Spain: Tarragona and the week that preceded it

So last week packed fairly quickly, and was pretty entertaining overall. Monday I had lunch at home, then went climbing in the park, finally met some girl climbers, and exhausted myself. I walked home, and did some things. Tuesday I brought a lunch with me to class and immediately afterwards went to the beach with Ken and Andrew, a flashback to one of my first weeks here, although much warmer. We chilled, and I read for a bit, and we were visually accosted by the following:
-A mostly naked girl (no top, VERY small bathingsuit bottom) doing something kind of like a cross between tai-chi and kick boxing on the beach. Sometimes she dove into the water and then came back out and resumed her half dance/half exercise routine thing. She was very topless.
-A chubby and bearded guy who did something that seemed kind of like Aikido. He repeatedly threw himself on the sand into a roll, which sometimes didn't really work, and sometimes did. He continued in this vein for quite some time.
-A VERY bizarre cross-dressing guy. Andrew's comment was priceless, something along the lines of, "Is that?... That IS a guy. Oh my god." He was wearing a skirt and a shirt, and flat shoes and a straight brown wig, and was probably in his forties or fifties. He just walked along the beach and then off it.
We took the bus back and then I walked the rest of the way home. I think that afternoon I spent some time online trying to organize schedule things, but I'm not positive. Anyway, Wednesday was sort of a repeat of Monday, except after lunch I registered for classes, and got into everything I wanted. I also finally got one professor to agree to let me take a class without the prerequisite, which was nice. After climbing I found out about a place that would repair my shoes, so I went and got that done, and got a replacement pair in the meantime.
Thursday I went back to the park, met up with slack-line guy, who encouraged me to try the bouldering under the other bridge with the sketchy looking handholds. In Spanish they have a different word for this kind of bouldering, called la trecha. Instead of going sideways (traversing) you go upside down essentially, and it's much harder. I, needless to say, did not do very well, and went home kind of early. I think I did some homework, but I'm not positive.
Friday I didn't have class, but I got up early anyway to go to the train station and get tickets for Tarragona that evening. I met up with Dotty afterwards and we went back to her place and worked on our project. I made an outline and got a bunch of information on Spanish music, thanks mostly to wikipedia, then headed back home. I ate some food, packed up, and headed to the train station to head to Tarragona.

I met Anna at the train station in Tarragona around 7:45 pm that evening. The town is about two thirds of the way to Barcelona from Valencia and is right on the coast. It was once a major Roman city, and still boasts parts of the original Roman wall, an aqueduct, the amphitheater, the circus, and lots of sculptures and ruins. Anyway, Anna and I spent the evening walking around and talking and seeing things. It was fairly nice out, and we only had our backpacks, so it was pretty chill. We eventually went back to our hotel to drop our stuff off, then headed back out for dinner.
Cheap and hungry as we were, we decided to get kebaps and gelato, the second part of which we failed at, but made up for the next day. Back at the hotel sometime after 11pm or so, we decided to take advantage of the free wifi and call people back home. So we proceeded to try and call Mike, who didn't answer, and Jon, who did, and didn't realize it was us for a while. We also got ahold of Meaghan and convinced her, Max, and Erica to get on Skype so we could call them.
They didn't really like Skype so we eventually got the ivideo thing to work, but not very well, and had a little three-way chat going with Andrew in London as well. Technology never ceases to amaze me. Soon Max and Meaghan and Erica had to go do fun things, so they left and Andrew called us back on Skype, which worked much better, since we could actually see him. Some time later Anna and I realized we should probably figure out what we were going to do the next day, so we spent some time looking at a map and things.
Sunday we got up not too late, took insanely long and wonderfully hot showers, packed up, dropped our bags off at the front desk, and set out. First stop: archeological museum, or one of them. Well, that was only after we stopped at a patisserie and got delicious chocolate pastries for breakfast, as well as a bag of cookies for later, which we did indeed consume throughout the day. We only got a little lost on the way to the museum, which was pretty small and under reconstruction. It was still kind of cool though, and we got a student discount.
Second stop: the aqueduct. It's a little ways outside the city, but we read in Anna's guidebook that you could take a bus from a particular stop, so we went there. The bus number we were looking for didn't stop there, so we went inside a store to ask, but the lady there didn't know. She did point us in the direction of an information center though, so we walked there next. Unfortunately the information center was locked and closed, and no one was there, so we were decided to go to the bus station next door. The bus station, however, proved equally useless, since the buses were long distance, not city buses, and there were no maps anywhere.
At this point we decided we might as well walk, so we set off, not deterred by the slight drizzle. On the road there, we fortunately passed a kindly old man waiting at a bus stop, and he told us the bus was coming and would take us to the aqueduct. I say fortunately because we realized in the bus ride that our walk would have been fairly unpleasant on the side of a highway with no sidewalk, and pretty darn far.
We took a walk in the woods around the aqueduct, and it was awesome. The aqueduct itself was pretty huge, and perfectly maintained, and we could cross over it in the little trench at the very top the water used to flow through. It had stopped drizzling, which was nice, and we had a good walk on an easy trail through the woods, passing several monuments apparently dedicated to the Day of the Tree. I think this day should be reinstated, unless it is already a day and I just didn't know about it.
Anyway, later we caught the bus back into town, which fortunately dropped us off right in front of the market, which is where we were headed. We got bread, chorizo, strawberries, and kiwis, which has become a custom I am very fond of, and headed back out again to find a place to chill for a bit. We were a little tired, so back in the old part of town, a stop at a cafe was in order.
We found one and proceeded to plan our summer travel on the back of a receipt and a napkin. We both got very excited about where we're visiting, and I even managed to get excited for next year, when I will be back to real work, and applying to places, and whatnot. I think I spent quite some time recommending books to Anna as well (The Alchemist, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance).
Anyway, afterwards we set back out to see the cathedral. IT WAS AWESOME. I have seen my fair of cathedrals, and I guess this one was much like the others, but it had the added benefit of having an absolutely gorgeous and large courtyard with a fountain in the middle, sweet architecture, and a fairly expansive museum with lots of gold things and old things, which we touched.
I think after the museum we decided to hit some more museums after eating lunch. We finally found a dry place to sit, since everything was still damp from the drizzle which periodically punctuated our day, and ate. It was good times. The next two museums were right next to each other and displayed mostly old roman things, like statues, and artifacts, and mosaics, and rocks. We climbed something that was very tall and gave a good view of the city and the Mediterranean. We explored the old circus, where they once had chariot races (and the occasional public execution apparently), and saw lots of pillars and arches.
Afterwards we walked some more to the old Roman wall. On the way we stopped in this tiny little place that was home to a miniature of the Roman city, aqueduct and all. It was really cute, and conveniently located next to the wall we then proceeded to climb. It had some canons, trees, good views, lots of old rock, and a pretty sweet path. We took some peoples' pictures, and they took ours. We exited not really knowing where we were, but managed to walk until we did know.
We stopped by the amphitheater next, but rather than paying to go in, walked around and outside it and above it, getting a pretty good view of the whole thing. By this time it was around 6:30 or so, and I only had a couple of hours before my train back home, so we headed back towards our hotel to pick our bags up. We sat for a minute there then went to the train station to sit and wait, since we were exhausted and seen just about everything we could.
We ate our kiwis using Isaac's knife, which was still in my backpack, and they incidentally didn't confiscate (I was grateful for that, since I'd forgotten it was in my bag), and then said goodbye as my train pulled up. The train ride was pretty quick. They played Nim's Island in Spanish on the TV, which was actually an excellent film and I understood the whole thing even in Spanish. It helped having the subtitles as well in Spanish.
Anyway, today, Sunday, has passed fairly uneventfully. I spent the morning working on my project, and discovering that writing in Spanish is not that hard, so long as you don't care about silly things like grammar, or spelling. I abandoned my plan to go running since it's gross and cold outside, and rainy, and instead read a lot of my book, had like four meals already, and skyped home. I have only about a half hour until dinner, then I can kill some more time online, then bed, and another week starts tomorrow.

Thanks Anna for an awesome weekend in Tarragona, and for making me super excited about summer travel, and working at NIH, and other things! :)

Spain I've Lost Count

Well it's certainly been a long time since I've updated, and I can't quite remember where I left you last. I spent the week after London preparing for Alicante and Mallorca. I guess I should start at the beginning...

Alicante:
I left for Alicante with Dotty by train on Thursday afternoon almost immediately after class. I had time to come home and pick up my backpacker's bag, sleeping bag strapped underneath, and the packed lunch my host mom left out for me, before rushing to get a taxi to the train station and almost missing the train. We arrived in Alicante with several hours of daylight left. We found a map at a hotel and made our way to our hostel. The owner was apparently out for a while, so we sat down in a cafe for a while deciding what we wanted to see in Alicante the next day. That evening, after depositing our bags, we headed out for a walk and then tapas. We saw some pretty sweet buildings, the plaza de torros, and the Torro Museum, which had altogether too many bulls' heads for me to really appreciate the sport. We walked along the big streets of Alicante and did some shopping, mostly window shopping, until we found the tapas bar that my guidebook had recommended. We had delicious sangria and the best meat I've ever had as tapas.
Friday we got up and I showered, then we set out once again. We walked the streets towards the beach through the old, pretty part of town. At the market, which was pretty but not nearly as impressive as Valencia's, we got bread, chorizo, cheese, and fruit for lunch. We passed the cathedral, some old (I assume Roman) ruins, before reaching the coast. It was warm enough that plenty of people were out sunbathing on the beach and a few were even braving the chilly waters. We continued onwards to the tunnel under the mountain that took us to an elevator leading all the way up to the castle on the top. It was several hundred feet up and the view was amazing. We could see all of Alicante, the sea, and the surrounding mountains from the castle, which was also huge. We took lots of pictures and enjoyed the warm sunlight. After killing some time there we headed back down to the beach for a picnic and a nap. In my case I spent the time writing an article for the UMBC Retriever, since I'd forgotten to send the one I'd written earlier that week when I was in Valencia, and had no way of retrieving it. It actually proved perfect since I had an article ready when I got back to Valencia the next week, when I was too busy to write anything.
After a couple hours worth of sunburn on my shoulders and face and a delicious picnic, we headed up to the archeological museum. It wasn't a really long walk, but it was uphill and it was fairly warm out, so I was very grateful when we arrived. The museum didn't seem that big but was actually very expansive inside. Mostly there were archeological remains found in and around the mountains in Alicante, like pots and arrowheads and tools and bones and whatnot. It was fairly interesting and I read a lot about the early peoples of Spain, then the first civilizations. I didn't catch all of it since it was all in Castellano, but oh well.
Anyway we left there when the sun was beginning to set, and on our way back down to the beach area stopped at the big shopping center nearby. I made my first self purchases since my boots there (a shirt and flats on sale at H&M and two pairs of 1 euro sunglasses at Claires). Dotty and I had fun shopping, it was actually the first time I'd done so since Barcelona. Anyway afterwards we made our way back to our hostel, stopping to get some food and cider in a convenience store. The cider was remarkably good for only two euros the bottle, and we drank and ate back in our hostel while watching Pasapalabra on TV. We went to bed early since I had to get up at four to get my flight to Mallorca. Since Dotty unfortunately had no alarm of her own, she, too, was waking up at four and would stay awake until her train left at 8 or so.

Malloca:
Saturday was by far the most exquisitely painful and frustrating and long day I've ever lived through. It started very early, around 4 in the morning, since I had a flight at 6, and needed to catch a taxi to the airport a half hour away. I arrived well, and was only slightly frustrated at having to pay an extra twenty euros to check my bag (apparently I didn't check that box when I bought my ticket online?). Anyway, the flight was only about forty minutes or less, which I slept through, and by 7 I was in Palma. I found the bus insanely quickly, and my hostel even faster, which happened to be about fifteen yards from the bus stop. By this time it was almost 8 am, and I had a good ten hours to wait before Max and Isaac would arrive. I think I checked my watch at least several times an hour counting down until I could finally catch the bus to the airport and go pick them up.
Anyway, I tried to nap that morning, but I failed, so I read instead until around 9:15, when I knew the Tourist Information place would be open. They were unfortunately not very friendly there (surprisingly enough), but I did get two lists of buses in and around Palma, which proved to be less than ideal but sufficient for our purposes later on. I also got a map of Palma in order to not get too lost. Anyway, it was then around 9:30 or so, and I had many hours to kill, so I walked down the busiest looking street, pretty much aimlessly wandering. I found a bookstore and managed to kill a good half hour there browsing. I walked into a couple of clothing stores, but shopping is frustrating when you have no money and also don't really care about buying anything. I made my way down the street and marked a gelato place, a kebap place, and a cheap locutorio for later.
Eventually I made it down to the cathedral. I paid the four euro to go in, although in retrospect it was maybe not worth it. I sat down for a little while and watched all the tourists pouring in and out. Palma I think is solely inhabited by tourists, although I guess there are some people who much live there as well to run the stores where the tourists all go. The cathedral was certainly beautiful and huge, but more impressive from the outside. It was hot and gorgeous outside, and I was very grateful for the sunglasses I'd bought in Alicante. I saw a man playing alto sax outside for money, and thought of Max. Well, I'd pretty much been thinking about him and Isaac all week anyway, but now they wouldn't leave my mind. I realized very quickly traveling alone is not my thing, although I found an outdoor exposition of photographs that was amazing, and I definitely enjoyed that. I walked around to the Arab baths and a cute park where I sat down in the sun and relaxed for a while. I found a free museum and hung out there for a while. Max called there from the airport in Madrid, saying he'd arrived fine and he would see me in a few hours. That definitely cheered me up.
Later I went back to the hostel to try and take another nap, which also didn't work, but my mom did call. We talked for probably close to an hour, or a little longer, and then I went to the grocery store to get some bread, chorizo, cheese, and fruit, thinking Max and Isaac might be hungry when they arrived. I'd eaten nothing all day but could not even contemplate food, so wasn't tempted. I dropped the food off at my room and went to the locutorio then to do some facebook/e-mail things. I talked to my mom again on Skype, which was nice, and took care of some other things. Eventually it was 5:25 and I could go to the bus stop to get back to the airport. I arrived there just before 6, and luckily all the flights from Madrid had already landed ten minutes early, and the gate was open. I stood waiting, impatient, tears in my eyes as hard as I tried not to cry.
They finally came through, and I saw Max for the first time in two months, though it felt like an eternity. I hugged him for another eternity, and cried only a little on his sweater, and repeated with Isaac. I couldn't stop smiling, a feeling which didn't really fade at all for the week they were here. Anyway we finally managed to get ourselves together and get the bus back to the hostel. I told them the mixed news that we would probably not be able to camp, since camping is apparently not allowed anywhere on Mallorca except in the two designated campsites, neither of which were close or easily accessible. This did not bother me at all though, since I was just happy to be with them, and together nothing could really go wrong. Neither Isaac nor Max had really slept a ton recently (Max was somewhere on his 50th hour or so without any at all, give or take an hour or two in the plane), but I was determined to keep them up until at least 9 or 10 so they could get a full night's sleep.
In the meantime, Isaac ate the food I bought, we went to the grocery store to get breakfast and lunch for the following day, and walked around town a little. I made Max call his mom and tell her he'd arrived safely, and later we went down to the cafe below the hostel. We ate dinner and soon after retired to our respective rooms.

Sunday we slept in and it was beautiful. I woke up happier than I can remember, and did not feel the urge to get out of bed but rather lay there for a while. I got up and showered first, then Max, and we woke Isaac up sometime after that. We realized around 10:25 that the last bus until 1pm was leaving for Valldemossa at 10:30, so we hastily packed a bag with water and our picnic lunch and headed out, sprinting to the bus station next to the hostel. What a perfect location, really. Anyway we found a long line of people getting on and off the bus, which was already full, and realized they were getting tickets for the next bus, which was apparently on its way and would arrive some ten minutes later. So much for my schedule... We did the same and sat down to wait. I was super thrilled about a day of hiking, especially since it was warm enough out for shorts and a T-shirt, but more so because I was with Max and Isaac and out of a city and we could do whatever we wanted.
The bus to Valldemossa was only about a half hour's ride and less than two euros each, another blessing. We arrived and sadly realized that the tourist info place there was closed since it was Sunday, so we spent a little while wandering the shops and open market until I found a map and a kindly old store owner who gave me excellent directions to a good hike around the mountains above Valldemossa. We set off then and in no time found the proper trail, meandering its way through rock and dirt up and around the mountainside. We encountered several others on the trail on the way and thus figured out exactly where we were and where we wanted to go, since there were several forks in the path. I spoke Spanish with the Spanish tourists or English with all the rest. Those of you who think English is not the global language, think again, because between any and all people from Switzerland, Germany, and other middle European countries we communicated in English.
We ate lunch on some big rocks in the sun on the mountainside which yielded an impressive view of the valley below where Valldemossa was quaintly nestled. We saw good cliffs for climbing everywhere, but none of them seemed bolted, populated, or easily accessible, so we still had no idea where we would get our climbing in the next couple of days. In the meantime though, we were having an excellent hike. At the top of the mountain we got to see the other direction, North to the sea and along the coast eastwards to Deia and much further, Soller. The path followed the ridge for quite some time and we found a fork, the right path of which would take us back to Valldemossa and the left of which would take us to Deia. Since we'd just been in Valldemossa we decided to go left and set off down the rocky brush land, the path marked with cairns.
Lost in conversation and wandering through lots of rocks that could or could not have been a path, we ended up way off our actual route half following a man we saw descending. He later came to us and asked where the path was, and we realized he also obviously did not know, so we spent a good forty five minutes searching around the cliffs before we found it much higher up and over to the left. We set off back down the mountain, a little short on water by now, but still with several hours of daylight left, with the (I think German) guy in tow. I told Max and Isaac of life in Valencia, and they told me of classes and things back home, and I told them more about Spanish and things I've learned from studying abroad, and things I've realized.
Deia proved to be a fairly adorable little town, and after stopping at a cafe and sitting outside to have cold orange fantas, we found the bus stop. We had about forty five minutes or so until the next bus back to Palma so we looked around the town in the meantime. We found a large population of cats, which Max dutifully photographed, a cute silent church, a very aesthetically pleasing cemetery, and a hostel that was slightly too expensive for it to be worthwhile to come back here the next day. We were all a little sorry about not having a guidebook for climbing, and not having planned a little better, since we all kind of wanted to camp. I actually was probably the least concerned, since I was very excited just to be with Max and Isaac, and also didn't mind spending the little extra on staying in a hostel and having hot showers every morning.
The bus back to Palma was a little longer than the way in, passing through Valldemossa, and was unfortunately populated with very loud and perhaps drunken Germans, and really, German is one of my least favorite languages to listen to (sorry Jon and Sarah). I was only slightly worried about not having paid for that night at the hostel, since we were supposed to have done that before 2 pm, and we discussed what the chances were of them throwing all our stuff out and letting out our rooms to someone else. We got back probably around 7:30 or so, and realized that we were not only not kicked out, but we also had all our bags, and the guy at the desk cared not at all. W also realized we had some planning and things to do the next day if we wanted to find either camping or climbing. The grocery store was also closed, so I introduced Max and Isaac to kebaps and gelato, which then became our Mallorca evening routine. After trying and failing to find a bookstore that might have a guidebook, we walked to the park behind the hostel and played on the playground there for a while, since it was entirely deserted and somehow we had some energy left. We went back to the hostel and to bed sometime around 11, and got another good night's sleep.

Monday was another beautifully warm day, and I was excited about getting to wear shorts for the second day in a row, and actually the second day since my arrival in Spain. We went to the grocery store to get that day's worth of bread, cheese, chocolate croissants for breakfast (two each this time, though I saved my second for later), and sausage. Next we stopped at an internet cafe where we looked up and found the best spot for climbing close to Palma and the bus route we needed to get there. We had a little over a half hour to kill until the next bus, so we went back to the hostel, packed our picnic bag and climbing bag and took naps.
We set off not too long later, and arrived in Palmanyola with absolutely no clue where the climbing was or how to get there. We walked in the general direction of the mountain for a little while, realized we were in a residential area and were not headed the direction we wanted, and ambled back to the town center, which is to say one tiny street with a post office and tobacco store. I went into the post office to inquire about a map, which they didn't have. There was a man there, however, who was either a climber or knew climbers, who knew exactly how to get to the climbing area, and drew me a little map. The only unfortunate thing was that we were some four kilometers away, so we decided we might as well get going immediately.
We barely got lost at all on the way, and discovered a truly amazing rocky path that seemed like a dried stream bed that would take us all the way to the beautiful tall rocky gorge. We stopped on the way for lunch, since it was already close to two o'clock. We finally arrived and Max and Isaac immediately decided we had to do the pitch up to the cave in the side of the cliff. While we settled our stuff down, Isaac also clambered around and found an excellent shelter with an old campfire where we decided we would spend the following night. I had my doubts, but it seemed like it had been used fairly recently and there were plenty of climbers about, so no problem there.
We managed to get one and a half pitches in before we had to head back. Max practiced some down-climbing and I realized I haven't forgotten how to climb in the two months I've been out of practice, which is a good thing. We also realized we really needed more quick draws, so we headed back to Palma with the intention of packing up and camping one night, finding a climbing store, and getting enough supplies for two days. We luckily found another bus stop much closer than that in Pamanyola, and only waited about twenty minutes until it arrived.
That night we had another set of kepabs and gelato, but only after going to the locutorio and finding out where we could find a climbing store. It was within ten minutes walk, although it took is a little over half an hour to find it, getting lost only a little bit. It was closed, unfortunately, but opened at 10 the next morning, so we decided to return after our grocery shopping and again make sure to catch the 11 o'clock bus to Bunyola, the proper stop for climbers going where we were headed. We packed up that night and informed the hostel we would be returning not the following night but wednesday, and they kindly let us store one bag in a locked closet until we got back.

I passed another good night's sleep, but this time woke to my alarm at 8:30 to get up and shower. We set off a little after nine that day (Tuesday) to get the groceries, then went back to the hostel to drop them off before going to find the climbing store. We found it alright and got enough quickdraws for sport climbing. Max and Isaac promised to remember the store's locale for their next trip to Mallorca, thanks in part to the myriad guidebooks they had, which apparently proved very difficult to find online and very expensive, which explains why we didn't already have one.
Anyway for some reason we decided to split up, since Max and I were going to stop by EMS to check for his coat in the lost and found (which he had misplaced in the bus on the way back from the airport Saturday night), and Isaac was going to head back to the hostel to pack up. We ended up arriving before he did, since he managed to get a little lost, and we waited with the bags only slightly worried, then finally walked out to search for him. We found him just close to the hostel, having gotten himself back alright, and finally got our bags together and set off after checking out of the hostel.
The bus to Bunyola was significantly less populated than that to Valldemossa, but we still had to put our large backpackers bags in the storage part underneath. Some hour or more later we found ourselves again at the foot of the cliffs. We deposited our things at our campsite like place and laid out the tent as a tarp to sleep on, since the overhang protected us in the unlikely chance of rain. We ate at some point, I'm not sure when or where, then found a likely place to climb.
I think we started on a slightly too difficult climb that Max and Isaac soon gave up on, again working on their down-climbing abilities, and we decided to do one I'd found. Isaac started leading, made it up to the first belay station, which was barely a ledge, and then I followed. Max came up next and Isaac belayed while I watched and tried not to think of the two slings that held me to the mountainside breaking. Max got up to our ledge and after getting all the quick draws from Isaac led the second pitch, which I think was the hardest, although I'm not sure. I followed after Max had set up at the next belay station, which was (oh what fun!) a hanging belay! I hung out up there, literally, with Max as Isaac cleaned (followed taking up the quick draws with him) until all three were hanging. It was starting to get very chilly by this point but we decided we should certainly press on, so we did.
Isaac led the third pitch, and again I followed. It was much easier than the first two, but even still at the top of that pitch we were quite some ways from the top of the ridge. Max cleaned while Isaac and I hung, him belaying, me freezing and really needing to go pee. I've never wanted to be a boy so badly, although it probably wouldn't have helped that much, since we were at a hanging belay station and that still would have been awkward. When Max got up we realized it was getting too dark to do the next pitch, which looked a little sketchy anyway, so we rappelled down in three stages. Max collected my sunglasses from a tree they'd fallen into and almost missed the first belay station, but I was finally on the ground and could go pee.
By the time we had packed up the climbing gear, gotten back to our makeshift campsite, set up our sleeping bags, and eaten the trail mix, fruit, bread, and cheese we rationed for that night, it was dark. I changed in my sleeping bag and fell asleep fairly quickly, certainly before Isaac, but after Max. I was happy I was cuddled between them because we were all woken in the night by the sound of some very creepy ass birds and something that was definitely much larger. From the droppings all around our little shelter and the fact that it was covered in hay, we assumed it might be a spot for some goat herder to leave his goats for the night, and we slept slightly uneasily thinking that we would be woken any second by either a goat, an unhappy goat herder, a chupacabra, or very early morning climbers. Max and Isaac didn't help with their talk of scary movies and how this was exactly how a typical horror film would start, and which of us was most likely to die first if it were.
All in all, I probably slept much better than either Max or Isaac, Max since I kept apparently pushing him into the rock and he would wake up and bang his head on it, and Isaac because of the very creepy birds and his fear of goats (that second I just made up, but you wouldn't know it from the way the two of them went on about them). I only woke once or twice, and slept much longer than usual, from dark until sunrise (give or take from 9-7:30).

By ten AM or so (Wednesday) we were at the foot of the original climb we'd done below the cave in the cliff, determined this time to get past just the first pitch, since we had the whole day ahead of us. We would have arrived at the pitch much earlier, except first Max decided to take a "shortcut" which was not at all a path, which he later had to down climb. Isaac resumed his pack and decided to take a different "shortcut" and eventually made it up to where we had settled down some twenty minutes before. This was followed with announcements of having to go to the bathroom, so it was another little while before we actually got started, since secluded spots at the cliff bottom are slightly hard to come by (especially with suitable rocks for, you know, using as toilet paper, according to Max).
Anyway, we did get past the first pitch that day, though the second proved harder than High Exposure back in the Gunks and for me, close to as terrifying. For some reason my fear of heights kicked in that day, and hanging out with Max at the first belay ledge, which was just barely that, was more terrifying than usual. I also was unpleasantly warm in the sun and could actually feel my legs and arms burning, although later I realized I didn't get too red at all except on my face.
Anyway after Max led the first pitch and Isaac and I had followed, Isaac went ahead to the second. It proved about a 5.9 in terms of difficulty, and a 5.bazillion in terms of terror. Isaac did spectacularly though and I got some excellent photos in the meantime (check them out on facebook). I especially liked when he heel-hooked and then bellyflopped onto the second ledge, which was actually inside the cave, and I could see only his ankles and feet sticking off the side. I followed with great difficulty, at one point wrapping all four limbs determinedly around a hanging pillar and frantically calling up to Isaac, "TAKE TAKE TAKE!" He took, and all was well as I slowly followed up the climb, partially cheating and resting a great deal. One of these days I should really do that thing where I get in shape.
Max had the hard task of following. This was only problematic because at the hardest part of the climb he couldn't fall because he would swing away from the rock and be left hanging with no way to get back on the rock and a very difficult time getting lowered to the last belay station, which wasn't directly below us. I unfortunately could not get any pictures of his climb up but rather coiled the spare rope and gazed about the cave. I was in the shade there and realized that I now missed the sun, being rather chilly without it.
Max made it up considerably faster than I had and after a quick rest continued up the next pitch, which required him to use both sides of the cave and the crack it turned into at it's peak. Unfortunately the climb became much more difficult up past the cave where all the handholds decided not to exist anymore, so Max had to (even more terrifying) down climb back to our belay ledge. He tried to get Isaac to take over for him, but it was almost 2pm by now and we were starving, so we decided to rappel back down for lunch. We found some other climbers and eventually asked to see their guide in order to see what we'd just climbed. It was a 6c+, which in the european grading scale means DIFFICULT AS ALL HELL, at least the top pitch. I think the bottom one was slightly easier.
Anyway we had a nice lunch in the sun, and we devoured almost all the remains of our food, since we were going back to Palma that night and didn't need to keep any of it. We still had some hours of daylight before we had to head back, so we went to the other side of the valley as yet unexplored and Isaac found a climb he was willing to attempt. I was totally done for the day so I belayed first him, then Max up to retrieve his quick draws when the climb proved much more difficult that it appeared. I was very impressed they both made it as far as they did, and I was glad I had not attempted it. It was cold-ish again in the shade, since the sun was setting over the ridge behind us, and around 5:15 we packed up. We retrieved all our stuff from our campsite, took a last couple of photos, and headed back down the trail, our bags considerably lighter without the water and food.
We again waited about twenty minutes for the bus, and got back to our hostel hungry and exhausted and content. We again got kepabs and gelato, then unpacked and repacked everything into the appropriate bags. I made sure the bus for the airport would leave as early as 5:30, and we set our alarms, reluctantly, for 4:50. I took a shower that night in order to sleep in a little more the next morning, but the alarm still went off too early.

Thursday morning passed in a vague blur. We caught the bus to the airport, checked our bags, made our way to the gate, waited for some ten minutes or so before boarding, then settled in our seats. I realized it was the first time I was taking a place with people I knew (not counting Leigh and Megan, other ISA girls I barely know, on our way to Morocco) in as long as I can remember. My last flights have been alone, at least since high school. I think we all slept some in the plane and arrived in Valencia around 7am. We caught the metro into the center of the city and walked back to my place from there, since Isaac and Max were staying with me.
The streets were dirty and there were Fallas on every other corner. We passed a marching band walking up and down the streets and many people throwing petardos, or firecrackers, everywhere. I was a little sad about the dirtiness since Valencia is usually a very clean city and I didn't want Max and Isaac to have a bad impression. I was also excited that it was Fallas though, and was eager to see what the fuss was all about for the giant festival, which was culminating that day.
Back at my place no one was home so we threw our bags down and took naps. I got up before Max and Isaac and had some breakfast, then my host parents returned and I told them a little about the trip. I let Isaac and Max sleep until around 10:30, since they seemed so exhausted, though Isaac woke up a little earlier and I introduced him to my host parents. We all had breakfast and soon later my brother showed up. He had arrived with his friend JT to Valencia late the night before around midnight and was staying at my host parents' son Alberto's place, a couple of streets away. Noelia, Alberto's wife, accompanied the two of them to our place, and we hugged lots. I was very excited to see them again. Alba offered them some coffee which Jon gladly accepted and soon later we headed out for lunch and to walk around town. We realized we wouldn't find anything open for lunch until around 1:30, so we walked around taking pictures of the Fallas and getting increasingly irritated with the constant petardos (firecrackers) going off everywhere. They really are bothersome when thrown right close to your feet, and are very loud even if thrown in the street one or two down from you.
The streets close to the center of town were ridiculously crowded and we decided to go down some side streets to find a good place to relax and eat. I realized that none of the people I was with would greatly enjoy La Mascleta, and so we sat down to eat around 1:30 for some paella with no intention of catching it. We were maybe four or five blocks from the center of town, and the ground still shook from La Mascleta when it happened at noon. Max retreated to the restaurant bathroom to avoid the tremendous noise, while the rest of us took a break from conversation, since it wasn't very audible anyway.
The paella was delicious (not as good as my host mom's I think), and we shared three plates of it between the five of us, with salads and pasta as starters and flan as a dessert. After the huge crowd from La Mascleta had passed and thinned down, we all decided to head to the center of town and I could show everyone Valencia. We saw lots more Fallas and almost lost each other in the crowds. We saw a giant statue of La Virgen made entirely of flowers, the entire Plaza de la Virgen being bedecked in flowers in honor of her as well. We saw the Torres de Serrano and were assaulted by another Mascleta (apparently they happen on just about every street at various times of day during Fallas). We checked out a temporary market and then descended into the park, which was marginally less crowded and noisy.
We walked through the park stopping at a sweet rope jungle gym that Max, Isaac, and I played on while JT watched and Jon napped. We continued a little farther to La Palau de la Musica and the fountain behind it, then cut back across little streets to our place. Back at home we all napped and relaxed, since we were still exhausted from the travel, the climbing, and the walking. We decided to meet up around 7 or 8 at the locutorio across the street (since Jon was back at Alberto's place with JT). My host mom kindly and unexpectedly made us all dinner, a giant plate of pasta and ham each, which we devoured, excited for not having to go out for dinner. We found Jon and he and JT came up for some food as well, and we all hung around chatting with each other and my host family.
We went back out that night to walk around for a bit and see the Fallas lit up. We found a bar and sat outside for a while, then hung around looking at our Falla (the one on our street) and talking. We watched the Falla Infantil burn and I got to talk a lot with my brother and catch up, which was nice, and I was super excited about how well everyone was getting along. I had previously been fairly nervous about having Max, Isaac, my brother, and JT all together and having to make them all happy and do what everyone wanted to, but it proved much easier than I had thought. We then met up with Alberto and Noelia, who told us of another bar across the street that was nice, so we went there to sit and wait for the fires to start. The TV in the bar was showing air and ground views of the best Fallas all around the city and the Falleras as they set fire to the Infantiles Fallas. It was nice to watch from inside and be away a little from the crowd and noise of the streets. I bought chocolate con churros for us all to share, and soon later walked Max back to our place. He was exhausted and very not keen on the noise, so he headed to sleep early, and Jon, Isaac, and I went back towards the center of town to see some of the Fallas burn. We found the one on Calle Cadiz, one of the biggest and coolest that we'd seen earlier, and since it was almost midnight decided to wait until it was burned.
It was a much longer wait than any of us had predicted; the fireworks started around 1:30, as did the burning. It was very impressive to watch a giant wooden and styrofoam structure doused in lighter fluid go down in flames, and the sky filled with smoke and still burning embers. The firefighters all around kept the nearby buildings and trees from catching fire, and very soon all of us close to the fence were forced to retreat as the large burning embers, some as large as my head, started drifting towards us and falling on the crowd. We were greatly amused by the antics of one Japanese girl after she got hit with one, and subsequently realized it once it had fallen to the ground.
We stayed until the structure collapsed, some fifteen minutes later, and cheered with the crowd, then, exhausted, walked back home. I feel asleep almost immediately back in my bed, and slept very well.

Friday proved blissfully quiet in comparison to the day before. We all slept in until around 10:30, and after showering and breakfasting, were about ready to head out close to noon. We met Jon once again at the locutorio across the street and the four of us headed out (Isaac, Max, Jon, and I). I decided to take everyone to the market so we could get supplies for lunch, but only after we spent some time doing e-mail things. The market was luckily still open when we arrived, and we split up to get bread, cheese, meat, fruit, nuts, and more.
We walked back to the cathedral and we had a picnic on the grass below a couple of trees right in front of the cathedral. It was delicious, and we talked and listened to the alto sax player on the street in front of the cafe close to us. Max gave him some money, but I don't think he told the guy "For lessons" as he'd asked me how to say in Spanish.
Afterwards we went into the cathedral, just for a while, and looked around. The streets were all cleaned up after Fallas and there was barely any sign of the giant festival that had taken place the day before, except for the crowds all in the center of the city. Since it was nice out we decided to head to the beach, and caught a bus there from the center of town. Isaac slept in the bus but I told Max and Jon about the buildings we passed and where in the city we were, where my house was in comparison and where the university was, etc...
We arrived and soon found a place to lay out. Max and I immediately fell asleep to a very cozy and warm nap. We woke to find Isaac captivated by some trick kite flyers right behind us, and Jon reading. We watched the kite flyers for a while, since they were all pretty badass. One was doing all sorts of amazing tricks and sideways somersaults, and the other three were flying synchronized. We caught the bus back to the center of town and I tried to get us all horchata but the city was too crowded. We went by the Plaza Redonda instead and Max got some postcards and Jon some Fallas scarves and a different scarf for Becky (which I helped choose).
On the way back to our place we did find an horchata stand and we got four large cups, one each. I was glad everyone liked it. Back at our respective temporary homes, we napped and relaxed for a while. Max, Isaac, and I put pictures up on facebook at the internet place and were served paella by my host mom. Jon and JT came over and joined and soon later we set back out, this time to play some pool. Jon and JT were leaving that night around 11, so we didn't stay out late, but got a good couple of pool games in. I played on Jon's team first and Max and Isaac creamed us, so we switched. I again lost on Isaac's team, although the second game was much closer.
We walked Jon and JT back to their place to pick up their bags and then find them a taxi. We didn't wait too long, and after hugging and saying goodbye they piled everything into the taxi and headed out for the train station and Granada. Max, Isaac, and I went back to our place and went to sleep fairly early. It was our last night together, but it was long enough.

We slept in on Saturday, Max and Isaac's last day in Spain, and then headed out after showers and breakfast. We went first to the locutorio to get their flight information then back to the Market. I split up to try and change their train tickets to a later time, but all the trains were booked, not surprisingly for the weekend after Fallas, while the two of them went ahead to the market and to practice their Spanish while getting us all lunch.
We ate at the same place we had the day before with Jon after stopping by La Lonja, just to show them the old marketplace. We took a different route to the park, passing by a small square in town with some amazing trees they insisted on climbing. I took pictures.
At the park we bouldered for a very short time, then continued on towards the CAC and Gulliver. Gulliver is a giant playground in the shape of a man, which proved very fun to clamber around and play on. We stopped for fanta and water afterwards, then continued on to the CAC. We merely walked around the outside, since I wanted to show the buildings to Max and Isaac. They were duly impressed with the modern white huge structures.
We caught a bus outside the CAC that took us fairly close to home, and walked the rest of the way. Back there Max and Isaac packed and then said goodbye to my host family. We stopped one last time at the locutorio to put up the last round of pictures on facebook together, then I walked them back to the train station. The line to get on board seemed interminably long but went very quickly, too quickly, and I had to say goodbye since I couldn't cross the barrier. It was a rushed and hasty goodbye, and hard to think about, but it had been a perfect week. I couldn't have been happier to see Max and Isaac, to get some climbing in, to get out of the city and camp for a night, to hike in the mountains and see the beauty of Mallorca, to watch a Falla burn with my brother and catch up with him, and to play pool with some of my favorite people. I already miss them all so much, and it's been just a day since Max and Isaac left, and two since Jon left. *sigh* I guess that's just one of those things about studying abroad. At least I have my parents' visit to look forward to, and even earlier, hopefully another day trip with Anna this coming weekend.

Anyway, today, Sunday, I didn't do a whole lot but sew up my pants, talk to my mom on Skype, do some homework, read, and write this blog. I still have a story to write for homework, and should probably start thinking about some of my final projects soon. I only have five more weeks of class, which only amounts to 22 days of class since I have four day weeks and at least a couple random holidays not counting the two weeks off for Semana Santa when my parents will be here. In between I plan to try and climb some, go to the beach, read some more books, plan summer travel, and relax.
Sorry for the super long post, hope you enjoyed, I certainly did, and take care all! Enjoy the pictures on facebook too!

Spain 11: Which actually takes place in London

I left for London Thursday afternoon. I ditched class fifteen minutes before it ended and hurried to the metro with my full backpack slung over both shoulders. I had stupidly managed to forget my lunch in the classroom, and I couldn't exactly go back as it was still going on, and I would be late. Oh well... The metro is only right down the street from the University, and it's only a twenty-five minute ride to the airport, so I arrived with plenty of time to spare. The line for easyjet flight to Gatswick, London, was fairly long but moving, and I didn't have to check any bags, which was nice. I made my way to the gate and on the way bought chocolate and a sandwich, which I ate at a little table while reading (Oliver Twist right now, which was perfectly appropriate for being in London soon).
The flight was fast, a mere two hours, and I had gotten a seat near the front, so I was one of the first people off the plane. I made my way through the airport, which is pretty well organized, to emerge in the arrivals zone where my brother and JT greeted me. I ran to meet them and hugged Jon for an age. It was so good to see him, the first family I'd seen in two months. It was a surprise too, I hadn't thought Jon would come to the airport to pick me up with Luc, my uncle. I couldn't stop grinning all the way to the car and for the ride to Luc's house.
There, I saw Cecile and Antoine and Benoit, my cousins, and Noelle, my aunt. I wrote an e-mail to my mom saying I'd arrived well, and checked facebook very quickly. Jon and JT and I hung out while Luc prepared dinner. I chatted some with Luc, told him about Valencia and studying abroad, and travel plans, and listened to Jon play guitar in the living room. He's gotten pretty good. Dinner was large and fun; I talked to Benoit about books and soccer and his (hopefully) new job, and to my family about Valencia and things. The dinner was delicious and it was good to see my cousins again. It's been over two years since I've seen most of them, and a little longer in the case of Benoit, I believe.
Since my birthday was only a few days away, Noelle and Cecile had baked me a cake, and they came in singing "Happy Birthday" with it fully lit with all 21 candles blazing. It took me three tries to blow all the candles out, and I think I'll be ok with the day I'm old enough to get the numbers. The cake was delicious, and all I could have asked for for my birthday. I couldn't have been happier to be with family for my "birthday." Afterwards we watched some standup comedy on Youtube (Eddie Izzard) and then hung out a while in the living room. I went to bed fairly early, since we were getting up around 7:30 the next morning to visit Stonehenge, a could of hours south of my uncle's house.
The drive was long, but I didn't ind relaxing and chatting with JT and Jon and my aunt and uncle, and the scenery was nice. England is so different from Valencia, so green and gray and with so many tall thick trees and rolling hills. It's a stark contrast to the water-starved land of Mediterranean Spain. Anyway, we arrived and my uncle graciously paid for us to get in, and we listened to the audioguide tour thing as we walked around the stones. We weren't allowed to go right up to the stones, which one can only do once a year on the summer solstice, but we could get pretty close, and they were gorgeous nonetheless.
Stonehenge, as you would guess, is really just a bunch of stones in a field. On the other hand, it's pretty amazing to think that the stones that stand before you have been there for thousands of years, and that this particular patch of earth has been maintained for longer. Jon and JT lifted me over their heads to make a human-henge, and we discussed what a henge was, and made lots of jokes about druids (that the druids made stonehenge is a myth, not based on fact at all, by the way). We mostly slept in the car on the way back, and arrived at Luc's around 2. We had sandwiches for lunch and hung out for a while before heading into London to meet Pierre (another cousin) and Helen and later, Andrew Sillers!
We left around 5:30 or so and went straight to Pierre's place, "we" being me, Benoit, Jon, and JT. I brought all my stuff with me since I was going to stay the rest of the weekend at Pierre's, closer to the center of London and in that respect slightly more convenient. Pierre picked us up at the train station and back at his place we chilled and talked, I mostly with Helen, until Camille (Pierre's sister) made it down from Manchester to join us. We all left for Brick Lane where we could get some curry and hit some bars before all crashing at Pierre's.
We arrived and found a bar to hang out in while waiting for Andrew to join, who unfortunately had a slightly harder time getting to Brick Lane, which is on the opposite side of London from him, and considering the number of metro closures thanks to the Olympics. Anyway, he made it eventually, and I ran out into the street to meet him, and we hugged, probably to the great amusement and consternation of the general public in the crowded street, for a very long time. He came into the bar and I introduced him to my myriad family, which consisted at this point of three cousins, one brother, a friend and a girlfriend (Helen, who I also consider a part of the family).
Now that we had everyone, we could finally get some food! We were all starving, since it was past 8 by this point I think, which is fairly normal as a time to eat for me but still a little late for England. I could not stop grinning, again, as Andrew and I walked together the several blocks to Brick Lane, chatting about I don't even remember what now. He did cut his hair, but it's mostly grown out by now. At Brick Lane, which is home to what seemed to be a zillion curry houses (read: Indian restaurants) is an interesting place. Outside each curry house there is a man trying to entice people to enter. The one we desired was unfortunately full, but it was not long until we found our way to another, where they made us the nice deal of one free round of beers. I don't really like beer, but this one was alright.
The curry was delicious. I actually had a lamb korma and plain nan bread, both of which were amazing. Jon started sweating a little halfway through his prawn pasanda. I mostly chatted with Andrew, and I hope I was not too antisocial with my family, but I was too excited to see Andrew. I asked him about classes (going well, except he's very concerned about this sociology paper coming up. He's so close to done and excited I think about going home soon. I was not just a little jealous... Seeing Andrew and my brother reminded me so much of home it hurt not being able to see everyone else. We stayed at the restaurant for quite some time, and since my aunt had sent 100 pound to treat us all, we split the difference evenly and paid close to nothing more each. Thank you Anne!!
After the curry, we walked some more and found a bar, where I unwisely let Camille order me anything, which happened to be a beer, which I happened to very much not like. I should have stuck with cider, which is much sweeter and lighter and significantly less bitter. Oh well. Pierre insisted it was one of the best beers to be had, but even as uneducated as I am in these matters, politely disagreed, and wondered what on earth the judges had drank before they chose this as a blue ribbon beer. I pretended to sip, and occasionally accidentally did, while standing with everyone outside where it wasn't so warm but was still very crowded. I chatted more with Andrew and JT but we left not too long after since we all had to take the tube home, in our case two tubes and a bus, and something like that for Andrew as well.
Let me here explain a little bit about London. First of all, it is very big. In comparison with Valencia, well, you really can't compare them because you can walk all the way to the other side of the main part of the city in less than an hour, whereas in London it takes as long in public transportation. In addition, London insists on the upkeep of its tube lines, which means that several lines or sections of lines will be closed on weekends, when people are in no rush to get to work. The result of this is, of course, that more people take the remaining lines, such that you are packed as sardines in a can in any tube, and sometimes have to wait for the next one to get on. As a result, I was slightly less excited about the public transportation in London as Andrew had been. On the other hand, it works, and you can (eventually) get wherever you want to go. So that's good.
Anyway we got back to Pierre's place, and Andrew apparently got back well to his place, and chilled for a bit before going to bed. I think we watched some Family Guy and talked, and went to bed I'm not sure when. I shared the guest room with Camille, and the two of us slept very well on the large queen bed. That night, I dreamed of Meaghan and Ellen (who in my dream were for some reason getting divorced, which seemed to mean that they were no longer going to live together, except that we were all back at UMBC and it was pretty weird) and Mike and Jon and Max and Sarah and everyone else as well.
Camille and I both woke up early and showered, and by the time we were done Pierre was up as well and making coffee. JT and Benoit soon joined the land of the living, and we all waited on Jon for a while before Benoit and Camille went to wake him up. Camille had to head back up to Manchester that day so she left around 11:15 or so, and Helen had work so she had left ages earlier. Eventually, at sometime around noon, we managed to get going and Pierre took Benoit, me, JT, and Jon to a breakfast place close by. We all ordered the full English Breakfast, which consists of eggs, ham, sausage, toast, hash browns, and baked beans, but Pierre decided to cancel his order and head home after a couple of minutes, feeling unfortunately very sick. We believe this was due to the consumption of both alcohol and antibiotics.
Anyway Benoit got us all into the city where we visited the Natural History museum, which was sweet. The thing is massive, and we saw only a small quarter of it. Our initial intention was to see the Darwin Exhibit, which is a temporary one and only around for a few weeks more, but it was sold out for the day. Andrew met us there not too long after and we checked out the rocks section, which was really cool. JT knew a great deal about rocks, having been a civil engineering major and geology minor, and explained to me a lot about rocks and things, which was cool.
We left around 4:30 or something to meet up with Benoit, who had gone to a pub to watch a soccer game his friend was playing in on TV. We met up and decided to walk for a bit and visit Hyde Park. In my brief stay in London this time around, Hyde Park was probably my favorite place. This is probably because it was the least crowded, most relaxed, and Andrew and I had a good chance to talk for a while as we made our way across the park, and get a couple of pictures. It was chilly but not cold, and a really nice day, which is to say overcast but not raining. Of course, since I brought my umbrella to England, it didn't rain at all then entire time I was there. Anyway Jon wanted to see Harods, so we went there next.
Harods defies description. It is a massive mall, essentially, but more intense than any mall or shopping center I've ever encountered, and a zillion times more crowded. I would have mistaken it for the Christmas rush at Macy's in NY. I had to struggle not to get lost from everyone. I was amazed with the variety of things they had. The food place was great, it was like a market, but fancier and bigger. Doormen stood in every archway. We didn't last too long there, being tired from the kind of long day and all the walking, so we went to find a tube station afterwards. We took the same tube as Andrew for a while, but got off earlier to switch, so I had to say goodbye on the train. I wouldn't see him again that weekend, and in fact I won't see him again until I get back home in June. It was hard to walk away.
We got back to Pierre's pretty tired, having stopped on the way for wine and dessert, which I just remembered we never did eat. We sat chatting and watching TV, relaxing and putting our feet up, while Pierre prepared the dough and Benoit helped roll it out. We made individual pizzas, which was awesome. Pierre had almost every imaginable topping out and we could each make our pizzas and we would cook them one at a time in a quick five minutes and then eat them in rounds. I went first, and added a little sauce, onions, peppers, salami, mozzarella, pepper, and oregano. It was delicious, as were they all. We eventually found Harry Potter V on TV and watched that, half mockingly, half explaining the story to Pierre, who did not really seem to care, and trying to remember the books. Eleanor, Benoit's sister and the cousin I traveled to Paris with winter of freshman year, joined us as well from Oxford for the evening. It was good to see her again, even if only for a while.
I spent quite some time online trying to figure out the best way to get to the airport the next morning and at what time I would have to leave. I had not realized that Stansted is the world's worst airport and ridiculous to get to. There is a train that usually goes there, except it was closed Sunday morning (go figure) so instead I had to take a train from near Pierre's to Victoria, where I could catch a bus that would get me there in a little over an hour. Since I am fairly paranoid about being late and missing planes in general, I gave myself a little extra time, and woke up at 7 the next morning. It was good I had said goodbye to everyone the night before because no one was up when I left, except Pierre who drove me to the station, and Helen. One train ride and bus ride later, I was at Stansted, with a ton of time to spare. Also, I am never flying into or out of Stansted ever again in my life. It is probably the worst airport ever. Well, the worst in my experience.
Getting back was sad. I missed my family and Andrew Sillers and my brother. Also there is nothing sadder than getting to an airport and seeing all the happy smiling eager faces there waiting for someone, and you know there's no one waiting for you. It happens I guess. I got back home around 3:45 and no one was in, so I decided to write a bit. It was a really good weekend overall. I was so glad to spend my "birthday" with people I know and love, and to see Andrew Sillers. I am glad I am going back at the end of the semester to see them all again (minus Andrew). It was really good to see Jon and JT, and I am so excited to show them Valencia. Anyway... time to go find some internet to post this, and write thank-you notes. More updates in a couple of weeks perhaps, since Thursday will find me in Alicante, then Mallorca with Max and Isaac, and after that Valencia during Fallas!!

Spain 12 (I think?)

Last week passed fairly normally. Well, normally for here, which is to say very busy. Tuesday it turned out that Franz Ferdinand was in Valencia to play at a free MTV concert. I met Ken at ISA and we walked to the CAC (Ciudad de Arts y Ciencias) a couple of hours before the show would start so as to get a good place. The stage was amazingly set up, and I felt again like I was in high school, since that was the last time I'd been to such a huge concert. I found out later they had more than 30,000 people at the CAC that night to see the concert.
There were three opening bands, the first of which was from Valencia. They were really good, as were the following two. It was the first time I can remember seeing a concert that didn't have at least one band that sucked, or that I didn't like. The two official opening bands were called... Mono Dio (sp?) and Starsailer, the second of which was my favorite. Look them up. Anyway Franz came on around 11 and played until at least 12:30, with a five-ish minute break. They played a lot from their new album, but I knew at least six or seven of the songs they played from their one album (the one with Take Me Out). Ken held me up at one point, but it wasn't really necessary since I could see the stage standing. We were in the first quarter of the crowd, and unlike at concerts back home, I could easily see the stage since there weren't very many 6-foot tall guys blocking my view. Yay for Spaniards and their short-ness, I fit in well here.
Leigh and I walked home after the concert, since we live kind of close by. I got back home a little past 1, only to get up for another day of class Wednesday at 8am. Wednesday I don't really remember, but Thursday ushered in another eventful evening. As usual, the weekend started Thursday afternoon. After class I went to the Valencia soccer team's store so I would have something to wear to the game that night. I spent some time walking around my neighborhood that afternoon, since I really haven't explored it that much, and discovered the closest movie rental store and Mercadona (Spain's version of Giant). I found yet another locutorio where the guy at the desk let me get on wifi on my computer for a while. After an early dinner I went to ISA to join Ken and the rest of the ISA group coming to the game and we walked together to the stadium across the street. It's nice having the university right next door.
I unfortunately remember little of the game, except that Leigh called Del Horno as her favorite during warmups. There was an old Valencian guy who sat next to me for the game (we had amazing seats by the way) and shouted continuously in Valenciano. I didn't really understand, but I liked him anyway. I think I liked Fernandez best, he seemed by far the most useful player (midfield I think?) although there was another guy whose name I can't remember (the forward) that was also really good. We played Dynamo Kiev, who were a little better of a team than us, or so it seemed. They scored first, and it was a while before we got the point back. We scored once where it didn't count, for some reason I didn't catch. Anyway we did score though, but only after Kiev had scored again (or maybe before?). The order is a little lost now. Anyway at one point Kiev was up one and we scored again in the last few minutes to tie the game 2-2. We unfortunately let a few good scoring options get by, and prevented Kiev from getting too close to our goal. We did not manage to score before the end of the game though, which went a few minutes into overtime. This left all real fans disappointed, since apparently your points count for more if you're the away team, which meant a "win" for Kiev and a loss for us. Whatever, I was satisfied. I walked home with Leigh all the way from the stadium since we were well too exhausted to go out.
Friday morning I got up in time to shower, make my bed, braid my hair, and eat a leisurely breakfast before heading to the train station to pick up Anna. She arrived at 11:21 and I was there just a little early to welcome her to the beautiful city of Valencia. It felt like we'd seen each other just the week before, but it's been three weeks since I was in Barcelona. Time certainly has started flying... As slow as it was going the first month I was here, that's as fast as it's picked up and I guarantee it's only going to keep going faster...
Anyway Anna and I made it back to my house and Anna met my host family and put her stuff away before we headed out for a walk. We had a good couple of hours before lunch so we walked along Peris y Valero to the Rio and the CAC, which is pretty impressive to see from outside if not from inside. We talked about people back home, and housing for next year, and how fast time's been going, and what we miss, and what we're going to do when we get back, and where we're going to travel this summer, and how fun that will be, and how we can't believe Mike's graduating and how he better stick around for a while, etc... It was hot out and we both kind of regretted wearing jackets, and I even thought the jeans were a bit much. After running into Andrew, Allison, and Quinn at the Rio, we headed back home for lunch.
We walked a different route back, one of the many I take from the University sometimes, and had a delicious lunch. We chatted some with my host family, who seemed to like Anna (they did indeed invite her back to stay anytime she wants). After lunch we headed out to the city center and we met Ken by the Plaza de la Reina. On the way there I showed Anna the Plaza de Ajuntamiento, the Cathedral, the Roman ruins below the city, and some other things. We told her all about the cathedral and its various architectural styles, and then we took the official tour inside as well. It was as gorgeous as ever, and this time we went to see the supposed Holy Grail. Housed as it is behind several glass panes and kept well away from where anyone could possibly get close, it didn't seem that impressive, and I'm not sure 'm convinced it's the actual Holy Grail. It's pretty though, and certainly dates from the 1st century.
Afterwards we walked North to the Torres de Serrano on our way to the Exposicion de Ninots, which is a temporary exhibition for Fallas. I should probably say some things about Fallas first. During this festival, which technically begins the 1st of March and runs to the 19th, and is really celebrated much longer, large wooden and plaster or paper-mache structures are built on almost every street in the city. They take the form of anything from the sincere to the ridiculous, cute or funny or crude or political or satirical or ironic or humorous or adorable or just plain silly. There are nearly 400 of these built and put up around the city (they're only out from the 15-19th of March though) and at midnight on the 19th, they are all burned. They are elaborate and gorgeous and some are up to 30 meters high, rivaling the buildings they stand between. I don't know how they prevent the fires from spreading but I guess over the years they've gotten good at it. Anyway, Ninots are small representations of the Fallas that are going to be put up around the city, and at the exposition you can get a small taste of what the Fallas that year will look like. They are a little bigger than life size in the case of the big Fallas, and the children's are about half the size of a dresser. The coolest part of the exhibition is that you get to vote for your favorite Ninot, one big and one small, and the ones that win are either not burned at all or are burned last, I don't quite remember. The decision is a tough one since you literally have hundreds to choose from, but it was a ton of fun to see all the Fallas, and I can't wait to see the big ones in the street. There is almost a guarantee of seeing one of Obama and one of Zapatero, the president of Spain.
After visiting the exposition, Anna, Ken, Madeline, Natalie and I made our way back down to the old town and the Torres de Quart, which we climbed. They are basically identically to the Torres de Serrano, except facing West, and have sustained battle damage, I'm not sure what from, Ken said Napolean. The view from the top was awesome, and Anna and I both hopped the little gate to climb up by the flag. We could see a building smoking not too far away and a crew of firefighters on the ground, and we would later see the fire on TV. We walked vaguely past it to visit La Lonja, one of the oldest and most beautiful things to see in Valencia. It is actually where there used to be a market of sorts where you could exchange money and things, and has a gorgeous courtyard and boasts turrets and a sweet room with a gorgeous roof.
Ken, Anna, and I separated from the other two and after our visit went to the city center for some Horchata, which, if you remember, is the traditional drink of Valencia. Anna liked it, and I was happy. We later took the bus home, which was too crowded and probably not worth it since we were only a half hour walk away, but oh well. We made it home in time to relax a little before dinner. We watched my show, Apuesta por un Amor, with my host parents, and I struggled to explain it all to Anna. There are a lot of characters. She can attest to this.
We went across the street to the locutorio sometime later with the vague hope of Skyping anyone at UMBC together, but no one was online. We checked movie times (Slumdog Millionaire is playing in the original version at a theater here!) but the movie wasn't on until 11pm, and we didn't want to be out until 2 in the morning. Instead we met Ken (yet again) at the Plaza de Ajuntamiento and went to our favorite bar and shared a pitcher of Agua de Valencia. Again, Anna approved, and we had a good time chatting and singing along to the music they played. I think we took a taxi home, but I'm not positive we didn't just walk, but anyway we were back around 1:30 am, and got a good night's sleep before waking up Saturday around 9:45 or so.
Unfortunately Saturday was one of the few crappy days in Valencia, rainy and chilly, so we immediately scratched our tentative plans of going on a day trip. Instead we headed into the city after showers and breakfast to visit the Mercado Central. I'd never been before, and it was amazing. It's the biggest of its kind in all of Spain, and perhaps Europe, entirely covered, and you can find just about any food item your heart desires, and many that you didn't even know existed. After a while we heard music, which sounded suspiciously like a band. And guess what? It was! Right there in the market a marching band wearing traditional Fallas scarves were following several Falleras in full regalia who were going around the market raising money. The Falleras are girls (there are apparently also guys, but we didn't see them), one for each street, that are elected each year and wear super fancy (read: 3000$ each) dresses and usher in the Fallas celebration. We managed to get a few pictures as they weaved through the crowd in the market, and then decided to leave. We had a while before Ken would meet us so we decided to walk around and see what we could find.
We first passed one of Valencia's many churches which had actually just hosted a wedding. Inside we could see the newlyweds surrounded by friends and family, the noise echoing from the vaulted ceilings and magnificent archways. Outside a black car, which looked something like a Rolls Royce, was parked, flowers tied to the door handles and the bumper. We bought souvenirs at one of the shops close to the Plaza de Ajuntamiento, then made our way by the old Palace, which is now the city's Ceramic museum. We asked, and it turned out that after 4pm the museum entry was free, so we decided to return later, and instead went church hopping.
Church hopping might not sound like the most fun of passtimes, but churches in Valencia (and indeed most European cities) are not like elsewhere. It is in fact, as we would later find out, an easier task than bar hopping. Go figure. Anyway, we visited most of the same churches Toni had taken me and Quinn and Alison to see several weeks earlier, the oldest in Valencia, the white one, and the blue and white one. For some reason, Saturday must be the day of baptisms here, since every church we went in were hosting many baptisms, and we saw not a few babies in white dresses. We mostly snuck in the back of the churches (they are open to the public) and sat down looking around at the amazing paintings, pillars, intricate decorations, and elaborate or simple alters. They were all pretty cool, and though I had seen them before, was not at all disappointed to go back. We also stopped by the original University of Valencia, founded around 1499. I think that beats UMBC's 41 (42?) years by quite some...
Having brought our bocadillos with us, Anna and I found a cafe where we could sit outside under the eave (it was still raining), and have a cafe con leche and eat. The coffee was good, the sandwiches filling, the oranges juicy and delicious, and the bathroom had a hand dryer that blowed intensely hot air, which we greatly appreciated. We could see the Cathedral right before us as we waited for Ken to join us and we shared some of the dried fruit Anna had bought at the market. Ken met us soon after and we went to get postcards at the shop opposite the cafe. We decided to show Anna the Plaza Redonda, which is really nothing that special to look at since it's all under construction, but does have historical significance. We shared gelato and relaxed out of the rain for a while under the overhangs in the Plaza. Since the rain did not seem to be letting up, we decided our best course would be to go shopping. On the the Nuevo Centro!
The Nuevo Centro is one of the large shopping malls in Valencia, and I'd never been. We looked for boots for Anna and shoes for Ken and I just looked. Anna and I tried on dresses in Zara, and then we went to the Corte Ingles to find Agua de Valencia for Anna and disposable razors for me. Madeline joined us after a little while and we looked around some more. We didn't see nearly the whole mall, which was much larger inside than it looked from outdoors, and around 4:30 decided to go back to the Palace to see the now free Museo Ceramica.
The Palace is a pretty impressive and amazing building even from the outside. It's entirely baroque in style, very elaborately decorated in marble. Inside there is a small courtyard and more amazing architecture. The bottom floor wasn't too exciting, showing lots of examples of pots and other ceramic things from Northern Africa and Europe. There was also a really cool coach that looked like it could have been Cinderella's, only with more gold. The upper floors were much cooler, furnished as they had been hundred of years ago, with amazing paintings on the ceilings, dazzling hanging chandeliers, four-post beds, white ceramic tubs, striped lounge chairs, and tiled floors. We decided we should move in.
After the visit it was close to 7 pm, so we decided to head back home and relax before and after dinner, such that we could properly celebrate Ken's 21st birthday (technically, it hadn't happened yet, and actually wouldn't happen this year, but oh well). Anna and I dined and tried to nap until around 11pm when we headed back to the center to meet Ken and Natalie. Dotty joined us soon after, and we went yet again to our favorite bar, this time sitting inside. It was no longer raining but it was still chilly. After our first drinks (vodka and fanta, which is a surprisingly good combination) Natalie insisted on Tequila shots for all. They were much better than expected, which isn't that great. We hung out for a while, and before leaving our nice bartender brought us yet another round, this one on the house. This was shaping up to be a promising night.
Unfortunately sometime after this things went slightly downhill. We found a bar that gave the first round free, so we went there, and then headed up back past the Cathedral to the Barrio Carmen to get kebaps and try to find somewhere else to go. Unfortunately the Barrio Carmen is too crowded in general and full of high school students, so after much debate we decided to go back where we'd come from. Unfortunately by this time it was well past 1am, and the smaller bars were starting to close. We walked all the way back down to find ours closing. With no other option open we went back to the Barrio Carmen, where once again we were disappointed to find more places closing. The warm was starting to wear off and my feet were starting to hurt, so around 3:30 Anna and I decided it was time to head home. At least Ken had a good time, and seemed a little relieved we hadn't gotten him properly smashed on his birthday. Anna and I took a taxi home and were asleep as soon as we climbed into bed several minutes later.
Sunday morning proved a brighter day that Saturday, and more promising in terms of the weather. We got up around 10:30, had breakfast and showered, then headed out once again. We went to the Plaza de Torros for some browsing at the shops there before meeting Toni, his friend, Ken, and Quinn at the train station across the street. It was 12:45 and time to get ready for La Mascleta. Starting March 1st and going until the last day of Fallas, March 19th, La Mascleta happens in the Plaza de Ajuntamiento everyday at 2pm. If you want to find a place to witness this extraordinary event, you must arrive somewhere around 1pm, so we did. The six of us found a spot near the post office opposite the plaza from the Ajuntamiento building and chatted until we started to hear pre-Mascleta explosions around 1:45. La Mascleta itself is very hard to describe. It only lasts about five to ten minutes, but it feels much longer. The center square is shut off and on the ground and hanging above are tons of things that look like giant candy, which are actually something like fireworks. While La Mascleta does include low fireworks, the experience is really more to hear than see. Starting right at 2pm, the explosions start. Pieces of fireworks rain down and smoke fills the plaza. At first it is simply loud, then the ground starts shaking, your body vibrates, the cars jump, the high whistling and explosions bring to mind bombs and you could easily believe you were in a war zone if it weren't for the crowd all around you cheering and clapping. The noise escalates and crescendos past the point you think you can take it. Toni grabbed my arms as I tried to cover my ears, but it wouldn't have mattered anyway. You feel it as much as you hear it. Several minutes later it's over and the crowd is pushing forward and music is played, the traditional song of Fallas, all in Valenciano, always first. On the balcony overlooking the square all the Falleras stand and cheer and wave and everyone below thanks them for the show. Anna and I are just about speechless from the experience. It was one of the most intense things I've ever seen/heard and I couldn't wait to share it with Max, Isaac, Jon, and JT when they visit.
Anyway afterwards we all found a place to eat, and Toni told us dirty jokes in Spanish which were pretty entertaining. Anna will have to remind me what they were though since I've forgotten. Anna and I caught the bus to the train station she was leaving from soon, but before hand we had another cafe con leche at a nearby cafe. It was fun to just chill for a bit. Anna left soon later, and I walked back up Blasco Ibanez to the bus stop. I spent the evening studying some, then trying to find a place to call home, but everywhere was closing by the time I went out. Oh well. Overall it was a super successful weekend! Thanks Anna for being so awesome!

More updates later when I get back from London this weekend. I'm seeing my family, my brother, and Andrew Sillers!!