Routine Life

Well today was definitely a return to my routine. Sadly, I don't have many more times that I can have the routine. Not to be too weird but this was my fourth to last Monday in London. That means I only have three left. That makes me feel so many things: sad, happy, scared, excited, anxious, depressed. Right now though, all I feel is good about getting back to blogging. I kind of missed it the past week. Speaking of blogging, I added two entries about last Sunday and Monday. I put them under the actual day they occurred. It makes more sense that way. I also added a little more to my post from yesterday, about what I actually did and such.

Now, about today. I woke up a little earlier to put the final touches on my Sociology in the City paper. I had to describe a social activity in London. I wrote about the church I went to. It was fun to write about it. In that class today we talked about Parliament. I had heard most of it before during our tour of Parliament but hearing Justin put in his little anecdotes and opinions made it really funny. He is a really good teacher. We spent about an hour talking about the monarchy and what they do and what's going on with them. That was really interesting. We watched a video of Queen Elizabeth II performing the ceremony of opening Parliament. Lots of traditions and weird things going on. Like the Queen has to request the the House of Commons to attend and sends a guy over to do it. The House of Commons slams the door in his face (part of tradition) and he has to request to enter. This shows the superiority of the democratically elected Commons to the monarchy. Anyway, there was a ton of stuff like going on. I thought it was really fascinating and had never heard of most of it before (at least before my visit to Parliament).

I got lunch at the sandwich shop (I had to go grocery shopping later) and read in some books in FIE about Turkey and the Greek Islands. I am going to say this just about everyday until I leave but I am so excited about my trip. It is going to be so amazing. In Senior Sem, we discussed the next chapter in our moral philosophy book. It is about utilitarianism. Basically, that theory holds that whatever decision creates more happiness is the best decision. This created lots of discussion during class. Like utilitarianism says that animals can feel pain and unhappiness so we shouldn't kill them and we should all be vegetarians. I'm not even exaggerating or anything. That's what my book says. Then we spent some time talking about Shakespeare since we are going to Stratford-Upon-Avon this Saturday on our last group excursion. I will admit that I did not really pay attention during this part. I was busy planning my schedule for next fall. I register on Wednesday. Everything that was talked about I had heard before. Then we talked a little about the role of critics and what one needs to include in a critique of a piece of art (like a play).

After class, I did my usual Monday grocery shopping trip. Not much to say about it. I bought some frozen pizzas which should be really good. One is Cajun Chicken flavored and the other is Tikka Marsala flavored. Yum! After grocery shopping I went to the library and returned a bunch of books then checked out a bunch more. I got a ton of books on the places I am going to travel to which I am looking forward to looking through.

I came back and sent off some e-mails to figure out where I am going to work next fall. McGlynn's e-mailed to say that if I wanted my manager position again next fall, I would have to re-apply and re-interview. The prospect of doing all that work for a job that I used to enjoy but not really anymore doesn't get me very excited so I sent in an application to be a math TA today instead. We'll see what happens. The rest of my evening was spent writing those blog posts (uploading the pictures took FOREVER), finishing my class plans for next fall, posting pictures on facebook, and eating dinner.

I like my Monday routine here. Sociology, Senior Sem, grocery shopping, and the library. I am really going to miss it when I am traveling and have literally zero routine so I better enjoy it while I can. I hope everyone had a good day. Hopefully, a couple more Spain posts tomorrow.

Toodles!

Raising the Curtain

Hey everyone! It seems like it has been forever since I did a proper blog post (it's been a week). I feel bad about it even though I realize I shouldn't. With my Mom being here and trying to maximize my time with her, it did not leave much time for blogging or really anything else. The other problem is that with the semester winding down (yes, that's what I said, I only have 4 weeks of class left), I have quite a bit more homework due which is a bigger priority than writing in my blog. Like today I had to write a two page reflection paper, read from a text book, and write a five page paper. All are due tomorrow. So, like I said, I haven't really had time to even try to catch up on the blog.

I do have one big, huge, large, gargantuan piece of news to share. I bought a plane ticket to Istanbul for April 26. Which means that that is where I am going to start my "Magical Mystery Tour of Europe (and a little bit of Asia)". Mom and I talked about it and I had originally thought about going to Egypt but going there alone would be tough and it is hard to get from there to anywhere else (namely Greece). Istanbul and Turkey contain my excitement are still really, really cool and I just cannotabout the whole trip. It is going to be incredible. I will share more of my plan at a later date, I don't really have the time now and the rest of it is not really for sure (by that I mean, I have a rough idea but it will probably change at least a little bit). I feel much better having made a decision though and knowing that I have at least one thing set up. It is less than a month away!! YIKES!!!

*Added on Monday* Today was a pretty relaxing day. Mom came over to my flat in the morning and we arranged how and what I am going to keep here. We decided to have her take Greg's big black suitcase back with a whole bunch of my stuff and leave her small green one for me to keep and store (somewhere) while I am traveling. I think this plan will work out really well. It did entail a little bit of help from my Mom though. She had to check the big black suitcase and the green backpack so she had to use her dirty laundry stuff sack as her carry on. While she was packing and we were arranging my stuff, we talked and just enjoyed each other's company. Once the packing was complete, the two of us walked over to my church and Mom took a couple pictures of me in front of it (picture 1). We ran into Phil out front and said hi (picture 2). We had to run so there wasn't much of a discussion. When we got back, Mom took a couple pictures of me at Metrogate (me in my "home", the computer lab, picture 3) and grabbed the bags. Mom was in a hurry and I forgot my Oyster Card so I had to run back (literally) and get it. We rode the Tube out to Heathrow. Mom checked her bags and was all set to leave. We had to take a picture of her with her "Santa Claus Carry On" (picture 4). It was pretty funny. I was incredibly sad to see her leave. It was such a different experience from when I left for London. That time, I was the one leaving, not the one staying. I think the one staying has it rougher. I don't know if I have ever felt that alone with so many people around me after she disappeared from my sight. The Tube ride back was kind of a melancholy experience for me. I thought about it and before Mom arrived was like Act I , Mom being here was the intermission and the curtain has jest been raised on Act II. I listened to "Heavier Things" by John Mayer during the Tube ride which was the perfect thing for how I was feeling. I got back and hung out on the computer and did my homework. I watched some of the NCAA tournament online and then called John on Skype. It was nice to talk to him (like always). Then I went to bed.
Bye!

Museum Adventures

So we got back from Spain the night before really late. I didn't get into my room until after 2 am and neither did Mom. This led to us meeting up at around 9. If it was sunny, we were going to go to the London Eye. If it was cloudy, we would head to the British Museum. Well, you can guess that it was cloudy (and still pretty cold) so we headed over to the British Museum.

We took the bus from my flat and rode it all the way to King's Cross so that I could show my mom St. Pancras Station (the gingerbread Neo-Gothic building) and St. Pancras Parish Church (the church that looks like a Greek temple with a spire). We stopped at the British Library because it was on the way and because it is really cool. Mom especially liked the Illuminated Manuscripts and Bibles from the Middle Ages. Then we got to the British Museum. First, we went to the Celtic and Roman British area. For those that don't know, in about 70 AD I think, the Roman Empire stretched all the way to Britain and that's when Hadrian's Wall (which I don't think I will get a chance to see) was built in Northern England. Anyway, most of the artifacts here were actually from the Anglo-Saxons which were groups of people from present day Germany and Denmark who sailed here and took over the Romans in 300 AD or so. They were here until 1000 AD when the Normans from France invaded. That's an incredibly short version of British history. So we saw a bunch of stuff from those three groups in the first area we went to. One of the most famous is some stuff from an Anglo-Saxon ship that was buried. Inside was a bunch of armor among other things. My favorite thing (and I think Mom's too) was the chess pieces they had (picture 1). They were carved out of wood and really awesome. I like how the King looks bug-eyed. We also saw some things from around the same time in Ireland.

We continued on and walked through a bunch more galleries that I had never been in (haven't made the tours of them yet). Like the Early Iraq and Early Roman and stuff. We saw a bunch of black and red-figure pots from Greece and Rome (picture 2 of Medusa, the snake headed lady). Mom really liked these. We also walked through the Greek/Roman Gallery where they had artifacts presented by daily activities, like farming and bathing and children. It was really interesting. In the Islamic Art gallery the glass pots that I really liked weren't there anymore but some new ones were which I also liked a lot. Mom really enjoyed some paintings from Iran (picture 3). They are really usual because just about all Islamic Art never represents humans. We sat down on a bench and ate lunch (PBJ sandwiches). We continued on to the North American Indian gallery where Mom saw something surprising. She did a paper about a guy who makes bowl like the Indians used to do but with contemporary themes (picture 4). I can't remember his name but she was really happy to see it. We looked at the Mezo-American Gallery again and I took a picture of the Turquoise Two-Headed Snake that is very famous. It is really beautiful (picture 5). We left shortly thereafter and walked down to a half-timbered house that survived the Great Fire of 1666 (picture 6). It was built around 1550. Very cool looking. It was kind of a mistake to do this because we were both incredibly tired by this time (from getting back so late) and the walking and waiting buses really drained all of our energy (at least it did for me). Plus it was cold and rainy. While we waited for the bus, we stopped in a Marks & Spencer shop and got some food. We both got deli sandwiches and a can of soup to eat for dinner.

We got to my flat after waiting forever on Oxford Street for a bus. We ate dinner and hung out some more. I walked Mom back to her hotel which, for lack of a better term, sucked. It was in a kind of shady area and her room was probably the smallest room I have ever seen. For those who saw "the bachelor pad" at Dad's apartment, it was about that small. You had to shuffle sideways between the bed and wall. Mom said she could barely get dressed in the bathroom after her shower because there was hardly enough room to bend over. Wow, what a place. I felt bad for leaving her there but we didn't have any other options. But, on the bright side, it was cheap (for London). I walked back to my flat and basically went to bed. I didn't fall asleep right away because I kept thinking about Mom leaving. I wasn't looking forward to it.

A Slice of Heaven on Earth

*This is a guest post written by my mom because I don't really have the time. I added comments throughout.*

Other than the sunshine and orange blossoms, the highlight of the trip to Spain was seeing the Alhambra. What an incredible place.

It is so popular! As I mentioned before we had to get up early to get tickets. It was like all those times we got up to go hiking in the pre-dawn morning before it got too hot, or so we’d have enough time to finish, or before Amy woke up, or for whatever reason. Anyway, I can’t remember what time the alarm was set for, but we had cleaned our room, packed our bags and completed a 25 minute hike up a steep hill by 6:50AM. I was prepared with my suspense novel and a pillow to sit on. Even at that hour, we were approximately the 40^th group in line. It was worth it—there was no second chance. It would have been a shame to come all this way and miss it. (Jeremy: Queues are a great place for people to smoke. There was one woman in line who smoked around 10 cigarettes in the hour and a half we waited in line. The Spanish like their cigarettes.)

After the line, we pretty much walked right onto the grounds. First, we went through the gardens and the summer palace, the Generalife. The sun was coming out! The gardens were lovely. One of the most impressive sights of the entire complex were the cypress avenues. There were rows and rows of passageways made out of trimmed hedges of cypresses (picture 1). They must be hundreds of years old to be formed that way. There were tunnels of green all over, punctuated by rows and rows of flowers. Many were already in bloom, and you could tell that later in the summer they would be even more stunning. The wisteria! Fountains and water were everywhere. It’s so interesting how they had water running down the middle of the steps and down the railings.

Next stop was the main event, the Palace of the Nazaries. Most of it was built in the mid-1300’s. Courtyards, cedar, stucco, ceilings, columns, arches, fountains, pools, filigree, calligraphy, views, especially the tiles. Everything was beautiful and my descriptions would not add. (Jeremy: Maybe mine would... Haha. There were two primary WOW spots in the palace. One was the Patio de los Leones. In the middle of the patio, there used to be a fountain with twelve lions around the outside of it that had water coming out of their mouths. The fountain is being repaired. The patio is surrounded by a walkway with over 100 slender, BEAUTIFUL columns (picture 2). So amazing. The other huge WOW place was the Patio de los Arrayanes (picture 3). It has a pool down the middle with a tower on the back. The reflection and sight of it was amazing! I loved it so much. Connected to this is the grand reception room where Christopher Columbus got permission to go to the New World from Ferdinand and Isabella (the ceiling of that room is picture 4).)

We climbed a tower, and then rested in a courtyard. The last amazing thing of many were the cherry trees. Every part was stunning, seeing the blossoms against the blue sky and the golden buildings, the shapes of the trees, the purple-pink of the blossoms with the canary forsythia (picture 5). Gorgeous! (Jeremy: I don't know the names of the trees or whatever but it was very pretty. The view from the towers of the Alcazaba (the fortress part of the Alhamabra) were amazing (picture 6). The sun and plants and everything was really astounding.)

The entire thing deserves the word amazing. Everyone who knows me realizes I usually reserve these superlatives only for things in nature. It is really something for me to heap this much praise on something man-made. The quote for the Alhambra in every travel book is this: After the Spanish have finally conquered Granada, the last stronghold of the Moors, the last Amir looks back at the Alhambra and sheds a tear for lost beauty, his unsympathetic mother shuts him up by saying, “Don’t cry like a woman for what you couldn’t defend like a man.” We also sighed as we had our last look at the fortress set against the snowy sierras and the green cypress.

(Jeremy: Our last view of the Alhambra was from St. Nicholas Square (picture 7). We could really see the snow-capped Sierra Nevada Mountains behind the Alhambra. So pretty. I can see why Bill wanted to take his family here. There is another old Spanish saying that goes something like "If you have not seen the Alhambra, then you have not truly lived." Frankly, I agree with that assessment. We left St. Nicholas Square and took the bus to the airport. We hung around waiting for our plane and then flew back uneventfully. I didn't get back to my flat until around 2 am. It was a great trip and I was glad my mom was with me. I need to mention that, if you haven't seen my pictures on facebook, you should see them. There are over 60 just from the Alhambra so check them out!)

Arab Aerobics

*This is a guest post written by my mom because I don't really have the time to do it. I added in some comments along the way.*

To sew up the circle, back to Granada today. We took the bus and saw many white villages with a fortress or castle perched up on a hill. Jeremy unerringly led us to the hostel where we had reserved bunks. The hostel personnel, however, were not unerring. They were overbooked and we either had to sleep on the floor or they would find a new place. We opted for the new place. It was up a very, very steep hill, and I was pretty crabby about the whole thing. As I get older, more and more I find myself taking this irrational negative stance to change. More on this later. (Jeremy: I loved the countryside that we rode through on the bus. The fields were golden or green (picture 1). The towns were all on hills and every building was white washed with red roofs. So cool! Getting to the hostel was not easy because the bus station was far away from the city and we had to navigate some very small, very twisty streets. I was a little depressed about not staying at the Oasis hostel. This same thing happened to me and Vanessa in Rome and we got stuck in a pretty bad place as a replacement so I wasn't happy about the switch either.)

The main thing to see in Granada is the Alhambra, a Moorish palace built towards the end of the Muslim dominance in Spain. Granada is a city that seems to me to have two very steep hills—the one with our hotel and the other one with the Alhambra (picture 2 is walking down the steep hill from our hotel and picture 3 is in the valley between the two hills looking up at the Alhambra). We were surely not going to be able to get tickets to see the Alhambra today so we were a little bit at loose ends. We had a somewhat enjoyable walk around the city. It was cloudy and we had been spoiled by the sun. In order to get tickets to the Alhambra for tomorrow, we found out we would have to get up early and stand in line as if we were going to a rock concert. After walking around the city, I wanted to scope out the walk and where we would stand in line, etc. Did I say it was a cloudy day? Did I say we were pre-locating the queue for tomorrow? Did I say it was a very steep hill? (Jeremy: Those elements, I hate to say, put me in a kind of bad mood. Definitely the low point of the trip for me. It's dumb that I let it get me down (I was in Spain for God's sake!) but that's what happens sometimes. The walk down from the Alhambra was cool with a big red wall though (picture 4).)

The other thing we did was eat at Baraka. It’s a middle eastern restaurant that had a good review in one of Jeremy’s books. Yummy. We met some girls from the U.S. who had eaten there three times! One of them looked like a younger Giada de Laurentis. I can no longer find where it said so, but I read that Baraka means “fine and beautiful blessing.” They asked us to take their picture with the cook who was cute, unassuming and charming. We ended up eating there twice ourselves. (Jeremy: The restaurant was good and located on the Moroccan Market Street (picture 5). Those girls we met were pretty cute and nice. The funny thing was that we were in the small eating area (enough seating for about 10) and those girls walked in and sat down. I didn't say anything (I was bidding my time, or I was being shy, take your pick). Mom leaned over and said, "Are you going to say something to them first or me?" Haha. I immediately struck a conversation.)

We walked back to the hostel via a weird route by the old city walls. I would have totally been lost but as I continue to say, Jeremy got us right where we needed to go. We stopped at a grocery store (we never knew when they would be open or when they would be crowded). We had taken to always having a supply of crackers on hand in case we were desperately hungry. I purchased the best orange of my life in this store. Then we surfed the internet at the hostel. Remember my book problem? Here is the first good thing about the change of hostels. At this moment, while waiting for the internet, I found that a previous backpacker had discarded two suspense novels! Yes, I could get through the rest of the trip! If I were like Jeremy and posting a list of books I read, I would be too embarrassed to list them. Not exactly fine literature, but, yes, they were awesome!! This saved me at least 10 Euros as well. Okay, if you insist, one was called Tell No One. But I’m telling you I couldn’t put it down.

After this we walked out at night to St. Nicholas Square. We had passed it earlier, huffing and puffing (me, not JJ) on the way up to the hostel. I am sure Jeremy would have piloted us to this square anyway, but missing the old hostel and staying at the new one was very convenient for this opportunity. This is the second good thing about the change of hostels. It was truly one of the sweetest moments of the trip for me. We had previously noticed a weird, large red carpet in front of the church. Now, at around 8PM, a bunch of girls were sitting above the carpet chanting while a whole bunch of other kids were playing soccer on the carpet. The square was full, but not too full, of people listening to someone play flamenco guitar and watching the Alhambra (picture 6). And the Alhambra is something to watch, glowing away on the hill opposite our hill. The music, the view, the company—very sweet. (Jeremy: It's funny how on my travels here in Europe and in the US with Mom and Amy, the things that end up looking bad at first usually somehow turn into the best parts. It really was magical sitting in the square looking at the Alhambra glow while the guitar was playing.)

After I got home I read that former President Clinton brought his family to St. Nicholas Square to share one of the places he remembered fondly from his student days.

Cordoba (the city not the car)

*This is a guest post written by my mom because I don't really have the time. I added comments throughout*

Next stop, Cordoba. We had a much shorter train ride. What a fine place! Every time we left our hotel, we walked down a beautiful street lined with orange trees (picture 1). Here, our first tourist stop was the Mezquita. It is now a working cathedral, but much of the structure from the original mosque was preserved. It is just a forest of columns with red and white arches. It is visually so striking (picture 2). One of the other features is the Mihrab, the prayer niche. It was crowded and difficult to get a look at this very ornate section. The mosque was built in various phases starting from 784AD. It was once the second largest mosque in the world. After the reconquest, a Christian nave was plopped right into the middle of it. The quote from all the tour books on this is that even though he approved the change, Charles V said, “You have taken something extraordinary and made it ordinary.” But I don’t think they had the power to totally ruin it. The sea of arches is still exquisite. (Jeremy: There were a lot of tourists inside but it was still a great experience. I loved the arches. The orange grove that is now in the courtyard of the Mezquita used to be a courtyard of palm trees. The arches inside were supposed to emulate the palm trees which I think they do. Also, there used to 41 doors into the Mezquita for people to enter and exit for prayers. It must have been very airy and wonderful. Now, there's one door. Also, it was quite dark inside which put a damper on my pictures but created a really cool atmosphere. Also, there was a bell tower at the Mezquita too (picture 3). I don't think it was part of the old mosque but I can't really remember.)

After this we found our perfect lunch spot, the Gallo de Oro (picture 4). They were roasting chickens that smelled heavenly. They only sold the chickens whole, so we had to settle for a lunch meat sandwich—a title that doesn’t do it justice. Okay, I was also prejudiced by the reasonable price. The worker was so kind to us, explaining everything. We ate on the square in the sunshine—a sweet moment. (Jeremy: I love the name of that restaurant, The Golden Chicken. Also, the square we ate in was really cool. There were a couple trees and benches. It was pretty quiet too. The sandwiches were really good, grilled lunch meat and toasted bread with vegetables. Yum.)

We wandered around looking for a bookstore and looking for the Synagogue. Horror of horrors, I had finished the book I was reading. I was facing waiting for buses and trains and a possible sleepless night with no book!! We found a store, but the books were too expensive for me. We circled one long round of maybe four blocks looking for the synagogue. Then we ended up circling the same thing because we had been close, but missed it by one turn. Then we found it was closed for the siesta and circled the whole thing again while waiting for it to open. We were surprised at how much the synagogue looked like the mosque. The main difference was that the writing was in Hebrew (picture 5). (Jeremy: It needs to be mentioned that the Synagoue was also extremely tiny. I bet not even ten people could fit inside comfortably. Also, this is one of only three synagogues remaining in all of Spain after the Jews were expelled in 1492.)

We ate at a restaurant with a crabby waiter/owner. We had two appetizers, pisto—sort of like ratatouille and salmorejo—a different kind of cold creamy tomato soup with hard boiled eggs and ham on top. Then we had omelets which were not an exciting main dish. Oh well. The dessert was pudding in a plastic cup! At least the appetizers were good. We continued with our main entertainment, walking. It was wonderful to see the doors of the Mezquita lit up at night ( the doors during the day because my night pictures weren't great, picture 6).

Our hotel was definitely the best one of the trip. They really made an effort to make it beautiful. The sheets and towels were thicker than the Kleenex-thin things we’d been used to. The room had been painted a bright periwinkle. We had our own bathroom! Unfortunately, this was the worst night of sleep I had. We could hear a lot of traffic noise and people talking in the street until very late. In the morning, as nice as the room was, the shower flooded onto the bathroom floor. We really had a deluge. Even if we had to wait at bit, the breakfast was also the best of the trip and worth it. This marked three meals in 24 hours! Yay!

See Ya in Seville

*This is a guest post written by my mom because I don't have time to write one. I added some comments throughout.*

We left the next morning for the train station. We had not checked out the schedule and hoped to get lucky. We were at the ticket window at 8:10 and on the train at 8:18! The scenery was wonderful with the mountains all around and made up for the fact that we didn’t have any breakfast (sort of).

After we arrived, Jeremy took a ton of pictures because every turn brought a street scene of southern Spain—narrow passageways, flowers, bright paint, and tiles (picture 1). It is a fairly big city. I didn’t realize that its former wealth came from having a monopoly on Spain’s trade with the New World post-Columbus. I couldn’t believe how much it reminded me of Mexico without so much dirt.

In Seville, our first tourist stop was the Cathedral (picture 2). It was built starting in the 1400’s on the site of a mosque. The quote that is in all the tour books states that the city elders said, “Let’s build a cathedral so big that everyone will think we were crazy.” It is the third largest cathedral in the world. Sorry to be a spoil-sport, but it just didn’t seem like the third biggest church in the world. The choir was in the center and it really took away from the feeling of being in a large place. I suppose the construction and scaffolding didn’t help either. The gold altar was amazing, not necessarily beautiful, but really something to see (picture 3). We climbed the Giralda, the bell tower. The tower is the one part of the mosque that survived. The top fell off and was replaced by the Christians, but the base is from the era of the Moors. It was really fun to see the city from on high. It was built with ramps, not steps, so that the person calling the faithful to prayers could ride a horse to the top rather than climb up! The tower is ornate and beautiful from the outside—it’s hard to take a bad picture of it. Every so often I had a rush of orange blossom enchantment (tower and orange blossoms picture 4). (Jeremy: The Cathedral definitely made me think they were a little crazy. The opulence of all the treasures they stored there (gold, silver, jewels, etc.) was insane. I agree with the fact that it didn't feel like the third largest cathedral in the world. But that's just the Spanish style. Lots of little chapels (over 50 in this one) makes the whole seem smaller. The Giralda was really cool. I always enjoy adding to my list of towers I have climbed.)

We finished with the cathedral and still had not had much to eat. We looked in vain for a sandwich shop, or anything that was not a sit-down restaurant. No luck. We were forced to have ice cream again! We really wanted to see the Alcazar, our second tourist stop, before it closed. I loved the dark red wall near the entrance (picture 5). The Alcazar is still maintained as a royal palace. It was built in the Moorish style for the kings and queens of Spain; as it is now, it was never used by the Arabs themselves. According to the guidebooks, instead of “Allah conquers all” or some such thing, the Arabic script decorating the walls says, “Pedro I is really cool.” There was much beautiful stucco and tile work (picture 6). (Jeremy: This was our first experience with Moorish tile work and carvings so I was amazed at how geometric and beautiful they were. The gardens of the Alcazar were what really blew me away though. They were huge and extremely beautiful. There were pools of water with fountains. Palm trees stuck up all over (picture 7). There was a hedge row maze as well. It was so nice to just sit in the eighty degrees and sun and relax. Probably my favorite part of Seville.)

As you have heard, this was probably the nutrition low point of the trip. I was tired! But we walked on to the Plaza d’Espana where there were so many Andalusian tiles. The bridge was made of tiles, and there was a plaza with tile niches in a giant semi-circle (picture 8). I needed to eat! We found a pizza place and shared a small pizza. It was not enough so we had, what else, more ice cream. You can tell that the price of ice cream was not too bad!

We stopped at a grocery store to buy some portable staples like crackers, nuts and fruit so that in the future, we would not find ourselves in the trouble we were in today. The grocery store offered great people watching. Some lady communicated to us that we had not pre-weighed our fruit. The younger woman in front of us bought about 200 Euros worth of food. So much for Europeans shopping every day for their food. I can still see her face and navy shirt and I imagine a painting of her bending over to place her groceries on the belt. Then we started to walk around again, taking some kind of circuitous route back to the hotel. We went through one square with only wedding goods. There were so many people out shopping or just walking around. It was as though we were in a stream of water rather than a crowd of people. Usually I can’t stand crowds, but this seemed to flow and bubble and eddy and that made it okay. After we got home, I read about the Paseo, or evening stroll. Maybe that was it, but this seemed too purposeful for a stroll. It was fun to experience it. The city seemed to buzz. Seville seems like a real city.

I was happily surprised to sleep well. I was worried at first because we could hear every sound and everything from the family living next door to our hotel room. I mean we could hear not only every word, but also the chink of the silverware, the tapping of the high heels, and, of course, the crying of the baby. The only thing missing was loud chewing. They were eating dinner about 11PM. I was thankful they retired to other areas of the house fairly soon after that because everyone knows that’s way past my bedtime!

Beinvenido a Espana

That means "Welcome to Spain". No, I didn't know how to say that. I looked it up online. I hope its right. That would be kind of embarrassing if it wasn't.

Mom came over and we both got our one backpack completely packed (we didn't check any bags). With our backpacks, we took the bus over to St. Paul's Cathedral so we could walk over the Millenium Bridge to the Tate Modern. We went inside and walked around to each of the four galleries. It was kind of tough work lugging my totally full backpack around (I'm a wimp) so I wasn't too interest. Plus I was kind of tired for some reason so I sat one a couch for a little bit with the two backpacks while Mom walked around. I had been there before so it wasn't essential for me to walk around. Anything that I recognized or knew something about I showed to her.

We left the Tate Modern and took another bus over to Victoria Coach Station so we could get to Stansted. We bought our tickets after waiting in yet another line. We didn't have any reason to wait so caught the first bus there. The bus took a different route than it did the last time I was on it (the routes are different depending on when you ride). This route went near Wembley Stadium and through a lot of green fields which was kind of weird. We got to the airport and (you guessed it) waited in line to check in. We did that without a hitch and then went through security. It was about 4 pm and all we had eaten was a couple PBJ sandwiches so we had a couple snacks before getting on the plane.

Mom wanted an aisle seat and I wanted a window seat so we sat across the aisle from each other (Two rows of three seats, Mom sat next to the aisle, I sat three seats to the right against the window). In between us were two people wearing the same color shirt. Actually, there were 15 people on our flight all wearing the same shirts. It turned out they were all visiting a friend of their's who is studying in Spain this semester. Anybody back home want to do that for me? Haha. They talked the whole flight and I read for most of it. It was nice. The landing was not so nice. I was looking out the window and the runway kept going by. I thought, "We need to touch down soon..." All of a sudden, WHUMMP! We dropped a good couple feet and touched down. It was kind of freaky. We grabbed a bus into Granada.

Granada is in Southern Spain which is commonly referred to as Andalusia. It is an area affected greatly by the Muslims who ruled over it from about 720 to 1100. We got into town and found our hotel. We went out to try and find some place to eat and ended up finding an ice cream shop which was very near to the Cathedral. It was located in a square with a cool fountain (picture 1). The ice cream was SO DELICIOUS!!!! Truly some of the best ice cream I have ever had. Mom had Dulce de Leche and I had an almond flavored one. So good! I don't even know what else to say about it. Just great. We walked around a little bit more along the main street, Gran Via de Colon, which had really cool street lights (picture 2). I knew we were in Spain when I saw an orange tree outside the cathedral (picture 3).

We made our way back to the hotel and went to sleep. I didn't take very many pictures (only like 10) today because it was dark while we were in Granada and night pictures are hard. Also, I have a lot of pictures of the Tate so I didn't take any of it. The rest of the day was spent on buses or airplanes which didn't really warrant pictures to me.

Never Been to Spain

*This is a guest post written by my mom because I don't really have time.*

Jeremy and I ended up in Spain for three main reasons: It’s the only major European country I’d visited, the flights were cheap, and I hoped against hope at least it wouldn’t snow there.

Here we are! Now I can’t sing that phrase from the Three Dog Night song any more!

Jeremy and I spent the night at a small pension in Granada after our flight landed. Since it was going to be dark by the time we got into the city, I had looked very carefully on the internet for a map so that we could find it. We didn’t really know when to get off the bus, but we ended up making a really good guess. The stop was right by an enormous orange tree behind a beautiful wrought iron fence. The oranges were glowing in the streetlight. It had to be the place! (It was where most of the other people got off, haha.) With Jeremy navigating, we found it with no problem. Then we went out for a bite to eat. We ended up having wonderful ice cream. I had Dulce de Leche and Jeremy had Almondrina. We both thought it was the best ice cream we’d ever had in our lives. It helped the taste that we had not eaten well for two days, and yet this was probably not the best nutrition under those circumstances. It was lovely to be in the warmth and already we were experiencing one of the best parts of the trip for me, the smell of the orange blossoms. The man at the hostel was so helpful and nice that I couldn’t bear to tell him we were leaving right away the next morning for Seville. He gave me lots of information (that we used when we returned on the last leg of our trip).

Tower of Easter

One of the things I do when I can't think of a title for a blog entry is replace one word with another which allows for more coverage of what happened that day, kind of like the Before and After puzzles on Wheel of Fortune but not really. This title is no exception. My mom and I went to the Tower of London on Easter. Thus the Tower of Easter. It doesn't really make sense but that's something you all will just have to deal with.

Since it was Sunday and I just about always go to church on Sunday, that's what I did in the morning. My Mom was maybe going to meet me and go with but we decided the night before that if she wasn't there before 9:30, I should just go on my own. She didn't show up so that's what I did. The walk to church was FREEZING. It was soooo windy and it was snowing! Snowing, on Easter! Crazy. The service was not that different from any other one (no special things, like the play on Palm Sunday). The pastor did his homily with the children sitting up front which was nice. There were so many kids there! Even more than usual I mean.

The best part of the mass by far was the little boy who sat in front of me. He reminded me SO MUCH of Sam. Not as cute but pretty darn close. He would stand up on his dad's lap and his dad would mak the biggest grin. While he leaned over their shoulder, I we sounds and he would break out intoould do peek-a-boo with my song book. It made my heart hurt a little to think of how long it had and has been since I saw Sam and Josh and Emily. At the same time, it seemed a little like an Easter gift from the Big Guy Upstairs that I got to see this child who was so much like Sam throughout the mass. That's why I don't really remember much else about what happened, I was too busy paying attention to the boy. After the mass, I told them how cute their baby was and about Sam. They said their son was 11 months old so a little older but still close.

The snow stopped while I walked back. I met up with my mom who apparently had an adventure of her own. She took the bus from her hotel to the Tate Britain but got a little off track along the way. That is totally understandable. London can be really confusing sometimes. Anyway, we met up and went to the Tower of London (picture 1). We took the Tube but had to wait in line to buy tickets unfortunately. It was cold but we survived. The Tower of London is a big tourist attraction (or trap, depending on your point of view). It all started with the White Tower which was a Norman tower built in 1097 and is 90 ft. tall. From there the complex get expanded more and more throughout the centuries until its current size. The Tower is known best of all as a place where lots of famous people have died. Most people were publicly executed on Tower Hill, outside the Tower walls in front of enormous crowds. The Tower is also known for holding the Crown Jewels.

So we walked in and went on a "Beefeater" tour. The "Beefeaters" are actually called Yeoman Warders and no one really knows why they are called that. They have lived and protect the Tower of London for many centuries. Now, instead of protecting the complex, they give very entertaining tours of it (picture 2). We started the tour talking about one of the 20 towers in the complex. We walked along and passed my the Traitor's Gate which was a gate that leads to the River Thames. Accused people would pass through the gate and into the Tower of London on their way to be executed or held there. We walked by and listened to the Beefeater talk about the White Tower. Just outside the tower are the Ravens of the Tower (picture 3). Legend has it that if the Ravens ever leave the Tower, the White Tower, the monarchy and all of the UK will fall. Needless to say, there is a cage. There were so many people following along on the tour that it was hard to hear him sometimes and kind of uncomfortable. It was only that busy because it was Easter and everyone was on holiday. Our next stop was the Tower Green which was the private execution area (picture 4). Only seven people were killed here, including Lady Jane Grey and Anne Boleyn, two of the wives of Henry VIII. Then we went into the Chapel of St. John which has quite a few famous people buried in it. That's where the tour ended.

After the tour we walked around and found the end of the line for viewing the Crown Jewels. It was so long. We had to wait for about 20 minutes or more, I can't remember. Then once inside, we had to shuffle around people to actually see anything. The Crown Jewels were really amazing though. The Imperial State Crown has over 2,800 diamonds and 273 pearls among other precious gems on it. The State Sword is one of if not the most expensive sword in the world. There are many other jewels and things like the Orb (symbolizing the power of Christ the Redeemer) and the Sceptre with the Cross which has the largest cut diamond in the world, 530-carat, in the middle of it. All the opulence and wealth kind of made me feel bad and that it was kind of a waste but what do I know. At least it looks cool I guess. I should mention that all of the jewels are super important in the coronation ceremony of a new monarch and are worn when the Queen opens Parliament each year. Lots of tradition and history involved in them.

After the Jewel House, we walked through the White Tower which has a bunch of exhibitions on armor and weaponry. This is because the White Tower served as an armory for about 700 years or more. The highlight of the whole collection of pikes, shotguns, muskets, swords, and armor (for horses and people) is the armor for Henry VIII. The armor is very nice looking but there might have been a little bit of exaggeration on a certain part of the armor (picture 5). From there we walked around part of the walls and into a room where they kept some of the old crowns (they make new ones when the stones start to fall out of the old ones). There was a kid in there that kept whistling the same tune over and over and over and over again. I seriously wanted to punch him in the throat. I hate people sometimes. We left there and walked around the inside some more. Finally the sun made an appearance. The White Tower looked awesome with the blue sky and white clouds (picture 7). We took some pictures of us with the Tower Bridge in the background (picture 8 and 9). We walked through one of the buildings that is actually inside the walls and it had windows over looking Tower Bridge (picture 10). After that we decided to leave.

We walked along the River Thames so that Mom could see some the South Bank sites from across the river. Plus it was still sunny and I wanted to savor it while we could. We walked until we got to St. Paul's Cathedral which we walked in a little bit (there was a service going on so it was free to go in but we couldn't walk in very far). Still just as spectacular as before. From there, we took the bus back and stopped at Tesco on the way. We got a ham sandwich, some pasta salad, and carrots sticks for our Easter Dinner. We ate it in the basement while we called people back home to wish them a Happy Easter (picture 11). It was a very different kind of Easter Dinner than I am used to but I still liked it. Better than spending it alone anyway. I had a very memorable Easter and couldn't wait to get ready to leave for Spain. That's all for today!

Happy Easter!