Amsterdam - Literally, the complete reverse of America

Seriously, it was freezing.  I had no other shoes.  Plus, I'm 50% Polack.  It's fine.

IAMsterdam


Wolvenstraat, Keslihgtihestreaat, Zdkfjiesestraat.... The map was near to impossible to navigate. Not to mention we were hardly coherent enough to read it. 

Share

Dublin

<- An amazing Irish band... one of the most fun nights of my life. Not even kidding.

Amongst the alcoholic attractions we went to (Guinness and Jameson factories) I thought St. Patrick's Cathedral was phenomenal.  Too bad I refuse to pay to walk around a church that has transformed into a tourist attraction 100%. 

This was the first beer I actually ENJOYED!!

Share

Sicilia!

Mike and I embarked on our first vacation together last weekend - in Sicily!!  Needless to say, it was beautiful in Southern Italy and we had an amazing time together.  It took quite some traveling to get there (Flight to Milan, bus to a different airport, *slept in the airport*, flight to Palermo, train to Cefalu for the first day), but once we arrived in Cefalu, we immediately knew it would all be worth it.

Cefalu is where Mike's great grandparents were from, and I can easily say that it has been my favorite place to visit thus far.  It's a very little town on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, and the sights and scenery are just gorgeous.  Not only do they have the beach - but they've got pretty mountains too! 

This is another family that stayed at the Casanova B&B in Cefalu - Our host, Vicenzo, cooked an amazing dinner for us all!

Mike and I sat on some rocks on the Mediterranean Sea, drank home-made wine, and watched the sunset. That's when I fell in love with Cefalu.

Share

Gernika and Mundaka pics!

In Gernika, in front of a stone version of "Guernica" by Picasso.  They want the original version in their city, I wonder why.  

In front of a 'seedling' left over after the bombing of Gernika.

On the border of Mundaka. People were surfing in 50 degree weather in the Atlantic ocean!

Share

Carnival, Carnaval, Karneeval.... however you spell it, Move Over Mardi Gras - This party is nuts!

WOW- the internet in this dorm is extremely booty.  I had 'posted' this a while ago, and I come back today to see nothing since February 12th!  MAN that sucks. It never actually posted to the page. OH, and I can never upload pictures on here with our connection either - I've only been able to do it with the WiFi at the university.  Anyways, here's what I wrote...

So, Mike is snowboarding in the Alps this weekend like a baller --- what am I to do???

Don't worry, I actually MADE THE BUS for the trip we had on Friday, which was at 10am instead of 8am --- didn't make the hangover from those damn ERASMUS parties any less miserable, however.  I've got a few pics from our CIDE excursion to the Urdaibai Biosphere Reserve (one of the most important natural areas of the Basque Country), Gernika, and Mundaka.  The rest are on Facebook for all those who are lucky enough to find me on there, mwah ha ha. 

OH.   And Carnivale (that's how it's spelled here I'm pretty sure) is seriously so insane.  

Pretty much Halloween-- but better.  And I didn't get a costume, so I threw something together last minute...  este es una pictora de mis amigos y yo despues 

de nuestro pregame. 

Sorry I'm so slow at posting... the weather is getting so nice here that I just try to spend as much time outside as possible!  I found an awesome park right down the block from our dorm - perfect spot to workout.  All uphill walkways, a basketball court, and huge "Greek Theatre"-type stairs that are a killer to run.  Great for the full-body workout!  

Share

Madrid y Segovia

This is the Palacio Real in Madrid.  Huge, gorgeous castle that everyone got to go inside... except the delinquents who missed the bus that morning. (that would be us. see previous post.) 

They weren't allowed to take pictures inside the palace, but from what I saw, it was huge and very eloquent in it's entirety.

Here's a pic of Plaza Mayor, courtesy of Chelsea. (couldn't really make it out for the field trip - bus sick?)

This is the Aqueducto in Segovia.  Built in the FIRST CENTURY.  They used no mortar, glue or cement whatsoever, and this thing transported all of the cities' water.

Another shot of the Aqueducto, with more detail of the stones they crafted to fit perfectly together.

This is the Cathedral of Segovia, built in 1571.  So gorgeous, but we didn't go in because it was like, 7 euros or something. 

Name that Disney movie!  (see answer below)

This is El Alcazar, a fortress that many kings and queens lived in, including Queen Isabel and King Ferdinando.  The history: Muslims, Catholics, and Jews lived as one, uniting the kingdom of Segovia. 

Did you guess it??  When Walt Disney saw this castle for the first time, it inspired his drawing of the castle in Snow White =D

Share

And.... we've been here a month. DIOS MIO!!

So yesterday was the One Month Mark of our time in Spain thus far - how do these days go by so quickly!? En serio, es una problema. El tiempo esta muy muy muy rapido. (and if you put that into a translator, it's wrong. Don't worry I'm not estupido.)

Alrighty, so here's a quick overview of what I think are the most interesting things that we've done/that has happened in the last few days:  

1. Conversation group 

2. ERASMUS Party #1 - aka the reason we maaaay have missed our bus to Madrid...

3. Excursion to Madrid y Segovia (after catching another bus of course...)

Numero uno - When Mike went to London for the weekend of January 29th, I realized that I had quite a lot of time on my hands without an amigo in the room to chat with.  It was nice to have the weekend to ourselves, but man did I get bored.  So I decided to take part in this Spanish conversation group that was coordinated by the Erasmus group (they travel all over Europe and plan social things - HUGE parties).  It was the first one, so I had no idea what to expect, but it was actually at an Irish bar within walking distance.  Very laid back kind of get together, and I definitely know by now that speaking Spanish to natives = muy facil con mucho vino tinto (very easy with a lot of red wine!)

After that, we ventured to other bars in the area, got hit on by some Spaniards that love asking Americans for "dos besos," and once again, had to leave because of the assload of smoke filling our lungs. 

Numero dos - So, ERASMUS party #1. Flash Club near Plaza Moyua. Pregame in our room as usual, with lots of friends and lots of vodka.  After Mike, Chelsea, Greg and I realized that we'd already missed the window of opportunity to skip out on cover charge, we figured HEY, why not just PREGAME SOME MORE?????

So we're walking to the club, and on our way we see some of our friends already returning to the dorm for a decent night of sleep. (Dumb Decision Indication 1).  When we arrive to the club, we had to pay a 6 Euro cover charge and drinks were about 5 Euros each... I think... Redbull Vodka, Rum & Coke... why not right? (Dumb Decision Indication 2). This party was TIGHT.  They had chips and cookies and chocolates and pastries all over the bar - I was like, DUDE this is GREAT!  SOOOOOOO hours go by, without notice of course, and then HOLY CRAP we have to wake up at 6:45a.m. for our excursion to Madrid---with the ENTIRE CIDE PROGRAM (yes all 50+ students, and our teachers - Dumb Decision Indication 3).  So Mike and I left the group (they were seriously trying to head to another bar) and I KNEW the way home - I had walked that way tons of times.  Well.... this time we got lost, okay, I GOT US LOST, and it ended up being quite a drunky night (D.D.I. 4).

Needless to say, 'passing out' cannot even describe the way that we slept for the 3 or less hours... and when we finally woke up and checked our phones, they said 7:59 a.m.  um...The CIDE bus left the station at 8.

"GREAAAATTTTT so now what the hell do we do??? GOD I'm so mad! Why didn't our alarms go off?! etc.etc.etc" (meanwhile people are calling/texting from the bus station 'where are u guys?')   So we text our friends Greg and Chelsea, letting them know that we're assholes and don't know how to make it on time for a PLANNED TRIP TO MADRID.  And then.... we get responses from BOTH of them saying that they missed the bus too!!!!!! HA!!!!!!!!!! Oh the hilarity... seriously, the 4 retards that decided it was a good idea to pregame for 2 freaking hours ALL MISS THE BUS.  Gosh.  But at least Mike and I didn't feel so bad then - and luckily the CIDE teachers said we'd be able to catch another bus at 10 a.m.  And that's what we did.  And that's where I'll stop, because you reallllly don't want to know how that bus ride went para mi...

Numero 3 - Excursion to Madrid y Segovia!!  This trip was great, and it deserves it's own post with pictures and all, so I'll get on that asap! We went to the Museo del Prado, the Museo Reina Sofia (where Picasso's Guernica is!), a royal palace, y mucho mas! Ooooo I know you can't wait!...

Hasta luego =)

Share

El fin de Semana Tres... Already!

WOW is time flying!!! Weekend #3 is upon us -  no classes on Fridays!  How nice right? Seriously, America has it ass backwards.  In many senses... umm siestas, President Obama? Let's work that into our lifestyle somehow, por favor. 

Anywho, hola familia y otros amigos, how have you been back in the states?? Comment back to me (on the bottom of my posts) so I can keep in touch with your lives too! I hear it's still blizzarding... what a bummer. It rains a lot a lot a LOT here...thank goodness I got rainboots for Xmas (Mike's so thoughtful right? =D) ... but I'll take the rain. I hardly miss shoveling and freezing temps! HA!

Well, I just thought I would start to upload some pictures on here - my apologies for slacking, sometimes our internet connection is crappy for hours!

~~~

  One of our first nights out in Casco Viejo (Old Town) All but 2 people in this picture are from U of I!

    Mike & I on the bridge that we cross to get to the Universidad de Deusto.  Guggenheim Museum in the background - the architecture is amazing.

(okay I just tried to upload 5 more pics for the past 15 minutes... it's soooo slloooowww. I'll put up more on another post)

~~~

In other news, Mike went to London for the weekend with Greg, another guy from U of I, and they're meeting up with tons of other U of I kids that are studying in different parts of Europe. I guess some Tridelts are going too, little did I know! It should be fun, I'm an eeensy bit jealous, but I think a weekend to myself will be pretty fabulous! Hopefully I'll be able to meet up with friends in Barcelona or Seville in a few weeks!

Share

Smoker's Cough

My goodness--- EVERYONE smokes EVERWHERE in this city.  Our first experience at a Spanish discoteca had my eyes watering and lungs collapsing within the 5, maybe 6 hours we were there.  The next day I felt I'd been a deep-voiced chain smoker for years with this damn cough.  NO CLUE how ya do it, smokers.  All I gotta say is Muchas Gracias to the man who outlawed smoking in public places in Illinois - it's seriously a world of difference.

Share

Just being a mom....

hahahahahahahaha

so supposedly Sid Vicious is some rock singer who murdered his girlfriend--- and not a wrestler???? this is news to me, from Patti Ann nonetheless... and she also thinks I could clean up my language. hahahaaaaa oh what fun it is to entertain mom. Love you mom, la madre preciosa!

Share

BILBAO=AMAZING

Hola a todos!!

Estoy en la ciudad de Bilbao con Miguel---- y es muuuuuyyyyy bonita y fantastico!!!! Estoy enamorado con Espana!!!!!

It's our 4th day here and everything has been great so far.  Besides our 6 hour delay in Frankfurt, Germany. 

The dorm is nice, kind of small, but nice. And we have been cooking some good meals- Mike cooks most of the big stuff.  Chicken the other night was great! We made friends with the man at the fruteria down the block, so I'm sure we'll be getting produce from him a lot.  

We've gone on a few excursions too-- Tuesday we went on a tour of Bilbao and they also showed us around the University of Deusto.  Then, yesterday we traveled by bus to Balmaseda and Portugalete, historical towns in Biscay.  Our lunches on these excursions have been 3 course meals- Lunch is huge- the most important meal of the day.  Then from about 1 to 3pm everything closes down for the 'siesta'.  Everyone goes home for a nap and eats lunch around 2:30.  So different from back home-- we're all starving by noon here.  

We just got back from the Guggenheim Museum, which is right across the river from our university.  Very cool museum, but after like an hour and a half, we were Guggenheimed out.  Took a walk over to Zubierta (a mall down the street) and decided against the Spanish McDonalds and Burger King, and had some bogus Bocatta sandwiches.  Shoulda gone with the McD's.  I'm sure we'll be back there again for the rebajas! (sales!) 

Time for a siesta--- hasta luego....

Share

I know, I know...

So it's been a while...

My bad. School had a tendency to kick my ass this past semester. 

Don't worry, didn't miss much. I turned 21 (okay, that's a huge one), and had Beta formal (the best time of the year). Formal year 3 that is, the sign of a true Beta Theta Pi groupie. However, year 1 is still on top... with Mike, during our pre-boyfriend/girlfriend period of time. This year with him again was a blast though, and my dress was, for lack of a better phrase, THE SHIT.  I had a personal, underground designer craft it, aka Jessica Piraro, whom you should probably get to know.  Anywho, formal turned a bit sour when the DJ blacked out and attempted to go up my dress. Freaked me out a bit- Mike assumed I had been too drunk/friendly around the dude, which sparked too dramatic of an argument- however, nothing warranted that kind of behavior and it was a big old mess!  Then the DJ almost got his ass kicked. 

Then, finals, bad grades... end of semester 1 of my junior year.

AND, adding to the huge gap in posts,  I realized there's a missing one! Where it went, I do not know. It was so well-crafted too.. meh. On to bigger and better things!

It shall be a fine time in 2009... all beginning with Spring semester in SPAIN!!!!!!!

Yes, yes, I will be studying abroad in Bilbao (northeast Spain for those like my mom who have never heard of it.. weirdos) from January 11th (holy shit I leave in 4 days) until May 16th.

This trip is actually the whole point of this blog - - - so let's hope it's the only thing I'll need to K.I.T. with family members that I'm not going to want to call every week. HAHA

Alrighty, gotta get back to perfecting my procrastination. Haven't packed a thing...

Share