Toledo

Today Sara's old host parents took the three of us to Toledo!

Sara and Robbie come to visit!

Sara and Robbie got in this morning and we went to all the major turist attractions in Madrid today...we started at the Rastro, then went to Plaza Mayor, Palacio Real, Plaza de España, Templo de Debod, Teleférico, Parque de Retiro, caught a little concert for Oxfam International outside The Reina Sofia, went for tapas, and a Flamenco show at El Juglar.

Amsterdam

This weekend I went to Amsterdam with my friend Riccardo. We flew in Thursday night, him from Rome and me from Madrid and met at the airport. It worked out great. We took a bus to our hotel, Hotel Wilhelmina, dropped our things off, and then headed to Leidsplein Square to grab some dinner (even if it was almost midnight!). The only place that was still open was an Indonesian place, which worked out great because my friend, Steff, who lived in Amsterdam, said Dutch cuisine isn't known for being anything incredible, but she did recommend Indonesian! So we checked that off our list!

Friday morning, we began our day at the Anne Frank Huis. We saw the Secret Annex, above her father's office, where she and seven other people lived in hiding for 25 months during World War II. The Frank Family (Otto and Edith Frank and their daughters Margot and Anne), Harmann and Auguste van Pels, their son Peter, and Fritz Pfeffer took up residence in the Secret Annex on July 6, 1942. When they were arrested, the Nazis ordered the emptying of the annex and all the furniture was hauled away. For this reason, it was Otto Frank's wish after the war that the Secret Annex remain unfurnished. However, despite the fact that it's unfurnished, the annex is still incredibly moving. You enter through the same movable bookcase and descending stairase that Anne and the others, as well as the helpers used to climb to reach the annex. I had goosebumps the entire time I was in the Secret Annex. The windows remain painted over and the only light is from small light bulbs. We walked on the same wood floors that Anne tip-toed on during the day for fear of discovery: "We have to whisper and tread lightly during the day, otherwise the people in the warehouse might hear us." -Anne Frank, July 11, 1942. We saw Anne and Fritz Pfeffer's room, the walls decorated with Anne's film-star collection and picture postcards. It was just surreal to be in the same small space where eight Jews hid from persecution almost 7o years earlier.

After the Anne Frank House, we went to the Flower Market, where they sell thousands of types of tulip bulps, fresh flowers, and even "Cannabis Starter Kits." After strolling through the Flower Market, we hopped on a Canal Cruise. We got off outside the Rijksmuseum and took photos with the symbolic " I amsterdam" letters; walked through Leidseplein Square, enjoying some street performances; and then ended the day walking through the Jordaan neighborhood, which is full of beautiful canal views! We also meandered through the famous Red Light District. It was such a strange sensation because the district was very lively--full of all kinds of people--but then you glance at the buildings and there are ladies standing in the windows. The windows were street-level and large enough for the women to stand in them, illuminated by long, red flourescent lights. It was sad seeing the prostitutes standing there in their swimsuits in the windows. You walk by at eye-level and see young girls, in their twenties--my age--apparently normal, Dutch girls, not immigrants or anything; it was just incredible. You have to wonder what led these girls to think that this was their only option.

Saturday we began the morning at the Van Gogh museum. His most famous works on display were: The Potato Eaters (1885), Self-portrait (1887), Sunflowers (1889), Wheatfield with a Reaper (1889), Wheatfield and Crows (1890). Unfortunately, The Bedroom (1888) was on tour in Tokyo, but we did see some works of Claude Monet and Picasso too! From the Van Gogh Museum, we headed to the Albert Cuyp Market, where they sell everything from fruits and vegetables, cheeses, flowers, Converses, to the biggest sweatshirts I have ever seen--we're talking XXXXXXXXL! After the market, we found a little sidewalk restaurant, enjoyed a pancake with ham and cheese, and then headed to the Heineken Experience! I have a new appreciation for Heineken now : ) We ended the day with a short 20-minute trainride outside Amsterdam to Koog-Zaandijk to see some windmills. It was a quaint little town with picturesque windmills along the river. The perfect ending to a trip to Holland. : )

I absolutely loved Amsterdam. I feel like it's just the perfect little society--everyone rides their bikes (like crazy!) and gets along. I wish more cities were like that. I saw couples going out on dates and the guy would pedal and the girl would sit on the back of his bike. Adorable. : )

Las Fallas in Valencia

This weekend I went to Valencia with two of the girls I work with and another auxiliar friend of mine. Las Fallas is a celebration of St. Joseph, the patron saint of the carpenters that is coincidentally celebrated during the spring equinox. Each neighborhood or group throughout Valencia spends all year fundraising and making their "Falla"--an elaborate firecracker-filled cardboard and papier-mâché monument that is several stories high. Each Falla has a theme, and they are often satryical. This year, we saw one making fun of Spain's political leaders, playing a game of "ping-pong" passing the blame and the responsibility between another; another making fun of preppy people with a traffic sign showing the Lacoste alligator and a tagline "Preps on the loose"; and another falla made fun of the relationship and the famous kiss after the World Cup Championship between Spain's (Real Madrid) goalkeeper Iker Casillas and reporter Sara Carbonero. My favorite falla was the "Made in Spain" one, which celebrated all things Spain--with lots of humor, too! It made fun of a daytime TV star who, at 35, appears to be 60, has tons of wrinkles and wears pounds of make-up; it featured a scene from Catalunya (where bullfighting is now illegal) of a bullfighter waving a white flag at the bull instead of the traditional red flag...very funny.

We got in Thursday night in time to check out the fireworks show that happens every night at 1 a.m., then checked out some of the fallas all lit up at night. Friday we saw the La Mascletà en la Plaza del Ayuntamiento, a fireworks show (mostly for the noise) at 2 p.m.; walked around, looking at more fallas; had a wonderful paella lunch; saw the offering of the flowers in the Plaza de la Virgen, the end-point of the processions, where they fill a giant statue of the Virgen with carnations carried by each group of falleros. Saturday morning, we went to the beach, which was right across the street from our hotel for a while, then we headed into the city to see more of the fallas (there are over 100 throughout the city!). We had to try the traditional fried food of the festival: buñuelos and chocolate! It was good, but basically just deep-fried balls of dough, which we then proceeded to dip in the thickest hot chocolate you've ever seen. Yum. After the buñuelos, we caught a little bit of the "Cabalgata de fuego", a parade with lots of sparklers and characters with various fireworks. The night finished up with La Cremà--the burning. They first set off a series of fireworks, then the entire falla goes up in flames! It's kind of sad, and extremely destructive!!!

Overall, Las Fallas was an interesting experience. It was definitely good to see it once, but I don't know that it's something I could get excited about seeing every year. It's very destructive with all the burning and fireworks, kind of dangerous--the children are encouraged to throw "petardos", and there are TONS of people. The fallas themselves are really neat to see, but all seem to have the same artistic style. It was something to experience, but I don't necessarily feel the need to see it again next year...

El Día de la Mujer // International Women's Day

To all the independent, confident, intelligent, hard-working, beautiful women around the world, today is your day! Happy International Women's Day! I love this holiday and I wish it was more well-known in the U.S. because there's still a long road ahead...women are still not paid equally to that of their male counterparts, women still are not present in equal numbers in business or politics, and globally women's education, health and the violence against them is worse than that of men. I am proud to say, though, that The United States does designate the whole month of March as 'Women's History Month'! So, ladies, let's celebrate our fabulousness!! : ) Make a difference, think globally and act locally !! Make everyday International Women's Day. Do your bit to ensure that the future for girls is bright, equal, safe and rewarding.

This is a letter to the editor I found in ADN, a Spanish newspaper, today:

Esta carta va dirigida a cada lectora. A la que te cura las heridas, a la que te consuela del mal de amores; a la que prepara el mejor cocido del mundo y a la que compra precocinados. A ti, a ellas. A la mujer que aprende a escribir y a las que ya se han leído mil novelas; a la que acompaña y a la que espera visita; a la que vino de lejos y a la que nació en el barrio; a la mujer que asiste a sus hijos y a la que espera a la salida del colegio a sus nietos; a la que fue a la Universidad, y a la que aprendió en la escuela de la vida. A las de tez morena, la las rubias. A María, a Amanda, a Yanira, a Yang. A la que encuentra empleo y sonríe, y a la que lo ha perdido pero también sonríe. A la que ama, y a la que se deja amar; a las más familiares, y a las independientes; a la que hicieron sufrir, y a la que ha dicho basta. A las que quedaron atrás en el camino, y a las que siempre están a nuestro lado. A todas, sin excepción, felicidades hoy, y todos los días en los que emprenden el reto de vivir la vida. Porque ayer, hoy, y mañana también, es tu día.

--María Ángeles Altozano, Madrid

Carnevale en Venezia!

I just got home from an amazing weekend in Venice with my South African friend, Chenoa. She has been living in Italy for the past three months working as an au pair and she goes home on Thursday, so I had to see her before she goes back. She had the amazing idea to attend Carnival in Venice, so we spent three days in a dream city of filled with masks, music, and a special magic in the air. Venice is a beautiful city everyday of the year, but during Carnevale, the city transforms to be even more vibrant--it's incredible and completely unique to Venice.

We got in to our hotel in Mestre (about 15 minutes outside Venice) on Thursday night, so we stayed up late just chatting and catching up. Friday morning we enjoyed a breakfast at the hotel before catching the tram and then a bus into Venice. This was my second time to Venice, but it was just as breathtaking this time as the first time seven months ago. Chenoa and I actually went to Venice in July together with my host family while we were working as English tutors with ACLE for the summer, so this was our second time there together!

The first thing we did Friday morning when we got to Venice was get our faces painted! Once we were in the Carnevale spirit, we started walking around the city, but we didn't make it too far before we found a lovely little bridge off of the main streets. We stopped to take a few (hundred) photos before continuing on in search of the open-air Rialto market. However, our photo shoot lasted a little too long and we missed the market, so we just went to a little restaurant and had pizza for lunch and then went to meet my friend from Rome, Riccardo, and his friend, Enrico. Riccardo was visiting Enrico in Brecia, a few hours from Venice in train, so they came over to spend the afternoon with us in Venice! The boys got their faces painted too (like the rock band KISS!) and then we started making our way toward Piazza de San Marco, Venice's main plaza. We spent the rest of the night in a little bar near Piazza de San Marco, drinking and socializing! After that, we caught a bus back to Mestre and the boys caught a different bus to their hotel.

Saturday morning, we rushed to the train station in Mestre to see the boys off before their train left and then we headed into Venice again. We were determined to see the Rialto, so that was our first stop! We weaved through the narrow streets and over the peaceful canals, stopping periodically to take photos, and finally reached the market. There was a concert going on and the market was just finishing. The sellers were beginning to pack up their fruits, vegetables, fish, and meat, but we were still able to see quite a bit. After the market, we searched for a menu touristico and enjoyed a nice lunch at a not-so-authentic Italian restaurant. We were kind of disappointed, but we made up for it with the purchase of some authentic Venetian masks and some very authentic Italian capuccinos after lunch! Then we headed back toward Piazza de San Marco, on the way meeting an American boy, who was in Venice alone, on a spur-of-the-moment decision, so we invited him to hang out with us and we ended up spending the rest of the day with him. He was really nice and he also was willing to play photographer too : ) We spent the rest of the afternoon/early evening walking around the Piazza, marveling at the stunning and creative costumes. It's probably good we were with that boy because there were tons of people in the Piazza and it was good to have another set of eyes to make sure we all stayed together. There were a couple of times, after trying to snap a photo, that I thought I had lost Chenoa, but thankfully we always found eachother! We had dinner together at a little Pizzeria and then met up with a Venetian boy Chenoa had contacted through CouchSurfing. He took us to a concert in a different Plaza packed with students. The atmosphere was so energizing, but there were so many people in such a small space that a fight broke out near us! It was extremely scary being that close to something so violent, so after that we kind of went to a corner of the plaza behind the stage to relax and enjoy the music comfortably. We stayed a little while longer before making our way back to Piazza de Roma to catch our bus back to Mestre.

Sunday morning we set our alarm just in time to make it downstairs for breakfast and then showered, packed up, and checked out of the hotel at noon. We headed into town with our suitcases, in search of a gelateria because no trip to Italy is complete without a gelato! So we found one, enjoyed a delicious cone, and then walked to the tram stop where I could catch a bus to the airport and where Chenoa could catch the tram to the train station.

This weekend was hands down my best weekend since I've been in Europe. I adore Chenoa, she is one of my best friends and will definitely be in my wedding someday! It was so good to see her and I couldn't have picked a better place for our reunion than Venice. Venice (and Italy) is so enchanting to me. I know if I spoke Italian, I would live here in a heartbeat...

I was so sad to say goodbye to Chenoa, but I know that true friendship cannot be weakened by miles, and I am confident that we will see eachother again soon. Until then, never say never.

mai dire mai.

Say CHEESE!

...or, if you're in Spain, PATATAS! : )

I got a new DSLR camera today! I've been wanting to upgrade to nicer digital camera for awhile now. After I took a black and white photography class three years ago, I've been really interested in photography. I've been looking for a couple weeks now, with the help of a few Spanish and American friends who are really into photography, I've found one that seemed to be a good deal. It's a second-hand Canon 400D (10.1 megapixels) for 300€...not to bad I thought. My friend was so great, he found the camera and actually met with the seller and then I met up with him after! I am so grateful! Sometimes I am just blown away by the kindness of some people. I don't know this friend very well, but the fact that he would help me search for a camera and then arrange to meet with the seller, look over the camera, and pay for it until I paid him back is incredible. I am so lucky. And so happy. I can't wait to take my new camera to the canals of Venice and capture the most beautiful city in the world.