Last Leg of the Heritage Tour

I am currently back in the US. I'm happy to be back, but sad to leave my family (and Europe), and now, I'm just a mess of emotions, but more on that emotional ping-pong later. On to happier subjects, like the last couple of days of the Heritage Tour.

Day 16 - Poland to Vienna - We left Poland a day earlier than planned as we had completed our task of genealogy research, and drove to Vienna. We made it through 4 countries in one day (all of them in the EU, so no passport stamps, lame). It was interesting to see the differences between Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, and Austria all in a day. I believe Hungary had a more Americanized/Westernized way of farming as opposed to the little individual farms owned in Poland and Slovakia. Then, of course, Austria is much more westernized than the other 3 countries and is on the Euro, which was another interesting comparison. We arrived in Vienna just in time to hit a deluge of rain and hail.

Day 17 - Vienna - Today, we saw the Schönbrunn palace in Vienna. It was very nice and interesting to see the old Austro-Hungarian map hanging in one of the rooms (which showed why it's so complicated in figuring out if my family is Polish, Austrian, or something else). I also had a giant pretzel (that I could barely finish) that was very soft and tasty! We also went to the Mozarthaus museum which is located in one of the apartments Mozart lived in during his time in Vienna. It was a pretty good museum if you stopped listening to the audio guide (which was rather long and overly-detailed and not wholly relevant to the room it was supposedly talking about).

Day 18 - Vienna - Today, we took a bus tour around the city. We didn't really do much since we were exhausted with ambitious plans to see entire cities in 1 or 2 days at the end of the tour.

Day 19 - Vienna to Rothenburg - Today, we packed up once again for Rothenburg ob der Tauber in Bavaria. Along the way, we stopped near Füssen to see the Neuschwanstein Castle (which is famous for being the inspiration of Disneyland's Sleeping Beauty Castle) built (but never finished) by Ludwig II. The finished rooms are very interesting. Ludwig II built the castle as an homage to Richard Wagner. His bedroom has a Tristan and Isolde theme, one of the rooms leads to a false cave that is supposed to be grotto (based off of one of Wagner's works), and there's a large room that was supposed to serve as a staging place for operas. It is a beautiful castle and very Romantic sitting up on top of a hill surrounded by the fog rolling in. Afterwards, we finished the last leg of our journey, and headed to Rothenburg. Rothenburg has very strong preservation orders, which has led the town to remaining like a little slice of Medieval history. The tour book described it as a "Medieval theme park," which isn't completely inaccurate. I like it - it's charming and full of history.

Day 20 - Rothenburg to Frankfurt - Today, we wandered around Rothenburg looking in all of the cute little shops (and of course, stopping in the large Christmas store). My dad and I went to the Medieval Crime (criminal?) Museum which showed a bunch of instruments of torture as well as decrees and laws from the Medieval times. It was interesting and better than the one in Cordoba because it wasn't just instruments of torture, but also information about laws of the time. We also tried the local specialty - the schneeballen (snow-ball), which wasn't quite like I expected it to be. Afterwards, we headed to our last stop - Frankfurt.

Day 21 - Frankfurt to Washington, D.C. - This was another one of those bittersweet days. I was excited to return to the U.S. after 134 days of being in Europe, but I was sad to say goodbye to my family. Sometimes, I think it's harder to see people for a short period of time after a long time apart, and then have to say goodbye again. The flight wasn't so bad - I slept through most of it. And, so ends the Heritage Tour. Onto my internship!

Whirlwind Tour

It has been 2 weeks since I embarked on my Heritage Tour with my dad and grandma, and we've seen London, Paris, Sweden, Berlin, and are currently situated in Poland. So, to give you a (brief) summary of what has really been quite the whirlwind tour. Day 1 - May 28th: Day 15 - June 11 (for reference)

Day 1 - London: Despite having a cold (thank you, Spain for that lovely parting gift), I enjoyed London. We took a bus tour to see all the most important sights (the London Eye, Parliament/Big Ben, Buckingham Palace, the Tower of London, the bridge, etc.) and got off to go into the Tower of London, which was really awesome. I love Medieval and Renaissance history and such, so it was great to see such a vital part of British history from those time periods (I still think that the princes in the Bloody Tower were murdered...they didn't just "disappear").

Day 2 - London to Paris: We took the bullet train in the morning to Paris. To all my friends who are giant Harry Potter nerds, er, I mean, fans, I didn't leave from King's Cross. Bummer, I know. Going under the Channel wasn't too bad - I didn't really notice that we were in an underground tunnel. After a long, complicated, stressful trip from the train station to the hotel, we went to the Eiffel Tower. Now, the tower is cool and all, but I do see why Parisians found it offensive (?) at first. It is a rather ugly (in comparison to the rest of Paris) large metal thing with no real useful function sitting in the middle of the city. That being said, it provides an amazing view of Paris and the surrounding area. It's interesting that this tower was considered so offensive to Parisians once upon a time, and now, it's one of the most iconic pieces of Paris.

Day 3 - Versailles and Giverny: Versailles was quite possibly one of the best palaces I've seen in Europe (the Hall of Mirrors is rather impressive). It was also nice that I could take pictures since the palace isn't in use anymore (unlike El Palacio Real in Madrid and the Royal Palace in Sweden). The trip to Giverny and Monet's Garden was very nice (despite getting lost along the way...but, we managed to figure out the not so detailed maps that we had and go the right way). The countryside was absolutely gorgeous and made for a splendid drive. The garden was also breathtaking and it's not hard to see how Monet could have painted so many masterpieces using his garden. Upon returning to the city, my dad and I took a walk around just to see what there was. We ended up returning to the hotel at night, so I got to see Paris all lit up.

Day 4 - Paris: This was the day with A LOT of walking because we went to the Louvre, but before that, we headed to Notre Dame. Despite being a little worn out with cathedrals (do you have any idea how many there are in Spain?), I was excited to see Notre Dame (perhaps it had something to do with it's fame). It is a beautiful cathedral and I got to get my ARTH 100 geek on and tell my family all I could remember about Gothic architecture. After the cathedral, we hopped back on our "boat bus" that took us down the Seine to the Louvre. Oh, the Louvre. I knew it was big, but I didn't realize how big until I walked in it. I saw the Winged Victory of Samothrace (my favorite work of art from ARTH 100), Venus de Milo, and the Mona Lisa (Annie, definitely thought of you and your photo project), as well as other works of art...I spent a lot of time in the Egyptian section of the museum. I think I saw a handful of rooms on each floor of each section, which means my dad and I probably walked the entire length of the Louvre at least twice (if not 3 times). Needless to say, I was a bit exhausted at the end of the day.

Day 5 - Paris to Lund (via Copenhagen): This was pretty much a travel day. We flew from Paris to Copenhagen, where there was a scare at Charles DeGaulle. Someone had left their luggage unattended and the police were called in and the passengers relocated. It turned out to be all ok, and we proceeded to fly to Copenhagen without any more drama (although, the flight was a little bumpy, if I remember correctly). Sorry, Leslye, but we didn't stay too long in Copenhagen - only long enough to get our bags and catch the train to Sweden. Our hotel in Lund was actually like a studio apartment - a sleeping area, a kitchenette, and a bathroom. It was quite nice. We then had dinner with cousin (my 3rd cousin once removed) and his family, and he made us reindeer stew. It was very tasty. That's one new big game animal that I've tried! There was also a fabulous LOTR reference at dinner, a sure sign of the awesomeness in my family. :)

Day 6 - Lund: Today, we saw my great-great grandmother's birthplace in Torpa, Sweden. It's amazing that the house is still standing. Afterward, we wandered around the parish church's graveyard and found my great-great-great grandparents' tombstone (in the prime location right behind the church...wonder how they ended up there?). Then, we had tea and sweets with some more cousins, and my grandma got some more information for her family tree. I tried wild boar for dinner - game animal number 2.

Day 7 - Lund to Stockholm: Today, we flew to Stockholm, and then drove to Skinnskatteberg (the name comes from the fact that the area is full of sheep farmers and they are known for sheep skins or something like that). We stayed in a beyond adorable bed and breakfast with a wonderful old couple who ran it. There was a lake, a little porch/veranda (on which, I took a nap), trees, sheep, sheepdogs, and just plenty of beautiful sights.

Day 8 - Retracing Footsteps: Today, we retraced my great-great-grandfather's footsteps from his birth in Skinnskatteberg to the last known location in Österåker before heading to the USA (where he met my great-great-grandmother whose house we had seen a couple days earlier). It was amazing to think that he had followed the same road (more or less), except not in a car and during the winter. I don't know how they traveled from farm to farm in the winter, but somehow, they made it. We, then had dinner with more cousins, which was another fabulous event. I've found the Swedes to be generally nice, polite, friendly people, which only makes me more proud of my heritage. Everyone we met in Sweden (especially, in the little towns) chatted with us and answered all of our questions about the history of the places we were in. I would love to go back again and again and again!

Day 9 - Stockholm: Today, we toured the capital city. We saw the royal palace (and a bunch of its museums), the changing of the guard, and the Vasa Museum. The Vasa is a 17th century warship that sunk on its maiden voyage, but due to some wondrous biological processes, the ship didn't decay, and they pulled it out of the water intact in the late 1960s. Nowadays, you can see the ship in the museum, which is made of 95% of its original material. It's the only ship like that in the world - crazy, right? We also went to Old Town and did some souvenir shopping and got some Swedish food (I had elk...it was ok...really tender, but had a funky texture...large game animal number 3). Stockholm is a very lovely city - I wish I could have spent a little more time in the city, although I did thoroughly enjoy our days in the countryside!

Day 10 - Stockholm to Berlin: Alas, all good things must come to an end, and we packed up and left Stockholm. After some delays, we ended up in our hotel just outside of Berlin. It was in a very nice little town with a traditional German restaurant near the hotel.

Day 11 - Berlin: Today, we toured the city of Berlin. We went to see remnants of the wall and a museum about the Nazi-era, and later, the era of communism in Germany. I attempted, yet again, to climb the wall. This time, since it was at a more run down remnant, there were some bars to hold on to, but I still didn't make it very far up the wall, which I suppose, was the point of the wall in the first place. Then, we saw Brandenburg Gate, the Reichstag (didn't wait in the 1 hour line since my dad and I have been up there, and my grandma didn't have much interest in climbing the dome), Checkpoint Charlie, and Charlottenberg. It was a rather nice day and there was a lot of "we're in West Berlin. Oh, now we're in East Berlin." as we crossed over the double row of cobblestones marking the old outline of the wall (yes, we could feel the cobblestones as we drove over them).

Day 12 - Berlin to Poland: We left Berlin and drove pretty much all the way across Poland to the south-eastern area (our town is about 1 hour away from the Ukranian border). It was a long 11-hour drive, but the countryside provided for a beautiful view. It wasn't so bad until we hit the area where there had been flooding earlier in the week and the roads were being worked on. It's interesting to see how Poland's membership in the EU has led to some changes in the past 6 years. The roads are getting makeovers to be more up to date with the rest of European roads, so there is a lot of construction, which makes for a very interesting drive.

Day 13 - Przemyśl: Today, we went to a small town in southern Poland (10 km from the Ukrainian border - too bad we couldn't just pop over) to do some genealogy research. I had a small (if you can call it small) Hungarian potato pancake for dinner - there's a pancake (which is pretty thick) made of potato topped with a meat goulash sauce, cheese, and sour cream. It was very delicious even though I couldn't finish it!

Day 14 - Osobonica: We went to a village to do some more genealogy research. The priest was very nice and even made us have lunch (even though he already ate). We had chicken that had probably been alive a couple of days before we got there. It's so interesting being in the countryside, especially in Europe. So many people think Europe is completely like Paris, Madrid, or London, but especially in Eastern Europe, it's not like that and there's more countryside than cities (even the biggest towns would be considered small to Americans). In Osobonica, I saw people with old tractors, plows, and carts that were pulled by horses, and I even saw one pulled by a guy riding a bike attached to the cart. The animals also grazed pretty much wherever they wanted to - there were very little fences and the livestock just hung out in the pastures (some of them were even almost at the road). It was refreshing to see farming going on the way it was in the "old world" or "back in the day" instead of the agribusiness that we have in the US and just knowing that the animals here are probably only killed when meat is needed and it's done by hand, not by some factory. It makes me want to spend some actual time on a farm working the land. I feel like I would gain an appreciation for my food and home and just the Earth in general that I couldn't get any other way (K.Kelles, I feel like I'm channeling you right about now & Karena, I know you understand what I'm saying here).

Day 15 - Polish Countryside: Today, we drove around the Polish countryside looking for something to do, but weren't quite successful. At least it was a nice, relaxing, beautiful day. We did walk around Krosno, which is the biggest city/town in the area, and it's probably smaller than Cordoba. It was nice - I had some ice cream and the cones are shaped like cups, which made it a lot less messy to eat (always a plus when dealing with me)!

Well, that about wraps it up! Next stop - Vienna!

Sonrisas y Lagrimas

Title explanation: Sonrisas y Lagrimas is actually the name in Spanish for The Sound of Music, but it literally translates to "smiles and tears," which makes this appropriate for my reflection on the last week in Spain.


The entrance way to Feria. One of my favorite photos that I've taken.

So, our last week was filled with Feria and parties (por supuesto). We kicked off the last week with a party at Feria where we had arroz (paella), danced, and drank a variety of beverages (I'm sure lots of people chose alcohol...the extreme heat told me I should pick a more hydrating beverage). All in all, it was a fun day, despite the crazy heat.

A couple of days later, we had the Lluvia de las Estrellas - a talent show of the cultural courses (Sevillanas, Coro, and Guitarra) and a big party for the families, friends, professors, and students. That day was definitely a blast! It was a little bit bittersweet, especially knowing that the semester was at an end and we'd all be leaving for whatever adventures awaited us in the summer, but it was great way to top off the semester. Despite nearly falling (perhaps dancing in 3-inch stilettos should be saved for the likes of Ginger Rogers, but my black heels just looked better with the dress) on the second Sevillana, I would like to say our performance went rather well.

Then, we said "adios" to Cordoba, once and for all, and packed all of our suitcases on a bus to Madrid. There were tears (none shed by me, though...perhaps it's my calm, collected, stoic Asian-ness?), smiles, and promises to visit one another. It was a nice (long) bus ride up to Madrid (even with the hail), and there was a rather lively game of "Never Have I Ever" going on the in the back of the bus that turned into "Somebody come up with something that Sarah has done" since 3 people got out before I even put one finger down (haha!).

I would like to return to Cordoba someday, preferably for Feria or Patios or some sort of fiesta, but before it gets above 100-110 degrees Fahrenheit.

Fiesta Time!

As I have mentioned before, Spain is well-known for going out all the time and it often seems that they party more than they work. Well, there is a very good explanation for this (which I have just learned). Spain is mainly an import country, so they don't really export a lot of goods, which means their economy is much more dependent of tourism and the general population going out all the time. It's actually better for Spain's economy for people to be out shopping, eating, drinking, etc. instead of working all the time. It all makes sense, now!

Anyway, May in Spain (especially in Andalucía and Córdoba) feels like even more of a party month. In Córdoba, the first weekend of May was Cruces de Mayo. Basically, there were a bunch of crosses around the city decorated with flowers surrounded by people getting drunk. It was an ok festival...a huge crowd of people standing around outside doing nothing but getting drunk isn't exactly what I had in mind (I expected music and dancing in addition to the druken crowd).

In the second week or so, there's the Patio contest, which my host house is a part of...and should have won, but the weird rules led to them not getting anything. I didn't quite understand when my host mother told us in a rapid frustrated manner, but I know that it's a sore subject, and refuse to ask clarification. I got the basic jist - they were robbed of first place, despite a handful of judges thinking that they deserved it. I, personally, only found one other patio to be as guay as ours, and that was our next door neighbor's patio.

After the patios, we went to a Romería. How do I describe Romería? Well, there's a religious aspect (every Romería has a specific saint and every pueblo [little country town] has a Romería) in which there's a parade that follows a float (of sorts) with a statue of the saint from a church in the center of town to a church in the middle of the town. Basically, it was a giant party where people ate paella (a really bad one that tasted like it had fake fish flavor instead of real fish flavor), drank, and danced Sevillanas. Anyone catch a pattern here - festivals with religious meanings, but everyone just gets drunk. Actually, Romería was a lot of fun, since there was more to do than just drink, and I got to dance a lot of Sevillanas. The 4-mile pilgrimage was also very beautiful as we were walking through the olive fields.

After that, there was a blues festival, which was a lot of fun. Over three days, there was a series of free (always a plus) outdoor concerts. It was a lot of fun getting together with everyone to watch the concerts and celebrate the end of classes and finals.

This past weekend, I went to Cádiz (not a traditional Spanish festival, but an AWESOME day, nonetheless). Cádiz was gorgeous, and despite the wind that blew sand at us all day, it was a fabulous day. I'm so glad I was able to go to the beach and that I went with a great group of people.

Now, we have Fería, which is a huge county faire. It makes me want to eat something fried and/or sugary that isn't particularly good for you (like fried dough or a funnel cake).

El Fin (Almost)

As classes come to an end, I've been thinking about my time here in Spain. We only have a little more than 2 weeks in Spain, and all of the Preshquitas/os are well aware of this fact. Every time someone asks if I'm excited or ready to go home, I have a conflicted response.

Honestly, I have been ready to go home for a little while. Yes, Spain is great, but it's not home. I feel like this homesickness has been brought on by the sobering reality that I am going to graduate from college next year, that I won't be back home (California) until Thanksgiving, and that someday, I will be referring to my parent's house as just that and not as my home because I will have my own place that I call home (and pay the bills for...this last one dawned on me as I took care of my summer housing and had to sign a lease for the first time).

At the same time, I don't want to leave Spain because there are so many things I love about it (like, how going out to eat or get a coffee is a 3 hour affair where you relax and enjoy the company of friends and family or that the workday is really split into the morning and the evening, and you spend the afternoon relaxing at home with the family).

I think, I am a lot more excited for the end of May because I'm going to embark on what I'm calling the "Heritage Tour" in which I will be visiting Northern Europe with my dad and grandma. I call it the "Heritage Tour" because we will be heading to countries where our ancestors hail from (and anyone who knows me very well knows that I really love being part Swedish...going to Sweden has been a dream of mine for a while, now...I hope I get to see the fjords [*hint hint* Dad *hint hint*].

I think the fact that I'm a) not leaving Europe right away at the end of the program and b) the end of the program means I get to see a couple of family members makes me answer "yes" to the questions about being ready to go home/excited for the end. Besides, we're staying for the fun stuff, and then it gets into June, which means ridiculous summer heat (over 100 degrees Fahrenheit pretty much all the time...ew). So, yes, I am looking forward to the end. Studying abroad in Spain has been an amazing and wonderful opportunity and chapter in my life, but I am ready to move on to the next chapters, which include the "heritage tour," a summer internship, and senior year of college.

Ay! Que calor!

It is definitely springtime here. Actually, it feels more like summer. It's quite glorious - 77 degrees Fahrenheit at 9:30 PM? Perfection. It's actually not quite so perfect when the sun is actually out. I don't know what the temperature actually is during mid-day, but I'm going to assume that it's somewhere in the 80s (maybe 90s) and it will only get hotter as we head into May. I now understand why there is a siesta where you relax in your house for a couple of hours. It's to avoid the heat. I do have to say that I prefer the sun and it's rays full of Vitamin D (as well as other not so beneficial things) to the rain and the cold.

I apologize for not updating in a while - there really hasn't been much to report on. We went to Granada and saw the Alhambra (which I remember learning about in high school and was super excited to go there). Actually, funny story - the bus arrived an hour late to take us to Granada, so our tickets that we had reserved were given to other people (since the tickets have a specific time). Somehow, through some connections that PRESHCO staff have, we managed to get almost enough tickets to tour the Alhambra. The Alhambra is a Moorish palace, and it's gorgeous. I have discovered that I prefer Islamic art to Christian art. The cathedrals that we've been to all look the same - Gothic architecture with Gothic, Baroque, Renaissance, and Neo-Classical art decorating the inside. The Islamic art is also very similar in all of the places that we go to, but since it's ornate in a less-gaudy kind of way (because, let's face it, the cathedrals have a touch of gaudiness to them), it's a lot nicer to look at.

Also, in Granada, we learned that "Al" is Arabic for "the" and all of the Spanish words with "al" at the beginning are derived from Arabic. This is also why Spanish and Portuguese sound so different from other Romance languages (like Italian and French) - because of the Islamic rule in the Middle Ages and the Arabic influence on the language. I was really excited when I discovered why French and Italian are more similar to each other than to Spanish.

I have also been watching a lot of television here (a byproduct of not having a lot of schoolwork to do since everything is lecture based & we aren't responsible for hundreds of pages of reading a week). It's actually probably a good thing, since everything (well, mostly) is dubbed in Spanish, so it's another way for me to be exposed to the language instead of watching programs in English or listening to music in English. I have found that cartoons (dibujos animados) are easier to watch since the mouths don't really look too different with the dubbing, and have been watching a lot of Bob Esponja (Spongebob Squarepants). From Bob Esponja, I have learned some valuable vocabulary words, like "cangrejo" (crab), "calamardo" (Squid[ward]), "aranita" (Sandy), "fondo de bikini" (Bikini Bottom), and more. I have also discovered that Dora la Exploradora is just as annoying in Spanish as she is in English - I watched about half of an episode before deciding that I couldn't take it anymore.

Yes, so that's about it. Nothing too terribly exciting, but the May festivals are going to be starting soon (including the patio contest, so there will be tons of tourists coming to our patio & I may have to prove to tourists that I do indeed live in this house and am not trying to cut the line). Hasta luego, amigos!

Veni, Vidi, Vici

So, I'm back from Rome (I've been back for a little over a week) and settling back in to classes. Tomorrow, we head to Granada (Pomegranate) with the group.

Coming back to Córdoba was rather interesting...we had an early-ish flight out of Pisa on Tuesday morning and decided it would be best to leave Rome in the evening and spend the night in the Pisa airport. Well, it turns out that the Pisa airport COMPLETELY shuts down between the time of the last arrival and 4 AM. So, from 1 AM to 4 AM, we had to hang out outside of the airport. It turned out to be a lot of fun, despite the cold (we dug into our bags and fished out the clean clothes we had left...I even threw my towel on top of my head, and then put my hood up to create a makeshift scarf/hat). Needless to say, I was exhausted when I came back, and ended up sleeping for 16 hours (after staying up for, more or less, 30 hours). It was an amazing trip! So much fun! :D