-minute bus ride from Bilbao. When I got to Castro, Olga and her mom were waiting for me at the bus stop and we drove to her house where I met her dad and got a tour of her home. Her mom and dad didn't speak English, but were eager to speak to me so I could practice Spanish. They were also very hospitable and after showing me to my own room immediately offered me a sandwich and Coca Cola (which, I think they got just for me?). After meeting the parents, Olga and I had to rush over to her friend Itziar's house where all of her friends were getting into their clown costumes for the night. The house was full of girls rushing to get their makeup and costumes ready, so it was sort of awkward for me to be there without anything to do. I'm not even sure at that point if they knew I understood Spanish... :)

From Itziar's, we went to an old school house that was no longer in use, and that someone's mom owned, to hang out and meet up with other people. Walking into a room of even more Spaniards was definitely intimidating, but they warmed up to me and I to them soon enough. They asked me questions about lyrics to English songs, what my favorite TV shows were (they were really into Gossip Girl, Lost, and Grey's Anatomy), if I had a "novio"... those sorts of things. They would laugh after singing American songs out loud in front of me in case they said something wrong- and it was kind of funny hearing "All the single ladies" sung as "I'm a single lady". I found it most hard to understand them when they were speaking to each other, or telling a joke, but overall I was able to keep up (and if I couldn't, I'd just laugh). Humor is still hard for me to grasp in another language.

Olga and I.

Then we went to the street. There was a single street in the old part of town (Castro is a small town) that was completely packed with people in the most outrageous, ridiculous, and sometimes scary costumes. From the Terminator to Michael Jackson, to men dressed as women or babies, the Spaniards definitely know how to dress up! I liked how everyone, in contrast to the in the US, didn't worry about looking like a sexy clown or a slutty bunny. No, if they wanted to be a clown, they WERE a clown. After a long and fun (and unfortunately cold) night of going from the street to the bars, Olga and I were picked up by her dad. I laughed when Olga said to me, "noches alegres..." and I was able to finish it by saying, "mañanas tristes" (Hey, class really does come in handy!). 

The next morning (I had to be woken up by the alarm- the shades these people have over their windows could keep me in bed all day!), Olga's parents had donuts and Cola Cao waiting for us. Then, Olga said that it was custom on Sundays for them to go into town to the bars before lunch to have a glass of wine, mingle, and eat tapas. They showed me around Castro, a small mariner's town complete with cliffs to dive from and a pretty beach. I was so grateful to be shown into the tapas bars by native Spaniards, and they even taught me how to order tapas in crowded bars- it's as simple as taking them and paying later. Olga, her mom and I sipped on non-alcoholic wine (it's a type of wine, more like grape juice) while her dad had vino tinto (red wine). After going to a few bars, we headed back to the house where we sat down for a home-cooked meal courtesy of Olga's mom. Can't beat that!

Olga and her dad were nice enough to drive me back after lunch, and said I am welcome anytime. Olga has already invited me back this weekend for her birthday, and said that her friends really liked me! Let's hope they did- I thought they were all really cool, and goofy like me. I told her she should come out with my friends and me as well, so that she can practice English. So mom, as you can see, you're always right. ;)

Great weekend!

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I find this common Spanish saying appropriate to life in Bilbao & am sure will hold true this weekend for "Carnaval"...

"Noches alegres, mañanas tristes" : "Happy nights, sad mornings"

Calimotxo:

Punishing the liver of youths since 1976

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Friday, the CIDE program had planned trip to the south of France, so we all piled onto the bus at 7am (some had more trouble than others) and headed to Bayona (Bayonne). The visit wasn't so much a guided tour as it was a do-whatever-you-want sort of thing, which I liked. A group of us found a pastry shop that was TO DIE FOR, and I made sure to get my fruit tart fix. I still dream of it...

The best fruit tart of my liiife.

Then we went into a chocolaterie, because this particular town is well-known for its chocolate. Though I was full from the pastry, the hot chocolate was amazing- essentially a liquid chocolate bar. After exploring a bit, we got back into the bus and crossed the border back into Spain to stop at a small restaurant for lunch. Three courses later (I'm still trying to figure out the type of meat from the second dish), we went to Hondarribia, a town in Spain bordering France.

In Hondarribia, we walked through Old Town, and it really felt like walking through a movie. I can't believe people actually live in towns like this- and if anyone has seen Chocolat- it felt like I was in that town. We visited the Castillo de Carlos V, which was slightly unimpressive, and the Iglesia de Santa María. My favorite part, though, had to be the town itself rather than the important buildings.

Friends at Hondarribia

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Day Three: 

One of my goals of the trip was to visit a castle in England, and on the third day we made it happen! We left for Windsor Castle in Berkshire via train in on Saturday morning to visit the Queen's favorite vacation home and oldest and largest occupied castle. The castle was amazing, with the Queen's Doll House (a mini replica of the Buckingham Palace with working lights and plumbing!), the State Apartments, the drawing gallery (that contained sketches from DaVinci himself!), and more. St. George's Chapel was definitely a step back in time, having been built in the 14th century...

After having lunch at "Eat" again, we headed back to Paddington Station. Unluckily, however, our train was a bit delayed due to someone being hit (and killed) by the train at another station! They kept mentioning a fatality on the announcement... pretty gruesome. 

From Paddington Station, we took the "tube" (we were getting pretty used to the Underground by that time) to Platform 9 3/4- a destination that Kelly was dying to visit, just to feel a bit closer to Harry. When we arrived, the guard pointed us to the platform (just a wall off to the side... nothing too special, sadly) without us even having to ask the direction. I'm guessing the whole muggle thing prevented us from entering... :(

After the photo-op, we went to yet another- the famous Abbey Road. We got there just in time before the sky was too dark- and had to fight a crowd of people that was trying to get the same re-created Beatles album cover picture as we were. Ours wasn't perfect, but eh. What can you do.

This was the night that the girls and I decided to go out, figuring that we should enjoy the London nightlife for one night at least. We took a short siesta, or nap I guess since we were in England, got dinner at a "pizzeria" (really a Persian restaurant... let's just say the pizza was interesting), and got ready to go out. Jacklyn's friend was nice enough to meet up with us at a bar/club that she knew of called the "Electric Showroom" on Old Street. The bar was nice- bigger than the bars in Spain- and it was a relief to speak English. We met some interesting people that night, including an Australian who thought Nina was a cheerleader and was therefore "his favorite", and an Irish guy who thought I was, quote, "too beautiful to talk to". I think he had his drunk goggles on ;). It was a really fun night... until the walk back. The bus system is so hard to figure out, so we braved the streets. The rain put a damper on our spirits, and there was a point where I said the famous London 2010 quote, "I hate London! I spit on the Marble Arch!". Yes, that happened. 

Funny quotes from the night (a selection):

• "I just said 'sorray' to someone in the bathroom!"-- Nina at the bar. It's hard not to speak in a British accent there.
• "Maybe it's because you look like bubbies!"-- Ruby, a lady from the bar who said we look like babies and that's the reason we couldn't get the bartender's attention :(
• "You're so small!", bends down, "Kiss my nose!"-- A guy to Kelly (she's small...). She said no.

Day Four: The never-ending day:

In the morning, we THOUGHT we had enough time to go to the Camden Stables Market, so we did. The market was really cool, and I got a silver ring that looks like a feather. PS- LONDON IS FREEZING. 

Anyways... so synopsis of the failure to return back to Bilbao that day:

• The bus was an hour late, and we were stuck in traffic on the way to Stansted.
• We arrived with 10 minutes to board. As you can gather, we didn't make it.
• Couldn't find another flight, or convince the airline to give us a refund. Had to buy another ticket for the following day, at the same time.
• Slept in the airport. FREEZING. I wrapped my entire body in clothes. The lady next to me didn't even know I was a person until I moved.
• The day wasn't all that bad... mainly just read "A Thousand Splendid Suns" and talked.
• Made it back to Bilbao!!!! I seriously must be cursed when it comes to flying.

"Let's do it, let's do it, let's do it, let's do itttt.... again"

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Another full day! According to weather.com, the forcast for Friday was rainy, so we had made plans to make that day our museum day. In order to get to the Natural History Museum, we first made our way through Hyde Park. It was a beautiful park, and to my excitement is where some scenes from one of my favorite movies, Finding Neverland, was filmed! It's no surprise, then, that the statue of Peter Pan was in the park. The memorial for Princess Diana was there as well, and, going along with the theme of birds throughout London, there was a goose protecting its chicks right on top of the memorial- which was a fountain that was meant to represent her life.

The Natural History Museum was one of the most renowned, and was really neat. However, compared to the museums in New York and DC, I didn't learn anything new :). 

I might be related to the renowned archaeologist, 

Othneil Charles Marsh. Who knew! So serious.

We then made our way to the center of the city, stopping for lunch at one of our new favorite places- "Eat"- and also popped into Harrods. I hadn't known anything about Harrods myself, but my friend- who is quite the fashionista- let me know all about it and its status worldwide as a high-end department store. Needless to say, I didn't purchase anything- somehow I didn't feel like spending 1000 euros on a pair of shoes... From here, we went to the National Gallery to see paintings by Picasso and Monet to an art exhibit on the red light district of Amsterdam (Horengracht, 1980s). 

Outside the National Gallery. One of my favorite

photos from the trip...

From an experience of standing in front of works such as Raphael's Madonna with the pinks, we left the National Gallery for a wholly different experience. We had reservations to go to the Absolut Ice Bar for 6:15 in which we entered a bar made of ice (the walls, the bar, the cups!) for 40 minutes- just enough time before our body heat would begin to melt the ice. It was something to do just to say that we went to an ice bar, and worth the 17 pounds we paid. I'm glad we restrained Kelly from dancing on this bar, because I'm sure it would have ended badly.

Kelly and I at the Ice Bar!

After the bar, we had plans to meet up with Jacklyn's friend from home who was studying in London. While outside the meeting place (Ripley's Believe It Or Not! Museum in Picadilly Circus), I was harassed by none other than the Ripley's mascot itself! At first, the man next to him said that there was no man inside the suit (it was a blow-up suit) and that it was motion sensored... trying to persuade me to give it a hug. I was taken a little off guard when the blow-up mascot hugged me- I definitely felt a man in there. Then, the man told me to lift up its skirt. Underneath... well, you can guess. And the man wanted me to hold it! AAH! Never going back to that museum.

Me, screaming, with Jacklyn.

After that ordeal, Jacklyn's friend arrived and said that she could hear someone screaming from inside the museum... that was me. Anyways, from there we headed to a restaurant called Porters to enjoy some real British food. Originally intending to get the fish and chips, I ended up with a Shepherd's Pie, which was amazing. To top it off we had some hard cider, and the night ended in good company at around 11:30pm so that we could be rested for the next day. 

Shepherd's Pie

Funny quotes from the night: 

• "Just lift it up and hold it"-- The Ripleys man to me. Don't like him!
• "You're gonna DIE!!!!!!!!"-- Man on a bicycle who almost ran me over. Along with a taxi. It was hard getting used to the direction of traffic in London... especially combined with my already-terrible street-crossing skills.
• "I just wanted to say goodbye to the baby!"-- Scary old man to Kelly after she said she was pregnant in order to send him away from our table. He didn't get the message.
• "You are not a dig, sir!"-- Kelly to a homeless man who was barking. He thought he was a dog. We saw his station earlier, with a dog bowl and biscuits.
• "Why don't you just stay up there?"-- Me in my sleep to Jacklyn when she was getting out of the top bunk in the middle of the night. She thought I was angry with her.

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London: Check.

This past Thursday was St. Thomas's day in Spain, so the majority of my friends were planning on taking the extra day as an opportunity to travel Europe. A lot of the CIDE students went to Barcelona, some went to Italy, and 4 friends and I went to London! Jacklyn, Ashley, Kelly Nina, and I embarked on our (longer than anticipated) journey to England on Wednesday night after classes. After taking many modes of transportation (metro, bus, plane, more busses...), we arrived at the "Smart Hyde Park View" hostel, right across from, no surprise here, Hyde Park at around midnight. Our room in the hostel was so small, with 3 bunk beds crammed into the room (the bunk beds, mind you, were for 5-ft tall people). It was nice, though, because we had the room to ourselves, with our own bathroom, and were given breakfast each morning- consisting of toast, jam, and cereal. Can't escape the carbs in Europe, that's for sure.

So: first day, what a day. Friday morning, we took it easy in order to recover from traveling, and didn't get going until around 11am. We headed out to take the Big Bus tour of London- a tourist-y thing to do, but it allowed us to see all the sites and learn about them before hopping off and exploring London more in-depth. After riding on the bus for about 2 hours, having seen sites from the hospital in which the Princes were born to Trafalgar Square and Big Ben, we got off the bus to explore on foot.

We walked past Big Ben, which really wasn't as big as expected, but beautiful nonetheless. Westminster Abbey was a bit pricey to see from the inside, but we were able to see the inside of a smaller church right next to the Abbey. After seeing the sites in Parliament and walking past the home of the Prime Minister, we headed to Trafalgar Square where Jacklyn and I decided to take a picture with one of the big bronze lions. The task of hoisting ourselves onto the ledge and onto the lion proved more difficult than anticipated, and, even though Jacklyn won't admit it, she definitely would have fallen if I hadn't pulled her up. 

Jacklyn and I with the Trafalgar Lion.

We continued on our self-guided tour, stopping by some of the guards sitting on horses outside the Cavalry museum. One of the horses wasn't the happiest when we tried to take its picture, and I'm pretty sure he would have bitten Jacklyn had she not escaped in time. However, our mission of finding and distracting one of the guards that isn't allowed to move was unsuccessful, to Jacklyn's dissappointment.

On the way to our next destination, Buckingham Palace, we stopped at a small deli-style restaurant. Little did we know that it was recommended by none other than Simon Cowle himself! Apparently he thought the bacon sandwiches were the best in London- but I saw no such sandwich. After filling up on an italian panini (so relieved to have some real, good food!), we made our way to the Palace. 

After the Buckingham, which was gorgeous, we headed back through St. James's Park. We ran into a slight mishap here, though, due to Kelly's fear of birds. When I say fear, I literally mean she is deathly afraid. Little did we know that we were walking through a park with the most birds- pigeons mostly- that I have ever seen. Looking back, I think we even chose to take the "Birdcage Walk" path. Needless to say, we had to walk along the outside of St. James's Park.

We headed back to Parliament to catch the Big Bus tour again and take advantage of the free river cruise that was included in our tickets. We drove across the London Bridge (and unwillingly had to sing "London Bridge is Falling Down" at the request- more like command- of our tour guide) and ended at the Tower of London where we were to catch our boat. The cruise was short, but enjoyable with all of my friends onboard joking that we were on a "Booze Cruise". If it was a booze cruise, it was a bit lacking, but we made the most of it. 

"Booze Cruise Twenty Ten!"

The boat dropped us off by the London Eye at around dusk. The sky was such a pretty color, especially against the lights of the buildings. 

From the boat, we made our way to the London Eye to take advantage of seeing the entire city from above. Apparently, the London Eye- basically just a giant, enclosed ferris wheel- was only supposed to be a temporary feature. However, what was meant to last for two years has now been in place for ten, and I'm glad for that. With our tickets, we first saw a 4-D show about the London Eye, and then boarded. We really made out, given that we had the pod virtually to ourselves save one couple. Thinking that the picture would be taken of all of us at the beginning of the ride, we made fools of ourselves in front of the couple on-board with us by standing in place, posing for the picture for about three minutes. In any case, the view was amazing and my fear of heights wasn't a barrier at all. By this time, nighttime had fallen and the city was lit up with the lights from buildings, reflecting on the water. We could see everything from the top of the Eye, and it was that view that has me saying it was my favorite part of London.

From here, we made our way on foot to the Hard Rock Café to sit and enjoy the end of the night with a good ole American cheeseburger! Taking from my dad and uncle's tastes, I also ordered a Stella. Only learned from the best. Sidenote: Did you know that Hard Rock London was the original??

Made our way in style to the Hard Rock. This was surprisingly

one of the few times it rained the entire trip!! In London!

As you can see, we really tried to make the most of our trip. This was only the first DAY!

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