Hi friends, Felices Pascuas!
This past week we didn't have school because of Holy Week and my mom and I did some traveling. If you have been reading my blog during the semester you know how much I can write about different weekend trips... so I'm going to try and give a shorter version of the last week. As always pictures will be on facebook soon and if you want to know more just ask!
On Saturday the 16th, Shannon and I flew to Lisboa (Lisbon), Portugal to meet up with my mom who landed a few hours before us. It was super easy to get from the airport to the hotel (something Shannon and I aren't used to at all) and we ended up not having to pay for the bus. That night we walked to the oldest part of Lisboa and had a nice, traditional Portuguese dinner accompanied by green wine. The next day, Sunday, we did our main touring using a Lisboa card that provided us with free entrance into certain museums and a metro pass. We started at the Cathedral (the oldest building in Lisbon), followed by St. George's Castle, and then went to church for an English mass but there were very misbehaved children and we couldn't really hear much. Next we headed to Jeronimos' Monastery but stopped a nice market before we entered the Monastery followed by Belem Tower (with the narrowest steps but an awesome view!). Belem Tower is actually sitting in the water and you have to take a little bridge to get there. After about eight hours of touring, we ate some lunch/dinner depending on the schedule you are used to and wandered back towards the hotel. We did a little grocery shopping (so we could make PB&Js) and had a little dessert on the top floor of the hotel (with an awesome view of the city!). On Monday we took a train to Estoril beach and had a really tough day just laying on the beach, soaking in sun, and working really hard. That night for dinner we had Pizza Hut because Shannon and I sometimes miss American food. Shannon left really early Tuesday morning for Oviedo and my mom and I left middle of the day for Barcelona.
Tuesday night in Barcelona we walked La Rambla (a street filled with shops) and ate a Spanish dinner. Wednesday we walked around the city for eight hours (my feet hated me after that) but we saw alot! We went to the top of Montjuic for a lovely view of Barcelona, saw the famous Christopher Columbus statue, did some shopping, went to the Aquarium (the second biggest in Europe), and went the Picasso museum (which has his painting of Velásquez's Las Meninas (personally I prefer Velásquez's version which we saw in El Prado during our orientation week in Madrid)). On Thursday we did a six hour highlight tour (on a bus- yay!). The morning was all about Gaudi and we got to see Parc Guell, a few of the houses he designed, and La Sagrada Familia! It was awesome especially since the week before break we were studying Gaudi in my art class. I can give you more information about Gaudi if you want. Then in the afternoon we saw more highlights of the city (some of the monuments we saw on foot the day before), learned some history of the city, saw the Olympic stadium, and went to Pueblo Espanol (a reproduction of buildings of all over Spain). We went back to the hotel and took a siesta after all that and then went out for dinner. On Friday we went to a little mountain community about an hour outside of the city called Montserrat where the Virgin Mary was sighted. It was a beautiful, beautiful place to visit (and get away from the world if you wanted to). On Saturday we flew to Oviedo. I was definitely missing my little Spanish city. Shannon and I took my mom around to the main highlights of Oviedo, we went for chocolate con churros (a delicious dessert), and out to a Sidreria to try the Sidra (the traditional drink of the Asturias). My mom got to meet my host parents too. On Easter, the three of us went to mass at the church Shannon and I normally go to and then my mom and I walked to the park that I like to walk to on the edge of Oviedo before going to have lunch with Shannon's host family (who have sort of adopted me). It was a really great Easter.
My mom got a good taste of Spain and my life in Oviedo I think. She tried most of my favorite foods here- tortilla, fabada, paella, chocolate con churros...
This morning my friend Lily drove my mom to the airport really early. I can't believe I only have a month left here- I'm not ready for this semester to be over!!!
Besos,
Ana
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