Parlez-vous Espagnol? My Tongue-Twisting Weekend in Paris.

This past weekend I had the pleasure of traveling to Paris with three good friends from my little study abroad family in Valencia. I think I may have actually experienced more culture shock in this country than I did when I first came to Spain. I would say about 50% of the people I spoke with this past weekend spoke English, but unfortunately for them my first instinct has become to speak in Spanish. Luckily, my traveling companions were always there to laugh at me, & occasionally help me out, & we all made it through the weekend in one piece. I have to admit, I knew I would be traveling Europe throughout this study abroad program, but I never expected to go to Paris. I've never had a huge desire to go to France because whenever I think Europe I think of Spain as my go-to since I've been studying the Spanish language & the culture for so long. Paris is a whole different world from Spain, & not in a bad way, but I realized as soon as I got there that I knew next to nothing about the city, let alone the country. Every landmark we visited - the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, Notre Dame, Sacre Couer - I knew of the majority of them, but not much else. I think by the end of the trip my friends were so tired of visiting new places with me because my signature phrase had become "Why is this significant?" But never fear, we are now Wiki-whizzes & well-versed in the history of all four of the previously named landmarks & a few more. I have also eaten so much bread this weekend I may just turn into bread. All of the flaky croissants, sweet nutella crepes, & scrumptious macarons (my mouth is watering just thinking about them) - the Francía 15 is definitely a thing too. Since Paris is such an expensive city, while we did enjoy the cheaper sweets, we also shared some less-authentic picnic dinners on the beds of our hotel rooms. After a long day of beignets, baguettes, & other delicious morsels, sometimes it's nice to come home to a pre-packaged salad, you know what I mean? The hotel itself was such an interesting set up I have to mention it here. If our hotel had been a home for sale, the real estate agent would definitely have described it as a "gem", very "quaint" & "cozy". There is a teeny-tiny elevator you can smoosh into with maybe one other person to get to your like-sized room in the very compact Hotel Royal Phare. Of course, not only was I situated on the top floor, but my roommate for the weekend was claustrophobic - a match made in heaven. Needless to say, we did a lot of walking up & down 7 flights of stairs, which was actually a great warm up for the Eiffel Tower! And while I did see many amazing things this trip, by far my favorite part was meeting up with two old friends I have known since elementary school, simply because we all realized Saturday night that on Sunday we would all be in Paris. To top it all off, I will be seeing these same two friends again this coming weekend to backpack through the South of France! Until next time (or next weekend) París!

Bonjour!

A View from the Second Level of the Tower

I did take an elevator all the way up to the tippy-top, but by then it was so yicky & rainy the pictures don't do the view nearly enough justice.

Purchasing Macarons from the Famous & Delicious Ladurée

My Parisian Name. 

Pronounced "Joe-Knee", not "Jon-Knee".

Cheesing on the Lock Bridge with Two Girls I Never Anticipated Seeing in París

¡Viva Xátiva! Sometimes I Climb Mountains.

By far one of the coolest things I have done so far this trip/ever was visit el Castillo de Xátiva. The castle is located in the town of Xátiva, about a half hour train ride outside of Valencia. This was the first trip our little study abroad family planned ourselves, so there was a little getting lost involved after we arrived, but obviously we eventually made it to our destination. Xátiva is made up of many small mountains (which are still pretty big), so we had to walk very steep streets to get to the even steeper trails that took us up to the castle. Thankfully, the majority of us decided collectively to take an easy path up the mountain - but boy were some of the others impressively difficult! The castle itself & the views we saw from it were awe-inspiring; I couldn't possibly do them justice trying to describe them. I believe I read the castle was built sometime around 400 AC (anticristo), which absolutely blows my mind. My next adventure starts very early tomorrow morning - ¡Voy a París!

A View from on Our Way up the Mountain

(This is the Roomie)

El Castillo de Xátiva in all Her Glory

One of My Favorite Views from el Castillo

Bonus: the Sunset We Saw Leaving the Train Station in Valencia on Our Way Back

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No Foaling Around in Valencia: Barn-None.

It blows my mind that I've already been in this country for over a week. It's gorgeous & wonderful & I never want to leave. The tours have finally stopped for a bit (finally) & I've completed my first week of classes at the University of Valencia! (All of 3 days.) I have one professor from the university here & one from UF. Classes aren't so bad, but they're each two hours long & that's kinda killer for a girl who's gotten very used to 50 minute classes. But it's ok, for Spain I can roll with the punches. Between classes mis amigos y yo have had ample time to explore this city - & what we've found is pretty darn cool. There is a bakery in old Valencia that makes the most delicious horchata I've ever tasted, (also the only horchata I've ever tasted, but that's beside the point.) Lucky for us, though it's no longer wintertime this horchateria also serves chocolate con churros, which are also pretty tasty. (Is the España 15 a thing?) Not so lucky for us, or perhaps still lucky, we get lost a lot, & in doing so have come across some beautiful areas like the Puente de Las Flores, (flower bridge), & Los Jardines de Real, (gardens). My personal favorite is El Puente de Las Flores. The bridge is lined with many many flowers that serve no practical purpose, but are switched out periodically making the connection between new Valencia & old Valencia as vibrant as the city itself. Also beautiful is the little farm called Barraca Toni Montoliu our little study abroad family visited today just outside of the city to cook some paella! I think we were all a little weary of the idea of going to a farm, physically picking ingredients, & cooking our food, but it turned out to be a blast. We helped to make the biggest pan of paella I have ever seen - & I've been in Spain for over a week now, I've seen some pretty big paella pans. We did get the chance to pick some vegetables & Valencian oranges, but it was all in good fun. After cooking & wandering the farm we sat down to what I believe was a nine course meal, but I couldn't tell you for sure. All I can say is it was so incredibly good, & I've now had my first taste of both rabbit & snail! Tomorrow some of us are going to visit a neighboring town called Xátiva, home of el Castillo de Xátiva, or the Castle of Xátiva. While I was very excited to make my first trip to Africa next weekend, my parents were not so enthused, so I will now be traveling to Paris, which is also exciting! 

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My Home Away from Home 

Chocolate con Churros

Los Jardines de Real

El Puente de Las Flores

Barraca Toni Montoliu

El Cabbage Patch

Cooking Paella

I'm Jewish, What's your Excuse? Touring (the Churches of) Madrid & Toledo.

These past few days have been such a whirlwind. I can't even remember what day I arrived in Madrid, but I was awake and delirious for a grueling 48 hours. I have seen so many churches, (of which I knew almost nothing about, i.e. where the priest sits, what a confessional looks like - hence the title of this post,) all of which were absolutely gorgeous. Fun fact: in Toledo we visited the oldest synagogue in Spain, which was actually built by a Muslim community for the Jews. Because of this, the synagogue looks much more like a mosque than a temple. Of course, during the Spanish Inquisition the temple became a church, so the building has been through all kinds of religious experiences. We have been staying in some teeny-tiny hotel rooms, with teeny-tiny elevators and very confusing lighting fixtures. It's safe to say maybe just a little bit of culture shock has set in. Yesterday our little group traveled to Valencia and now we are all settled in with our host families! I am staying in an apartment very close to the University of Valencia, which is great because this is where my classes are. I share a room with another member of the group, Jen, and we have decided that our little room looks like something straight out of Ikea. It's pretty neat. We are staying with a family of five (Five!!) comfortably (really, this apartment is amazing): a host maj, a host paj, a younger host brother of 16, and two younger host sisters of 10 & 13. The youngest daughter is very fond of host students, and she loves to make impromptu visits to our room. We've been surprised more than a few times in just the past two days, but hey it's all part of the experience right? Last night our host majpaj took us to a festival called "La Festival de la Virgen," the Festival of the Virgin. It was so cool! There was a parade with many people in traditional Valencian attire, a couple of different bands marching, and the President of Valencia even made an appearance. Today we met our professor from Valencia and had the opportunity to tour the city & get lost, but all in good fun. A couple of us have already booked a trip to Morocco for next weekend, myself included. I never even imagined being able to visit Africa this trip & I am more than a little excited! There's also a trip to France in the works, but nothing concrete just yet. Tomorrow starts classes &, of course, another tour.

La Sinagoga de Santa Maria la Blanca - the Oldest Synagogue in Spain, Located in Toledo

La Festival de la Virgen 

Wandering Valencia

Ready or Not, Here I Come...

I have wanted to visit Spain ever since I fell in love with the Spanish language, (it's been a long time,)  & while I am ecstatic about going, I'll be honest in saying there's a little piece of me that finds this upcoming adventure completely daunting. But even more daunting than going to a country with a completely different language & culture is packing for a country with a completely different language & culture. Coming home from hot & sunny Florida to not-so-hot & not-so-sunny Pennsylvania not-so-bright me decided to bring only one pair of pants. (While I do consider myself a northerner, I have lived in Florida for quite some time & seasons are still a bit of a foreign concept to me.) I have been double & triple-checking the weather in Spain & keeping my fingers crossed I don't make the same mistake twice. The other extremely daunting aspect to this packing is fitting six weeks worth of stuff into one suitcase. While I'm stressing about all of this now, I'm sure two days from now this won't even matter. I can't wait to start my summer semester abroad!