Last weekend I went to Toledo and Salamanca. It was fantastic, like every other city I have visited in Spain. Toledo is the most beautiful city I've seen thus far in Spain. It sits on a hill over looking a river. FYI- Toledo was the capital city of the Visigodas which means it's an ancient capital to an ancient people. In Toledo I went to a Catedral. This Cathedral has an area of biblical paintings-- and in it there are ORIGINAL paintings of El Greco, and Rafael. I was with my friend Jamie and when the tour guide said "son originales" (they are originals) we got chills! It was amazing. Oh yes, important fact this trip was a part of my ISEP study abroad program which means somewhere in the oodles of money I paid for it. However, we went with ERASUMUS, and ERASUMUS is a huge study abroad program for students here in Europe. I love my American girls, but it was nice to mix things up a bit-- even though 10 out of 12 of us stayed in the same room at the hostel! Haha, I've decided, good or bad, and counterproductive or not I love my American social network and comfort zone. We are like a family and it's so great. Moving on, after only a few short hours in Toledo we drove on to Salamanca. COOL CITY, it has a university that dates back to 1218, not only is this historic college still in use, but it's another beautiful building here in Spain. It's in western Spain and very close to Portugal. After going to 2 very tourist cities I have decided that I thouroughly enjoy Murcia's size. Sometimes it feels too small, but I would rather know where everything is, than be lost after 2 months here.
Two months--WOW my time is flying! I feel like the new has worn off, and real life has set it. For example I gave a group presentation today and have other homework I should be doing. I'm not complaining, and these aren't bad things but it no longer feels like a vacation. My internet has been pretty temperamental so I'll get pictures up asap.
I think that is the highlights for this week-- remember you can email me with questions (or MAIL me anything!) haha
Hasta luego
Oh yeah, that's me and Janelle (best New Yorker I've ever met!) in front of the city on a hill-- Toledo
It seems like you are learning a lot of new things on many different levels! These places you describe sound amazing, I hope you are documenting this with great photographs that you will show me later. :) How has your Spanish speaking and listening skills been going? Do you have to do all of your class work in Spanish?
ReplyDeleteI was wondering...how is the traffic (both pedestrian and vehicle) like in Murcia and how different is it from other parts of Spain you've visited? If you really like me, you should get a picture of a sexy motorcycle while you are there!
Love you Elisabeth, xoxoxoxox