Un-Toledo We Meet Again...

First I just need to say that this is the end of the blog. If you happen to be a movie director and you just happened to come across this blog just now, PLEASE go to the first post and start reading there. Holy Toledo has some serious blockbuster potential.

As I write this, I am sitting in the Chicago O'Hare Airport, having just posted my last Fall 2010 Facebook Photo Album, teary eyed for the umpteenth time today, and a little poorer after paying for internet for my 7 hour layover. At 6 am today Mama Pili drove me to the bus stop and we both cried for about 10 minutes togather before we said adios for the last time. Raquel didn't come--she was sleeping (typical), but I haven't seen much of her for the last few days anyway. I am disappointed though that I didn't really get to say goodbye to Estefanía, but she called last night to say goodbye and exchange emails and Facebook information. Even though she didn't live with us, I felt so much closer to her than I did to Raquel.

Yesterday Abuelo and Tía Emma came over to say goodbye. Abuelo was asking me if I was ready to leave Spain and go back home to the States. When I answered no, he just looked at me and said, "Well, you know the solution for that right? It's very easy. Find a Spanish boyfriend tonight so you can stay here with him!"

Well, I tried really hard to do what Abuelo told me, but considering the fact that I am stateside right now instead of Spainside, it's clear that my novio quest did not result in the citizenship-by-marriage-slash-true-love-for-life ending I had hoped for.

I knew I would be really sad to leave, but I didn't expect to cry this much. Especially when Mama Pili said goodbye. She told me I always have a family in Toledo and their house is always my house too. Cue the waterworks.

At lunch yesterday Raquel asked me what has been my favorite thing about Spain and I honestly couldn't pick one thing. I tried and I tried, but I just couldn't! TIHLALIS is going strong with almost 30 entries so far. TIHLAL is pretty solid, considering it is about a cat, with 9 entries. TTCSAIATF is pretty extensive as well with almost 60 entries. But TIWMALIS would be endless. There are so many things I will miss about living in Spain. The people, the lifestyle, the Fundación, the (lack of) studying, learning loads in spite of said lack of studying, traveling, language barriers, overcoming said language barriers, todo, todo, todo. The list is infinite.

Another sadness: most of the people I've gotten close to over the semester are not coming back with me to Notre Dame. Some are staying in Toledo for the year (something I wish with all my heart I was doing as well), some go to other universities around the country, others live in Spain and obviously will stay there. Luckily Caitlin and I have grand plans to buy "Wine Tasting For Dummies" and become vino-experts...otherwise I'd be SOL and SOFriendsFromToledo.

I'm certain that when I am back home in Memphis among family and friends, just in time for Christmas, distributing their thoughtfully chosen gifts, I will be happy. But until then, whilst I am alone in O'Hare airport, missing Spain, in casa-limbo, with only $14, 23 Euros and 1,010 Hungarian Forints in my wallet, I'm allowed to be sad. VALE?!

Ok, enough melodrama.

Except........

This post also marks the end of Holy Toledo. As much as I have LOVED blogging about Spain, I'm just not the kind of girl who blogs about how many miles I ran that day (usually zero) or what I ate for dinner (it varies...like you even care). I'll leave good ole Holy Toledo out here in cyberspace forever, so don't fret. It will always be here for reminiscing purposes. However, it will remain untouched and thus untainted (is that a word?). Purely a blog about electrifying tales, I'm not going to ruin it by adding more. It's perfect the way it is...at least I think so!

If you've read all these posts, major props and even bigger thanks. There's a stats page that tells me how many people from every country read my blog each day. Big shoutout to my 19 readers from the United Arab Emirates, whoever you are. Also all the randos from Venezuela, Canada, Russia, China, France, Germany, Ireland, England, and Croatia. And of course everyone from Spain and the US! I don't know who you all are, but you make my day and motivate me to write.

One last thing. Sorry, I know this is long, but I still have 2 hours left here before my next flight. The Bacon Wallet. I considered leaving him in Spain as a "footprint" of sorts, but I couldn't bear to part with him. So The Bacon Wallet is still in my purse, preparing for our next adventure. I think we shall be traveling companions forever.

Well, I think that's about it! If I know you, I'm sure I'll see you soon, unless I left you in Spain, in which case it might be later rather than sooner. If I don't know you and you stumbled here, I hope you've enjoyed. Ha sido un placer. No os digo "adios," sino "hasta luego."

...or should I say "LUEGO FUEGO??" Ha. Jk.

Hasta luego. Que vayas con Dios, y que tengas suerte en todo.

Un besito,
Elizabeth/Eli/Corazón/Cariño/Nena/Hija/Niña /Stephanie/Cielo/Lizzy/Melissa



P.S. One last TIHL.

TIHLALIS #30:

30. I love life in Spain and I will miss it very much. I'll be back one day. Very soon.

Javier, Mama Pili and I after graduation from the Fundación. Such a proud moment.

Czech It Off The List

Round two of Eastern Europe Excursion: Prague, Czech Republic. We took a bus from Budapest to Prague that lasted 8 hours. Now, an 8-hour bus ride at first seems like an utterly miserable experience, right? WRONG! This was, sin duda, the best bus ride of my entire life. The seats were super comfy, they reclined, I had a whole row to myself the entire way, each leg of the trip featured a different movie (3 in all, including The Notebook!), we got FREE cappucinos, there was WIFI ON THE BUS, AND it was only 17 EUROS!!!!! AMAZING!!! Ha. We tried to explain it to people later but they didn't quite share our enthusiasm, so I don't expect it from anyone else, either. I just thought I'd share the joy.

Anyway, I was super excited about this trip because we have an insider connection in Prague! Enter Marcus--German (but also American because he was born in Indianapolis...represent!), medical student in Prague, son of Gunter--German, medical school classmate of Bill--my dad. Marcus and I go way back. I even have proof. See?

Evidence of our long-lost friendship. I'm on the left, Marcus on the right.

A few weeks before our trip I added who I hoped was the correct Marcus on Facebook and he graciously offered to be our host and tour guide. Seeing as, just like in Hungary, we don't know a single word of Czech (although I picked up a fair amount over the course of the 2 days), we eagerly accepted Marcus' offer. We arrived in Prague Saturday around 5, again in the pitch black dark of night. We found our hostel easy peasy lemon squeezy--an impressive feat, I'd say--and then went out to walk around for a while so we wouldn't be eager beavers and arrive for dinner at an hour way too early to be socially acceptable. We saw Prague Castle from afar and Old Town Square from up close. 'Tis the season in Prague and Christmas is in the air. Everywhere. In Old Town Square and other smaller squares around town they are having Christmas markets with rows and rows of vendors selling traditional Czech food like Langosé, sausage, sweets, hot wine (not as delicious as it sounds), and all sorts of Christmas trinkets. It's incredibly beautiful and charming with all the lights up, garland and red bows everywhere, and a GIANT Christmas tree in the middle of the square.

After we explored for a while (and learned how to say "I don't speak Czech" in Czech), we went for traditional Czech food at the traditional Czech eating hour. Caitlin and I each had part of a pig, although the location of these parts is still unbeknownst to us. If my memory serves me right, I had saddle of piglet, and Caitlin had fatback. Will someone please enlighten us as to what exactly we were eating?? It was delicious, but I just need to know. Now.

After dinner we got ready to go out with Marcus and friends. We met up with him at his Med school Christmas party, at a club, hosted by the faculty. I think I can compare it to if Notre Dame faculty hosted a party for students at Club Fever. Kind of weird, but still really fun! Marcus and I finally rekindled the friendship of our wee years and Caitlin and I met some of his friends: Abraham John Mathews (such a solid Biblical name, no?) and Seiver. Both are really cool guys.

When the future doctors of the Czech Republic party started to wind down, we attempted to relocate to another venue. However, large amounts of pre-Jetset eggnog on the boys' part made them slightly incapable of finding said other venue. We got another nighttime tour of the city--mostly backstreets and residential neighborhoods--but by the time we made it to Kostel, Caitlin and I were so tired that we asked Marcus to take us home pretty soon after. But not before we took some pictures "for our Dads!!" Caitlin has them on her camera...they'll be coming soon.

The next day we dragged Marcus out at the crack of noon for a day of sightseeing. We ventured up to Prague Castle which isn't actually a castle, just a Cathedral and the "Castle area"...I think. Marcus showed us some important buildings that looked nice from the outside but none of us knew what they were so we just called them churches. The city is so beautiful! Prague is one of the only cities that survived WWII unscathed, so everything is old and gorgeous and unbelievable.

We met up with Abez and Seiver for lunch. They apparently were craving a taste of the homeland because instead of Czech food we went for fish and chips at the English pub nearby. After lunch, Caitlin and I dragged the boys to more tourist attractions (slash it was their idea)--the top of the Clock Tower where you can see all of Prague. It was such a beautiful view of the city! Definitely worth the 2 euros and a 5 minute climb up the ramp (the gentlemen hopped in the elevator before we girls could squeeze in).

Favorite picture of the trip, possibly.

Marcus, The Bacon Wallet and I in front of the Clock Tower. The boys LOVED (I think...I hope?) The Bacon Wallet. Fast friends for sure.

We wandered over to check out Winceslas Square, saw the square and decided to take refuge from the cold with a few pints in an Irish pub. Marcus ditched us for better company and ugly socks after a while, but Seiver and Abraham stuck around to be our babysitters for the rest of the night. We stayed at the bar for a while, comparing music, movie and TV tastes, British vs. American English (e.g. TORCH) and just having an all-around ace time. We ended the night at--surprise!--shopping mall #2 of Eastern Europe Excursion. We went bowling! I don't know about Caitlin, but normally I am a terrible bowler. I've never scored more than 100, and I prefer to use bumpers. I had to be a big girl this time, though, and go without. Remember that saying, "Girls rule, boyz drool?" Well, Caitlin and I solidly schooled those boyz in both games. Caitlin won the first and I won the second. NBD. Successful night with the sort of locals.

Monday, while Marcus was in Czech class, Caitlin and I set out to do all the really touristy things we would have felt bad dragging the boys along for. We visited the Lennon wall...

The Bacon Wallet LOVES John Lennon.

...and found a surprise ND logo right above John Lennon's face!

Represent.

I'm dying to know who did it--you're my hero.

We went back to the Christmas market one last time to buy some souvenirs before meeting Marcus and Abraham for lunch and going back to Toledo. Marcus was nice enough to take us to the airport (all the way to security, even!), which was clutch because with 3 different modes of transportation and heavy backpacks weighing on our freshly massaged shoulders, there's no way we would have made it on time. After an unexpected, unexplained hour and a half delay, we finally got on the plane, left beautiful Prague and went home to Spain. One day left, presents still to buy, not wanting to say goodbye to my Spain family--at home and at the Fundación. Lots of sadness impending.

Hungary For Prunes.

Directly after the last exam on Wednesday (literally, right after...enough time to grab our mochilas and PEACE), Caitlin, The Bacon Wallet and I headed to Madrid to spend the night at Caitlin's aunt's house in preparation for our excursion to Eastern Europe. After purchasing the necessary cold-weather outerwear, our first stop was Budapest, Hungary.

So many hungry/Hungary jokes. We were starving when we got there, so it was actually very appropriate.

When we arrived in Budapest, we found this bus service that drove us right to the front door of the hostel. This was really clutch, because neither of us know a single word of Hungarian (as if anyone actually does...). So navigating our way to the hostel without a map, without any language skills, and in the PITCH BLACK DARKNESS AT 4 IN THE AFTERNOON would have been rather difficult. The sun sets so early there! I do not understand. It's so strange.

After checking in at Colors Hostel, we decided to go on a nighttime boat cruise on the Danube! We bundled up, made our way to the river and hopped the boat. It was SO cold, but the boat drivers anticipated our freezingness and had blankets ready for us. Caitlin and I decided to be adventurous and sit outside on the deck of the boat so we could take pictures. The rest of the passengers were lame (slash smart) and sat inside with their hot chocolate whilst we battled hypothermia up top, but we definitely got the best views. Budapest is so beautiful at night! Unfortunately, my camera decided to be uncooperative and fail at taking amazing pictures like it usually does. So the only photo I have from the boat tour is this one, which I think is all I really need anyway.

The Bacon Wallet with the ELIZABETH BRIDGE on the Danube in Budapest.

After the Danube tour, we took refuge in a cellar restaurant and settled in for our first Hungarian meal. Two words can perfectly describe Hungarian food: hearty and robust. Every bite is packed with flavor and the bites are endless--the portions are absolutely massive. But it's so good that even though you're about to burst you want to keep eating and eating because you just want more of the amazing flavor in your mouth! Ahhhhhh, so delicious. It took a while for us to be able to move again, but when we finally made it back to the hostel, we got ready to go out. We had met someone earlier who told us about a place to go, so we decided to check it out. Once we finally found the address and managed to find our way there, we discovered that it was a club.......inside a mall? It was...interesting. But still a good time!

The next day, we forced ourselves to crawl out of bed so we could see Budapest by daylight. We grabbed our maps and hit the streets. We tried to see all the places we saw the night before on our boat tour. First was Buda Palace, then Buda Castle. Both places had magnificent views of the entire city.

View of Pest from Buda.

The rest of the early afternoon we just kind of meandered around the city, taking it all in. It's such a cool place. But by 4:30 we were making our way to the highlight event of Budapest: the Széchenyi spa. I dare you to try and pronounce that...I certainly can't. We just called it "the most amazing place ever" instead. First we changed into our swim suits and jumped in the pool...outside. Keep in mind it is about 25 or 30 degrees outside. The pool was steaming and wonderful and we stayed in for about 15 minutes before we had to sprint inside for our massages.

Ah. Maz. Ing.

For my first massage experience, I'd say it was pretty spectacular. We both got full body massages, and it was the most miraculous experience of my life. There was one ticklish spot the masseuse kept hitting that would kind of make me twitch a little, which was kind of awkward, but other than that it was perfect.

SO excited for our first massage!

After the massages, we spent the next 3 and a half hours testing out the dozens of steam rooms and mineral water hot tubs (indoors and out!) that the spa had to offer. By 9:30, we had both set personal records for "longest bath of my life" and our bodies had turned entirely into prunes. We were finally ready to leave the hottest outdoor pool so we prepared ourselves to reenter the cold air. We mapped out the quickest route from the pool to our towels to the door to the inside and got ready to run. Shrieking from bitter cold, we ran to our towels only to find that they had FROZEN to the bench! 30 infinitely long seconds were spent in shock and laughter until we realized that our hair was probably turning to icicles so we had better get our wet-swimsuited selves back inside. We propped up our stiff towels on the radiator, and rented new ones so we could shower, re-bundle up, go back to the hostel and pass out. Sitting in warm water for hours on end is a surprisingly draining activity and we were exhausted. We ate another hearty, robust meal and when we got back we packed up our bags and fell right asleep.

The next morning we left Budapest for round two of Eastern Europe, and Caitlin and I were both wishing we had more time in Hungary. It's such an interesting place--very different from the rest of Europe that I've seen. I will definitely be coming back here, this was just a preview!

Lolz

Lola (who now goes by "Lolz") and I had a fotoshoot tonight while we were waiting for Mama Pili to come home. She initiated it. While I was typing away on my computer (note: typing should not be confused with studying), she climbed on my arms, plopped down and started pressing the keys with her paws, clearly trying to open Photobooth and begin her model debut. Here is our current portfolio:

What a star!

Feeling a bit camera shy.

Sassy face. Work it, Lolz.

Lolz wasn't ready for that one.

Trying to escape!

Biting. Typical model behavior.

Eyez.

Smile!

Smizing.

Just let loose, Lolz!

BFFs.

TIHLAL #9: Lolz is actually starting to grow on me.

Number of exams left: 2
Total minutes spent studying thus far: 109

Lost In Translation?

Last night after dinner instead of studying for my final today, I spent almost two hours with Estefanía talking about life in the States, showing her pictures from home, looking at Google maps of Barfield Road and just generally avoiding Picasso, Dalí and Miró. We have decided to become email intercambios after I leave Spain.

Interestingly enough, an uplifting fact to note is that the English word "procrastinate" does not have a direct translation to Spanish. So...technically, I'm not actually doing anything I shouldn't...or is it that I'm not doing the things I should...or possibly that I'm doing absolutely everything I can...or maybe that I'm not doing anything at all?



Are you confused enough to notice that I'm still not studying?


Number of exams left: 3
Total minutes spent studying thus far: 7

NAVIDADES! NAVIDADES! NAVIDADES!

I was wrong. The masterpiece in the plaza is not a giant Belén. Even better:

IT'S AN ICE SKATING RINK!!!!!

Unfortunately, it won't be open until 17 December, 2 measly days after I leave! WHYYYY can't they just hurry up and open it the 14th? Lamesauce.

Also, the CHRISTMAS TREE IS UP!!!!!! It's adorable. Muy chiquitito, but beautiful nonetheless.


Can you tell I'm super excited for Christmas and super NOT-excited for finals?

Number of exams left: 3
Total minutes spent studying thus far: 7

Cheese, Wine and Chocolate. Oh..and Windmills.

Interesting happenings during my time in blog limbo:

1. There's another huelga! Air traffic controllers in 8 major Spanish airports went on strike, UNANNOUNCED, on Friday and didn't resume work until Sunday, inconveniencing millions of travelers. The strike is in response to the government's recent decision to privatize airports in order to cut spending and increase revenue. The sickout strike began on Friday afternoon, with many controllers calling in sick. It continued into Saturday--the rest of the controllers walked out and closed the airspace! With the exception of various incoming international flights, no one could fly into or out of Spain for 2 whole days. It's especially bad timing for this strike because of the puente this weekend. Monday and Wednesday are national holidays, so everyone just takes Tuesday off too for a long holiday weekend (also I'm sure many a Spaniard is taking Thursday and Friday off as well and just having a nice week-long vacation.). One person I know had a trip to Italy planned but his flights out of Madrid were canceled. Another was going skiing in France, but I'm not sure what happened with his plans. Also, the government declared a state of emergency when the strike started, which now gives them the right to fire anyone who refuses to work. With threats of more strikes during the holiday season, that risk of being fired should dissuade any more potential huelgas. Luckily I didn't have any travel plans for this weekend! Pretty much everyone stayed in Toledo this weekend because exams are this week (YES. ON THE PUENTE. IT'S NOT FAIR.) and most people are traveling afterwards. Hopefully by this Thursday everything is running smoothly again! On the news during dinner tonight I heard that the air controllers were back at work today under military supervision but there is a HUGE backlog of passengers. Everyone is angry and frustrated including "many of Spain's famed fútbol players (who) were forced to use trains and buses so they could make it to weekend games." ...pobrecitos.

2. Day trip to Consuegra! Instead of studying for finals, Caitlin, Courtney and I took a bus to visit the windmills of Don Quijote. The town of Consuegra is kind of lame but I suppose that's because it's mostly residential and the only real tourist attraction is the hill with the windmills. They were so cool though! Very picturesque.

Enemigos de Don Quijote.

3. I finally learned how to make tortilla Española. Mama Pili showed me a few weeks ago and tonight I made one all by myself. It was buenísima! So excited to make it back home.

4. The Christmas lights are FINALLY on in Toledo!!!!!!!!!! And they are BEAUTIFUL. Definitely worth the wait. The whole town is glowing! In the plaza where I work they are currently in the process of setting up a giiiiiant Belén, or nativity scene. I really hope it's finished before I leave. Pictures to come soon, hopefully.

5. Pictures from Barcelona, in case you're not lucky enough to be my Facebook friend and see them on there.


TIHLALIS #28-29:

28. Vending machine/microwave sandwiches are surprisingly delicious.

29. Being a girl = getting lots of free things. All day everyday. But especially on the weekends.

Extreme Delays

I know this post is long overdue, especially for my mom who is DYING to hear about the bagpipes. So...sorry about that! This is going to be super short because I have lots of other things to write about but I have to go in order so this has to be first.

Anyway, last Friday--nine WHOLE DAYS ago--after an obligatory class visit to the Reina Sofia Museum in Madrid, I left to go on a fake pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela. I say fake because most people, when they make this pilgrimage, do it on foot. But my comrades and I did not have time to walk all the way to northern Spain. So we just took a plane.

1. Santiago de Compostela: Second to last stop on the Camino de Santiago (last stop is the "end of the world" where pilgrims burn their clothes and throw the ashes into the ocean). Beautiful church. We got to there right as Mass was about to start, which was lucky! Longest homily of all time, welcoming all the pilgrims (in their respective languages) who had arrived that day. Incense burner the size of a small child at the end of Mass--so cool. Definitely will be returning to Spain to do the Camino one day.
2. Crazy incense burner at Mass.
   
3. Seafood. Lots of it.
4. Bagpipe show was SO COOL. Took the bus to Ourense to see Carlos Núñez in concert. He is so talented and all the musicians were outstanding. Especially my personal favorite, the Brazilian drummer named Alon. The pipers were great too, and it was cool to see the different cultures mix together--there was Celtic stuff, Scottish obviously because of the bagpipes, Spanish, even Brazilian which was really neat. The video I have isn't great because the sound kind of messed up but it was still so so cool.
5. Carlos Núñez
6. On the way home there was so much fog in Santiago that the incoming plane was diverted to Porto. So we had to catch a 4 hour bus to Portugal to get on our flight home. Arrived almost 8 hours later than expected.

Serious faces for serious bagpipe action with The Bacon Wallet.

Exams start tomorrow...........let the procrastination posts begin!

Addendum To Thanksgiving Madness

Post-Script to TTCSAIATF: We are not thankful for those things in the order that they are written. Despite the fact that Nutella made a double appearance at #2 and #25, we do not love Nutella more than family and friends.

Post-Post-Script to TTCSAIATF: Lola has ISSUES.

Post-Post-Post-Script totally unrelated to TTCSAIATF: My former RA, Mary Clare (not to be confused with sissy Murr Clurr), is currently working for an organization in Ethiopia called Our Glimmer of Hope. Mary Clare is turning 23 soon, and for her birthday, instead of gifts, she is asking for donations to her organization to help bring water, medical facilities and other basic necessities to the people of Dube Bute, the town where she works. Here is Mary Clare's blog where you can read about the amazing work she's doing in Ethiopia. And here is the page where you can donate to her cause. Please consider donating! All the money raised goes directly to helping the people in Dube Bute and I know that with the funds she raises, Mary Clare will do wonderful things for that community.

Living In A Warzone

It's rather scary. Raquel and Estefanía are in a HUGE fight. Yesterday they were screaming at each other for a solid 20 minutes and I'm pretty sure a slap was thrown. I was hiding in my safe haven, protecting myself from getting caught in any potential crossfire. From inside the safety of my room I have learned a montón of fighting words. As I heard Raquel calling Estefanía various nasty names, I typed them into spanishdict.com and had myself a little Spanish homeschooling lesson. I suppose it might come in handy one day...

I don't even know really what they are fighting about anymore. I wasn't there for the beginning of it, and right now their primary accusations are that Estefanía treats Raquel like a child and that Raquel always acts like a witch with a B to Estefanía...typical sisterly squabbles. But now Raquel is threatening to skip their upcoming trip to Ireland because she doesn't want to be around Estefanía. That is making Mama Pili angry because they already paid for the trip. So she's forcing Raquel to go, causing even more drama and yelling.

For the most part, Mama Pili just lets them fight. Since they are 21 and 27, there's not much she can do except tell them to lower their voices occasionally. Javier just sits there too and whenever Raquel yells at Mama Pili he just says, "Don't talk to your mother like that." Meanwhile, I just sit in my room until Mama Pili comes in and tells me that it's safe to come out for dinner.

Hopefully they make up soon! It's starting super awkward.

TTCSAIATF #1-?

TIHLALIS and TIHLAL seem to be a popular theme of "Holy Toledo," so today I will continue the trend and begin yet another list. In honor of Thanksgiving, or "Día de Acción de Gracias," this list shall be entitled TTCSAIATF: "Things That Caitlin, Sofia And I Are Thankful For."


This afternoon Mama Pili, Javier, Raquel, Estefanía and Alberto left for Ireland to visit family. Lola and I are all alonesies at home until Monday, so tonight after Thanksgiving dinner at the Fundación, Caitlin and Sofia are coming over and we are having a Thanksgiving party/girls only sleepover. Everyone is bringing a homemade Thanksgiving dessert and we will have Thanksgiving cocktails (whatever those are...something involving cranberry, I suppose). Throughout the night we will be compiling a list of all the things we are thankful for. Right before we go to bed we will click "Publish Post," no matter how many typos there are. This list will be compiled by everyone, so no one will know whose belongs to who. Enjoy!

1. Being in Spain with Caitlin and Elizabeth
2. Nutella
3. Acceptable food substitutes
4. Not being diabetic
5. Families
6. Mama Pili
7. Lady Gaga
8. Cooking skillz
9. Food babiez
10. Blog readers who write me comments
11. No-Shave November (except armpits)
12. Tights
13. My dad Bill
14. Sofias card yricks
15. That I'm not a vampire
16. Having Elizabeth wax my eyebrows
    
17. Gelato
18. Boys
19. Listening to rap as a fuilty o=pleasure
20. Diego, who gave me his jacket on the tour, a free tour and free drinks after the tour
    
21. Polka dots
22. Not having to be out hthere grinding
23. Cell phones
24. Stuffing
25. Being a woman (where my feminists attt?!?!)
26. Nutella
27. Fanta limon, y zumo de frutas variadas
28. Body parts (those which we have and those which we dont have)
    
29. Shakirkas speaking english... aka angry chinese man struggling to sing
    
30. Dsettings button on any application/web page
31. Friends (collectively, no names cuz you all matter)
    
32. Not everyone is like sofia (million sofias would be crazy)
    
33. She wolfs
    
34. Shitty party music you dont understand, but dance to anyways
35. Youtubes
36. For being YOUNG AND IRRESPONSIBLE
    
37. Losing the remote (you find so many goodies while digging into pillows)
38. ABROAD!
39. Not going to jail
40. Exchange rate dollar to euro.... JK NOTTTT!!!
41. Life is... ya know... time and stuff
    
42. Freewill
43. Bras that are comfortable... but unfortunately dont occur in my size
44. Roommates
45. Acting like your friends... picking up random phrases and motions, etc
46. MAGIC
47. ppl that make us laugh
48. Miami
49. Not being a baby
50. Apples
51. freshman year, epic times
52. Comforters, adn other omfy things
53. having a boyfriend......NOTTTTTTTTTTTTT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
54. Not having scurvy. Scabies blows.
55. Wool socks
56. sleep
57. water
58. Beds and bedding
    

Ten Modes of Transportation

This weekend all of Notre Dame converged on Barcelona.

I mean, when I say that I really just mean about half the people from Toledo, a few from London, a handful from Rome and one from Dublin. But it seemed like a lot. Even though I have an extreme aversion to groups this large, it's okay because the only people I really cared to see were Annie Gurney, Emily Wurz and Clare Cooney!!!!!! and of course my traveling compañeros from Toledo and Caitlin's friend from Rome. The BFFs graced España with their presence all the way from London, London and Dublin (respectively) and Spain, The Bacon Wallet and I couldn't have been more ecstatic to host them.

I was the first of the 4 to arrive in Barcelona (Transportation Modes #1, 2, 3 and 4: bus, metro, plane, train). After a restful night's sleep with Caitlin at her aunt's house in Madrid (as opposed to the cold floor of Barajas Terminal 2), I was anxiously awaiting the arrival of the rest of the group. We couldn't check in until the whole party was there so the Toledanos and I wandered around Las Ramblas for a while. When Clare FINALLY arrived around 3:45, we headed out to find the most typical Spanish lunch we could find--paella and sangria. Full and happy and lacking sufficient time to do anything on our list of sightseeing, we just kind of walked around aimlessly. We saw some....interesting....things in the shopping center near the port and wasted time until it was time to get ready for the night. Feeling fresh and looking fresher we headed out for tapas and drinks and more drinks and Harry Potter and Boy Scouts and dancing and South America. It was a rousing success and Day One of the Barca adventure was completed with almost nothing to show for it!

Day Two was only slightly more productive. We woke up late (too late for the hostel breakfast...oops) only to find that it was RAINING. What? It never rains in Spain! But we couldn't just sit around and do nothing again. So we grabbed our umbrellas, prayed for eventual sunshine, and went to search for breakfast. We found a cute cafe that was perfect for us: coffee and recovery food. Feeling better, we began our trek to the Sagrada Familia. Most people take the Metro there, but we decided to walk (Transportation Mode #5), partly because we wanted to see the city but mostly because we didn't want to spend money on transportation. Walking directly there should have only taken about 30-40 minutes, but we managed to turn it into an almost 2 hour ordeal. And BONUS by the time we got to the church the rain was gone and the sun was shining!

First pit stop: Mercat de Sant Josep. This bustling, colorful food market provided a plethora of entertainment. Buying oranges, discovering mystery fruit, taste testing interesting smoothies and........BEING ON TV!!!!!!!!! We were just standing around near a fruit stand and this woman from TVE 1 (the Spanish equivalent of E! News) came up to us and asked if we would like to be on TV. Of course we said YES, and she produced a list of music artists to see if we recognized any of them. The only one we knew was Shakira because the rest of them were rando Spanish artists that we had never heard of. So the woman and her camera crew recorded us saying, "Hi, we're from the United States, our names are (insert names here), and the Record of the Year is Shakira: Sale El Sol!" The Record of the Year will be announced at the end of December, and if Shakira wins, they're going to air our clip!!! We're going to be FAMOUS! Emily has pictures of us with the big blue TVE microphone so when I get a copy I will post it on here. After the market we continued onward with our journey, on a media high and super stoked about our potential debut on Spanish TV. My only regret: not whipping out The Bacon Wallet for a surprise appearance.

Quick side note: My Econ professor just appeared on TVE in a segment about the current economic crisis. NBD.

After two or three more small, insignificant pit stops, we finally made it to the most spectacular church I have ever seen: La Sagrada Familia. It easily surpasses any other church I've seen in my life, without a doubt.

Workin it in front of La Sagrada Familia.

We marveled at the outside for a long while and then got in line to go inside. The wait was going to be about an hour, so since we were starting to get hungstown we decided to get lunch first and then get back in line later. Best. Decision. Ever. 1) The wait was only 10 minutes the second time around. 2) The sun was starting to go down when we got inside, making the stained glass shine like nothing I've ever seen. 3) Lunch was the most hilarious experience of all time.

There were 4 waiters at this restaurant: one whose name I don't know (we'll call him Patricio), Raul (who actually served us our food), and Roberto and Sebastian (who just came over and chatted with us). They all wanted to be our best friend. Every time one walked by, he would either stop to chat or squeeze one of our hands. One small problem: none of them spoke English so I was the only one who could talk to them. This circumstance made one-liners and witty banter even funnier because there were four rounds of laughter every time. Waiter would say something hysterical, I laughed. I translated for the girls, they laughed. Waiter and I laughed together at the girls' delayed reaction. Then we all laughed some more together. Our abs were getting a great work out and I'm sure we amused/annoyed the rest of the restaurant. It's a good thing this lunch was so entertaining because the food was actually pretty mediocre. The paella was kind of dry, the steak we ordered was so tough and fatty that our wrists were in physical pain from cutting it, and to top it all off, the ice cream for dessert was served in a plastic cup with a paper lid like something you might find in the discount section of Costco. Hilarious. Sebastian empathized...he knew it was cheap.

We asked Sebastian where were the best places to go out on Saturdays. After a 10-minute schpeel from Roberto, Sebas gave us his phone number and said he wanted to come with us and that he had a friend of a friend who could get us on a VIP list fo free. Holler! After almost 2 hours of chatting, translating, laughing, trying to eat terrible steak, hand-holding, dos-besos-ing and marriage proposals (Emily), we tore ourselves away with promises to call and meet up later.

Back to La Sagrada Familia (not to be confused with La Sangre Familia, which means "The Blood Family," AHEM AHEM HOLY TOLEDO BLOG STEALER). The inside was absolutely incredible. Gaudi is a genius. The church can fit up to 8,000 people, with room for 1,000 in the choir loft. Can you imagine a Mass with music led by 1,000 voices? In my lifetime I WILL go to Mass there.

After we left the church, we tried to go to Tibidabo. Unfortunately we failed, but we made it the next day, so no worries. More on that later. So instead of Tibidabo, we went back to the hostel to siesta and get ready for our night on the town with Sebastian and friends. Tapas, drinks, more tapas, more drinks and NO call back from Sebastian left us feeling weary and ready for bed. Clare wanted to go to a club so we went to the free one right next door to our hostel but it was lame and empty so we left after about 5 minutes. Good thing too because Day Three was jam-packed with all sorts of Barcelona fun!

On Sunday we did more things than we did Friday and Saturday combined. First we made it successfully to Tibidabo. Annie thought Tibidabo was the Old City of Barcelona (as seen on Samantha Brown) so after taking Transportation Modes #6 and 7--trolley halfway up the mountain, cable car the rest of the way--we were surprised to find that it was just actually an amusement park and a church on top of a mountain! Not quite what we expected, but we had an amazing view of the entire city from up there. After lunch we hauled it up another mountain to Parc Guell to see more Gaudi things. Luckily there were escalators all the way up or else it would have taken ten times as long and we would have been exhausted. We power walked through the park, rather in a hurry to snap our pictures and be on our way because our last adventure was about to begin. We left the park and hailed a cab (Transportation Mode #8) to head back to the city so that we could hop into Transportation Mode #9, the most anticipated activity of Barcelona...............

GO CARS.

Hitting the road!

Yes. Go Cars. We rented them with our hostel discount--9 Euros per person--for 90 minutes of sheer joy and hilarity. These tiny cars have a talking GPS system in them. They talk you through a guided tour of the city and tell jokes too! At one point, our car asked us, "Are you having fun yet?" To which Annie and I replied, "YES!!!!!!" The Go Cars are actually really easy to drive. We were given a 5 minute tutorial and then they set us free on the streets! The best part of Go Cars is the reaction from other people. So many people took pictures of us as we zoomed by. They waved, shouted, cheered, and one man even whipped out his Camcorder and asked us to say hi to the camera. We were such a hit.

The Bacon Wallet driving the Go Car.

Unfortunately Annie and I got separated from Clare and Emily, but we still had a blast. We actually saw them from afar one time and they looked SO ridiculous. Emily had the camera poised at the ready and Clare was flooring it. Annie and I were crying from laughing so hard at them and then we realized that we probably looked the exact same, which made it even funnier. It made me a little nervous driving in Barcelona, but we survived. I think at one point I was violating about 10 traffic laws in this one roundabout because cars were honking and I think I was in the wrong lane and Annie and I probably both looked terrified. And also really stupid. But in retrospect it was really funny...even though we almost went on the highway! Oops.

After we returned our Go Cars, we all booked it back to the hostel to grab our bags, say goodbye to Clare who was staying one more night and take the shuttle bus (Transportation Mode #10) to the airport. It was sad saying goodbye to everyone, but I know that January will be here before I know it, the way the semester has passed so far. Time has flown! Anyway, I thoroughly enjoyed the weekend with the besties. I love the people I've met in Toledo, but it was especially wonderful to spend time with friends I've known long enough to spend hours on end rehashing those "Remember that time when..." stories. I miss them already!

I have a lot more pictures to post of this weekend. Some I need to steal from Annie and others I have to upload myself. I'll do it.....eventually.

¡CUIDADO!

TIHLALIS #26-27:

26. Energy conservation applies even during the holidays. There are Christmas lights up all over the city. However, I have yet to see any of them actually lit. Hopefully once we hit December Toledo will get over this fear of the luz and TURN THE LIGHTS ON.

27. I am a complete spazz. Especially in public establishments.

Es Pjiama, No Pasa Nada.

Today is Tuesday, the day of Martes the mercado. Mama Pili went to Martes today to buy some new pajamas for Raquel and Estefanía. Estefanía came over for dinner tonight and Mama Pili busted out the new pjs so we could have a fashion show. She prefaced the revealing of the pijamas with "super sexy" and "super guapas."

They are horrrrrrrrendous.

One pair (pants AND top) is light blue, the other is beige. The pants are a real, authentic, perfect (slash terrible) copy of Burberry and the long-sleeved top has a "Burberry" umbrella on the front with the fake Burberry trim on the collar and sleeves. They really are terrible. We had a long laugh when Estefanía came out from the bathroom wearing them. Then Raquel said to me, "Yeah, you keep laughing...keep laughing until she comes home next Tuesday with a pair for you!" ...I seriously hope that does not happen.



In other news, tomorrow Raquel is taking a test to get her learner's permit for driving. She's super nervous. I should tell her I failed my permit test the first time...maybe it will make her feel better.

Morocco, Morocco...I Love Ya, Morocco!

You're only an hourandahalfplaneride awaaaayyyyyy! Even though it seemed like worlds away.

Before I regale you loyal readers with exotic tales from Africa, I would like to publicly apologize to my parents.

Dear Mom and Dad,
I am sincerely sorry for going to Morocco this weekend without telling you. I probably should have let you know that I was going to Africa, but I knew that you would spend every single minute of those 72 hours in constant worry and I wanted to spare you the stress. Just know that I made it home safe and sound and still in possession of everything I had with me when I left...plus a few trinkets I picked up along the way. It might not have been very smart to keep this information from you, but I assure you I had only the best of intentions. I am still safe.
Love,
Elizabeth

Ok. So. MOROCCO.

This trip was probably THE most anticipated trip of the entire semester. I can't even count the number of times I told someone, "I'm going to go to Morocco and ride a camel!" before I left the States to come to Spain. Despite the warnings, beggings and pleadings from my mom not to go to Morocco, I just couldn't resist.

One of the girls I work with in the Tourist Office is from Morocco, and before we left she taught me a few key words and phrases in Arabic. I knew it was going to be a good weekend right away because as soon as I got off the plane in Marrakech, I tested out my new skillz with the customs officer and it was a hit. I said "Salam" as I walked up and gave him my passport and when he gave it back I said "Shukran." He smiled appreciatively and gave me a nod of approval and I knew it was going to be great.

Words I learned (and used!) in Arabic:

• Hello Salam
  
• How are you? Kidayra?
  
• Fine Labas
  
• How much does this cost? Sh'hal dir hadi?
  
• Thank you Shukran
  
• Thank you very much Shukran bessef
  
• Yes Ah
  
• No La
  
• Goodbye Beslama
  

We made it to the hostel by a miracle (there are absolutely NO traffic regulations in Marrakech--the roads are a free-for-all and I thought we were going to crash into motorbikes/people/other cars every 30 seconds) and met our hostel owner/new best friend, Yassir. I don't actually know if Yassir is right because he was talking very fast and none of us actually caught his real name. But Yassir is very fitting. He was awesome. He gave us tea, a terrible map and a tour of the hostel and introduced us to the turtles that wander around the upstairs terrace. There are 4 or 5 up there, but we only got to meet Apple and Yassir's favorite, Ho Ho. They are adorable. Just like Yassir.

Also when I said "Shukran" to Yassir after he explained the map to us he got really excited and asked me if I speak Arabic! I told him I was learning, but I only actually know about 3 words. He laughed. It was so cute.

We set out to explore Marrakech, girls conservatively dressed and boys figuring out the terrible map. We successfully made the 5 minute trek to the Al-Bahia Palace, the highlight of which was the courtyard of bedrooms. All the information about the palace was written in Arabic (unfortunately my language skillz were not quite at that level yet) but a nice English-speaking couple explained it to us: "28 bedrooms, 28 wives...the king visited one wife every night. So, lucky king? Or lucky wives? Depends on who's asking."


After the palace we went to the main square, Djema'a al-Fna, for lunch. Tangines with chicken and couscous with veggies all seasoned with saffron and a thousand other spices filled our tummies so we could recharge and conquer the rest of Marrakech...aka, the Medina. We went to a few more rando but interesting museums before finally making our way into the magical Marrakechian market...the Medina. Pardon the cheesy alliteration, but it really was magical. It was kind of straight out of Aladdin or something. Amazing. Literally, a-mazing. A seemingly endless maze of thousands of vendors selling all kinds of Moroccan goods from slippers to ceramic bowls to lanterns to leather goods to dates and figs.


The exchange rate for the Morrocan dirham is insanely good...for us non-Moroccans. 1 Euro equals about 10 or 11 dirhams and nothing I bought in the market cost more than 200 dirhams/20 Euros. Pretty darn cheap, I'd say! We explored the Medina for a while and when we finally found freedom and fresh air outside the market it was well after dark. Still stuffed from lunch earlier that day we decided to save our precious dirhams and skip dinner. We went out to the main square to people-watch, because according to my guide book, it's one of the most fantastic open-air spectacles in the world. Djema'a al-Fna didn't disappoint! We saw snake charmers, men with monkeys on leashes, orange juice vendors, incense burners, boxing matches and impromptu concerts. And of course, the henna tattoo artists. We girls couldn't pass up getting a tattoo...the boys had an easier time saying no.


We had a big day ahead of us the next day so we called it a night pretty early and headed back to the hostel to rest up for our Saturday excursion. Our hostel was very dimly lit, even with all the lights on. But when it came time to finally turn them off, it was a big struggle. After a few minutes of fumbling for the switch, Sarah had a brilliant idea: "HEY! Maybe it's a CLAP LIGHT!!!" .......Just for the record, there are no clap lights in Morocco.

Bright and early the next morning, after a delicious breakfast (shukran bessef, Yassir!), we were picked up at our hostel to go out on an excursion to the Ourika Valley to hike the mountain and see the Five Waterfalls. Once again, driving through Marrakech almost gave me a heart attack. There are so many bikes in the street and they just go wherever they want! And they're not just your everyday, run of the mill Schwinn bikes either. They're these super charged motor bikes (probs just a regular ole Schwinn with an engine slapped on the back) that go every which way with no regulation whatsoever. And the old men in robes driving them aren't very attentive, either, which makes for an even more increased risk for crashing. Luckily our driver was a native and he knew what was up. He got us safely out of town and into the mountains with no problems at all.

We were handed off to another guide once we got to the valley. His name was something like Moussef or Mourkash or maybe Muhammed. No one understood him but we just ended up calling him Mountaingoat. Mountaingoat took us on a hike up the mountain to see the waterfalls of the valley. He scaled that mountain like he lived on it! I mean...he practically does (he takes tourists up there twice a day), but still. Crazy. This hike reminded me a little bit of hiking Panther's Peak in Tucson, Arizona...except there was a trail this time. And no cacti. And we were in Africa. So it was better...and a little bit easier! But not much. There was many a time when Mountaingoat and Marathon Mike sprinted ahead up the mountain, leaving us girls and Mickey behind to fend for ourselves, which was rather difficult. But for the most part Mountaingoat was really helpful. Especially when we had to climb this tiny tiny questionably unstable steel ladder to scale the rocks. We all survived though, no worries. I made sure of it, because I was NOT about to die in Morocco since my parents didn't even know I was there!!!

There are so many pictures from the hike, I don't know which ones to post on here. So instead, here's the Facebook album to see all of them.

After the hike we had an amazing free lunch by the river. I like to call it "free," but really it was just included in the price we paid for the tour. Mountaingoat passed us off to the waiter, and came to collect us when we were finished. Then he turned us back over to our driver, who took us to our next adventure: CAMELS.

The Bacon Wallet and I on our camel.

As we were driving out of the valley, the driver pulled over to the side of the road where there were 8 camels just chilling there with three or four men. Apparently this is a thriving industry in Morocco--we saw a few of these "establishments" along the road. We hopped out of the car, handed the owner our 50 dirhams each, and mounted the camels! It was mostly like riding a horse, only there are no reins. The camels are tied to each other head-to-tail, and the man led us in a line on our 20 minute walk. As we left the "front desk" area, the two leftover camels--one huge one and one baby--got jealous and started to run after us. The owner (who happened to be holding my camera and taking pictures of us) sprinted over to the camels, grabbed a stick and started herding the runaways with said stick and my camera. The big camel was acquiescent and went back to the front desk, but the baby was not having any of that, so she came along with us. The man with my camera tied her to my camel (they were obviously bffs) so I got two camels for the price of one. I greeter her with a friendly "Salam!" and we all became fast friends.

Unfortunately the camel ride marked the end of our excursion, and after we dismounted we made our way back into the city. We regrouped in the hostel, freshened up (as much as we could without water) and headed back to the Medina to spend the rest of our dirhams. We shopped till we dropped all our money, saving just enough for dinner and a cab ride, and emerged from the Medina in the main square. We all splurged and bought some fresh orange juice for 3 dirhams...yes, that would be 30 cents...and then feasted (slash probably got ripped off) on kebabs, bread, and free bottled water. After dinner, we spectacled some more at the fantastic open-air spectacle. And it was spectacular...until...

One of the men with monkeys on leashes came up to me offering his monkey for a photo op. I said no a few times, and he laughed and said "no" to the monkey. I tried to be more affirmative by saying it in Arabic while shaking my finger at him: "La, la, la." Again he laughed and mimicked my actions to the monkey. He offered the monkey to me and I said no, I don't have any money for a photo. The monkey reached out his hand and the man said "Just try. No photo. It's free!" So I reached out one finger to shake hands with the monkey--ONLY shake his hand--and the next thing I knew the monkey had jumped off the man's arm and was hanging on to my hand, trying to make his way up my arm. I started violently shaking my arm in a feeble attempt to throw the monkey off, but then I realized that a) it was a living creature and due to the fact that I have a soul I couldn't exactly just throw it off onto the ground, and b) it was successfully crawling its way up my arm towards my head. So I gave up fighting it and just resorted to covering my face until it was over. I could feel the monkey's back legs around my neck, and the rest of his body on top of my head for a solid 10 or 15 seconds before the man finally came to my rescue and removed Curious George.

Unfortunately there are no photos of this event, partly because we would have had to pay for them, but mostly because everyone else said they were just so stunned by what was actually happening that they didn't really know what to do.

We spectacled for a while longer, and after a long eyeful, we unanimously decided to nix the Moroccan club scene and just head home for the night. We had an early-ish flight to catch...plus none of us felt like being abducted that night.

Just for the record (Mom), we never even considered going to a club. That was a joke.

The next morning, we said "beslama" and "shukran bessef" to Yassir (so sad) and hopped in our death trap/taxi to the airport. By another miracle, we made it without a scratch. The night before, hoping the Moroccan airport security would be as lax as security in Madrid, Caitlin had decided to try to carry on some kebab skewers she had purchased in the medina. I passed through first and watched the screen as her backpack went through the scrutiny machine. They paused the belt and examined it a little more closely, making out what appeared to be bomb assembly parts/a machine/a deathly claw of sorts. They immediately had Caitlin open her bag so they could investigate. They took out the skewers, clearly a potential threat, and confiscated them. In a last-ditch effort to salvage her purchase (and her dignity) she called out, "But it's NOT A WEAPON!!!!" ...As if that was really going to change their minds. Sorry, Mr. Connolly, but you will not be getting Moroccan skewers for Christmas this year.

The rest of us passed through security with all our goodies and after an unexplained hour and a half delay we finally boarded the plane and flew back to the real world. I'm glad I took so many pictures of Morocco because even though I've only been back in Toledo for few hours, the weekend already seems surreal. It's such a different place than anywhere I've ever been. The man-to-woman ratio (easily 100 to 1), the head scarves and covered faces, the separate women's line for airport security...I've never seen anything like it before. It makes me wonder what they think of us Westerners who come in with uncovered heads, jeans, t-shirts and with only 2 guys for a group of 5 girls.

Again, sorry, Mom and Dad, for not telling you about it, but this trip was amazing. I'm definitely coming back to Morocco in my lifetime. I have to decorate my house!

Also, sorry that this post is the approximate length of the Qur'an. There's just so much to tell!

Make Local Friends? Check.

Today I made a new friend. His name is Panchito. He is 6. I met him on the bus today when his mom made him sit next to me while she stood with Panchito's baby brother, Jorge, who was in a stroller. Here you have an approximate translation of our conversation:

Panchito was standing in his seat, spinning around, and I was laughing at him.
Panchito: Don't laugh!
Me: Sorry, you're funny!
Panchito: It's ok, I forgive you. My name is Panchito. Because I eat a lot of bread (pan). What's your name?
Me: I'm Elizabeth. How old are you?
Panchito: 6. Everyone always asks me how old I am! I don't know why.
Me: Well, it's because you seem much older, of course.
Panchito: How old are you?
Me: 21.
Panchito: Woah. You're old. Hey look, that's my brother! His name is Jorge. Look at him smiling at you!
Me: Aww how cute!
Panchito: Jorge likes you, he's smiling a lot.

At this point we had arrived at Panchito's bus stop, so unfortunately we had to say goodbye. Panchito's mother gave me an apologetic look as she summoned Panchito and they got off the bus. Panchito waved, and we said adios. Yay for new friends!



Also, I figured out how Raquel's tanning bed works. No video, but I do have a picture. Supreme creeper status, I know. When the máquina arrived, it looked like one of those fans you get from Sharper Image or something, just a 3-foot tall cylinder, only instead of standing up straight it was horizontal on the ground. I thought that you would have to stick in one limb at a time to tan yourself, but I was wrong. The mystery machine is a transformer! It unfolds and expands and it becomes an overhead lamp that extends over the bed, so all you have to do is turn on the cancer light, lay down, take a nap and voila! Instant morena.

I promise I wasn't sneaking into Raquel's room...

heythreemonsters

I finally finished my art paper. FINALLY. A key factor in this accomplishment was making Sofia change my Facebook password because I have no self control. So she changed it to "heythreemonsters" as a tribute to one of the more gracioso encounters we had in Rome...

The Bike Crew was meandering around the Colosseum and the Roman Forum on Thursday morning. There were a ton of Gladiators walking around, asking tourists if they wanted to take pictures with them, only to turn around and ask for 20 Euro in exchange for that snapshot of their face. We skillfully avoided eye contact with them, and we even weaseled our way out of paying the one who insisted on photos. These guys are hilarious. In addition to their super long (and kind of gross) hair and rugged (aka dirty) looks, they all sport some form of man-tights and armor. I cannot take them seriously. Especially the one who came up to us and asked, in all seriousness, "Hello would you like a picture? .........full of...dreams?" The three of us just kind of looked at each other and walked away quickly so we could burst into laughter out of earshot of the full of dreams Gladiator. For the rest of the day every time we took a picture we would double check to make sure it was "full of dreams" or else we would have to retake it.

Creeper photo of the "full of dreams" Gladiator

Anyway, after a few minutes, we wanted to see if we could get him to say it again...on camera. So Sofia got out her camera, started the video, and we assumed the position, walking directly by him. We failed. He didn't see us. However, she did capture something even more magical on camera that we weren't expecting.

Gladiator: "Hey, THREE MONSTERS! (aka Bike Crew) Do you wanna picture???"
Sofia: "Uh, no thanks."
Gladiator: "Aww I'm sorry. Come on. SEXY GIRLS!!!"

Ok so typing it out doesn't exactly give it the element of hilarity that it deserves, but it really was funny. So funny that Sofia made "heythreemonsters" my Facebook password so I could focus 110% on my art paper.


TIHLAL #8:

8. Lola might be bulimic. The other night during dinner she was eating her food which is under the kitchen table. She always eats when we eat. About an hour later, we were all in the living room when we heard this rather disgusting sound. Lola had thrown up on the floor...gross. Then about 10 minutes later she was back in the kitchen eating more! For the rest of the night Mama Pili kept saying "Ohh, pobrecita Lola, tienes bulimia? Lola? Tienes bulimia?"


TIHLALIS #24-25:

24. Cell phone usage when in the company of friends is zilch. I LOVE THIS. When groups of friends go out together, you don't see them all on their cell phones, talking to other people who aren't actually with them. I think this is great. I have become very detached from my cell phone while in Spain so it will be different (slash probably annoying) to come back to a cell phone-inundated culture.

25. Spaniards love the Pope. And he's here in Spain! He is in Barcelona now and is heading to Santiago de Compostela soon...two weeks before my trips there--I'll just barely miss him in both cities!


More names I have been called:

• Cielo
• Lizzie (even though I specifically told this person that only my mother calls me Lizzie. This person's response? Pues, ahora, tu madre y yo.)
• Melissa
  

Season Finale

And now, ladies and gentlemen, the moment you have all been awaiting with bated breath. The final installment...the Bike Crew's last hurrah...the ANSWER TO THE CLIFFHANGER THAT LEFT YOU ON THE EDGE OF YOUR SEATS!!!!!!! Part 5 of The Best Fall Break Ever: Venice.

Last time on Holy Toledo...

We were hitting the hay in Cinque Terre, full to the brim with delicious food and exhausted from a day of exploring. As we were showering one at a time and getting our bags ready for an early morning departure, we chatted with the Australian girl who shared our room. We apologized in advance for the next morning, because we had to leave extremely early. Our train to Venice left from La Spezia at 7:50. Unfortunately, the morning trains from Riomaggiore to La Spezia are less frequent than the daytime/nighttime trains, and the only one we would be able to catch was at 6:30 am. We also had to return the hostel key to the office at the top of the hill 10 minutes away and then walk to the train station. We planned to leave the hostel at 6 am, meaning we had to wake up around 5:15 or 5:30. Not too bad...could be worse.

Anyway, as we were chatting with our new Aussie friend, she reminded us that the clocks were going to change over night. THANK GOODNESS SHE REMINDED US!!! We had been told about this a few days before, but it had completely slipped our minds. She told us to go ahead and set our clocks forward one hour, just in case our phones didn't do it themselves. That's right...forward. I hesitated for a second. Wait, isn't it "spring forward, fall back?" I was reassured that no, the clocks move forward one hour tonight. Do it or else you will miss the only chance you have to get to Venice. The combination of the insistent Aussie + the thought that maybe they do it different here in Europe + the Cinque Terre wine had me convinced that she was right. So we moved our clocks forward one hour and fell fast asleep, grateful for Aussie friend's helpful reminder and ready to be on time for all our trains the next day.

The next morning, as our alarms went off, the Bike Crew was extra sluggish and tired. The night had seemed way too short. We packed the last of our things into our backpacks and headed out into the rainy morning. As we were walking, we looked at our phones and realized that we only had 5 minutes to get to the train! We sprinted all the way there in the rain and got to the platform only to find it completely empty. We also noticed that the departure screen was broken...it was still displaying trains that had left at 4:50 am and 5:45 am. After waiting 10 minutes for our train (which we thought was running late), Sofia double checked the departure screen.

No.

No way.

You cannot be serious.

THE AUSSIE GIRL TRICKED US!!!!!!! SHE LIIIIIIEEEEEEEDDDDDDDD!!!!!!!!!!!

I was right. It IS spring forward, fall back. EVEN IN EUROPE. We had moved our clocks forward an hour so we thought it was 6:40, when in reality it was actually only 4:40. AM. Meaning we WOKE UP AT 4 AM. AHHHHHHHHHHH.

We were furious. But also tired. So we fell asleep on some benches until our train came, then we slept on that train, then we ate breakfast in the train station and fell asleep on the next train. And the next. And by the time we got to Venice we were fully rested...kind of.

We left our bags in storage in the train station and headed out to explore the city of water...in the rain. How appropriate. Luckily it wasn't pouring, just a steady drizzle for most of the afternoon. We hopped on the #1 Vaporetto, or water bus, to take us to the Rialto Bridge. We had planned to find a great restaurant for lunch but instead settled on paninis because we had to save up for our last dinner in Italy.

Lunch menu:

• Sofia and Caitlin - salami and gorgonzola cheese panini
• Elizabeth - proscuitto, tomato, rocket and mozzarella panini

Solid. We wandered around Venice for a while and I was surprised to learn that there are actually streets in Venice (I don't really know why I was surprised about that). But I still wonder how it works if someone who lives further away from the water needs an ambulance or something. The streets are not wide enough to drive on and I never saw a single car. I guess Venice has that figured out...I'm just not privy to the inner workings of their system.

We went to the Piazza di San Marco and saw the Basilica, which was magnificent. The entire ceiling of the church is covered with gold mosaics and it is so incredible. It was amazing. And it was free! Lucky us.

Our tummies were starting to get hungry (if that is even possible) and we didn't want to stand out in the rain, so we went off in search of dinner. We settled on this tiny place on a random side street that was also really empty because it was only 5:30. We had to eat early because we had yet ANOTHER train to catch so we could check in to our next hostel (aka the Milan airport) for the night. Our waiter became smitten with Caitlin which was great because we got free Limoncino out of it after dinner and Caitlin learned a new secret handshake.

Dinner Menu:

• Cheese plate for appetizer, complete with...butter? We thought it was cheese at first but we were sorely mistaken.
• Second cheapest wine on the menu...we were running out of money, but we didn't want to settle!
  
• Caitlin - Tortellini with cream sauce and ham for first course, spaghetti with pesto for second
• Sofia - Four cheese gnocchi for first course, lasagna (again) for second
• Elizabeth - Spaghetti with spider crab for first course, grilled scampi for second
• Free Limoncino from our waiter friend

After dinner we made our way to the train station, but not before stopping at the nearest crepe stand for one last nutella crepe in Italy! And that was the last thing we ate. The 5 day feast was over...so sad.

I wish I had enjoyed Venice more. We were only there for half a day and it was cold and rainy and crowded and we were all really tired and running out of money. I think if I came back another time I would like it a lot more, but this time around it was definitely lower on the list, especially after all the other amazing places we saw. But I did like it (I just didn't love it) I'm really glad we went!

Unfortunately this post concludes the chronicles of The Best Fall Break Ever. If you read the whole thing, I hope you laughed. And dreamed of food. And started drooling. It's back to the "real world" in Toledo, and I actually have to start working on this Art History paper. Yeah....I still haven't started. I've learned some Things About Spain and Lola in the last few days so I will be updating those lists soon.

So now, it's time to hit the books. Maybe.


Bike Crew out.

Lovers in Paradise

Conquering Pisa was quick and painless, as well as a necessary cultural detour on our way to the next stop on our journey. Another train out of Pisa brought the Bike Crew to the most anticipated city of the trip, Part 4 of The Best Fall Break Ever: Cinque Terre.

The train from Pisa went to La Spezia, a small town where we had to catch another 10 minute train to Cinque Terre. Cinque Terre is a picturesque dreamland along the Italian Riviera. It's a series of 5 little villages tucked into the cliffs right on the water and it looks like it came straight out of a movie. The train ride from La Spezia was mostly through the mountains. Literally...through the mountain. So it was completely dark the entire time. When we finally reached light we had a magnificent view of the cliffs and the ocean and we were so excited! But that view lasted only about five seconds before we went back into the tunnel...SUCH a tease. We were disappointed (and I think the rest of the train could hear our devastation) to be back in the dark but luckily it only lasted for 3 more minutes. By 2:30 pm we finally were in Cinque Terre!

First view of Cinque Terre that lasted longer than 5 seconds.

Our hostel was located in the first town, Riomaggiore. We checked in, looked for some wifi (fail) and went out to explore. There is a coastal trail that runs from each town to the next. Unfortunately one of the trails was out of commission due to a landslide that really messed up the path. Another downfall is that the trails close at 6 pm. Walking the entire route takes at least 5 hours so that was out of the question. So we decided to take the trains from town to town so we would have more time to explore each one and see more of the Five Lands.

We did walk one of the trails, though--Via dell'Amore--the trail from Riomaggiore to Manarola. This path is the only one that is paved, it's the shortest one (the others take over an hour each) and it's mostly flat, so it was easy to make the 20 minute trek. It was mostly married couples/lovers/lots of people holding hands on this trail so the Bike Crew joined hands and faked a romance for most of the walk.


I think Manarola was my favorite town. Maybe because that's where we took the best pictures, or maybe because that's where we came back to eat the absolute best meal of the entire trip. But I guess it doesn't really matter why it was my favorite. It just was.

Self timer on the cliff.

From Manarola we took the train to the fourth town, Vernazza. Vernazza was my second favorite. All the postcards of Cinque Terre feature this amazing view of Vernazza that we tried desperately to find but unfortunately we would have had to climb the mountain and the trail was already closed. Bummer. But it was still an adorable town. We thought about eating a snack or something in this town but we decided to save up for dinner in Manarola.

After we thoroughly explored the two streets of Vernazza we jumped back on the train and headed out to the last town of Monterosso. Monterosso is primarily a beach town, and considering it was completely dark by this point AND a storm was brewing out at sea, the beach wasn't exactly a hoppin place. Sofia and I did find a giant rock and we climbed to the top of it while Caitlin guarded our stuff back on the shore. But other than that we kind of missed the Monterosso party. Since we had an hour before our next train, we found a bar and partook in a typical Italian beverage, Limoncino, which was delicious. And so began our Saturday night gastronomic adventure....

We hopped on the train to our last town (which is actually the third town), Corniglia. The town of Corniglia is up the mountain above the train station, so we had to take the bus up there. At the top, when we got off the bus, we asked what time the last bus left to go back down to the station. "In five minutes is the last bus." Awesome. We were going to have to walk down 340-something steps to get to the train. That's fine. We needed the exercise. So we went to go explore Corniglia. The problem was that it was nighttime and we didn't really know where to go. I think Corniglia is probably the lamest of the 5 towns. Not that that's a bad thing...it's just more residential than the rest. We couldn't really find the main area so we just decided to go buy some cheese. We asked for a slab of "typical Cinque Terre cheese" and paid 67 cents each. We took our cheese to the nearest wine bar where the owner gave us each a glass of his own personal wine. His picture was even on the bottle! And it was SO GOOD. We felt super classy, sipping on wine and nibbling on cheese in this small coastal Italian village. Then Mr. Wine Man brought out these cheese/garlic/onion cracker thingys to go along with our wine and cheese and we were in heaven. We didn't want it to end, but then we realized that we had only 10 minutes to descend a giant staircase to catch the last train back to Manarola for the glorious dinner that awaited us! We ran pretty much the whole way there (not in a straight line) and made it just in time.

Back in Manarola, we prepared for our feast.

Dinner Menu:

• Caitlin - Trofie with pesto, stuffed mussels for second course
• Sofia - Pesto lasagna (again), steak for second course
• Elizabeth - Linguine with batti batti (local lobster), grilled swordfish for second course
• Famous Cinque Terre wine
• Desert - Tiramisu for Caitlin and Elizabeth, mixed cookie plate for Sofia (complete with a NUTELLA BOAT, to which her reaction was "WOW" every minute or so)

I kind of regret not ordering pesto for dinner since Cinque Terre is famous for three things: pesto, seafood, and wine. But I got two of the three, and the entire meal was absolutely amazing so I'm not complaining.

Earlier in the day we had planned to hit up Bar Centrale, the one bar in Riomaggiore. The lady who worked at our hostel told us about it and said it's "the place where boys and girls go to meet at night." But by the time we were done with dinner and back in Riomaggiore we were so full and tired and happy that we didn't want to do anything except go to bed. Which, in retrospect, was a good decision considering what happened the next morning on our way to Part 5 of The Best Fall Break Ever: Venice.

Such a cliff hanger, I know. Check back soon for the season finale!