Welcome to our flat

Hello and welcome to our apartment! If you will allow me, I shall give you a tour and show you how we put a little flavour (not really) into our new flat. But how did you come across your humble abode?, you may ask. Why, I shall tell you.

ON THE PROWL

About a week and a half before the Christmas break, Vi, Em and I said, "Hey, wanna move in together?" and we all replied "yes". Cue the frantic emailing and apartment hunting as Em left for Canada a few days later and Vi and I went away the following week. We emailed and called and finally were able to see three different places in the last few days before winter break. The first place we went to, about 4 minutes from residence, was not so great. It was really old, kinda small, not the best upkeep and didn't have an oven, an essential part of what we were looking for.

The second place was great. It was big and spacious with a lot of natural light. It was in a great location, about 7 minutes closer to school in an area we were familiar with. There was a good sized kitchen, bathroom and two balconies. The last place was in a not so great area but the apartment itself wasn't bad. The landlady was nice, really old, liked to talk a lot and there wasn't a oven (notice a trend here? - I think it's a Spanish thing). We realized that we would have to decide that night if we wanted any of these places because Vi left for the airport the next morning.

Drum roll please.........

Piso numero 2! The sunny big apartment on the main road. At first Vi and I were gonna wait for Em to respond about our decision but we didn't have the time, with the 6 hour time difference between Canada and Spain. So we went ahead, called the guy and thus we are here.

So, let's begin with this "tour" thing. (the pictures are a mix of pre and post move in).

THE ENTRY

Behold le entrance and le long-ass hallway. I swear we have the most complicated locking system I have ever encountered. It takes me like 3 minutes to open the door every single time. And I also have a great amount of trouble with my key when I enter the lobby! I have buzzed up twice already - and the sound the doorbell/buzzer makes in the flat is as scary as really scary stuff. 

THE KITCHEN

As I said before, no oven. But don't worry, we solved that problem. Meet Toasty the toaster oven. We bought him a few days ago and he has solved all our oven needs (ignoring the fact that he stunk we first turned him on. But he's supposed to do that apparently). We've got all the essentials like sinks, a stove, a fridge, a wine bottle opener, some weird brown glasses with strange insignias, some creepy clown mugs - you know, the usual. Might I also add that out of the three of us, Vi is by far the best cook and under her tutelage, I vow that by time I return to the motherland, I shall be able to make a proper pot of rice! 

THE BATHROOM

It's just a regular old bathroom where ducks hang out.

THE BEDROOMS

my messy, messy room

There are 3 bedrooms (mine is the biggest).  The pictures above mine are from before we moved in. Since I currently have a crazy amount of free time on my hands before the Paris trip next week and second semester starting the following Monday, I wrote a little poem and then made a video about my room. The current reaction from my friends has been that it's "cute". Judge for yourself. 

THE LIVING/DINING ROOM

This is the most central part of the flat. We spend a lot of time here, since it has the most natural light, the television and the best wifi signal. And you know to chat, eat and all that since we don't have a proper dining room. Also, we have started a liquor cabinet. Because we're cool and classy like that. Below the alcohol is junk food. Because we're lazy and addicted like that. But in all honesty, it's the best room. The worst part is probably the couches, because the covers constantly side off. That's just annoying. But having a television is great. We figured out how to get some channels in English so we now get Discovery Max and the Disney channel in English thus we watch a lot of Auction Hunters and Jessie (that show with the baby sitter and incredibly sassy/hilarious little girl). Los Simpsons, Walker Texas Ranger and Love It or List It in Spanish are great too. We watch marathons of Love It or List often, because it's always on in the middle of the day.

And that is our apartment. If I know you and you live in Salamanca, stop by! (Creepy strangers not invited).

Tupac is watching you.

 Happy Groundhog Day!

Bon Nadal Barcelona (Merry Christmas Barcelona!)

BARCELONA = AWESOME

The past 3 days (think 2 days and 2 halves) Vi and I have spent in this marvelous Catalan city, soaking in as much as we could.

Barcelona Christmas Market

Vi and I decided a while ago that we wanted to go to Barcelona for this puente in December. (I'm not sure if I already explained this, but puente means bridge and in this case is referring to a holiday that is on a Thursday and you take the Friday off too). Basically the internet/bus companies seemed to be conspiring against us when we first tried to book tickets, but through perseverance and luck we were able to book a flight. We flew on Wednesday from Valladolid, a town an hour and half away from Salamanca to beautiful Barcelona. I just want to state that the Valladolid airport is THE SMALLEST airport I have ever been to. It was a bit surreal when I'm used to the craziness that is Pearson International. We flew Ryanair to El Prat. I don't find Ryanair all that bad. I mean I wish they would stop trying to sell me products (smokeless cigarettes? honestly, it's like an hour flight...), but if you have a book and some music you're good to go.

He has a musical?????

At first, I don't think we were too sure about about our hostel. Compared to the really nice, really new hostel we stayed at in Madrid, this one was a lot older. But it turns out that it was actually really awesome, but more on that later.

The first day we got there, we just went to the hostel, chilled out for a bit and relaxed. We had only slept about 3-4 hours each the night before. Later we decided to have a bit of a walk around, eat (kebabs!) and see some of Barcelona. The hostel was only about 10 minutes away from La Rambla, the famous street. It was very pretty Christmas lights in the streets and on the trees. I enjoyed being in a big, bustling city again - reminds me of the hectic-ness that is Toronto.

Later we bought bocadillos (baguette sandwiches) and went back to the hostel to eat. While we were eating and playing Battleship and Connect Four (flashback to elementary school anyone?), we met a lovely Dutch girl knitting in the common room. And that was the start of this very different, but awesome trip.

The next morning we went on a free walking tour of the city, in the Gothic area. We were joined by said Dutch girl, whom I shall name Holly (if you haven't noticed, I tend not to use people's actual names). It was really good, informative and a great way to get an introduction to Barcelona. Our guide's name was Chris, from Australia. When it was done, we had lunch at the bar where the tour ended and had a good chat with Chris, Nat, a girl from Colombia, and Juan, a man from Ecuador.

Next, at around 4 or 5 in the afternoon, we decided to head up to Mont Juic, the mountain in Barcelona. At this point, my battery for my camera was more or less dead, as was Holly's. :( Sooo sad. But the view was marvelous. From the castle at the top you can see over all of Barcelona and over the Mediterranean. It was quite stunning.

Being tourists

Climbing up Mont Juic

The walk back was long but also very nice as we got to see different areas and learned a lot about Amsterdam and the Netherlands and the differences and similarities between Canadian, German, Irish and Dutch cultures. Back at the hostel, some of the other guests there wanted to have an apéritif, which basically turned into a big meal of pasta, baguettes, ham, cheese and of course wine. It was actually really awesome. There were people from all over the world and we had conversations in what ever language you could understand, mainly Spanish, French and English. There were people from Vancouver (yay Canadians!), Oregon, Mexico, China, Korea, France, Amsterdam, Germany, Argentina, Switzerland and more, coming and going. The girl from Vancouver and myself had to explain Canada's relation with the Queen - it was entertaining, seeing it from another perspective.

Day 3 started off with a 3 hour bike tour of the city. Vi, Holly and I met up with Nat from the day before and went on this tour with about 10 other people, from the US, China, Japan and England. Our tour guide this time was Duncan from Ireland. Honestly, I was TERRIFIED to go on this tour. I love to bike but I never do in big cities. It had been about 4 years since I rode I bike and that was in the hills of Quebec. But recently I've been doing this thing were I say yes to things I wouldn't normally do, trying to get out of my comfort zone. And it was worth it. The tour was a lot of fun and the bike lanes in the city are great. I felt really safe most of the time (some intersections are hard to cross).

It was on this tour that we saw the Gaudí buildings (Casa Mila and Casa Batllo) and the Sagrada Familia. We never went into any of them, but we did stop outside and look in awe while Duncan explained them. We had about 15 minutes at the Sagrada Familia, to walk around and see it all. It was stunning. It is actually quite baffling to try and consider how the architect Gaudí's mind worked. It was phenomenal. In about 20 years when it is finished, it will be even more stunning. You can click here to read more about it.

La Sagrada Familia

Casa Batllo

We also went along the Barcelona beach, which had been created for the 1992 Olympics. The sand is from Egypt and the palm trees from Hawaii I believe. I felt like I was in the tropics (sort of).  We saw the Arc de Triomf. It is smaller than the one in Paris, but I think it is a lot prettier. Plus it leads to a gorgeous park next to the Barcelona Zoo.

The Arc de Triomf and I

Once the tour was over, the four of us had some Vietnamese food and then headed to the Christmas market in front of the Cathedral. According to Vi, it was very different that the very famous German markets, but it was still pretty cool and festive. I've been missing the Christmas spirit lately and I definitely found it there. The only thing I bought was a Tió de Nadal (a Christmas log) or Caga Tió (pooping log). It is a Catalan Christmas tradition where children hit the log with sticks while singing a song and the log will poop out presents, small ones like candy and treats. Next to the Christmas Market there was a giant Tió de Nadal on a stage and there were parent and children waiting in line to hit the log.

Caga Tiós in the Christmas Market

My Caga Tió. Ain't he adorable!

Another thing we saw was the Caganer, which is "a figurine depicted in the act of defecation appearing in nativity scenes" (wikipedia). They were very popular, with all sorts like Barack Obama, Bart Simpson, The Queen, etc.

 

After the market, Vi, Nat and I headed up to Park Guell, Gaudí's famous park. But by time we got there, it was dark. Nat decided to head but, but Vi and I went on, into the unlit, sketchiest park of life. Where we entered was not the main entrance and we basically had to climb a steep hill, with stairs and escalators just to get to the park. We met two Chinese girls studying in Paris and we all thought it safer to wander around together. My camera was dying AGAIN so I wasn't able to get many photos. We managed to find our way to what I assume is the highest point in the park and we had a fantastic view of Barcelona at night. Then we ventured through the unlit paths until we made it to the main entrance, where all the famous pictures from the park are taken. From what we could tell by dying phone battery light, it was a beautiful place. Just the tile work on the benches was stunning and so detailed. It was great to get to go there, but I definitely DO NOT recommend going at night. You can barely see anything. But it was still and experience and we met some really nice girls.

What amazing signage

Once we eventually found our way back to the metro, (which was no where near the park btw), we headed back to the hostel for another communal dinner, our last one there. After, some of us went out to a local rumba themed bar for a beer or two (them, not me, because I still stand by the notion that beer is gross. Blehhh. Fanta Limon for me please.). A new member to the group was a guy from Brazil who was traveling around Europe while on break from school. It was fun :)

The next morning we said out goodbyes then headed (waaaaaaaaay too early) to the airport. The duty free shop had giant Toblerones on sale!!!! So naturally we bought them, with the intention of giving them to other people. Aahahaha how naive. Less than 24 hours later they were open and we were enjoying the chocolate, almond, nougaty goodness that those crazy Swiss created. This last day was basically a waiting game. We spent about 2 and a half hours waiting in Valladolid airport for the bus back to Salamanca. and then another 2 hours on the bus there. It was nice to finally be back home. But I miss Barcelona already!
There is so much we didn't get to see, yet so much we did. And perhaps the best part of all was getting to meet so many different people. I don't think either one of us expected it, but it's nice to know that despite the fact that people come from all sorts of backgrounds and walks of life, you can find things in common. It seems that traveling takes you to new places and into new cultures, but it can also serve as a reflection on yourself and what you consider normal. And you learn to appreciate the things that make life interesting, whether they be crazy churches, sketchy parks, the smell of Christmas, or a little wine and cheese with some new friends.  (I know, I know, I just got all John Green there.)

Bon Nadal Barcelona, until we meet again.

Ávila, Segovia & random other stuff

The last two Saturdays, excluding today, I visited the lovely nearby towns of Ávila and Segovia. But lazy me didn't/still does not feel like writing anything particularly lengthy about them, so I think four sentences each and a whole lot of photos should suffice.

ÁVILA: This town is about an hour and a half away and the main attraction is a giant wall that surrounds the historic centre. I went with my roomie and a very nice Italian girl from res. If you want some good exercise while looking like the ultimate tourist, I recommend spending the last hour before the bus leaves running from one end of wall to the other, all the while stopping, snapping a picture and bursting off again. It's fun (and exhausting!)
 

"cheesecake"

 

SEGOVIA: Segovia is about three hours from Salamanca and personally I prefer it to Ávila - it's prettier. I went with Em (one of the girls with whom I went to Madrid) and we had a great day. We spent most of our time at the giant roman aqueduct and inside the giant castle, climbing stairs of death (I think giant = today's adj. of the day). We also ate kebabs and for dinner I ate a questionably cooked hamburger - good times. :)

looks like Switzerland

detailing on a house

the Cathedral

the Castle - it supposedly inspired Walt Disney's Castle

Segovia: the land of crazy ceilings

tiles and tassles

Life lesson: always eat before getting on bus rides. Both times, people got sick on the bus ride there.
 
Now onto other matters.

MELANIE  FIONA! Have you listened to her??? I know she's not new to the music scene but I mean, I'm just falling in love with the (Canadian♥) girl! Also, Azealia Banks is great if you like 90s sounding hip hop and are not opposed to explicit content. Oh, and I have FINALLY listened to The Asteroids Galaxy Tour's newest album, Out of Frequency (which came out in January). Gotta love those Danes.

I'm seriously thinking about moving. I spend a few hours today emailing people about looking at apartments. Res is not for me and I really need my own room and space. Plus there is only so much food cooked with ham, calls in the middle of the night, and lack of a refrigerator and oven I can take. And the fact that I have to put on a bra just to go eat?! That might be the tipping point.

Besides that, things have been pretty chill around here. I think I have a midterm on Tuesday. It might be Wednesday but I'm just gonna  go to class and see what happens. I found out you can buy a pack of 6 snickers for €2.30. So naturally I did. And that McDonald's has a curry sauce as an option when you buy chicken nuggets. It's actually not that bad. I went out the last two nights (:O). Thursday night was for a friend's birthday and Friday night was a Brazilian themed party, although the ratio of Brazilians to every other nationality was like 1:4. But it was fun, met some cool people and learned not to mix rum and wine. Silly naive little me.

Cheers!

(and in German: Prost!/ Polish: Na zdrowie!/French: Santé!)

The Worst Weekend Ever (that wasn't even completely bad but still horrible)

This weekend started off lovely. My roommate wanted to go somewhere for the weekend and we settled on going to Avila, a small town about an hour and a half away from here. I will finish righting the blog post for that when I'm in a better mood and have finished combing through all the photos. When we got back home from buying the tickets at the bus station and doing some shopping (which wasnt supposed to happen, so I didn't bring a bag or anything with me), I realized the 30 euros I had in my pocket was gone. yeaaaaa. I tend to be VERY pessimistic when something goes wrong so I was completely pissed off but I knew I had lost it a while back and the money was no where near res. My roommate insisted on searching some of the street we had walked but we didn't find it. Luckily for me I have a roommate who is able to stay in a good mood (but not in an annoying frustratingly cheery mood that would drive me nuts), so I didn't go to bed super angry, just a bit upset.

The next day we went to Avila and that was great. We had a lot of fun and took some good pictures.

AVILA!

This morning we got up early to go to the flea market,  called "El Rastro" in Salamanca (I'm pretty sure El Rastro is a general name for a flea market). I will probably write another post about that at some point too. Everything was going fine until my roommate, near the end of our time there, was just casually like, be aware of your stuff. That's when I realized that my purse was considerably lighter. I opened it and realized my wallet wasn't in there. It had been stolen.  I panicked. I tend to panic. (If you have never seen my wallet, it is this giant blue thing with a large Canada sticker on the back. Not easy to misplace). I basically started crying and freaking out. There was no money in there really, less than 10 euros, but everything else was: my credit card, debit cards, sin card, health card, driver's license, my new library card (!!), my residence card, all my old university cards which I loved, my UofT card, and a bunch of random other junk like my yoyo's card! Now I won't get points when I buy frozen yogurt :(

El Rastro in summer (source)

We left the market and I was crying while trying to call my dad back in Canada. But he didn't answer so I called my mom and started semi-crying all over again while I explained everything to her. Then I got a hold of my dad and once more there was some crying. While all this was happening my roommate was looking for the police trying to get help and find out what to do (she's the best). After ages we saw a police car (the second one) go by and she had to run after the car to try and get it to stop, despite the fact that they saw her signaling  to them. And then they weren't even helpful, just impatient, not like there were going anywhere -__-. They said that I would probably just be lucky and someone would turn it in. HAHAHAHAH surreeeeeeee. How helpful policemen.

I know I shouldn't walk around with all that stuff. It's just I never thought to take most of it out because I normally walk with it all in Canada. You would actually not believe how many times I have been asked for my SIN card or need to show proof of ID or have my student card. But then again I'm not in Canada. Thankfully my passport and my USal student card, which I only got on Friday, weren't in there and neither was the card I use for my meals on residence. And I also have photocopies of my documents and cards back home in Toronto. My dad also cancelled my bank cards within an hour of them being stolen so they haven't been used.

It just sucks. Plus I don't remember my log-in name for my classes so I can't access that and I discovered that for some reason I don't have a full month meal plan, which I learned as I went for lunch and I had no more lunches left for the month. Luckily the lady is really nice and let me eat, but I am suppose to have 30 breakfasts, lunches and dinners a month...sigh....

Tomorrow morning bright and early, we're going to the police station to check lost and found and file a report. But I just want to sleep. Hopefully this week turns out better. Halloween is Wednesday (I've been working on a (not so creative) costume :P)  and it's a long weekend, so hopefully it's better. It has to be. For now I'll drown my sorrows in M&M's, Snickers, Muse and the Big Bang Theory and be thankful that I have my passport and an awesome roommate :)
 

Holy Toldeo!

 Yesterday Vi and I went to Toledo for the day with a large group of international students, mainly Erasmus.There were four buses full, so like 200 people. It was a four hour bus ride, which I did not expect, but then again I failed to read the ticket. We left at about seven am which meant I had to get up at 5:30 to shower and get ready so I could meet Vi at 6:15 to walk to the meeting place. About three hours in we stopped at one of those roadside restaurants. All four buses stopped. So of course the line for the women's washroom was ridiculously long. We waited for about half an hour for the washroom. Madness. Sometimes I swear it's better to be a man.

The Cathedral

But Toledo is beautiful! The phrase "Holy Toledo!" comes from the fact that at one point the fortified part of the city held 50 churches and numerous synagogues and mosques. It is known as the city of three cultures - Christianity, Judaism and Islam. First we went on a panoramic bus tour of the city, seeing it from the other side of the river that borders the south end (I think) of the city. The city is really old and legend has it that it was founded by Hercules, although archeology dates the origins of the city back to the Celts. Then the Romans constructed their city on the ruins of the old one they conquered and Toledo has been around ever since. Also, it is in the province of Castilla-La Mancha, the setting for Spain's most famous book, Don Quixote.


After the bus tour we did a walking tour of the city topping at a few places. The most famous "thing" in Toledo I think, is the big cathedral. Unfortunately, Vi and I didn't get to go in. It was an option during our free time, but that was never explained as to how we could do that, and we were really hungry when the tour was over, so stopping our rummbly tummies was more important.  We did see the outside of the cathedral and it is stunning. Spanish architecture is so beautiful, it's crazy. After that we went to the Iglesia de Santo Tomé (the Church of Saint Thomas), which is where El Greco's most famous painting is housed. (You can find info about El Greco here).

Next was a synagogue - la Sinagoga de Santa Maria de la Blanca. It has an interesting history, from what I can remember. Basically, when it was first built, it was a synagogue in the Jewish area of the city. Later it turned into a church, hence the name of Santa Maria. But on the inside, Arab architecture and style is very prominent. At that time the Arabs were the best architects around and their style is very distinctive. Inside the synagogue itself, there is only one symbol of Judaism in the whole building, a star of David, which is fairly hidden among the geometric facades of the building. There is only that one six sided star while all the rest are are eight sided.

The Synagogue

After the synagogue we headed to a monastery called el Monasterio de San Juan de los Reyes. Originally this was to be the burial place of the catholic monarchs, Ferdinand II of Aragon  and Isabella I of Castilla, which is why the monastery has "reyes" (kings) in its name. But in 1492 which was a key year for Spain, things changed. That was the year that Columbus "discovered" America, Spain "reconquered" Granada, a city in the south that had been the last strongholds of Arab rule in Spain and the capture ended over 700 years of Arab rule in southern Spain, and lastly, it was the year the Jews were expelled from Spain, unless they converted to Roman Catholicism. It was decided that Granada was a more significant city and that when the time would come, the monarchs would be buried there. It was a beautiful church regardless.

Bridge San Martin

The second last thing we did was see one of the main bridges of Toledo, San Martin. Then we headed to a workshop where they created swords, jewelry, plates and more using  the ancient technique of damascening (damasquinado). From wikipedia: "Damascening is the art of inlaying different metals into one another—typically, gold or silver into a darkly oxidized steel background—to produce intricate patterns..." After the demonstration, (which I couldn't see), we went to the store and basically had a bunch of fun taking pictures with the swords. They were so cool and very Game of Thrones-esque. The technique produces a stunning result and it is very easy to find damascening products in Toledo. 

Damascening technique

 After that we had about two hours of free time to walk around before we had to head back to bus and eat. Vi and I just ate, walked around, and bought some souvenirs. We got some yummy cake from a cafe that sold deserts that the nuns in a local convent bake and sell and then went to meet up with the buses. Someday I think I'll go back to Toledo. It is a great place and there is sooooo much more to see. There is a Sefardí (Hispanic Jews) museum which my Hispanic-Hebraic culture prof recommended that we visit and I would LOVE see the inside of the cathedral. Next time :)