Spring Break 2011-Lagos, Portugal

Last weekend I traveled to Lagos, Portugal for a beach weekend organized by Discover Sevilla excursions and in all seriousness it was one of the best weekends of my life! We had fabulous weather and I spent the days relaxing on the beautiful beaches of Portugal with great friends. I arrived by bus Friday morning and went straight to the beach! We took a bus excursion to see the sunset on Cabo San Vincente, the southwesternmost point in Portugal, formerly believed to be the "end of the world". Following the most amazing sunset I've ever seen, we bused into the quaint town of Lagos and enjoyed delicious Indian food then went to the organized party for some dancing. I had a fabulous time with my friends from Sevilla and made lots of new friends too! On Saturday we took a "Sangria Sailboat Cruise" and got to ride on a small motor boat through the impressive grottoes off the coast. It was very hard for me to head back to Sevilla Sunday afternoon after such a blissful vacation. Lagos was so beautiful, I think this excursion is better described through pictures!

Beautiful Lagos! Taking in the views of the beaches right by our hotel.

A group of us at the sunset

Solo shot just before the sunset on Cabo San Vincente

My housemates Paulina, Alex and I on the beach

The "Wolfpack"

A few of us at dinner before the "White Party" on the second night

On the Sangria Sailboat Cruise. Safety first!

Grottoes off the coast-amazing!

Playing on the beach :)

Caitlin and me on the beach!

MADRID

Back in November, shortly after I found out I was accepted to the Sevilla program and confirmed my study abroad plans, a girl from UNC discovered that Taylor Swift was doing a concert in Madrid on her Speak Now European tour. No way I was going to miss an opportunity to see Taylor Swift, in concert in a foreign country, so the first trip I planned outside of Sevilla was our weekend excursion to Madrid.

Alex and I took the bus round trip from Sevilla-Madrid for an economical cost of 35 euros, leaving on Friday morning and returning Sunday. It’s kind of a long bus ride (about 6 hours) but we never have any problems keeping ourselves occupied and mainly caught up on our sleep so we arrived in Madrid rested for the weekend! Nicole’s friend from home, Darlos, is studying in Madrid this semester and he and his roommate were saintly enough to let the four of us girls invade their apartment for the weekend. Alex and I took the metro to Darlos’s apartment and dropped off our stuff then headed to the Puerta del Sol to do some spring shopping! I’ve been lucky enough to tour Madrid while on my past Spain excursions so it was nice to be able to relax on this trip and step out of my typical super-tourist mode. After a successful shopping excursion we headed back to change and get ready for the nighttime festivities. To say the nightlife in Madrid is wild would be an understatement. The guys took us to a sensational bar in an actual cave where the drink special called “Leopard’s milk” (a White Russian knockoff) comes out of the ceiling. Next, we were escorted to a discoteca called Pacha and enjoyed bottle service and phenomenal music! I loved the big city flair of Madrid, and it reminds me of New York a bit because of the unique energy and metropolitan atmosphere.

Cave bar!

The girls and our hosts for the weekend at Pacha!

The "Wolfpack" (nickname that Nicole, Caitlin, Alex and I have adopoted in Sevilla haha) got off to a tardy but tranquil start on Saturday afternoon. First stop on our Madrid agenda: Tate’s. Tate’s is a fabulous burger joint that our resident Madrid companions recommended to us and I must admit, it was one of the best burgers I’ve ever had. Our party of four was the first and only in the restaurant and they had to open a bit early for us! Per usual, we befriended the staff of the restaurant and they brought us a free dessert. Burgers and brownie sundaes were a perfect start to the day! We spent the rest of the day exploring Madrid and were lucky enough to have fabulous weather-70 and sunny! We began with a tour of the Royal Palace, subsequently moved on to the Plaza de Oriente and the Opera House, then the Plaza de España and finished our tour at the Templo de Debod.I loved the tour of the Royal Palace; it was so ornate and beautiful and one room was made entirely of porcelain! Even though photography was forbidden, I snuck a few pictures much to the chagrin of the staff. The Templo de Debod, while a bit obscure, was also well worth the visit. This temple, originally constructed along the Nile River in the 2^nd century, was donated to Spain by the Egyptian government in 1968. By the time we finished with the temple it was time to head back to the boys’ apartment to get ready for the Taylor Swift concert!

Enjoying delicious burgers at Tate's

The "Wolfpack" in front of the symbol of Madrid

In front of the Royal Palace

Nicole and I at the Templo de Debod

Before the concert I was not a die-hard fan of T-Swift but she was absolutely incredible live! She had awesome outfits and cool accessories, including a rhinestone guitar! Our seats were general admission or floor seats but we were SO close to the stage and one of the guitarists threw a guitar pick into the crowd and I caught it!!! Taylor was so adorable and seemed really genuine. I can’t believe I’m sharing this but I definitely shed a few tears during some of her more emotional songs. After the concert we stopped for a quick dinner nearby and headed back to meet the boys for another night of dancing and debauchery in a fabulous 7-story discoteca called Capital. This place was incredible—there were acrobats performing, a whole floor for karaoke, and crazy gusts of wind that come out of the floor. We even saw the famous Real Madrid soccer player, Pepe in the VIP box. Alex and I went on a little excursion in search of this VIP section, but without success, and ended up stumbling upon a bachelor party for a while.

So close to the stage!

The guitarist on the right threw a guitar pick and I caught it!

On our last day in Madrid we went to the adorable Mercado de San Miguel, near the Plaza Mayor, to munch on some tapas for lunch prior to catching the bus back to Sevilla. We had fabulous weather and an afternoon in the market was the perfect ending to our trip!

After lunch in the Mercado de San Miguel

Sevilla, Me Encanta.

Where to begin??? I've fallen extremely behind on updates from my resident city so I'll do my best to get caught up on recent happenings in Sevilla. It's finally springtime in Sevilla and the weather has been phenomenal. Sunny and approximately 75 degrees every day so I've been spending a lot of time down by the river reading books and working on my suntan. Spring has also brought the tourists to Sevilla, they are often spotted toting giant cameras and with their faces buried in maps--they're everywhere! I must be blending in fairly well with Spanish culture and style because I've been asked several times for directions in the past few days and I kind of love it...makes me feel like a local! Most people are not as easily fooled though, especially when I partake in traditional American pastimes such as devoutly following college basketball. A group of us gathered around a laptop in Bar Phoenix during the ACC tournament and streamed the games online while cheering aggressively for the Tar Heels. As you can imagine, we drew many perplexed looks and chuckles from the local Spaniards. When March Madness rolled around, I discovered that TexMex (the same bar that showed the Super Bowl) would be showing all of the NCAA Tournament and have specials! All of the UNC students flocked to Texmex to cheer on the Heels from across the pond. We were SO excited to make it to the Elite Eight and bummed when we finally lost. The UNC enthusiasts far outnumbered Kentucky fans in the bar and I think they were a little intimidated because at halftime they migrated to another room in the bar.

Nicole, Caitlin and Michael watching the ACC tournament in our makeshift sports bar!

I finally met with an Interacambio named Simo, who is studying computer science at the University of Sevilla.  We meandered around by the river and talked about cultural norms in the States, his family in Morrocco and life in Sevilla. He's exceedingly nice, though a tiny bit on the dull side. Regardless, it was a great opportunity to practice Spanish, learn some colloquial phrases and get some help with grammar and pronunciation. Hopefully we can rendezvous again soon!

I took this picture while laying out by the river one day. Sevilla is so beautiful in the spring.

Nicole's parents are in town this week and we've had a wonderful time showing them around Sevilla. Her dad, a former professor, has assigned us the task of discovering how and why Spanish people live such long and healthy lives while carrying on the lifestyle that they do. They stay up late, smoke cigarettes, drink a beer with lunch, and still have one of the lowest rates of heart disease. Spanish women eat pastries and McDonalds but are still inexplicably thin. How? Why? I will keep you all posted if and when we discover the answer to this enigma! Anyways, we've had a fabulous time with the Hensel's. They had a group over to their apartment for dinner and it was so nice to get a little taste of home.