As promised!
This week is one of tests tests tests! 3 tests! 2 papers! ahh!
Then this weekend I am headed off to Barcelona, I will update Monday or Tuesday with pictures and stories!
Adios!
Erika
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Monday, March 23, 2009
Amsterdam..the land of bikes
Hey everyone,
I just got back from Amsterdam today. It was an incredible experience. The city is absolutely beautiful designed in a circular shape with canals running every few streets. The language of Dutch is interesting very difficult to read and understand although some words are almost completely the same as English. There was only 2 people I met while I was there that did not speak English, which I was beyond grateful for. We stayed on a hostel that was located on a house boat, so although the room was tiny it was a crazy experience of sleeping in a canal in Amsterdam.
The first day we were in Amsterdam we decided to do as the locals do and rent bikes. Now you have to understand in Amsterdam, bikes have the right of way for everything. Cars will stop for bikes, people better unless you will get yelled at, and have their bell going off, and most likely get run over. There are also tons of bikes everywhere, so once on a bike it can be really intimidating. I have not really rode a bike since my freshman year of high school when I broke my shoulder on a bike, even then I was not an avid rider. So I will admit, I caused a bike accident my first day because I didn't understand the hand signals for biking. No one was injured in the process but it was a bit embarrassing and a little funny as well.
The first day we fell upon the Heineken factory. We decided to take a tour of the factory which was really interesting considering the fact that I had no idea how beer is even made. We got to see each of the steps and well as see all the ingredients. ( I am convinced hops smell like rabbit food). And of course everyone's favorite, learn how to properly pour beer and last but not least, drink some.
Saturday night we ventured into the well know Red Light district, which isn't a misnomer I will tell you that much. The alleys and streets glow red at night. I was told there is about 200 windows and yes their are girls in just about all of them every night.
Sunday we were up and out early. First stop was the Anne Frank house. It has been a long time since I read the book, but I honestly think I am going to re read it this summer. We were able to see the original bookcase and walk through the door into the old part of the house. In fact on display is her original red plaid diary with all the note papers that Anne had written her diary on. The rooms in which they hide in our kept empty at the wish of Otto Frank, her father who was the only family member to survive the war. His wish when he made the foundation to open the house as a museum was to make it a place of solely remembering the Frank family, but a place that would educate future generations about the hatred both against the Jewish people during World War 2, but also current acts of hatred and loss of freedom in the current world. The whole place was done with such respect and honor for all those who have died it was breathtaking.
"To build up a future, you have to know the past." Otto Frank
Our second stop on Sunday was the FOAM museum. I had seen while biking by an advertisement for the FOAM museum, which is a Photography museum, saying they had some Richard Avedon work on display. For those of you who don't know I wrote a term paper on him last semester and quickly became obsessed with his work. He is most well known for his many portraits of famous politicians, artists of all kinds, and well known people all with a solid white background behind them. It turns out the museum was solely a traveling collection of his life's work. There were close to 200 photographs on display. To see these works at their vast size at which he has printed them was speechless. Many of his works are nearly 3 feet tall with some even bigger. AMAZING!
"There is no such thing as inaccuracy in a photograph. All photographs are accurate. None of them is the truth." Richard Avedon
Last but not least Carlene and I got the idea to listen to my travel guide and go find some tulips in the countryside. My book made it seem easy, just take the train to Haarlem (15 min away) rent a bike and bike through the fields. Yeah right. Instead we ended up on a adventure to the train station then a 40 min bus, at which point the sun was starting to set. At this point we realized it was a little early for them all to bloom (first week of April is the peek) and so we walked to an arboretum type place. Where the informational lady let us sneak in for free and not pay the 13 euro because we were late and ran around everywhere just looking for TULIPS! We had less than an hour before it was dark and we didn't see what we came for, no fields and fields of tulips but hey it was an adventure, we saw more of the country and headed back into the city for one last round of the night time in Amsterdam.
I will post some pictures from the trip up here either tomorrow or Wednesday since I have over 200 photographs to sort through first!
But first, a few random facts about names in New York, from the the Dutch!
-Brooklyn was originally Breuckelen, named for the town in the Netherlands and authorized by the Dutch East Indian Company and was the first municipality of what is now New York State.
-The Bronx was named after Janas Bronck, a Dutch sea captian.
-The origin of Yankees is Jan Kees or John Baboon since Kees is a shortening for Cornelius which in Dutch means monkey or baboon. It was used to nickname Dutch speaking Americans in colonial times.
vaarwel (farewell),
Erika
I just got back from Amsterdam today. It was an incredible experience. The city is absolutely beautiful designed in a circular shape with canals running every few streets. The language of Dutch is interesting very difficult to read and understand although some words are almost completely the same as English. There was only 2 people I met while I was there that did not speak English, which I was beyond grateful for. We stayed on a hostel that was located on a house boat, so although the room was tiny it was a crazy experience of sleeping in a canal in Amsterdam.
The first day we were in Amsterdam we decided to do as the locals do and rent bikes. Now you have to understand in Amsterdam, bikes have the right of way for everything. Cars will stop for bikes, people better unless you will get yelled at, and have their bell going off, and most likely get run over. There are also tons of bikes everywhere, so once on a bike it can be really intimidating. I have not really rode a bike since my freshman year of high school when I broke my shoulder on a bike, even then I was not an avid rider. So I will admit, I caused a bike accident my first day because I didn't understand the hand signals for biking. No one was injured in the process but it was a bit embarrassing and a little funny as well.
The first day we fell upon the Heineken factory. We decided to take a tour of the factory which was really interesting considering the fact that I had no idea how beer is even made. We got to see each of the steps and well as see all the ingredients. ( I am convinced hops smell like rabbit food). And of course everyone's favorite, learn how to properly pour beer and last but not least, drink some.
Saturday night we ventured into the well know Red Light district, which isn't a misnomer I will tell you that much. The alleys and streets glow red at night. I was told there is about 200 windows and yes their are girls in just about all of them every night.
Sunday we were up and out early. First stop was the Anne Frank house. It has been a long time since I read the book, but I honestly think I am going to re read it this summer. We were able to see the original bookcase and walk through the door into the old part of the house. In fact on display is her original red plaid diary with all the note papers that Anne had written her diary on. The rooms in which they hide in our kept empty at the wish of Otto Frank, her father who was the only family member to survive the war. His wish when he made the foundation to open the house as a museum was to make it a place of solely remembering the Frank family, but a place that would educate future generations about the hatred both against the Jewish people during World War 2, but also current acts of hatred and loss of freedom in the current world. The whole place was done with such respect and honor for all those who have died it was breathtaking.
"To build up a future, you have to know the past." Otto Frank
Our second stop on Sunday was the FOAM museum. I had seen while biking by an advertisement for the FOAM museum, which is a Photography museum, saying they had some Richard Avedon work on display. For those of you who don't know I wrote a term paper on him last semester and quickly became obsessed with his work. He is most well known for his many portraits of famous politicians, artists of all kinds, and well known people all with a solid white background behind them. It turns out the museum was solely a traveling collection of his life's work. There were close to 200 photographs on display. To see these works at their vast size at which he has printed them was speechless. Many of his works are nearly 3 feet tall with some even bigger. AMAZING!
"There is no such thing as inaccuracy in a photograph. All photographs are accurate. None of them is the truth." Richard Avedon
Last but not least Carlene and I got the idea to listen to my travel guide and go find some tulips in the countryside. My book made it seem easy, just take the train to Haarlem (15 min away) rent a bike and bike through the fields. Yeah right. Instead we ended up on a adventure to the train station then a 40 min bus, at which point the sun was starting to set. At this point we realized it was a little early for them all to bloom (first week of April is the peek) and so we walked to an arboretum type place. Where the informational lady let us sneak in for free and not pay the 13 euro because we were late and ran around everywhere just looking for TULIPS! We had less than an hour before it was dark and we didn't see what we came for, no fields and fields of tulips but hey it was an adventure, we saw more of the country and headed back into the city for one last round of the night time in Amsterdam.
I will post some pictures from the trip up here either tomorrow or Wednesday since I have over 200 photographs to sort through first!
But first, a few random facts about names in New York, from the the Dutch!
-Brooklyn was originally Breuckelen, named for the town in the Netherlands and authorized by the Dutch East Indian Company and was the first municipality of what is now New York State.
-The Bronx was named after Janas Bronck, a Dutch sea captian.
-The origin of Yankees is Jan Kees or John Baboon since Kees is a shortening for Cornelius which in Dutch means monkey or baboon. It was used to nickname Dutch speaking Americans in colonial times.
vaarwel (farewell),
Erika
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Semana Santa
Recently I have been seeing pictures and whatnot for Semana Santa (Holy Week), which this year happens to be the first week of April. The thing that has struck a bunch of us a little odd was the pictures of people in white outfits with a cone covering over the head with two holes for your eyes. The first thing that every American I have been with has said is something referring to the mental reference it gives us to the KKK.
In one of my classes today we were discussing everyone's plans for the week, since we all have off and between a class of 15 will be hitting almost every major city in Europe. I decided to ask my professor after some discussion about the rituals here in Spain during the week of Easter. Most cities have some sort of processional with over 20 men carrying a huge box thing with the statue of Mary and Jesus. They have a walk that runs through cities and towns across the country, as they walk they drag their feet and move in the same motion in sync with one another. (This walk is practiced weeks before the actually procession and I happened to see one in Salamanca this past weekend.) As the procession makes its way through the city silence falls, few people sing aloud old biblical songs repenting for their forgiveness. People dressed in white hooded garments follow the procession and they ask for their forgiveness. In their hooded gowns their are holes cut out on their backs where they whip themselves as they are repenting for their sins. The essentially cut open their backs and bleed as they follow this procession through the town.
It is a bizarre ritual that I know for sure. I have also realized that it is not the American culture that makes us think of the KKK when we see the white gowns, as my professor said almost everyone she knows thinks of the KKK before Semana Santa. Also the ritual is most likely much older than the KKK itself so I guess the white hooded outfit is one that originally started as ritual for the most holy week in Christianity.
This is the base where the statue of Mary and Jesus will be placed on top as they practice the route in Salamanca
In one of my classes today we were discussing everyone's plans for the week, since we all have off and between a class of 15 will be hitting almost every major city in Europe. I decided to ask my professor after some discussion about the rituals here in Spain during the week of Easter. Most cities have some sort of processional with over 20 men carrying a huge box thing with the statue of Mary and Jesus. They have a walk that runs through cities and towns across the country, as they walk they drag their feet and move in the same motion in sync with one another. (This walk is practiced weeks before the actually procession and I happened to see one in Salamanca this past weekend.) As the procession makes its way through the city silence falls, few people sing aloud old biblical songs repenting for their forgiveness. People dressed in white hooded garments follow the procession and they ask for their forgiveness. In their hooded gowns their are holes cut out on their backs where they whip themselves as they are repenting for their sins. The essentially cut open their backs and bleed as they follow this procession through the town.
It is a bizarre ritual that I know for sure. I have also realized that it is not the American culture that makes us think of the KKK when we see the white gowns, as my professor said almost everyone she knows thinks of the KKK before Semana Santa. Also the ritual is most likely much older than the KKK itself so I guess the white hooded outfit is one that originally started as ritual for the most holy week in Christianity.
This is the base where the statue of Mary and Jesus will be placed on top as they practice the route in Salamanca
Monday, March 16, 2009
Salamanca
Hey all,
I know it has been a while. This weekend I went to Salamanca. While(Temple won the A-10 championship and I got two screaming phone calls to celebrate both, my parents and Evan). So anyway, Salamanca, is a university city housing the oldest university in Spain and one of the oldest in Europe. The entire city is built of sandstone buildings which seem to glow at night as dusk comes. Salamanca is located on the side of the Tormes river (Lazarillo de Tormes (Spanish literature) the fictional character was born in the Tormes River).
The big highlights were first off the Cathedral. There is an old part that is more of a medieval style and the new cathedral which is gothic style. Mary and I got the chance to walk to the top and see the whole city from above as well as peak into both churches from the top section and have a better view of the murals on the ceilings. Also the cathedral was restored and cleaned back in 1998, during that time for some reason a astronaut was included into the facade. Very strange but everyone flocks to find it.
The plaza mayor of Salamanca is considered by many one of the most beautiful. I now understand why. It is a huge square where an abundance of activity goes on at all hours of the day and night. I sat with the girls at a café and saw a crazy clown juggle fire in the square!
The university itself has many buildings but the original has a facade covered in all sorts of objects. Old legend has it if you can find the skull with the frog on it you will have many sorts of luck. So of course we all stood there with the rest of the tourists looking to find it. Sure enough I did! Luck for me!
Sunday in the 75 degree weather we decided on having a picnic on the side of the Rio Tormes. It was a beautiful week with around 75 degree temperatures the entire time! I could not ask for better weather!
A week of classes and then off to Amsterdam for the weekend!
Enjoy the photos!
I know it has been a while. This weekend I went to Salamanca. While(Temple won the A-10 championship and I got two screaming phone calls to celebrate both, my parents and Evan). So anyway, Salamanca, is a university city housing the oldest university in Spain and one of the oldest in Europe. The entire city is built of sandstone buildings which seem to glow at night as dusk comes. Salamanca is located on the side of the Tormes river (Lazarillo de Tormes (Spanish literature) the fictional character was born in the Tormes River).
The big highlights were first off the Cathedral. There is an old part that is more of a medieval style and the new cathedral which is gothic style. Mary and I got the chance to walk to the top and see the whole city from above as well as peak into both churches from the top section and have a better view of the murals on the ceilings. Also the cathedral was restored and cleaned back in 1998, during that time for some reason a astronaut was included into the facade. Very strange but everyone flocks to find it.
The plaza mayor of Salamanca is considered by many one of the most beautiful. I now understand why. It is a huge square where an abundance of activity goes on at all hours of the day and night. I sat with the girls at a café and saw a crazy clown juggle fire in the square!
The university itself has many buildings but the original has a facade covered in all sorts of objects. Old legend has it if you can find the skull with the frog on it you will have many sorts of luck. So of course we all stood there with the rest of the tourists looking to find it. Sure enough I did! Luck for me!
Sunday in the 75 degree weather we decided on having a picnic on the side of the Rio Tormes. It was a beautiful week with around 75 degree temperatures the entire time! I could not ask for better weather!
A week of classes and then off to Amsterdam for the weekend!
Enjoy the photos!
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
5 years later...
Today March 11th is the 5th anniversary of the Madrid train bombings. Although they are slowly moving on it still lingers in their minds just as September 11th does for most Americans. Moments of silence were held throughout most of the country this morning in memory of the 191 people who were killed.
Monday, March 9, 2009
Only a 5 hour difference
Hey all,
I know its been a while since I updated last. Nothing much has happened over the past week or so. I promise that won't last for long, since this was officially the last weekend I will be in Oviedo for the next 5 weekends. Travel! Travel! Travel! I am off to Salamanca, Amsterdam, Barcelona and then Spring break (Budapest, Berlin, and London!)
A few interesting tid-bits of information:
My art history professor explained why the campus that are classes are on is called El Milan. According to her it was a military base by Spanish troops during their golden age following their capture of Northern Italy. The army and the captain stayed here after the battle that allowed them to add the area of present day Milan, Italy to the long list of Spanish territories.
I also realized today that yes count it I have officially been in Spain over 2 months and Oviedo close to that however I have yet to be inside the Cathedral. It is not that I am avoiding it or I don't want to pay the money. The fact is I have honestly never seen it open! There are no posted times, so I am not even sure when it is open! I am not the only one, out of the 15 Temple students, only one has been inside. Now don't overly worry I am taking a 'field trip' there nice bright and early on Thursday with my art history professor.
As for my title of this blog daylight savings time came around to all of you in America this weekend, but as for everyone here in Europe, well we like to make it complicated. We don't switch our clocks until the 29th of March! So for the next 3 weeks I am only 5 hours difference between Spain and the east coast.
That is all for now!
-Erika
I know its been a while since I updated last. Nothing much has happened over the past week or so. I promise that won't last for long, since this was officially the last weekend I will be in Oviedo for the next 5 weekends. Travel! Travel! Travel! I am off to Salamanca, Amsterdam, Barcelona and then Spring break (Budapest, Berlin, and London!)
A few interesting tid-bits of information:
My art history professor explained why the campus that are classes are on is called El Milan. According to her it was a military base by Spanish troops during their golden age following their capture of Northern Italy. The army and the captain stayed here after the battle that allowed them to add the area of present day Milan, Italy to the long list of Spanish territories.
I also realized today that yes count it I have officially been in Spain over 2 months and Oviedo close to that however I have yet to be inside the Cathedral. It is not that I am avoiding it or I don't want to pay the money. The fact is I have honestly never seen it open! There are no posted times, so I am not even sure when it is open! I am not the only one, out of the 15 Temple students, only one has been inside. Now don't overly worry I am taking a 'field trip' there nice bright and early on Thursday with my art history professor.
As for my title of this blog daylight savings time came around to all of you in America this weekend, but as for everyone here in Europe, well we like to make it complicated. We don't switch our clocks until the 29th of March! So for the next 3 weeks I am only 5 hours difference between Spain and the east coast.
That is all for now!
-Erika
Monday, March 2, 2009
Asturias Paraíso Natural
Hey all,
Saturday I took a group trip with Aegee to 3 cities here in Asturias. Aegee is a group that does tons of trips for international students, but mostly Erasmus students. Erasmus is an exchange programs for students in Europe to attend another university in Europe.
The first place we went to was Covadonga. Covadonga is where the Picos de Europa are located, it is very much like a national/ European park of protected beauty. We did not get a chance to climb the mountain to see the lakes in the mountains but we did see a few waterfalls where the water comes down as well as the old cathedral in the city. The legend has it that if you are to drink the water from the fountains of Covadonga you will be married within a year. A bunch of us decided to prove the theory wrong and drink the water (which by the way is not guaranteed to be sanitary, but tasted good!)
Our second stop was a mini camping grounds park where we had lunch in the sun. Our third stop was in a little town called Ribadesella. The town is home of about 7,000 people but absolutely beautiful. It is a beach side town where one side is on the riverbanks and the other is at the mouth of the river where it runs into the Atlantic Ocean. On top of the cliffs is a little church that overlooks all of the town as well as out into the ocean. I was told that the town is overwhelmed with tourists during the summer months as it has many summer resorts on the beaches.
When we got back to Oviedo we ran into their Carnival parade and hung out to see some of the costumes. The parade was about 20 min long (very different than that of the Canaries). However one thing that caught me completely off guard was the differences of some of the costumes both at the parade and throughout the night. I saw dozens of people painted black as well as communists and Nazi's. It is something that completely caught me off guard, because although many people both in the United States and in the Canaries like to have fun and joke around with their costumes, their are very rarely costumes like that.
...Pictures... I haven't figured out if this is easier or not for everyone to view!?
Till next time,
Erika
Saturday I took a group trip with Aegee to 3 cities here in Asturias. Aegee is a group that does tons of trips for international students, but mostly Erasmus students. Erasmus is an exchange programs for students in Europe to attend another university in Europe.
The first place we went to was Covadonga. Covadonga is where the Picos de Europa are located, it is very much like a national/ European park of protected beauty. We did not get a chance to climb the mountain to see the lakes in the mountains but we did see a few waterfalls where the water comes down as well as the old cathedral in the city. The legend has it that if you are to drink the water from the fountains of Covadonga you will be married within a year. A bunch of us decided to prove the theory wrong and drink the water (which by the way is not guaranteed to be sanitary, but tasted good!)
Our second stop was a mini camping grounds park where we had lunch in the sun. Our third stop was in a little town called Ribadesella. The town is home of about 7,000 people but absolutely beautiful. It is a beach side town where one side is on the riverbanks and the other is at the mouth of the river where it runs into the Atlantic Ocean. On top of the cliffs is a little church that overlooks all of the town as well as out into the ocean. I was told that the town is overwhelmed with tourists during the summer months as it has many summer resorts on the beaches.
When we got back to Oviedo we ran into their Carnival parade and hung out to see some of the costumes. The parade was about 20 min long (very different than that of the Canaries). However one thing that caught me completely off guard was the differences of some of the costumes both at the parade and throughout the night. I saw dozens of people painted black as well as communists and Nazi's. It is something that completely caught me off guard, because although many people both in the United States and in the Canaries like to have fun and joke around with their costumes, their are very rarely costumes like that.
...Pictures... I haven't figured out if this is easier or not for everyone to view!?
Till next time,
Erika
Sunday, March 1, 2009
More Pictures!
Hey all,
So little by little everyone has uploaded their pictures from the Islands so I am putting on a few more pictures that highlight the trip!
Just use the controls on the bottom to skip through the pictures!
-Erika
So little by little everyone has uploaded their pictures from the Islands so I am putting on a few more pictures that highlight the trip!
Just use the controls on the bottom to skip through the pictures!
-Erika
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