Greetings again, all! I'm way behind, so bear with me for a bit. Lets see... the werewolf is back; I heard him howling away yesterday. One of our neighbors, at least, enjoys music- I've heard Bob Marley (Is This Love), John Lennon (Imagine), and ABBA (Dancing Queen) through the walls so far. Also I actually made a tortilla española that didn't suck and flipped it in the pan sans spatula. Yes. My skills amaze me sometimes. Anyways, I think I'm about 4 weeks back... Ángeles came home for a few days before her extended Galicia trip and we went to a Greek-themed party (complete with togas and fake laurel crowns). I ate some good food and participated in the Greek version of the ND Irish jig, if that's possible. It took place in the most fantastically decorated apartment I've ever seen- the walls were lime green and it was filled with bohemian and/or tribal looking nicknacks. I will decorate my future living space así. Anyways, some friends and I went to a Real Madrid game on Sat. They played Real Racing Club de Santander, which apparently isn't a very good team, as Real Madrid won 6-1. It was pretty exciting; I enjoyed it. I must say, though, that they should take a cue from baseball and have hot dog vendors. That would be excellent. Some shots of the game and stadium:
By the way, the stands were ridiculously steep. I was sure I was going to fall to my death. Though really, knowing me, I feel I could manage that at a less vertiginous angle. On the bus ride back, we got to listen to what I dubbed the "soul seduction cd". I kept waiting for Marvin Gaye, but to my disappointment, he never showed up. Once Ángeles departed, I moved into the Fund. I must say, it was pretty convenient not to have to deal with the buses. Seriously, if I were a superhero, they would be my arch-nemesis. The view from my window:
Actually, my window was the only one I've seen in the Fund with a screen- a good thing, as the ledge outside is where all the cool pigeons of Toledo congregate. I got to wake up every morning to cooing. Better than angry beeping from my alarm, at least. Anyway, after a week of midterms, we had a week off. My friend Veronica and I made like Mexicans and headed north- to San Sebastián, Bilbao, Santander, and Oviedo. I must say, our bus ride to San Sebastián was nicer than some flights I've taken. We had food, drinks, chocolates, an in-bus movie, and our very own bus attendant. Really. I wonder if she's above or below flight attendant on the career prestige scale? I would say below, but I'm sure she would disagree. Anyway, San Sebastián/Donostia is located in Basque Country, near the French border. It has two names because, you guessed it- they speak Basque there too. Whereas I can generally figure out what signs say in Galician and Catalan, Basque looks like a random assortment of scrabble tiles with some serious point potential. I find it fascinating- it's a language isolate, and one of those like Irish (Klingon? Quenya?) than I want to learn for fun but probably never will. San Sebastián, though, is one of my favorite cities in Spain. I wouldn't mind spending a few weeks there. The beach is absolutely stunning. If a picture is worth a thousand words...:
There was a surfing class toward the end of the day on the smaller beach, and I must admit I enjoyed watching them fall:
This kind of reminded me of Mackinac Island:
We pretty much just wandered around all day and took in the sights, including a man dressed in a very nice business suit (complete with a briefcase!) who walked onto the beach, completely stripped, and proceeded to have a lovely swim about 5 feet from us. And that is why I love this country. Oh, and I had the best calamari I've ever had with ali-oli sauce. Amazing. The next day, we continued on to Bilbao. The city itself was nice, but the Guggenheim was spectacular. It's right by the river and there was a warm breeze blowing and a street musician on the... soprano sax! This gives me hope for my future career in case I don't get into med school :) Pictures:
A modern art playground? Absolutely!
The famous "puppy":
A sculpture that reminded me of christmas lights:
My favorite exhibit was one of huge metal spirals that, when I walked through them, gave the impression of total isolation. It was disquieting, almost claustrophobic, like walking through a canyon without any idea of what lies around the next curve. Someone started humming in one, and the sound resonated throughout the entire structure, echoing again and again in an eerie metallic chorus. I loved it.
Two things: 1. The asparagus in Spain is large and white and creepy. Oh, and flavorless too. Don't order it for breakfast. 2. At least Veronica's coffee wished us well:
Anyways, after the Gug, we continued on to Santander. We meant to go to the archaeology museum, but when we arrived, we found a gaping hole in the earth and not museum. Apparently it no longer exists. So, we walked along the waterfront...
...found my ferry company...
...molested some statues (thanks to Caroline for the idea)...
...and found Stuart Little's house:
It was my kind of day- incredibly windy, a bit drizzly, with potential for a good storm. Exhilarating! We made our way to the beach and explored the rocks and a castle:
The castle sits on a high bluff and the wind was so strong that I was afraid to go too near the edge. We caught the bus to Oviedo in the late afternoon and arrived that night. After a rather long search for a good restaurant, I ended up with caviar pizza. It sounds disgusting, I know, but it was absolutely amazing. Now, I must admit that the only reason we went to Oviedo was to try the cider. According to our anthro professor, it's something to do before leaving Spain. Well, the city doesn't really have anything else going for it- it's nice, I guess, but it's just another city. We ended up going to the only bar open on a Sun. morning before we caught the bus home and bought what was probably the cheapest cider in Oviedo. Needless to say, it wasn't that good. It lacked the robustness I'm used to and tasted like watered-down, spiked apple juice. I'm pretty sure the bartender was judging us for being American and drinking before noon as well, so we had him take the obligatory picture:
Shortly thereafter, a vending machine stole €11.50. Yeah. I was not happy. It was Halloween, though, my favorite holiday, so I couldn't stay mad for too long. My costume? Idiot American tourist. I didn't even have to do anything different! I did buy cat and spider earrings for the occasion, though. One more thing: on the way back, there was a beautiful rainbow:
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