Back to my roots

It's good to be Irish

Matt and I during our first day in Dublin

It's my second night in Dublin and so far I have been having a wonderful time exploring the city with my brother and dad. It was very anticlimactic leaving Madrid, with me worrying about shipping a box home and finishing up packing and not really having official goodbyes with any of my friends. But that's OK...because I know I will see them all again!

After a delayed flight I finally arrived in Dublin on Thursday night. The city is wonderful, not like any other European city I have been to before. It still has the charm of its old and more desolate times, with areas that are more commercial and thriving from tourism and nightlife. On our first official day, we visited Trinity College...so beautiful and so famous! Our next stop was Kilmainham jail, which is known for the execution of the rebel leaders of the Easter Uprising of 1916 (when Irish nationalists rebelled against their British rulers). Kilmainham was EXTREMELY well preserved, and because of that, very spooky. I cannot begin to imagine what it would be like to live in the jails of today, let alone a jail from earlier centuries.

Kilmainham Jail

The Liffey River

To reward ourselves from visiting a relatively depressing historical site, we moved onto the Guinness Brewery! I can see why people come to Dublin only to see this place. It was incredible, with several floors of a hands-on walking tour, restaurants, and the Gravity Bar on top- where you can enjoy a pint of Guinness overlooking a panoramic view of the city. Even though I'm not really a fan of beer, I would go back to this brewery any day. It was just too funny.

The guys at Guinness

Inside the brewery

Temple Bar area

Today we had an early breakfast and headed out to O'Connell street, which is right by our hotel. Then we visited the Dublin Writer's Museum...where the first copy of Dracula is held! So amazing, I didn't even know Dracula was written by an Irish author! The museum had a large amount of other famous artifacts, and I enjoyed learning about such authors as Wilde and Yeats. We then walked to the Temple Bar, probably the most hopping area in Dublin, where we had lunch from the outdoor Saturday farmer's market. We were even so inspired to check out a famous art gallery in the area. Tonight was spent walking around the Temple Bar area and its outskirts trying to find authentic Irish music, which I must admit was a little difficult.

The Ha'Penny bridge

Porterhouse Brews

Matt and I on the river

We ate at a delicious Italian restaurant, visited the famous Porterhouse Brewing Company, and decided that we will be successful tomorrow night in finding Irish music with a few tips from the locals. It's been a wonderful vacation so far. After enjoying a pint of Guinness, Matt has proclaimed this is the country he is going to study abroad in. Oh how convenient :)

Emily

What will I do without all of this vino?

Group shot outside of the winery

Baby grapes

Yesterday I participated in my last SU sponsored activity - a trip to the winery of Martue in Toledo. The winery consisted of a beautiful building with a dining area on the first floor and the machines and cellar beneath it. The green flat fields surrounding it are where several types of grapes are grown.

In the cellar of Martue where wine is kept in barrels

Dining room for lunch

Our tour consisted of a step-by-step process of how Martue makes it's own wine. We tasted cava (Spanish white wine), along with delicious orderves. Then we sat down to a full-course meal with red wine. By the end, I decided to purchase a bottle for myself it was so good. My friends tricked me into trying duck liver and quail eggs...two things I would definitely have not eaten if I knew what they were. But surprisingly, they weren't that bad. When lunch was over, we headed to Chinchon, a small town about forty-five minutes outside of Madrid. The Plaza Mayor is closed up every July for the season of the bullfights. All of the first-floor shops are locked up and people watch from the balconies as the plaza is turned into a bullring. It's not as cool as riding a bull...but they had donkeys in the middle for us to ride!

Yup I tried it, quail egg

Monica and I with our white wine

We were home by early evening, and I spent the night studying for my first final. It was a busy Sunday when I again felt like I got to see a part of Spain I never would have seen if I was traveling on my own. I have three finals tomorrow and then Thursday (if the volcano permits it) I am headed off to Ireland to meet my dad and brother for a week's vacation!

Riding a donkey...oh how all animals amuse me.

Plaza Mayor of Chinchon

So sad to be leaving Madrid soon,

Emily

Not ready to say adios

I'm sitting here alone in my room on a Thursday night. Behind me is a blank wall above my bed where pictures, notes, and a string of jewelry used to be. In a whirlwind of an hour I just managed to pack almost all of my belongings up. It's very strange to me that I just did this because I do not want to leave Madrid at all. But maybe I am ready. There are so many things I have learned and loved about this semester, and most of them cannot be put into words. I still have an entire week before I have to leave, but these last few days will consist of the two things I hate most: final exams and saying goodbye to some of the greatest people I've ever met.

It's funny how you can become so close with a few people in such a short amount of time. My closest friends and I all come from very different backgrounds, but through the experiences we have had together, we have become so similar and have come to appreciate the same things. It seems so long ago that I shared a room in Toledo with girls I barely knew, but in those few nights together I realized they would become some of my closest friends on this trip.

Yet some people you don't meet the first night, or even the first few weeks really. Some people you have to put the effort in to get to know before you realize how much they have to offer. In my college years I have put less and less effort into making new friends, because I go to such a huge school and I already have so many people I care about. But going to a school that consists of three floors, where everyone knows each-other's face and knows what country you're visiting the next weekend, has made me think twice about the effort I put into meeting people.

And then there are those people who you wish you got to know better. There are several girls on this trip I wish I had spent more time with. But I think that's the beauty of studying abroad- you can meet the most amazing people and have just a few strong memories of them that will last as long as the most amazing moments of your semester will-whether you went out to tapas and wine with them a few times, or shared a picnic with them at Retiro, you'll always look back on those times together, even if they weren't many.

I am so thankful to have met all of you. I don't say it a lot because I'm pretty bad with emotional things such as saying goodbye...so don't be offended if I run away when you cry next week. But thank you so much for sharing a part of yourselves with me these past few months, I have enjoyed it more than you know.

Love,

Emily

The reason I don't eat hamburgers...

Amazing Sangria at La Trucha...I'm going to miss it

Monica and I at the bullfight

El Picador on his horse stabbing the bull

El Matador coaxing the bull for the crowd's applause

The girls at El Rastro flea market

Cows in Navacerrada!

Beautiful view of the country-side

Simone and I on Saturday's hike

The girls at Retiro

My intercambio and I

It has been a crazy second to last weekend in Madrid. The fact that I am leaving in a little over a week is getting harder and harder for me to accept and I want to do as much as I can in the little time I have left. The past few days consisted of the bar scene with my friends, a hike a few hours outside of the city, perfect weather, the celebrations of Dos de Mayo, great Spanish food (yes you heard me correctly), and my first and probably last bullfight.

Saturday morning I woke up early to take a train with other Syracuse students to Navacerrada, a beautiful town and countryside outside of Madrid that many Madrilenos head to on the weekends to escape the crowded city. We were led on an all day hike through the mountains and back down through the town. It was pretty exhausting to be outside all day but wow...I haven't had fresh air like that in so long! The sights were breath-taking and I am so glad I got to see a more rural area outside of Madrid before I leave.

Sunday was my most busy day with the El Rastro flea market one last time to buy my souvenirs of Madrid, a delicious meal at a restaurant right by Plaza Santa Ana called La Trucha, and a bullfight at Las Ventas. Throughout this entire semester, I have learned a great deal about bullfighting from my Hemingway class. I have been preparing myself for the requirement of going to a top-notch bullfight at the end of the semester and reading Hemingway's "Death in the Afternoon," which has been proclaimed as the best book of bullfighting written in English to this day. I have also prepared myself to have an open mind when going to the fight. My teacher has told us over and over again that no one comes in with a neutral view or leaves with one, but I have tried my hardest to see both sides of the issue.

The topic of bullfighting is obviously very controversial in Spain. There are some that find it to be an act of pointless torture, while others find it to be a beautiful tradition, along with flamenco dancing, that makes Spain what it is today. If you know my relationship with my dog, or the fact that I can barely eat chicken, let alone any other type of meat or fish, then you probably know what side I lean towards. I was able to stay through half of the fight, which means I saw three bulls killed by two different matadors. The experience is something I would never take back, because being able to see the crowd's reactions and witnessing all of the rules, standards, and movements that I have learned about bullfighting in class are priceless. Especially after reading "Death in the Afternoon" I was truly curious about what goes on in the ring. I am sure that bullfighting will never end in Spain. To me it would be like eliminating the Red Sox. What would the people of Boston stand for? What would they feel represents their culture best?

This week is going to be filled with studying for finals and preparing to attempt fitting all of my things in two suitcases...which really means shipping boxes home. Oops! Shopping brings such joy and such complication to my life at the same time.

Adios!

Emily

Don't make me leave por favor

Boating in Retiro Park

Where is the time going?

Amity and I at the Azahar goodbye dinner

The girls outside of Palacio de la Pena

Padrao dos Descombrimentos

View of Sintra

Waterside of Cascais

Torre de Belem

View of Lisbon

With less than twenty-four hours at home in Madrid after spending a little more than five days in Paris, I was off to Portugal on Thursday morning with sixty or more students I traveled around Spain with at the beginning of the semester. We had a long drive from Madrid to the town of Cascais, a suburb of Lisbon where we would be staying for the weekend. Before getting to our hotel, we stopped at the ruins of Castel Sao Jorge in Lisbon and were given a brief history of Portugal. Who knew that Lisbon had to rebuild itself after a fire, earthquake and tsunami in the 1700's?

We drove through Lisbon and got to our hotel with enough time to unpack and shower before dinner. Many of the girls had five-person suites facing outdoors, so that night Azahar enjoyed each-other's company by hopping from one suite to the next.

Friday morning we were up early for a buffet breakfast and about half us decided to travel to Lisbon with the teachers while the other half hit the beach. I was tempted to ditch the lectures, but I knew I would regret not seeing as much of Lisbon as I possibly could, especially since I'll have all summer for the beach! We were dropped off at the waterside and learned about a lookout tower/prison called Torre de Belem. Fun fact: this building has the first ever representation of a rhinoceros in Europe carved into its exterior due to Portugal's ties to Asia and Africa when exploring and trading with them.

Next we climbed the Padrao dos Descombrimentos - a monument to Portuguese discoverers and a lookout over the Tajo river. We had a beautiful view of Lisbon and its famous bridge that replicated the Golden Gate bridge in San Francisco. We walked a little ways inland and arrived at the Mosterio dos Jeronimos, a monastery and church. The Muslim influence that we learned about at the beginning of the semester was very prominent in this Portuguese church. Its architecture reminded me of the Alhambra of Granada. Inside the church was Magellen's tomb, but his body isn't in it because it was never recovered. After lunch, the teachers surprised us with a "treat" of an authentic dessert only found in Portugal, known as Pasteis de Belem. Delicious! That night was our Azahar goodbye dinner at a fancy casino with live music. By the end of the night we ended up at a club near the casino, and had a good time dancing to a live band.

The next morning, while even more people went to the beach, I went on the tour of the Palacio de la Pena in Sintra, Portugal. It was originally a Muslim palace then a hunting resort for the King of Portugal. I have never seen a palace like this in Europe, with such classical features but obvious remnants of Asian and Muslim influence. It was an absolutely beautiful palace, and luckily is still preserved after all of the natural disasters in Portugal. The rest of the day I spent with a few girls exploring Cascais: walking to the beach, buying souvenirs, and being tempted to eat seafood...but I'm such a wimp!

I'm so glad I got to see Portugal, as it is right next to Spain I would have felt awful if I had missed it! I only wish we could have seen more of Lisbon, as I have heard so many wonderful things about it. I am currently enjoying my second to last week in Madrid. The weather is perfect and I am trying to check things off my "Madrid To Do List" before time runs out!

Besos,

Emily