its always a fabulous feeling when you wake up in the morning, look in the mirror, and see that all your teeth are still there.
this morning was a little different...
ha no, just kidding. that would suck though, huh jenks? haha love youu
anyways, 'slurry mcgee' (side note:false) had a great night yesterday. after a refreshing nap, we took off to the streets armed with our rum, vodka, and orange juice. the lucky group was allyson, chelsea, alena, kevin, eric, bryan,and justin. deciding against sitting sketchely in a park drinking our booze, we sat on the side of the river which was actually reallyy nice. it had a great view and it was not too cold. at several points, i think we were all debating diving in the river when cops rolled by but they ended up leaving us alone, so good news there. lord knows i need no more of that!
we headed down to an authentic live music jazz place near where i live- it was separated into 2 parts; one side where 2 guys were playing guitar and singing and the other was the bar where we were most of the time, getting drinks and talking. the bartenders were pretty cool, showing us magic tricks.
'its like 'bikini' but only one 'kini'' haha.
after a while, we wanted to go to buddha, this sweet ass club with 3 levels where the bottom is basically typical american radio music, the second is a little more techno but still music, and the top is wayy techno and electronica, so pretty awesome. plus the lightss are greatt haha.
as always, i made an intelligent decision to grab a bike and ride alongside people walking but after several incidents of going straight into the park fence, my fellow drunks forced me off it and made me walk.. bastards! haha kidding- i should try harder to not be such a danger to myself and society, thanks guys.
the club was real fun! haaa something that i thought was an absolute riot was that this guy waved me over when i was sitting down so i went to go talk to him and we took a shot together and then talked for a little, got up to go dance, and then i kinda left and found alena and then was dancing with other people, and ahhaha he always somehow positioned himself so that i would be looking at him if i were to look up. hahah literally this guy was a ninja- i dont know how he got around so fast but he was everywhere at once staring me down. kinda thought that was funny.. ha 'manneater'
other people from api joined us at the club- nataly, leilani, adam, joel, umm. others?
allyson, her bf matt, his friend caleb, and i were the last 4 people in that place. jamming til like 530. we took bikes to get home- no accidents this time!
i cant wait for it to be reaall nice out and we can always sit by the river and drink and chill cuz its so nice there! its been kind of raining alot which is sad- and sucks even more cuz i refused to plan for rain because i only want sun, so naturally i brought no shoes for rain, so every time my shoes get soaked through. im an idiot. 'sun sun sunn love love loveee' hahahahhaa oh man that fucking ringtone. 'its in your baggg' ' whattt!??!' oh so great.
'red or blue?' 'red or blue?' 'red or blue?' hahahahaha
almost wasnt able to do it without you, allyson.
milk was a bad choice.
honneeyyyy!
'i hate this shit, i havent had it since middle school... i love this shit!' haha i love our dinners.
anywaysss, great night, repeat tonight, fo sho.
Friday, January 29, 2010
Friday, January 22, 2010
Holy Toledo!
Wow! What a city! Its about an hour away from Madrid and it has sooo much culture. It is absolutely gorgeous and everything is in extremely good shape. The city is built like a fortress like walls around because it was invaded for quite some time. First by the romans, then the visigoths, then muslims, and finally christians more recently. So it has a wide variety of styles, so much pretty architecture, and art. At first, we took a bus tour to go around the city. At the top of a side mountain ,we could look down on the whole city. It was amazing! There is the alcazar, the enormous cathedral of Toledo along 80 other churches, and many houses. There is also a river that just started running again that goes around the city and another bigger one that uses a water mill. It serves as a moat. We descended back down a little bit and started on foot. We went up some outside escalators that had just been put in because it was always so steep to get into the city because it was so protected. Walking around Toledo was beautiful- its all little cobblestone streets with tons of artisan shops all around. There are so many stores with swords because Toledo has the best steel- this is considered one of the most popular souvenirs from spain. There was one store that produces decorative plates from tiny gold threads that are so detailed- there was one depicting the view of the city we had previously seen and it was worth 80,000 euros!!! Whoa!
The first thing we visited was The Cathedral of Toledo- this must be the most extravagant and beautiful thing ive ever seen. This only would be worth the trip to Toledo. it actually used to be a mosque but when the christians came back, they converted it into a cathedral. Its ouside is very pretty and detailed too but when you see the inside, it literally takes your breath away. It took 270 years to build! So it has all the different architectural styles from over the years- renaissance, roman, gothic, etc. You wonder what kind of genius artists and architects were able to construct this. As like in any cathedral, there are huge stain glass windows, high ceilings, sculpture, paintings, little side chapels with churches, but this cathedral goes way beyond anything ive ever seen!
We started our guided tour at the altar. In a cathedral, by tradition, the altar always has be facing east or the rising sun, just like a mosque has to always face Jerusalem. It is always the first thing ever built and the most important. The last piece always put in a catherdral is the keystone- this completes the entire building and is considered finished at this point. This cathedral had a huge altar with an enormous piece of art in the background- it was extremely detailed and all carved from wood and then painted in bright colors. It was the story of jesus, starting from the bottom and going all the way to the top where the cross were. Since so many people were illiterate in those times, the church knew they had to picture the story of the bible, which is why there are always so many sculptures and colored windows and paintings to tell the people the story. There were also tombs in the altar part. The ceilings are so high and the altar is so impressive.
Across from the altar was a place for the bishop to sit in a big compartment almost as big as the altar. All around there were seats from wood that you could fold the bottom back up, all ornately decorated with the story of the war. All around that above the chairs, were sculptures of all of the important people in the bible, plus others. Everything always so detailed and telling a story.
Then, we walked around the corner to behind the altar. WOW!! Absolutely magnificent. Where the sun would rise and come in from the east, at the top of the cathedral, there is a huge hole for the sun to shine through. This part is decorated with lots of people that stick out from the walls and look like they are sitting on the edge and looking in at us. They are colored and sitting in a circle and in the top there are lots of baby angels. So gorgeous because they all stick out like real people from the stone. Opposite that, where the sun actually shines, is a huge artistic piece made from silver that depicts jesus and virgin mary among many others. In the middle is a big sun made in gold that shines throughout the piece. Really beautiful.
All along the sides of the cathedral are little chapels that were always kept private and are now used as tombs for the most important people. The entire underneath of the cathedral had been used as a burial ground earlier but the tombs were dug out because it had become weak and dangerous for the people to walk on. However, they left all the cardinals in the ground and from above you can tell where they are because above each of their tombs, there hang a red hat with tassels. The theory is that as long until the hat falls to the ground, the cardinal is still waiting to go to heaven- not one hat has fallen yet. Hehe. Oh, religion…
Another part of the cathedral has been devoted to the virgin mary. In there, they showcase a piece of stone, saying that mary stepped on it and asking the public to touch it and ask for her help. It used to be flat but is curved in with so many holes now because millions of fingers have touched it.
In another part, they converted a small chapel into a little museum. All the pieces are there from donations. There are gold crosses from the cardinals and little paintings. But the most impressive thing is a gold structure. The queen had been given a beautiful golden piece that depicted so man little characters and a circle in the middle that was for the holy to sit in. this had 17 kilos of gold, not including some parts in silver and all the beautiful gems and stones. When the queen died, she asked that all her belongings be auctioned off and the money given to the poor. The bishop bought this piece and asked an artist to build an altar on which to place the first golden piece. It is now made up of over 200 kilos of gold!!! No big deal… its so beautiful with so so so much detail- every little person and animal is so tiny and there are millions of them all making up the design. Wowww.
In one side of the building, there is a room with lots of paintings, many by El Greco. This is not his actual name but because his name was long and hard to pronounce, and he was originally from Greece, the spaniards called him El Greco. Toledo became his second home because he completed the majority of his art here. All this art was also telling a story. On the ceiling was a hugeeeee frescoe covering the entire ceiling. It was beautiful and definitely looked like real people were sitting up there. This was painted by ‘speedy lucca’ who painted with both hands!
In some of the paintings, you could see that they had been cut out. This had happened during the war when some of the paintings had been cut up and really destroyed. Now, many of them have been restored but you can still tell how they were stolen.
Next, we went to go see El Greco’s masterpiece which is located in the San Tome Iglesia. The painting is called ‘ the burial of count orgaz’ and its pretty huge. It was really great. Its actually placed right over the actual tomb of count orgaz. The painting depicts a dead orgaz in armor about to be gently put down into the tomb right below by 2 priests in bright beautiful clothes. They are surrounded by several monks, along with 2 men leading the ceremony and watching are lots of men that represent the nobles of the time attending the burial. In the entire picture, there are only 2 people looking at you; everyone else is looking somewhere else in the painting. These two people are believed to be el Greco himself and his son at 8 years old. The son is in the bottom left corner pointing to the burial as in inviting us to join. In his pocket, there is a hankerchief with el greco’s signature (he always signed discreetly like this) and a year. However, this was not the year of the time of the painting and the same year his son was born, but 8 years from then, which is why the son is depicted at 8 years old in the future. His father is believed to be one of the noble men- they look very alike and again, are the only people looking at the audience so it means something.
The painting is divided into two halfs- earth and heaven. Jesus is right at the top, virgin mary beneath him to the side, with another man below him on the other side. Right in the middle, there is a huge angel carrying a cloud-type thing in the shape of a baby- this represents orgaz’s soul- into a cloud canal. These people are guiding his rebirth into heaven. There is st peter on the side holding the keys to heaven. Really cool painting. I never was one to truly appreciate religious paintings but when all the details are explained clearly, it really makes a good story and you also have twists with the painters sometimes being in there, and with the son too, that’s really cool.
Next, we went to the santa maria blanca synagogue that was later transformed into a church. From the outside, it looks really plain because it was considered disrespectful to show fanciness from the outside, which is why many buildings look simple from the outside but they are always extremely rich inside. The style inside was Moorish still with the big arcs and repetitive designs. The original design was kept even after being transformed. The christians built their altar on the east wall as with all churches but this east wall was also considered sacred for the moors. Now, the Christian altar has been removed so that they can start to discover the sacred wall that was left behind it. Some frescoes still remain on the walls on the inside of the synagogue.
This completed our tour to Toledo. Really marvelous, wow! Such a rich city! We grabbed a slice of pizza and now are on our way to sevilla! We have been riding and we already took a stop where I ate a Spanish tortilla (eggs, potatoes, spices, really yummy). There have been olive trees on both sides of our highway for at least 10 miles. Man, these people must love olives. Cant wait to get to sevilla- we meet our families tonight!
El Escorial
Excursion: san Lorenzo del Escorial!! (huge palace)
Definitely not as gorgeous as the royal palace in Madrid but still cool to visit. The outside is extremely pretty but the inside is kind of plain, other than the library, the basilique, and the tomb places. The first thing we saw was the library which was incredible!! It’s a huge room with a rounded ceiling (basically the whole palace had the rounded ceiling going on) and on all the ceiling and upper side of walls there were paintings right on the walls. This library is one of the 4 most important libraries in the world because of the quality of the books. Whats interesting is that all the books are facing the other way so you cant read the titles. the part that you do see is painted in gold for each book so it looks really cool. They do this so that the pages can breathe, which conserves the books better.
Then we saw the church and basilique (this was an exact copy from the cathedral in rome but 3 times smaller here). This was extremely beautiful as well. The altar was the best part, with the background showing all different religious people in little niches. From the bottom, each person looks like the same size but in reality, the ones on the top are bigger so that for the people they look as big as the ones on the bottom. The artist wanted each one to be portrayed as having equal importance. There were several tombs on the sides of the altar as well. There were also 6 doors on the sides that led to the private chambers on the king among other important people. Later, when we went around the castle, we were in the kings private quarters and this connected to the door at the altar so that he could watch each ceremony in his own comfort. The king actually died right there in that room.
The rest of the castle with exceptions of the tombs and gardens were very plain. The walls were all made from big rocks and there wasn’t much detail. However, there were many paintings and many of the doors were ornately furnished by huge wooden encasings that had very intricate designs on them. From the windows, we could see the huugee gardens outside. They were all designed beautifully- with trees and bushes trimmed and cut, very pretty. we had a spectacular view of the city and it stretched so far after that too.
The tombs down in the bottom of the castle were really cool. There were pretty stairways with rounded ceilings all in marble- I love those. In the main tomb room are buried all the kings and their wife’s (if they had more than one, only the one that is the mom of the next new king). Each has a big coffin placed in a hole in the wall. There are 4 in a column and about 5 columns on each side. On the right are all the women, and on the left are all the men. However, in one case , the king was terrible and the queen had governed so the queen took his place on the left and he was on the right. There are only 3 tombs left in which to carry the king and queen now along with the cardinal (or something, I forget). As of now, they don’t know where the kings and queens of the future will be buried. When you walk right out of this main tomb, there are two rooms on the sides- these are called the rotting rooms. The people buried in these tombs are put into these rooms for about 30 years until they rot and then their bones and remains are put into the tombs. Great image..
After going through several hallways, we are connected to other rooms with other tombs, including all the royal people and family- all with pretty tombs as well. There are many more open spaces here.
The last part we visited was walking around the inside square of the palace. Here the walls were covered in huge paintings telling stories about religion, wars, important people, etc.
This night, we took it easy as we had to be ready at 8 am the next morning. Allyson and I had a quick dinner then went to see avatar. It ended around 1, and it was interesting to see that many people were still out on the town, even older people. I wonder how they can stay up so late all the time and then go to work in the morning. Then again, I guess I ran on no sleep last semester and I think spain is real relaxed.
Definitely not as gorgeous as the royal palace in Madrid but still cool to visit. The outside is extremely pretty but the inside is kind of plain, other than the library, the basilique, and the tomb places. The first thing we saw was the library which was incredible!! It’s a huge room with a rounded ceiling (basically the whole palace had the rounded ceiling going on) and on all the ceiling and upper side of walls there were paintings right on the walls. This library is one of the 4 most important libraries in the world because of the quality of the books. Whats interesting is that all the books are facing the other way so you cant read the titles. the part that you do see is painted in gold for each book so it looks really cool. They do this so that the pages can breathe, which conserves the books better.
Then we saw the church and basilique (this was an exact copy from the cathedral in rome but 3 times smaller here). This was extremely beautiful as well. The altar was the best part, with the background showing all different religious people in little niches. From the bottom, each person looks like the same size but in reality, the ones on the top are bigger so that for the people they look as big as the ones on the bottom. The artist wanted each one to be portrayed as having equal importance. There were several tombs on the sides of the altar as well. There were also 6 doors on the sides that led to the private chambers on the king among other important people. Later, when we went around the castle, we were in the kings private quarters and this connected to the door at the altar so that he could watch each ceremony in his own comfort. The king actually died right there in that room.
The rest of the castle with exceptions of the tombs and gardens were very plain. The walls were all made from big rocks and there wasn’t much detail. However, there were many paintings and many of the doors were ornately furnished by huge wooden encasings that had very intricate designs on them. From the windows, we could see the huugee gardens outside. They were all designed beautifully- with trees and bushes trimmed and cut, very pretty. we had a spectacular view of the city and it stretched so far after that too.
The tombs down in the bottom of the castle were really cool. There were pretty stairways with rounded ceilings all in marble- I love those. In the main tomb room are buried all the kings and their wife’s (if they had more than one, only the one that is the mom of the next new king). Each has a big coffin placed in a hole in the wall. There are 4 in a column and about 5 columns on each side. On the right are all the women, and on the left are all the men. However, in one case , the king was terrible and the queen had governed so the queen took his place on the left and he was on the right. There are only 3 tombs left in which to carry the king and queen now along with the cardinal (or something, I forget). As of now, they don’t know where the kings and queens of the future will be buried. When you walk right out of this main tomb, there are two rooms on the sides- these are called the rotting rooms. The people buried in these tombs are put into these rooms for about 30 years until they rot and then their bones and remains are put into the tombs. Great image..
After going through several hallways, we are connected to other rooms with other tombs, including all the royal people and family- all with pretty tombs as well. There are many more open spaces here.
The last part we visited was walking around the inside square of the palace. Here the walls were covered in huge paintings telling stories about religion, wars, important people, etc.
This night, we took it easy as we had to be ready at 8 am the next morning. Allyson and I had a quick dinner then went to see avatar. It ended around 1, and it was interesting to see that many people were still out on the town, even older people. I wonder how they can stay up so late all the time and then go to work in the morning. Then again, I guess I ran on no sleep last semester and I think spain is real relaxed.
Plaza Mayor & Parque Retiro
Ok so first things first: SEE AVATAR! I saw it last night with Allyson in 3D and it was sooo good. Like amazing. Possibly my favorite movie. All trippy and everything is sooo gorgeoussss. And it definitely says some things about the world. Im absolutely buying this movie the second it comes out. It is the most expensive movie ever made (around $400 million)! But its sold sooo much already. Its done by the same guy who did titanic. Soo great- definitely recommend avatar to everyoneee!
So going back a couple days, Tuesday night, was real sweet time. alysson, elaina, Natalie, lelani, and I all went out together. We bought a Smirnoff bottle and a rum bottle (a new one wed never had from spain, really good) and pregamed in our hotel room. When we went out, our first stop was this sweet hookah bar. I think it might have been called ‘colores’ but im not sure if that’s the right one. We joined 2 other girls, Kayla and nikki. We got a hookah and some drinks (margarita for me- love it) and just chilled. It was a really cute place with good music and cool decorations and pillows.
Afterwards, we went to dubliners (not dingshlingers or whatever I had previously called it), the irish pub near puerta del sol. Yup, leave it to us to go to an irish pub in spain… but there were actually a ton of Spanish people there and I ended up talking with a couple guys in Spanish for awhile. Apparently, my Spanish improves greatly when im drunk. Im now seriously debating taking a couple shots before class… hmm.
Thennn, we wanted to go to a discoteca because we all felt like dancing. So we left with a group of like 15 people to go to the paradise, I think it was called. A bunch of the guys from the club and the street followed us there haha. I don’t know what happened, but elaina and I and 2 guys got totally separated from the rest of the group by a little and when we got to the club entrance, they weren’t there so after some debating cuz it cost 10 euros to get in when we had been promised it was free, we went in figuring they were in there. They weren’t, but we still had a bunch of fun, dancing and we got free drinks. There weren’t too many people in there cuz it was tuesday but that place definitely had potential. Elaina and I decided it was time to leave, and as I was going out, the 2 people at the front desk were pretending to take my bag or something like that, fooling around, and so naturally, I take their flowers from off the front desk. All of a sudden, the games are over real fast cuz they both almost pounce on me with anger.. I fucking ran my ass out of there afterwards. The guys walked us home, which wasn’t far. At our hotel front door, they wanted to come up and would not let elaina and I go and the hotel front desk people came outside and were pushing them away, haha awkward. I ended up sleeping in elainas room cuz my roommate was passed out cold in our room and we only get one key. Probably got back around 5:30/6 am. Don’t have a watch or phone yet.
Next morning, had an early meeting. I showed up a half hour late with my dress and high boots from last night… “don’t tell me youre doing a walk of shamee” haha.
Afterwards I forced myself to not go back to sleep cuz there was a bunch of shit I wanted to see and this was my last chance before we left Madrid. Plus, it was reall sunny. Soo I grabbed elaina with me and we set out to explore.
We went to plaza mayor which was really pretty. It’s a huge open plaza completely surrounded on all four sides by one building. Most might be offices but there were definitely apartments and restaurants all around. It was peaceful. There was a huge statue in the middle of a man on a horse and on some of the walls there were paintings of the gods that were really pretty. There were painters and music players on the side which I lovee. We walked around a little and before leaving plaza mayor, we bumped into the fattest spiderman ive ever seen. He was pretty hilarious and forced us to take pictures with him. We did 3 main poses: typical spiderman stance with the open hands, “flying to Massachusetts”, and “soo sexy.” Haha pretty hysterical doing those in the middle of the plaza with people around.
Next ,we went to plaza de espana which is right near the royal palace. There were pretty botanical gardens right next to the royal palace with fountains and pretty trees.. plaza de espana was pretty too with a bunch of trees and a statue of what I think might have been don quijote and some other guy. There was also a fountain there.
Then we set out for ‘el parque de buen retiro’ which I was most excited to see!! We walked back across the city to where the prado museum was (they are right next to each other). This park is absolutely enormous, we couldn’t see the whole thing. The second you walk in, its like another world with cool fountains, statues and sculptures, botanical gardens, cool trees, a huugee lake type thing, people playing music. It was veryy pretty. There is a ‘crystal palacio’ at one end but we couldn’t find it but im sure that gorgeous as well. I was taking a picture of a sweet tree when a runner starting stretching on it right in front of us, and we started laughing and the guy definitely thought we were taking close ups of him stretching or something. He glared at us until we decided to walk away laughing. We walked back through little streets and got back to our hotel just in time as people were already walking down the street to get the bus for our excursion. That was close.
Oh and the day before, when we were walking around, we actually a bunch of pickpocketers add a bunch of shit to their stash! There was a big cardboard box on the corner of one street and all of a sudden a bunch of people rushed it to add shit or something. I spotted a bra in there so that must have taken some maneuvering. Someone on our program already got their wallet stolen here.
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
royal palace & prado museum
oh mann, am i glad to be back in the hotel lying down again for a second. feels soo goodd. haha.
today was pretty cool, and its only the beginning! who knows the obscenities that will occur tonight..
we visited two things today- the royal palace and the prado museum. it was actually perfect we were doing inside museum activities cuz it was rainy and kinda gross outside.
so at 10 am, we left and walked to the royal palace. its huge and looks pretty from the outside but it doesnt compare at all to the inside. there are 2800 rooms in that palace. what could you possibly use all those rooms for?? it took 26 years to build. the king and queen dont live there anymore but they do still use the palace for special ceremonies. the royal palace is considered one of the top three best decorated palaces in the country... or world? i forget...
anyways we walk in through the first big door and you get into a courtyard- just a huge open place surrounded with all parts of the building. pretty, and there was a good view of the city from one of the borders but it was real foggy for us, unfortunately. then we walk into the palace. we got a guided tour with a lady. the entire palace was absolutely gorgeous! pretty stairs, sweet rooms, sculptures, paintings, frescoes, decorations, furniture, curtains, chairs, everything was great. i dont even know where to begin! it was all so ornate and there were so many different rooms and materials- marble, ceramic, porcelain, gold, bronze, silver, silk.
out of the 2800 rooms, there are only 20 open to the public. some of the rooms are still what they originally were and others have been changed because of restoration or desire for a new look. the dining room has a huuuugeee table that can seat 145 people! it stretches across the entire room. we saw the queens bedroom, the kinds bedroom, special ceremonies rooms.
and the ceilings are so high so it makes it that much more glamorous and many were painted with frescoes- i forget the artist that painted it but he has his masterpiece on one of the ceilings- its enormous and so detailed and pretty and it only took 11 months. most walls were covered in silk tapestries. the chandeliers were gorgeous too! so many different designs and they were all so big and fancy, really cool.
afterwards, we went into a separate part that was showcasing more statues and sculptures and drawings. that was pretty cool too.
i wanted to visit the plaza de espana that is right next to the royal palace but it was still rainy and my shoes were soaked through (did not bring rainboots, oops) so we came back to the hotel. i will visit it another day.
later at 4, we went to the prado museum. we walked down gran via- the biggest boulevard in madrid. lots of gorgeous architecture in the buildings- some that are just offices and apartments too but there is always so much detail. the prado museum is enormous! we saw a lot of velasquez and goya. my favorite by velasquez is 'las meninas'- his masterpiece where he paints the royal family and he is a big part of the portrait too. i never knew it was soo big! the original is enormous.
goya also did paintings of the royal family. it was really interesting to hear about the different styles and how they (along with the other painters we saw) painted a story and told a lot more than just drawing a picture. for example, for one by goya where he painted the royal family, the queen was the one governing the country at that time so she was the brightest and right in the middle. the king who was no good was more on the side hunched over, not looking so proud. and the king and queen werent painted right next to each other. they had one of their little sons in between them, meaning there was something between them, which was actually all of the queens lovers. goya also painted himself in that family portrait but because he wasnt on good terms with the royal family, he had to be in the dark background, which is interesting. nothing was left to chance- it was all planned out.
it was cool learning about different artistic styles and compare paintings of when people didnt know how to draw in perspective and then could. and how some details were so discreet you cant even notice them until you are a foot away from the painting- like the tears in one painting.
AND! the coolest was that one of the paintings we saw is AT UMASS! well not the original, but a copy. you know that huge ass trippy painting with all the naked people and crazy shit going on when you walk into the building to go to that little store in southwest? i cant remeber what its called! but you can sit inside on a bench and its crazy. welll, its called 'the garden of earthly delights' by heironymus bosch. thats some crazy shit right there. check that out.
after prado, i walked around with allyson (my roommate at the hotel and for my house) and elaina- cool chicks. we were starvingggg and were searching everywhere for a burrito- we were craving mexican. took forever and we finally settled on a diner that had fajitas. yum!
everybody here is so nice! ive met awesome people from the program and its been fabulousss.
alright well i might nap before going out tonightt
hasta
sophie
today was pretty cool, and its only the beginning! who knows the obscenities that will occur tonight..
we visited two things today- the royal palace and the prado museum. it was actually perfect we were doing inside museum activities cuz it was rainy and kinda gross outside.
so at 10 am, we left and walked to the royal palace. its huge and looks pretty from the outside but it doesnt compare at all to the inside. there are 2800 rooms in that palace. what could you possibly use all those rooms for?? it took 26 years to build. the king and queen dont live there anymore but they do still use the palace for special ceremonies. the royal palace is considered one of the top three best decorated palaces in the country... or world? i forget...
anyways we walk in through the first big door and you get into a courtyard- just a huge open place surrounded with all parts of the building. pretty, and there was a good view of the city from one of the borders but it was real foggy for us, unfortunately. then we walk into the palace. we got a guided tour with a lady. the entire palace was absolutely gorgeous! pretty stairs, sweet rooms, sculptures, paintings, frescoes, decorations, furniture, curtains, chairs, everything was great. i dont even know where to begin! it was all so ornate and there were so many different rooms and materials- marble, ceramic, porcelain, gold, bronze, silver, silk.
out of the 2800 rooms, there are only 20 open to the public. some of the rooms are still what they originally were and others have been changed because of restoration or desire for a new look. the dining room has a huuuugeee table that can seat 145 people! it stretches across the entire room. we saw the queens bedroom, the kinds bedroom, special ceremonies rooms.
and the ceilings are so high so it makes it that much more glamorous and many were painted with frescoes- i forget the artist that painted it but he has his masterpiece on one of the ceilings- its enormous and so detailed and pretty and it only took 11 months. most walls were covered in silk tapestries. the chandeliers were gorgeous too! so many different designs and they were all so big and fancy, really cool.
afterwards, we went into a separate part that was showcasing more statues and sculptures and drawings. that was pretty cool too.
i wanted to visit the plaza de espana that is right next to the royal palace but it was still rainy and my shoes were soaked through (did not bring rainboots, oops) so we came back to the hotel. i will visit it another day.
later at 4, we went to the prado museum. we walked down gran via- the biggest boulevard in madrid. lots of gorgeous architecture in the buildings- some that are just offices and apartments too but there is always so much detail. the prado museum is enormous! we saw a lot of velasquez and goya. my favorite by velasquez is 'las meninas'- his masterpiece where he paints the royal family and he is a big part of the portrait too. i never knew it was soo big! the original is enormous.
goya also did paintings of the royal family. it was really interesting to hear about the different styles and how they (along with the other painters we saw) painted a story and told a lot more than just drawing a picture. for example, for one by goya where he painted the royal family, the queen was the one governing the country at that time so she was the brightest and right in the middle. the king who was no good was more on the side hunched over, not looking so proud. and the king and queen werent painted right next to each other. they had one of their little sons in between them, meaning there was something between them, which was actually all of the queens lovers. goya also painted himself in that family portrait but because he wasnt on good terms with the royal family, he had to be in the dark background, which is interesting. nothing was left to chance- it was all planned out.
it was cool learning about different artistic styles and compare paintings of when people didnt know how to draw in perspective and then could. and how some details were so discreet you cant even notice them until you are a foot away from the painting- like the tears in one painting.
AND! the coolest was that one of the paintings we saw is AT UMASS! well not the original, but a copy. you know that huge ass trippy painting with all the naked people and crazy shit going on when you walk into the building to go to that little store in southwest? i cant remeber what its called! but you can sit inside on a bench and its crazy. welll, its called 'the garden of earthly delights' by heironymus bosch. thats some crazy shit right there. check that out.
after prado, i walked around with allyson (my roommate at the hotel and for my house) and elaina- cool chicks. we were starvingggg and were searching everywhere for a burrito- we were craving mexican. took forever and we finally settled on a diner that had fajitas. yum!
everybody here is so nice! ive met awesome people from the program and its been fabulousss.
alright well i might nap before going out tonightt
hasta
sophie
Monday, January 18, 2010
baaahhahahahhhahha great first night.
ok so right now, me and my roommate in the hotel, allyson, are hammered drunk, kinda hilarious. fucking great ass night. and guess what! most greatest accomplishment- didnt black out!! ... or did i? cuz as i am playing 'mia- paper planes' we are jamming out and allyson says they played it and i dont remember that so who knows?
either way, not important. whats important is that we hit up some espanoles and got freek drinks. "its the titiiesss". "sloppy faces are the best cuz that means youre having fun". couple bars, couple drinks, couple sloppys. sooo many of us at this irish bar (dingshlingers? totally not that, but something close..) it was amazing. getting blasted. then meeting guys from (what they claimed) mexico, peru? possibly?, espana, argentina, whereever. pretty cute, meaning free drinks. ole!
& listen to this amazing feat! this girl, elaina & i, took these ridiculous shots, called marijuana (make sure to pronounce the 'j'). slight frightening yet delicious. confusing combination overall. here are the events covered with this demanding shot:
1) we are presented with a blue shot in a shot glass but overspilling into a saucer...ok?
2) "have you done this before?" ... "como?"
3) "straw, straw, straw"... "ok?, sounds great"
4) bartender proceeds to lit surrounding spillage on fire as we stand astounded and he keeps pointing at the straw.. no se?
5) after a little, he covers the fire with an big empty glass where it fills up with smoke
6) puts it to my mouth... so naturally, take a bong hit of absinthe, duh
7) futhermore instructed to take my straw and sip the boiling fucking shot, both extremely strong and fucking burning meee-- yummmm
8) recommend it to everyone but i will most probably not take this same shot again
we can recap to earlier if you want.
got to my hotel, hotel moderno, center of madrid, around noonish?.. since when do i keep a watch? never.
since then, walked around madrid with some cool ass chicks, saw some 'wicked' cool shit (ya, make fun of me allyson), then did some 'SUPER COOL' stuff. hahhaha
basically enjoyed ourselves in the city.
oh and yes, one of the highlights, later that night, after dinner, we were so privileged as to see approximately 23 hookers strutting their stuff on one of the main streets of madrid, wadduppp.
another highlight: saw a man in a sweet ass animal fur cape. lets not forget that.
im sured i missed a bunch. will write more muy prontooooo
mucha amorrrr!!!
sophia
ok so right now, me and my roommate in the hotel, allyson, are hammered drunk, kinda hilarious. fucking great ass night. and guess what! most greatest accomplishment- didnt black out!! ... or did i? cuz as i am playing 'mia- paper planes' we are jamming out and allyson says they played it and i dont remember that so who knows?
either way, not important. whats important is that we hit up some espanoles and got freek drinks. "its the titiiesss". "sloppy faces are the best cuz that means youre having fun". couple bars, couple drinks, couple sloppys. sooo many of us at this irish bar (dingshlingers? totally not that, but something close..) it was amazing. getting blasted. then meeting guys from (what they claimed) mexico, peru? possibly?, espana, argentina, whereever. pretty cute, meaning free drinks. ole!
& listen to this amazing feat! this girl, elaina & i, took these ridiculous shots, called marijuana (make sure to pronounce the 'j'). slight frightening yet delicious. confusing combination overall. here are the events covered with this demanding shot:
1) we are presented with a blue shot in a shot glass but overspilling into a saucer...ok?
2) "have you done this before?" ... "como?"
3) "straw, straw, straw"... "ok?, sounds great"
4) bartender proceeds to lit surrounding spillage on fire as we stand astounded and he keeps pointing at the straw.. no se?
5) after a little, he covers the fire with an big empty glass where it fills up with smoke
6) puts it to my mouth... so naturally, take a bong hit of absinthe, duh
7) futhermore instructed to take my straw and sip the boiling fucking shot, both extremely strong and fucking burning meee-- yummmm
8) recommend it to everyone but i will most probably not take this same shot again
we can recap to earlier if you want.
got to my hotel, hotel moderno, center of madrid, around noonish?.. since when do i keep a watch? never.
since then, walked around madrid with some cool ass chicks, saw some 'wicked' cool shit (ya, make fun of me allyson), then did some 'SUPER COOL' stuff. hahhaha
basically enjoyed ourselves in the city.
oh and yes, one of the highlights, later that night, after dinner, we were so privileged as to see approximately 23 hookers strutting their stuff on one of the main streets of madrid, wadduppp.
another highlight: saw a man in a sweet ass animal fur cape. lets not forget that.
im sured i missed a bunch. will write more muy prontooooo
mucha amorrrr!!!
sophia
Sunday, January 17, 2010
espanaaa so soonnn!
welcome to the roller coaster i like to refer to as my life! here i invite you to follow my antics and adventures in spain as i make a fool of myself in another language! this is bound to get interesting...
oh boyy, this is gonna be fabulous! i will be in spain in approximately 19 hours, 7 minutes, and 32 seconds.. but whos counting?
seriously, spain could not come at a better time! after battling through last semester classes, with a boss who told me to "push the common sense button" (direct quote, actually quite hilarious), getting buried in countless parking tickets, speeding tickets, dragging court dates and fees, and getting threatened with possibly having to face 'impersonating someone' charges, i am certainly ready for a new experience!
however, sadly, ive learned that even 3400 miles from the oh so great united states of america wont hide me from my mistakes, as just recently, i received yet another ticket sent right to my home in france (how kind of you, america) because on my last day in amherst, i decided it a brilliant idea to leave at midnight (gosh, never in my life have i procrastinated that much) when an emergency code blizzard had been announced. apparently, i had it in my head that i can overcome the powerful forces of nature. let that be a lesson learned for the future, i hope. anyway, being the experienced driver that i naturally am, i went through the fast lane toll by accident and now have to pay the consequences.. or not! of course, i appealed it. pff, who do you think i am? but yes, i am certainly relieved to know that i will not be operating a motor vehicle for quite some time- at least i can be assured i wont be accumulating more tickets.. thank goddd.
although france has been nice and relaxing, somewhat, with the family, i am also ready to escape my dads desire for me to read one of his preferred harvard articles of "managing oneself" and my moms complaints as to why, but whyyy, must i wear so many rings?! and anyways, now that our igloo is fading fast as the sun has come back, ill have no place to sleep...kidding.
one note/observation ive made about my brain recently- i am more spaced out than ever! which i guess is no real surprise but comonn. ive had no exposure to drugs in the past month, not like those would have anything to do with it... but yeaahhh, i walk to one corner of the room to pack, turn around for a half second and decide its the perfect time to paint my nails, after 7 fingers i feel the need to start typing an email. its been nonstop. i havent been able to do anythingg!! writing this first blog post has taken me so long cuz i keep getting up, looking through facebook, etc! hopefully i will start to be able to think a little more clearly in the near future, however i dont see many of my activities in spain helping me in that department.
maybe i should write some things i hope to accomplish:
1) hablar espanol
2) meet everybody! (possibly a little overambitious, we will see..)
3) play soccer.. dont laugh :)
4) visit lots of europe! (places im thinking of: many in spain, london, greece, florence, venice, portugal, morocco.. any ideas?
5) get a sweet tan
6) and above all, ENJOY MYSELF!
and in that, ill also follow carlys dads advice of SAVORING EVERY MOMENT!
so now, i will try again to gather my suitcase, thoughts, and hopes before i jet off to spain!
espannaaa, ready or nott, here i commmeee!! i am ready for adventure, new experiences, people, food, sights, laughter, music, places, anything and everything!!!
until then!
love,
sophie
oh boyy, this is gonna be fabulous! i will be in spain in approximately 19 hours, 7 minutes, and 32 seconds.. but whos counting?
seriously, spain could not come at a better time! after battling through last semester classes, with a boss who told me to "push the common sense button" (direct quote, actually quite hilarious), getting buried in countless parking tickets, speeding tickets, dragging court dates and fees, and getting threatened with possibly having to face 'impersonating someone' charges, i am certainly ready for a new experience!
however, sadly, ive learned that even 3400 miles from the oh so great united states of america wont hide me from my mistakes, as just recently, i received yet another ticket sent right to my home in france (how kind of you, america) because on my last day in amherst, i decided it a brilliant idea to leave at midnight (gosh, never in my life have i procrastinated that much) when an emergency code blizzard had been announced. apparently, i had it in my head that i can overcome the powerful forces of nature. let that be a lesson learned for the future, i hope. anyway, being the experienced driver that i naturally am, i went through the fast lane toll by accident and now have to pay the consequences.. or not! of course, i appealed it. pff, who do you think i am? but yes, i am certainly relieved to know that i will not be operating a motor vehicle for quite some time- at least i can be assured i wont be accumulating more tickets.. thank goddd.
although france has been nice and relaxing, somewhat, with the family, i am also ready to escape my dads desire for me to read one of his preferred harvard articles of "managing oneself" and my moms complaints as to why, but whyyy, must i wear so many rings?! and anyways, now that our igloo is fading fast as the sun has come back, ill have no place to sleep...kidding.
one note/observation ive made about my brain recently- i am more spaced out than ever! which i guess is no real surprise but comonn. ive had no exposure to drugs in the past month, not like those would have anything to do with it... but yeaahhh, i walk to one corner of the room to pack, turn around for a half second and decide its the perfect time to paint my nails, after 7 fingers i feel the need to start typing an email. its been nonstop. i havent been able to do anythingg!! writing this first blog post has taken me so long cuz i keep getting up, looking through facebook, etc! hopefully i will start to be able to think a little more clearly in the near future, however i dont see many of my activities in spain helping me in that department.
maybe i should write some things i hope to accomplish:
1) hablar espanol
2) meet everybody! (possibly a little overambitious, we will see..)
3) play soccer.. dont laugh :)
4) visit lots of europe! (places im thinking of: many in spain, london, greece, florence, venice, portugal, morocco.. any ideas?
5) get a sweet tan
6) and above all, ENJOY MYSELF!
and in that, ill also follow carlys dads advice of SAVORING EVERY MOMENT!
so now, i will try again to gather my suitcase, thoughts, and hopes before i jet off to spain!
espannaaa, ready or nott, here i commmeee!! i am ready for adventure, new experiences, people, food, sights, laughter, music, places, anything and everything!!!
until then!
love,
sophie
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)