Adios, Spain

Wow, this is the end, isn't it? I can't believe I only have four days left in Spain. On one hand, I feel as though I've been here forever, and on the other, I feel as though I just got here yesterday, slightly overwhelmed by culture shock. It's been an amazing experience, and this really made me believe that everyone should study abroad at some point in their lives.

But before I start waxing nostalgic about everything I'm going to miss, I did do a few interesting things this past week. Last Tuesday we had the day off for a Spanish holiday, so a few of us took the train to El Escorial, which is a royal palace, monastery, and museum. It was built by Felipe II. It was interesting to see because I've learned about it in my Art History class (of course...). Here it is:

Not far from there is Franco's tomb, a controversial place to visit because Franco, as everyone knows, was a horrible dictator, but his tomb on a mountain has a fancy church and the biggest cross in Spain jutting out rather impressively from the top. The trip was kind of a failure because the church itself was closed for renovations and it was so foggy that you couldn't even really see the giant cross. I only got one picture where you can kind of see it:

Yesterday we went bowling for my friend's 21st birthday. I bowled a 75 (I think I need some practice). It was a lot of fun, and afterwards we went to a club in Madrid called Kapital. Now I can say I truly experienced Spanish nightlife because I didn't get home until 6:30 this morning.

From here on out, it's just studying for finals, packing, and saying goodbye to Spain. There are a lot of things about life here that I'm going to miss, but I'll start with what I'm not going to miss: siesta. Yes, others like the idea of sleeping in the middle of the day, but it's just not for me. I don't do naps. Moreover, everything closes for three hours, so if you don't feel like napping... well, there's not much else you can do. But let's get to the things I will miss:

-Plaza de Cervantes. It's where my friends and I always meet up, right in the middle of Alcala, and it's a great place to chill and people watch.

-Calle Mayor. Right off of Plaza de Cervantes, it's the main street where no cars can go, with lots of shops and tapas bars.

-Walking everywhere. I like having everything within walking distance. It's nice, when it's not too cold out. Also, my calf muscles are insane.

-Traveling. While my checking account could use a break from all the plane-ticket-sized holes I've been poking in it, it's great having easy access to all of Europe. Not only did I manage to get around a good chunk of Spain, but I also went to Athens, Paris, London, Amsterdam, and Rome. Not bad, eh?

-My madre's food. My host mom is a great cook, and everything is homemade. Spanish food is delicious, and I will miss not only the food itself but also the eating schedule.

-Speaking Spanish. It's a lot of fun when you're almost fluent!

-Trips to Madrid. We love the Renfe train that takes us into the city. I've taken it so many times, in fact, that I can list all 14 stops on the one that runs from Alcala to the far edge of Madrid: Alcala de Henares, La Garena, Torrejon, San Fernando, Coslada, Vicalvaro, Santa Eugenia, Vallecas, El Pozo, A. Entrevias, Atocha, Recoletos, Nuevos Ministerios, Chamartin.

-The weather. Apparently this warm weather is extremely unusual, but I think even their normal weather is still warmer than Chicago.

-Study sessions in Cafe Continental. It's a very cute cafe in which we congregate when we need to go over our Spanish poetry or history.

-Sangria. From both Media Pinta, our favorite Tuesday night Irish pub, as well as Balcones de Alcala, the tapas bar that my family frequented for dinner when they were here.

-Free tapas. Alcala de Henares actually has the best tapas in Spain because they give you the most food here. And as every good college student knows, free food is always a good thing!

-The people not coming back to Butler. Our group of eleven has gotten quite close over this semester. I know that while things will be different when everyone goes back to their own lives, the ones from Butler will still get together. But two of our number are from Valparaiso University, though that really isn't too far. Then there's our token Australian friend, who will be sorely missed by everyone when he goes back to the southern hemisphere.

It may seem as though I'm not excited to come home; I assure you, I am. I can't wait to see my friends and family, to celebrate Christmas, to freeze my butt off in the good ol' Chicago winter (that last one may have been a bit sarcastic...). But after living here for three and a half months, it feels as though I'm leaving part of my life behind, a very interesting, fun, exciting, and eye-opening part that gave me so many opportunities and new experiences. Thankfully, I'll always have pictures and this lovely blog to remind me of all the good times in Spain.

Our group, one of the first days here, on our very first trip into Madrid. Oh, how far we've come.

Next weekend: Home.

Adios,

Joanna

When in Rome...

...do as the Romans do.

Rome is amazing, and I'm so glad I had three full days to explore the city. The first day was a bit rainy, so we decided to spend it doing the indoor sightseeing: namely, the Vatican. The Vatican museums are gigantic, so we made the smart decision to jump on a tour, which ran us straight to the Sistine Chapel since it was closing early, and then took us through the important parts of the museums. The Sistine Chapel is just as gorgeous as everyone would expect it to be, seeing all that famous art in person. Interestingly, the most famous part--the two fingers touching in The Creation of Adam--isn't even Michaelangelo's. That part of the ceiling fell off at one point a while ago and some unknown painter redid it. Sorry to disappoint. Also, you're not allowed to take pictures inside the Sistine Chapel unless you're Japanese. It was really dirty a few years ago so they decided to do some restoration (cleaning), and whoever won the opportunity to clean it got the rights to the art. Some Japanese company did it, and they stipulated that no one could take pictures except their countrymen. So there you go. Everyone's wishing they were Japanese now, right?

Anyway, after that we checked out St. Peter's Basilica, which is huge and quite beautiful. On our way back to the hostel, we stopped at the Spanish steps, took a walk through a shopping district (all designer brands, yikes), and finished at the Trevi Fountain. This was cool to see at night since it was all lit up, though it was raining a bit. That evening the guys who ran the hostel made dinner for everyone: bruschetta, pesto lasagna, tiramisu, sangria, and limoncello (all for 5 euros!). I love Italian food.

The next day was sunny and warm, feeling more like late September than early December, and we headed over to the Colosseum. First stop was Palatine Hill and the Roman Forum, which is where all the other ruins are. After a nice stroll through ancient times, we finally entered the Colosseum. It's just as impressive as you'd expect it to be. It's also gigantic, and you can just picture thousands of people gathering there 2,000 years ago to watch the gladiators duke it out. Next to the Colosseum is Circus Maximus, which is a massive oval area where they used to have chariot racing. There's not much left there except a big field of grass, but it's a nice place to sit down and watch people jogging and walking their dogs.

After walking back from the Colosseum, we satisfied our morbid side with a visit to the Cappuccini Crypt. It's inside a church and not very big, but the rooms are completely decorated with human bones: altarpieces made of skulls, bone chandeliers, and even full upright skeletons wearing monk outfits. Not only is it fascinating to see how they constructed all the designs out of bones, but it's also, in a gruesome sort of way, beautiful and artistic.

From there, we went to see the Pantheon, the famous temple to all the gods of Ancient Rome. It's amazing how well-preserved it is compared to the Parthenon in Athens: the Pantheon is one of the best preserved of all the Roman buildings. In the Middle Ages it was converted into a Cristian church, and today it's mostly a tomb with some famous painters like Rafael buried there. We didn't go inside because there was some kind of mass going on, so we just sat in the plaza eating gelato and people-watching.

For our last day, we decided to take it easy. We headed back over to the Spanish steps and then walked to the Trevi Fountain again to see those sites in daytime, and we wandered in and out of souvenir shops until lunch, which was gnocchi. Then we headed back to the hostel, got our stuff, hung out for a bit, and went to our little pastry shop on the corner. I am newly obsessed with hazelnut gelato. We also each got a cannoli, which was unbelievable. Italians really know food.

Then it was time to go. Unfortunately, leaving Rome was tainted by all sorts of airline mishaps, but I won't leave this on a bad note. Rome was totally worth the horrible traveling, and to prove it, I'll leave you with some of my favorite pictures:

Me in front of the dome of St. Peter's Basilica

Colosseum

Cappuccini Crypt

Spanish Steps

Trevi Fountain

Next weekend: my last weekend in Spain! I can hardly believe it. How sad! Look out for a wrap-up post in which I go over what I'll miss most (or least) about life in Spain.