Portugal! October 28-31

I stayed three nights in Lisbon Portugal in October right after the Basque trip. Lisbon is an interesting city because it has some really old parts, some really nice parts, some really touristy parts and some really rundown parts. It is a very industrial city and a river runs through it so there are a lot of industrial areas right on the river. We stayed at a really cool hostel, the people working there as well as staying there were super nice. I went with my two friends Danae and Nina. 

We took a boat ride on the river, it was really fun and cool because we got to see the city from another side. As you can see in the back here there are two popular land marks one is the Jesus with open arms like in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil, As well as the sister bridge to the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. 

This is a view of the main square of the area of Lisbon we were staying in, Belem.

Danae and I infront of one of the popular monuments on the river. 

This is the type of old train car that we used to get around the city, they were seriously about to fall apart but it was really fun. 

Pastel Belem, the famous pastry from Belem.

Nina me and Danae in front of the monument called discoveries.

In the Monastery, it was so intricate.

Me by one of the many poles that are so intricately detailed inside the Monastery.

Discoveries monument with the bridge in the back.

We left right before Halloween but the last night there the owner of the hostel wanted to carve a pumpkin and he said he had never done it before and so I offered to help. He was so impressed with my carving skills and everyone in the hostel loved it because they had never seen one before. Here is Danae and I behind my pumpkin.

Lisbon is a really hilly city so we did a lot of hiking and here is a photo from on of the hills we hiked up to.

The beautiful sunset. <3

Portugal is an interesting place to go if you speak Spanish because their language looks similar to spanish but sounds like French and German mixed together or something crazy, and I had no idea what they were saying. People understood us better when we were speaking english better than Spanish it surprised me that more people spoke English than Spanish.

Basque Country: Bilbao October 26-28

While on the field study we also went to another city in the Basque Country and it was Bilbao. I liked Bilbao because it was a city but not far from the mountains and the outdoorsy area. You can see here the city buildings and the mountains not far off.

Bilbao is also in the north of Spain, though not as close to France as San Sebastian. It was about a 4.5 hour bus ride from Madrid. 

We took a tour of the Athletic Bilbao stadium and it was really cool. The people of Bilbao are really passionate about their futbol. 

Q and I in front of the field

The beautiful field that is so well kept.

Me sitting in the club house at the field.

My group in the locker room! 

While in Bilbao we also went to the Guggenheim museum. There was some really interesting modern art in there. Out front of the Guggenheim there is a big dog that is covered with flowers and it is called puppy. 

Here is a picture of Nasim, me, Kerry and Q in front of Puppy.

Here you can see Puppy from the back off to the left, he is really large.

The Guggenheim has a really beautiful design and architecture. 

So whimsical.

There are certain parts of Bilbao that have very modern architecture. Here is a very interesting looking bridge.

Another thing we did was go to eat at a Txoko. Which is a gastronomical society, where men cook great big meals for a group and serve it family style. They are very exclusive, you must be invited and in the past women were not aloud in the Txoko. It recently changed, and while we were there the meal was made by some nice men as well as my program instructor from Madrid, Alvero.

While here we heard some traditional basque music and heard about some traditional basque instruments.

The two people on the left also did a traditional basque dance for us while the man on the right played the instruments for them. The dance was really interesting looking, it reminded me a little of irish dance.

Here he is demonstrating how to play this flute like instrument, you can see me in the back! (I stole this picture from a friend) :)

Another awesome thing we also did while in Bilbao was watch a Pelota game. It is a very traditional basque sport that is very high paced. It was interesting to watch because the ball went so fast.

Here is the court that it is played on. there is the front wall that you see and to the right there is another black wall that they play off of. Interestingly this game is also very popular in Florida and there are other pelota courts throughout the United States.

Here are the players that we watch, all have been playing for their who lives, the one in the middle in the blue was the world Pelota champion in 2009. Another fun thing about pelota games is the betting. during every game a bet is made for who will win and usually you win money, we did the betting but all we won were shirts. I bet on the red team but the blue team won :(

After we watched the game, the players taught us how to play. It was really fun but super hard. Her one of the players is trying to show me how to do it.. I never did do it right.

The game is played with all different things, baskets, rackets but it was originally played with your hands. While we were watching the demonstration there was a local news station that did a story on "the students from the United States coming to watch a game", apparently that is big news in Bilbao ;) 

 Here is the link to the story and a video of us playing! http://www.elcorreo.com/vizcaya/v/20111028/vizcaya/fronton-souvenir-20111028.html 

Basque Country: San Sebastian October 24-26

This weekend I went on a field study with my class to the Pais Vasco, or the Basque Country. This is on of the autonomous communities in spain. They speak Euskera which is nothing like spanish or any other language and it is so old that the origin is untraceable. While in the Basque Country we went to two cities, San Sebastian and Bilbao. In this post I will tell you about San Sebastian. It is on the Bay of Biscay. San Sebastian is only 20 Km away from france so it is the very north of Spain.

This is a picture of La Concha, a beach that is very large and shaped like a shell, which is why it is called La Concha. We took an old tram to the top of a mountain facing the bay so we had some amazing views.

This my friend Drew and I on a boat ride on the top of the mountain. It was really fun.

Standing by the River in San Sebastian.

In front of the Bay of Biscay.

Here is a picture of the whole beach shaped like a shell, it was a really rainy and cloudy day when we went so these pictures do not do it justice, it is absolutely beautiful!

The guys and I with the bay in the back.

The farthest mountain like hump in the background is actually France.

In the middle you can see there is an Island, this Island is Isla de Santa Clara, there were some really cool houses on it.

Danae and I on the other side of the Mountain.

Another thing that is very popular in the basque country, but expecially San Sebastian are Pinxtos. Pinxtos are like tapas, they are just little gourmet snacks that you can buy in bars. People go and get a few and it turns into dinner.

This is a pinxto of peppers eggs and bread.

This one was crab meat.

The group of girls that I went to get Pinxtos with one night.

Here is a famous sculptor in La Concha that was made by a famous San sebastian Sculptor. He made 3 of them and placed them in the bay, in this picture you can see 2. They are called peine del viento which means wind combs. 

A picture of the gorgeous beach, you can see the island of Santa Clara out there. 

We had a really beautiful day the last day we were there. I loved San Sebastian it was just absolutely beautiful and I would recommend it to anyone who needs a great vacation spot on the beach. It was a good break from the city life.