Seville and Valencia with the parents!

My parents made thier first trip ever across the Atlantic in March of 2010. We met in Seville. They loved the city layouts, and how easy it is to walk everywhere. My dad and I on the main street in Seville.

We walked through the cathedral as well, it holds the tomb of Christopher Columbus.....Mom standing in front (with her Rick Steve's travel bible).

Sevilla's cathedral is the largest Gothic church in the world, and third largest church in Europe after St. Peter's at the Vatican and St. Paul's in London. Dad inside, he loved the architecture on this trip.

The cathedral is huge.......

We discovered how cheap and good the wine and olives are in Spain. We also discovered that the Spainyards have a different schedule than Americans. They eat lunch at 3, siesta, dinner at 9-10pm, and then stay out late and drink wine and Cruzcampo.

A small street in Seville......

We went to see the Alcazar, right next door to the cathedral. It was originally a palace built in the 900's for the Moors. It still functions as a royal palace. One of the rooms of this government palace is where the queen and king of Spain approved Christopher Columbus' voyage to find the new world. I hear CC was brutal, although.

Below is a courtyard, with all architecture done by Moorish workmen.

The Alcazar is similar to The Alhambra in Granada.

Mom running off to find....?

Gardens.....

 15 euro flamenco show in Seville......

 Seville bullfighting ring......

After Seville, we headed up to Valencia, on the Eastern coast of Spain.

Valencia....(third largest city in Spain, 800,000) is known for its sun, paella and beaches...

Town Hall building behind us.

My parents went to see the Santiago Calatrava science park (I went to the hospital to tend to an ear infecction and discovered the ups and downs of the spanish health care system). Dad loved the Calatrava buildings, there is a brigde being built in Dallas right now that is designed by him, hope it will be as cool as this:

 

We tried some paella at a resturaunt as close to the sea as we could get, and determined that the Spanish need to use more spices in thier food. The beach was nice although....

We then went to see the Cathedral, eat more gellato, and take more pictures. We also decided that on our next leg of the trip, (when we would meet up with Matt, Angie, Kelsy, David, and Hilary in Naples) we would need to have resturaunts or grocery stores picked out so we dont wonder around aimlessly looking for food at 10pm. 

 

In the catedral, there was a conversation on how instead of focusing so much on the dramatic aspects of Christianity in Cathedral paintings........to focus on Jesus preaching to thousands, the parables, the resurection, etc... We saw paintings of people getting thier intestines ripped out, soldiers on horseback with people dead all over the ground, and many dramatic pictures of the crucifixion.

Valencia lived up to its reputation in regards to lots of sun!

Morrocco, Africa!

Since I am so close, I took a trip to Morrocco in March. 2010. We took a ferry across the straight of Gibraltar to Tangier. Its like traveling across the border to Mexico from Texas, only everyone speaks Arabic. The women wear kaftans, which basically covers all skin on thier body sans the face. When stepping off the boat and going into a village you get hassled by beggars and people selling anything they think you'll buy. Its a neat experience, the markets are very old fashioned, and they chop off the chicken's head right in front of you.

A cat looking for dinner.....

A part of the market......it was raining.....very normal for me.

We went to a town called Chefchaouen as well.....very neat little town with blue painted walls everywhere and narrow streets. The locals paint it blue to keep mosquitoes and spiders away, and it helps with the summer heat.

We had a hilarious guide who took us to every carpet shop he had friends in.....

We also had a chance to ride a camel for one euro! It was raining so it didnt feel authentic. (camels are more abundant in mid to south Africa, they shipped a few camels up to Morrocco for the tourists to ride)

 I hear that the further south you travel, into Casablanca, Fes, Marrakesh in Morrocco, it gets even better.

A Trip to Cordoba, Spain

 My friend David and I, (David is also a language assistant in Huelva, but from NY), went for a quick two day trip.
Cordoba is famous for the Mezquita. The Mezquita is a Mosque built by the Moors during the 7th century. Its famous architecture with double arches is what makes it unique.

The Mezquita was captured by the Christians in 1236, and the Christians decided to build a cathedral in the middle of it. It's a nice cathedral, but I would like to see the Mezquita without it, because it blocks the vastness of the building and its arches.

The cathedral was built right dead in the middle of the Mosque.

The outside of the Mosque......with its huge stones.

Right next to the Meztiqua is the Alcazar. It was a palace used to house the Kings and Queens of Spain when they visited, and a place to do governmental things.......

They always seem to have nice gardens, in the same basic format......water, orange trees, fountins, narrow walkways......

palm trees.......

The weather in Cordoba was perfect. Weather is definetly a huge factor in traveling enjoyment levels.

After seeing all of the town (only need a day to see it), David and I got some food and some drinks and chilled in the main plaza. We were commenting on how we love the Spanish style of living....relaxed, laid back, social, and then a bum came and tried to steal our drinks. Bums are very prevelant in Andalucia, they enjoy the nice climate as well.

We met a guy from Belgium at the hostal and went to watch an FC Barcelona game, they are the best team in the world for sure.

We found a nice bar that serves free Tapas with a beer. We got a Meztiqua beer....and some free tapas

Heres a few more pictures of Cordoba.....it has some artifacts from the Roman ages, before the Moors inhabited Cordoba. There are some old Roman columns and a Roman made bridge in the city.....

It was estimated that in the 10th century Cordoba was one of the most populated cities in the world.

We stayed at a nice hostal, cheap, fun, and central. We also discovered a vending machine that serves Cerveza at the hostal!

Good Trip!

Tengo la impresión de Huelva y Espana después de 3 meses !

Voy a escribir en espanol para la practica.  Primero, tengo un buen impresion de la gente en Huelva. La gente es muy agradable y hospitalaria. Huelva es un ciudad industrial con cerca de 150,000 personas. Me gusta la tamano(size) de Huelva. Es facil a andar por todo la ciudad. (precaución con la caca de perro.....no hay mucha hierba(grass) aqui, asi que ir al bano en la acera(sidewalk)).

Aquí está una vista de la ciudad. En la distancia en el centro de la foto se puede ver el mar, a diez minutos en coche de Huelva.

En este foto, se puede ver la cantidad de contaminación de las fábricas.....

Un estudiante me dijo que Huelva es una de las ciudades más contaminadas en Huelva..........eh. Pero, es un lugar muy barato para vivir!

En la distancia, puedes a ver un poco de el estadio de futbol........Huelva es casa a la primera club de futbol en Espana.....Recreative de Huelva....est. 1889!

A mi escuela, I.E.S. Clara Campoamor, los prfesores son muy atentos y intendan ayudareme con el espanol. Hay classes que los alumnos son muy bien y quieren a probar en ingles. Esta es una foto de mi escuela secundaria (Middle School....edades 12-16)....la puerta de entrada.

y desde la calle......

la escuela esta a la izquierda.

 desde la calle mayor....

 Una cosa que me gusta es no tener que conducir! El tráfico se ha ido (has left) para mí ahora........ hasta regreso a los estados. (Mercedes son frecuentes en Europe, incluso los taxis son Mercedes).

 Tengo classes normalamente solo Lunes a Miercoles. Despues, por los fin de semanas (y jueves y viernes) voy a un pequeno viajar o jugar futbol aqui, levante pesas, practica espanol, hablo sobre Skype, y ayer, compre una guitarra Espanola. Flamenco musica, es dificil para tocar por que solo usar los manos y el ritmo es dificil de aprender, pero es un solido muy feliz. Compre por solo 25 euros en un tienda de segunda mano!

Mirar a mi habitacion a la mismo tiempo....

La guitarra flamenca tiene cuerdas de nylon.....

Despues de un viaje a Granada, oyeido un canncion de Paco de Lucia, queria a jugar musica flamenca!

Hablar con Skype con Hilary (todas los noches)......

Y no hay mucho hierba aqui en Huelva, así, es popular de jugar a futbol sala, en una cancha con un balón más pequeno. O en un campo de tierra.......

Futbol Sala......(juego aqui los viernes)

Un Campo de tierra por que no hay mucho hierba en Huelva......

Tuve la gripe en Deciembre, y he perdido cerca de 10 libras. Fue un tiempo muy mal, pero estoy feliz que lo tenía, porque creo que Dios me habló una noche, cuando estaba completamente perdido y no sabía qué hacer! Fue un buena experencia a traves de todas las malas. Duespues de eso, mi companero de piso, Marcos y yo empezamos a levantar pesas y tomar bebidas proteinas. Aqui es un foto de Marcos, el apartemento donde vivo, y el gimnasio.

Marcos es de Sao Paulo, Brazil, nos juegamos futbol juntos.

Mi Apartamento, la segunda piso a la derecha con las ropas en la linea es donde vivimos, con Marcos, Jose (de Esoana en un pueblo cerca de Sevilla) y yo....buscamos por un otro companero de piso, un cuatro.

Calle de el gimnasio y mi movil servicio, Yoigo! A la izquierda de la calle.

Tambien, despus de mis vacaciones, en Enero, tuve un infection de mi oido. Fue muy mal tambien, y fui a el medico dos veces. Descubri que los servicios medicos son gratis en Espana!!!! Descubri tambien que los medicina son muy baratos!! Pero no quiero a ir un alguno vez. Tengo mucho enfermo en Espana, hasta ahora.

Como se puede ver, Huelva no es un ciudad de Espana con mucho glamor. Pero ya que no es un lugar deseable, es barato. Y, no hay mucho tourismo, pues, no hay mucho ingles. Es buena para mi para practicar espanol.

Otros cosas que me gusta sobre Espana son los tiendas cerrar a las 3 de la tarde por almuerzo y tiempo para relajarse. Andaluces son populares por su estilo de vida de ritmo lento. Lo he visto a ser un poco cierto, (en la escuela es siempre agitada, haha). Me gusta que la gente andar y hablar por la calle, es un vida mas abierto con los vecinos.

Si quieres a entender eso, y no hablas mucho espanol, debe usar Goolge Translate. Yo lo uso todo de el tiempo!

http://translate.google.com/#