This last weekend we stayed around Bilbao mostly. Friday night we had the play Frankenstein. It was interesting to say the least. I knew that nudity wasn't a big deal in Europe, but there was a lot in this one. 4 of the 5 male actors were naked at some point in the play and one of the female actors was nude. The play was in Spanish and that made it kind of hard to follow. After Frankenstein a few of us went to Art After Dark. It was a nice change from the usual places that we go to. It was clean, classy, and let me get home early. San Sebastian was a really nice town and I want to go back when it isn't cloudy. We went to the aquarium while we were there and saw some cool fish.
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Frankenporn and Sunshine
This past week has flown by. Monday and Tuesday there was sun but also a lot of clouds. Today there was sun and no clouds in sight. I was able to wear shorts and a t-shirt to school, go to the beach, and get a sun burn on my face. This is the first time I have worn shorts since I have been here. Today also marks 2 months that I have been here. I thought the first 2 months flew by, but when I look at my calendar I realize that the next 2 will probably go by much faster. I go to Ireland March 31, then I am here for a while, but my dad comes to visit for a week and that will will make time fly. Then I have another week and then Spring break for 12 days. 2 weeks after Spring break my brother is coming, and that will go by pretty fast, and the week after that is my last week here. Where has all my time gone!
Friday, March 18, 2011
Rain, rain, rain.
Since Rome not a lot has happened in Bilbao. When we first got back the weather was great and we thought the rain was over. Our hopes were destroyed in about 6 hours when the following day it was cold and raining again. At home when it rains it's not a very big deal, unless it hasn't rained in 2 years, but that is because we all have cars and can drive to where we need to. Here we can't do that! Walking to the bus stop and waiting for 15 minutes while it is raining and the wind is blowing isn't my idea of fun. At school the buses have designated spaces where they drop us off and of course our is the furthest from the art building. there were a few days this past week where I was able to wear a t-shirt and no sweater or jacket. The best thing I brought to Bilbao was my Columbia rain jacket. Everyone here uses umbrellas, but it is so windy that they break a lot. My jacket has kept me dry and warm any time I wear it. Now that it has started to warm up I took the lining out and it's perfect.
Last weekend three of the girls and I took a trip to Salamanca to hang out with Jimmy and JP, two guys that live there. It was a nice change of pace from Bilbao. It is smaller, cleaner, and cheaper. They were able to convince their RD's in their dorms to let us stay there and it worked well. Jimmy lives downtown, 5 minutes from the main plaza. Salamanca has a different feel than Bilbao. It doesn't feel as urban even though it is a city. The people seemed more friendly to American students, but that is probably because there are a lot of them in Salamanca. We went out the first night we were there and all of the clubs are right next to each other which is very nice. Here in Bilbao there aren't a lot of clubs in general and the ones that we have are way out of the way. What we pay for one drink in Bilbao will get you 2 or 3 in Salamanca. I spent about 25 euro total in Salamanca for the weekend, and that includes meals.
I made some new friends in Bilbao recently as well. They aren't Spanish, but they are from Europe. Hannah and Steffi from Belgium and Luca from Germany. They are a lot of fun, and have great stereotypes of people from Texas. They honestly think we all carry guns and the only fact they know about TX is that more people are killed by lethal injection than anywhere else.
This weekend is pretty busy for us. Tonight we are going to see Frankenstein in Spanish and as soon as that is over a few of us are running over to the Guggenheim for Art After Dark. We have tickets this time, so I know I will get in. The ticket from AAD will also get you into Fever for free, but since I still don't feel great I am not going. I want to get some sleep. Tomorrow morning we are going to San Sebastian to hopefully sit on the beach and do nothing. I also have homework for this weekend. I have to work on my next silk screening project.
Last weekend three of the girls and I took a trip to Salamanca to hang out with Jimmy and JP, two guys that live there. It was a nice change of pace from Bilbao. It is smaller, cleaner, and cheaper. They were able to convince their RD's in their dorms to let us stay there and it worked well. Jimmy lives downtown, 5 minutes from the main plaza. Salamanca has a different feel than Bilbao. It doesn't feel as urban even though it is a city. The people seemed more friendly to American students, but that is probably because there are a lot of them in Salamanca. We went out the first night we were there and all of the clubs are right next to each other which is very nice. Here in Bilbao there aren't a lot of clubs in general and the ones that we have are way out of the way. What we pay for one drink in Bilbao will get you 2 or 3 in Salamanca. I spent about 25 euro total in Salamanca for the weekend, and that includes meals.
I made some new friends in Bilbao recently as well. They aren't Spanish, but they are from Europe. Hannah and Steffi from Belgium and Luca from Germany. They are a lot of fun, and have great stereotypes of people from Texas. They honestly think we all carry guns and the only fact they know about TX is that more people are killed by lethal injection than anywhere else.
This weekend is pretty busy for us. Tonight we are going to see Frankenstein in Spanish and as soon as that is over a few of us are running over to the Guggenheim for Art After Dark. We have tickets this time, so I know I will get in. The ticket from AAD will also get you into Fever for free, but since I still don't feel great I am not going. I want to get some sleep. Tomorrow morning we are going to San Sebastian to hopefully sit on the beach and do nothing. I also have homework for this weekend. I have to work on my next silk screening project.
Monday, March 7, 2011
The Pope and His Hat.
This weekend in Rome was a blast! From the time we got there until the time we left I was having a blast. Right after we got there we started walking. We had no idea where we were going, but the girls were on a mission to see a fountain that was in some chick flick. Did we ever get there? No, I don't think so, but had fun looking for it.
Our first stop of Thursday was gelato. They didn't have the melon that I remembered from Florence, but it was still delicious. We then started out on our adventure. We walked in a huge circle looking for the river and finally found it. Our destinations were determined by what domes we could see. If the dome looked big we headed that way. That worked out pretty well. We came out of a little ally right next to a church. It was a nice church that was decorated like most others. Next we ended up at the Spanish Steps. We climbed the steps and were able to see out over the city. It had been raining, but was clearing up while the sun set. This is when the girls decided to look for the fountain from the movie, we didn't end up there, but we did end up at the Trevi Fountain. It was cool seeing it lit up at night. We did the whole throwing money over the opposite shoulder thing and took a lot of pictures. After that we went and had our first Italian dinner. I'm pretty sure we ended up at some sort of tourist trap, and got charged for everything we did, but it was good. Thursday night we were all tired and went to bed early.
The next day we had to be up early for a panoramic tour of Rome. The breakfast in the hotel was pretty good, not as good as Madrid, but it was free. The bus tour was kind of hard to follow just because we drove past some things really fast, and weren't able to see them well. It ended at the Colosseum. It is a lot bigger than I imagined and really cool. We never went inside of it, but I have to have things to do when I go back. After we walked around the Colosseum we got back on the bus and went to the Trevi Fountain again. This time we had a tour guide to explain everything about it to us. After our tour with API ended we had another tour set up. The dad of one of the girls here knows a tour guide in Rome and we were able to set up a private tour of the Vatican Museums, Sistine Chapel, and St. Peters that afternoon. It turned out that our tour guide for the afternoon was the same tour guide we had earlier that morning around Rome which was nice because he was fun and nice. The Vatican Museums were really cool. We only saw three of them, but he said that if we were to be actually be able to see everything it would take years. The three rooms that we did see had a lot of interesting things in them. The Sistine Chapel was amazing! It was also a lot bigger than I thought, but I'm glad it was because it was packed. They were really strict about talking and picture taking inside of it. Our guide told us all about the chapel and about every pope that helped build it. It was so much information to try and take it, but I enjoyed it. Next we went into St. Peters. It is the largest basilica in the world. They had markings on the ground that showed were others compared to it, no other even came close. We saw another famous Michelangelo sculpture inside, and a few mummified popes. When a pope is raised to saint hood his body is mummified and put in a tomb in St. Peters. They were working on that tomb that John Paul II will be put into in May. We weren't able to see very much of the basilica, but what we did see was amazing.
After we got back to our hotel we all went to took naps to get ready for the night. We didn't do anything fancy for dinner, just quick street pizza. One of the guys from Salamanca found this deal on-line where we could pay 20 euro to go to a pub with and open bar for an hour, then to two different clubs, and at the end of the night we would get pizza and a free t-shirt. Needless to say we did this. The pub was really small and overly full, but it was a nice little place to hang out. The first club was also nice. When we got there it was still early and people were eating dinner where the dance floor was, but leave it to the girls to make there own. The nice part about their makeshift dance floor was it was right around the couches so we were able to sit down when we were tired. The second club was packed. We had a lot of fun and danced a lot. We didn't drink anything at the clubs because the drinks were 10 euro each, and we thought Bilbao was bad.
Finding our way home was a different story. The metro closed pretty early for such a big city, but the buses run all night. We took a few wrong buses and went the wrong way, but we made it back to the hotel in time for breakfast. After being up all night people look at you funny in the hotel restaurant while eating breakfast, but we were just glad to be home.
We woke up at like 1:30 that afternoon and started out on our adventures again. We went to one of the other big monuments in Rome. I don't know what the real name of it is, but our tour guide kept referring to it as 'The Wedding Cake'. Apparently the Romans call it that, because it is big and white. It lets you have a nice view of downtown Rome, and also hold the WWI 'Tomb of the Unknown'. The rest of the day was spent just walking around and hanging out. Saturday night some of the people wanted to go out again. I did not. A few of us ate dinner around the hotel and then just hung out in my hotel room. Saturday ended pretty early for us.
Sunday we woke up kind of early to get breakfast and a few of us wanted to try and go to St. Peters for mass. For some reason we thought we could get there at 10:15 and still get in. We hung out in the Vatican Square until 12 when the Pope speaks from his window. He gives a quick sermon in Italian and then a prayer in different languages. He spoke in Italian, Spanish, German, English, and Portuguese. After that we headed back to the hotel and left for the airport. The flight back wasn't bad, but our flight from Madrid to Bilbao was delayed and we didn't get back until 10.
It was nice to get away for a weekend. It was also nice to be around other guys for a weekend, the girls are fun, but they get old sometimes. Some of us are thinking about going to to Salamanca this weekend to hang out with them again. I want to go, but don't want to spend the money. Decisions, decisions.
Our first stop of Thursday was gelato. They didn't have the melon that I remembered from Florence, but it was still delicious. We then started out on our adventure. We walked in a huge circle looking for the river and finally found it. Our destinations were determined by what domes we could see. If the dome looked big we headed that way. That worked out pretty well. We came out of a little ally right next to a church. It was a nice church that was decorated like most others. Next we ended up at the Spanish Steps. We climbed the steps and were able to see out over the city. It had been raining, but was clearing up while the sun set. This is when the girls decided to look for the fountain from the movie, we didn't end up there, but we did end up at the Trevi Fountain. It was cool seeing it lit up at night. We did the whole throwing money over the opposite shoulder thing and took a lot of pictures. After that we went and had our first Italian dinner. I'm pretty sure we ended up at some sort of tourist trap, and got charged for everything we did, but it was good. Thursday night we were all tired and went to bed early.
The next day we had to be up early for a panoramic tour of Rome. The breakfast in the hotel was pretty good, not as good as Madrid, but it was free. The bus tour was kind of hard to follow just because we drove past some things really fast, and weren't able to see them well. It ended at the Colosseum. It is a lot bigger than I imagined and really cool. We never went inside of it, but I have to have things to do when I go back. After we walked around the Colosseum we got back on the bus and went to the Trevi Fountain again. This time we had a tour guide to explain everything about it to us. After our tour with API ended we had another tour set up. The dad of one of the girls here knows a tour guide in Rome and we were able to set up a private tour of the Vatican Museums, Sistine Chapel, and St. Peters that afternoon. It turned out that our tour guide for the afternoon was the same tour guide we had earlier that morning around Rome which was nice because he was fun and nice. The Vatican Museums were really cool. We only saw three of them, but he said that if we were to be actually be able to see everything it would take years. The three rooms that we did see had a lot of interesting things in them. The Sistine Chapel was amazing! It was also a lot bigger than I thought, but I'm glad it was because it was packed. They were really strict about talking and picture taking inside of it. Our guide told us all about the chapel and about every pope that helped build it. It was so much information to try and take it, but I enjoyed it. Next we went into St. Peters. It is the largest basilica in the world. They had markings on the ground that showed were others compared to it, no other even came close. We saw another famous Michelangelo sculpture inside, and a few mummified popes. When a pope is raised to saint hood his body is mummified and put in a tomb in St. Peters. They were working on that tomb that John Paul II will be put into in May. We weren't able to see very much of the basilica, but what we did see was amazing.
After we got back to our hotel we all went to took naps to get ready for the night. We didn't do anything fancy for dinner, just quick street pizza. One of the guys from Salamanca found this deal on-line where we could pay 20 euro to go to a pub with and open bar for an hour, then to two different clubs, and at the end of the night we would get pizza and a free t-shirt. Needless to say we did this. The pub was really small and overly full, but it was a nice little place to hang out. The first club was also nice. When we got there it was still early and people were eating dinner where the dance floor was, but leave it to the girls to make there own. The nice part about their makeshift dance floor was it was right around the couches so we were able to sit down when we were tired. The second club was packed. We had a lot of fun and danced a lot. We didn't drink anything at the clubs because the drinks were 10 euro each, and we thought Bilbao was bad.
Finding our way home was a different story. The metro closed pretty early for such a big city, but the buses run all night. We took a few wrong buses and went the wrong way, but we made it back to the hotel in time for breakfast. After being up all night people look at you funny in the hotel restaurant while eating breakfast, but we were just glad to be home.
We woke up at like 1:30 that afternoon and started out on our adventures again. We went to one of the other big monuments in Rome. I don't know what the real name of it is, but our tour guide kept referring to it as 'The Wedding Cake'. Apparently the Romans call it that, because it is big and white. It lets you have a nice view of downtown Rome, and also hold the WWI 'Tomb of the Unknown'. The rest of the day was spent just walking around and hanging out. Saturday night some of the people wanted to go out again. I did not. A few of us ate dinner around the hotel and then just hung out in my hotel room. Saturday ended pretty early for us.
Sunday we woke up kind of early to get breakfast and a few of us wanted to try and go to St. Peters for mass. For some reason we thought we could get there at 10:15 and still get in. We hung out in the Vatican Square until 12 when the Pope speaks from his window. He gives a quick sermon in Italian and then a prayer in different languages. He spoke in Italian, Spanish, German, English, and Portuguese. After that we headed back to the hotel and left for the airport. The flight back wasn't bad, but our flight from Madrid to Bilbao was delayed and we didn't get back until 10.
It was nice to get away for a weekend. It was also nice to be around other guys for a weekend, the girls are fun, but they get old sometimes. Some of us are thinking about going to to Salamanca this weekend to hang out with them again. I want to go, but don't want to spend the money. Decisions, decisions.
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Silk Screening
After a few weeks of silk screening I have decided that it is my favorite class. It is a lot of work, but it is very fun. I can't believe this week is almost over. Rome is going to be exciting. The dad of one of the girls here has a friend that gives tours in Rome in English. We are setting up a private tour of the Vatican and Sistine Chapel for about 35 euro a person.
It has been raining all this week, and I can't wait for the sun to come back out. I want to go to the beach more, but it is hard when it is raining and 45 outside.
It has been raining all this week, and I can't wait for the sun to come back out. I want to go to the beach more, but it is hard when it is raining and 45 outside.
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Conejo
Today for lunch we had rabbit. I have never eaten rabbit, but it was good. It was cooked in a pressure cooker so it was really tinder. We had it with the same type of saffron rice as you would eat with paella. I didn't know that it was rabbit at first I thought it was chicken or something. I thought the bones looked a little bit different.
This weekend has been pretty quiet. Friday night we didn't do very much. I went salsa dance with a few of the girls. There is a club that has free salsa dance classes on Friday nights so we went. I was able to pick it up pretty well but there were a lot of people there, so it was hard to see the teacher.
Last night we didn't do much either. One of the Deusto girls is friends with a guy from Portugal that has an apartment. We went over there and hung out for a few hours. There were people from everywhere there. I few guys from Portugal, a few from Brazil, a German girl, some girls from Poland, an English girl and us. There was also a kid from Arizona and another one from Mexico. The one from Mexico has lived in TX for the past 8 years and actually goes to UTSA. It was nice to be able to hang out at someones apartment instead of a club.
I have been working on my illustration project a lot this weekend. I just need to figure out where I can get my images printed.
This weekend has been pretty quiet. Friday night we didn't do very much. I went salsa dance with a few of the girls. There is a club that has free salsa dance classes on Friday nights so we went. I was able to pick it up pretty well but there were a lot of people there, so it was hard to see the teacher.
Last night we didn't do much either. One of the Deusto girls is friends with a guy from Portugal that has an apartment. We went over there and hung out for a few hours. There were people from everywhere there. I few guys from Portugal, a few from Brazil, a German girl, some girls from Poland, an English girl and us. There was also a kid from Arizona and another one from Mexico. The one from Mexico has lived in TX for the past 8 years and actually goes to UTSA. It was nice to be able to hang out at someones apartment instead of a club.
I have been working on my illustration project a lot this weekend. I just need to figure out where I can get my images printed.
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Un Mes
It's hard to believe that I have been in Spain for one month. The time has flown by. When I was in Italy it seemed like that month took forever. I am kind of sad that my time is going by so fast already, and once i start getting more major project I feel like it will fly by.
We are just starting to figure out the city and make friends around here. Next week we take our trip to Rome. I am excited to see it. They have tours and adventures planned out for us and told us how to get to the Sistine Chapel for tours. On that Sunday we get to the hear the Pope speak which is pretty cool.
We are also stating to plan our own side trips. We want to go to Ireland at the end of March, and I am hoping for Spring Break I can go to Barcelona, Paris, Germany, Norway and maybe London.
I have to work on a project now. It shouldn't be that hard, but might be time consuming.
We are just starting to figure out the city and make friends around here. Next week we take our trip to Rome. I am excited to see it. They have tours and adventures planned out for us and told us how to get to the Sistine Chapel for tours. On that Sunday we get to the hear the Pope speak which is pretty cool.
We are also stating to plan our own side trips. We want to go to Ireland at the end of March, and I am hoping for Spring Break I can go to Barcelona, Paris, Germany, Norway and maybe London.
I have to work on a project now. It shouldn't be that hard, but might be time consuming.
Sunday, February 20, 2011
Hecho en Tajas
This past weekend has been good. Thursday night we would usually go out the the Erasmus Party, but this weekend we didn't. We were going to, but we didn't want to pay the 10 euro cover since we got there after 11:30. We ended up walking around Bilbao and made some new friends. We were walking and a girl asked us if we had a lighter and when we responded they knew we were American.
You alway here stories about people speaking English in a foreign country and getting mugged or beat up, but my experience here has been that they want to practice their english and don't want you to speak Spanish with them.
This group of kids, all around our age and students at Deusto, told us they were going to a club and told us we could go with them. We got a nice night tour of Bilbao. This club was smaller and more Spanish. It wasn't full of people or smoke like the Erasmus Parties are. We hung out with them for a few hours and then decided to just walk home instead of taking a taxi.
Friday during the day we went to eat Mexican food downtown. I didn't have hight hopes for the food, but was pleasantly surprised. The salsa actually had some spice to it, the margaritas were just like at home, and the nachos were made with Mexican cheese. They didn't call them nachos, but that's what they were. It was tortilla chips with a chicken mole and grilled onions topped with melted cheese. The enchiladas weren't the typical Tex-Mex enchiladas. It was a corn tortilla that was filled with the same chicken mole and onion mixture and then folded over and baked. They were topped with a green pepper sauce and peanuts. The enchiladas were people one of the most authentic items on the menu. They had turkey or beef fajitas, which no one got. Everybody else got the burrito. It was a typical burrito and looked good.
Friday night we were going to go to 'Art After Dark' at the Guggenheim. We were all excited and met up early to hang out before, but soon found out that it was sold out. We didn't know that you had to buy tickets in advance for it. We even get a discount since we are 'Friends of the Guggenheim' Another reason we were excited is because it comes with free ticket to Fever. We ended up going to Fever, but had to pay the cover. The same band that was playing at Art After Dark was also playing at Fever, so we got the same music. The band was Dorian. They are a Spanish Pop band from Madrid. I was looking them up on the internet and saw that they have actually been to Austin for SXSW. Some how in the middle of the concert we ended up up front so after the concert the drummer gave me a stick. He uses ProMark sticks.
While at Fever I met a Spanish guy wearing a 'Keep Austin Weird' shirt. He said that he had never been to Austin, but that his girlfriends sister lived there and gave it to him. He was excited that I was from Austin. Most of the Spaniards get excited when I tell them I am from Texas.
Last night we went to Casco Viejo. It is the old part of town and is really nice. There are a lot of shops there during the day and a lot of bars at night. We met some Spaniards there and they took us to their favorite bars. It's nice to go to the places that we usually wouldn't. These bars also have some of the best pintxos, or tapas, in Bilbao.
Today we aren't doing much. I think we are just going to hang out and watch the Bilbao vs. Barcelona soccer game.
You alway here stories about people speaking English in a foreign country and getting mugged or beat up, but my experience here has been that they want to practice their english and don't want you to speak Spanish with them.
This group of kids, all around our age and students at Deusto, told us they were going to a club and told us we could go with them. We got a nice night tour of Bilbao. This club was smaller and more Spanish. It wasn't full of people or smoke like the Erasmus Parties are. We hung out with them for a few hours and then decided to just walk home instead of taking a taxi.
Friday during the day we went to eat Mexican food downtown. I didn't have hight hopes for the food, but was pleasantly surprised. The salsa actually had some spice to it, the margaritas were just like at home, and the nachos were made with Mexican cheese. They didn't call them nachos, but that's what they were. It was tortilla chips with a chicken mole and grilled onions topped with melted cheese. The enchiladas weren't the typical Tex-Mex enchiladas. It was a corn tortilla that was filled with the same chicken mole and onion mixture and then folded over and baked. They were topped with a green pepper sauce and peanuts. The enchiladas were people one of the most authentic items on the menu. They had turkey or beef fajitas, which no one got. Everybody else got the burrito. It was a typical burrito and looked good.
Friday night we were going to go to 'Art After Dark' at the Guggenheim. We were all excited and met up early to hang out before, but soon found out that it was sold out. We didn't know that you had to buy tickets in advance for it. We even get a discount since we are 'Friends of the Guggenheim' Another reason we were excited is because it comes with free ticket to Fever. We ended up going to Fever, but had to pay the cover. The same band that was playing at Art After Dark was also playing at Fever, so we got the same music. The band was Dorian. They are a Spanish Pop band from Madrid. I was looking them up on the internet and saw that they have actually been to Austin for SXSW. Some how in the middle of the concert we ended up up front so after the concert the drummer gave me a stick. He uses ProMark sticks.
While at Fever I met a Spanish guy wearing a 'Keep Austin Weird' shirt. He said that he had never been to Austin, but that his girlfriends sister lived there and gave it to him. He was excited that I was from Austin. Most of the Spaniards get excited when I tell them I am from Texas.
Last night we went to Casco Viejo. It is the old part of town and is really nice. There are a lot of shops there during the day and a lot of bars at night. We met some Spaniards there and they took us to their favorite bars. It's nice to go to the places that we usually wouldn't. These bars also have some of the best pintxos, or tapas, in Bilbao.
Today we aren't doing much. I think we are just going to hang out and watch the Bilbao vs. Barcelona soccer game.
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