Sunday, June 19, 2005

barcelona, part ii

Well, I´ve got my bags sitting here with me at the internet café. In a few minutes, we´re leaving here for the train station. Our train leaves at 10:03, but we´re getting there very early. There´s going to be no more of that let´s-see-how-close-to-missing-the-train-we-can-get crap. Hopefully, I will sleep more on this ride. We´re having class tomorrow afternoon back in Segovia.

Barcelona, as it still stands, is a complete freak show. But for the most part I enjoyed myself between the ridiculously long walks to the beach and the 10€ Pepsi. We found a great Italian (I know, I know...) restaurant called Pizza Marzona, or something like that. The food in this town is good. Expensive, too. But that´s okay. Gotta chalk it up to ¨hey, I´m in Spain.¨ The hostal was no five-star hotel either, but it ended up being a bit less scary than I thought. I didn´t feel the need to strap my belongings to me with four rolls of duct tape and a few padlocks. But it was close.

It was all an experience of a lifetime. Not every experience was good, but they were all good for me. As much as I figured this European stint would make me a little less American (and maybe it has and will), I can´t wait to get back to the land of $1.19 drinks with free refills.

Missing everyone. Three weeks down. Two to go.

Friday, June 17, 2005

barcelona

It´s a little after 10:00 am in Barcelona. We´ve been here for a few hours.

We left last night from Madrid at 10:00 on the slow night train. Nine hour ride. We almost missed the train. We ran and ran and ran and barely made it on the train before it took off. Asthma attack, no joke. I got a little bit of sleep on the train. I´m really tired and pretty much dizzy. Everything is surreal. I just had a Burger King chicken sandwich for breakfast. With Crash Test Dummies on the Muzak. It´s a strange time so far. I´m not really sure about our hostal. We can´t check in until 12:00.

I´ll check back when I´m a little more conscious.

Tuesday, June 07, 2005

boredom: 2€

Believe it or not, but I´m bored this afternoon in Segovia. I´m not sure why. It´s not like I didn´t buy 30€ of art supplies yesterday so that I could be a pseudo-artist. But I´ve already done my homework. I´ve already taken the nap you take when you have nothing else to do. I snuck around the apartment while no one was home to take pictures to show everyone what my homestay in Spain looks like. I´ve already walked down Calle Real twice today. I even busted out the Lonely Planet to find something to do. I guess that I do need to go to the Catedral one day. But not today. So I trekked down to the Acueducto -- stopping at several shops along the way in search of those souvenirs -- and ended up in this internet café. I paid 2€ for over three times as much of time as I paid in Madrid. Of course, the really cute jerk working the counter at the place in Madrid over-charged me .50€, as I later found out. Grrr.

I apparently like making the euro sign. €. €. €.

Anyway, so I´m paid up for an hour and forty-five minutes worth of computer use, and these freaking things don´t even have USB ports. Great. So I´ll spend my time here looking at blogs, news, and other such things. Uploading pictures will only commence in the KIIS Centro.

There´s not much new to report. Class is good. Food is good. Weather is good. Sleep is good. I just need to find something to do. And I´ve learned that when I´m bored, the good food and drink around here beckon me. That, my dears, is not good. ;-)

Hasta luego.

Monday, June 06, 2005

en casa en segovia

I´m pretty much glad to say that I´m back in Segovia. I liked Madrid okay, but I love the life in Segovia much more. The lower temperatures here have nothing to do with that...

I´m busy uploading pictures, and pretty soon, people will want on this computer.

Have a beautiful day!

Saturday, June 04, 2005

madrid, madrid

Hey, hey. Today, I am in Madrid. We arrived yesterday, and my friends Jennean and Mary Helen and I are staying the weekend. Yesterday, we visited the Prado Museum, where Goya´s works are held. Today, we are visiting the El Reina Sofia, where we will se Dali´s works and Picasso´s Guernica. It´s very exciting.

Madrid reminds me of New York city a little bit. We´ve been maneuvering the Metro system like champs. Yesterday, in the tunnel into the Metro, a guy had his electric guitar and amp, playing. Lots of street musicians around here. A few minutes ago at the open-air cafe -- where I just had my first authentic paella -- a man was playing his accordion and his wife was on the tambourine. It´s charming.

I´m in an internet cafe right now. Jennean when back to the room to get her Metro pass and Mary Helen was waiting for our camarera to bring the check for our food. We should be recongrating (a word?) soon, so I´ll close.

I´ll have more pictures up later. I forgot to put my flashdrive in my bag that I´m carrying.

Hasta luego.

Wednesday, June 01, 2005

¡hola, chicos!

Now, I really am in Spain. And I love it. Today has been good. I´m rested, and I don´t think jet lag will be too bad after yesterday. I napped a couple times yesterday, and I got a good night´s rest last night.

My class is good. I´m taking the literature class. It´s at 9:00 in the morning, so the rest of my day is freed up. I´ll be spending lots of time just looking around this beautiful ancient city. I love all the everyday things about it. The old men and their canes. Balconies in windows with laundry and flowers. I adore it all.

After class, my roommate Jennean and I went to Las Tres BBB cafe and bar. I got a cafe con leche and the tortilla española that Lance told me I had to get. He was right. It´s delicious.

(I´m going to have to figure out how to do accents on this keyboard.)

I should go. Be sure to check out the pictures on Flickr. I´ll try to update them fairly regularly. I have my coveted Flickr Pro account now, so there´ll be many pictures on there in time.

I love and miss you all. Love more than miss, of course. :-)