This is Oviedo

So my time in Oviedo has come to an end. Sometimes the end felt too close, sometimes it just seemed too far. Now it is all over and I have left the precious Oviedo and am down in the hot southern city of Sevilla. 

I hadn't really thought about how much this experience meant to me until I wrote a little reflection to send to my friend, who was writing an article on Erasmus for her University's newspaper. You can read it here!

Coming from the other side of the world, little ol' New Zealand, I did not know what was awaiting me here in Spain. The stereotypes of sun, bull-fighting, and flamenco dancers all came to mind but I had been warned that that was not Asturias. What I did get though was a unique and enjoyable experience of a region that some describe as the "true" Spain with a lot of rain.

Sidra!

In typical Spanish style, partying was a priority, drinking a lot of cider was a student-must, and a relaxed attitude to everything from studying to paying your bills was an everyday occurrence. I now understand why siestas are a necessity, because the Spaniards are nocturnal.

In the words of Woody Allen, "Oviedo is like a fairy tale" and unfortunately my fairy tale in Oviedo has come to an end. The idea that I will be leaving my life here in Spain soon makes me incredibly sad but at the same time I cannot wait to get back to reality. I did not think that I would come away with such great friends, memories, and experiences. I will miss the 'Paraíso Natural', mountains covered in snow, the beaches, and the beauty of this region.

Playa de Gijón

Parque de Invierno y las moñtanas

Josh being here has also made me realise that I have adjusted to so many things that used to frustrate me. Supermarkets being closed in the afternoons or on Sundays, means planning a bit ahead is necessary. The number of old people and dogs that walk along the streets. Children staying out until well after what would be considered their bedtime in NZ. It has all become a normality for me. Also, Josh's height and size has meant he has had to adjust to people constantly staring at him. If I haven't mentioned it before, Spaniards are generally short and small. 

Living in Oviedo for five months has been an invaluable life experience, which I would never take back. They say an exchange is not a year in your life but a life in a year and I don't think I could explain my time here in any other way. 

Barcelona Take Two (21/5-26/5)

After my first trip to Barcelona, I was dying to go back again. I wanted to experience the sounds, colours and smells (well not all) again!

As Dad, Carole, Duncan, Anna, and Josh were all coming to Spain a trip to Barcelona all together was on the table! Ryanair now flies from Asturias airport directly to Barcelona El Prat, which makes it so cheap for us to get there. It was about 40 euros return with just carry-on luggage.

We stayed at Be Sound Barcelona. A great hostel with a great vibe. All six of us stayed in one room, which wasn't the biggest but fine as we were all family.

Never seen anything like it!

The highlight for me was finally going into La Sagrada Familia. Something I didn't do last time because we didn't have enough time and I knew I was coming back! Also visiting Camp Nou, Barcelona's football stadium was surprisingly quite interesting. I can now understand better why the Spaniards are so crazy about football and FC Barcelona in particular.

FC Barcelona's motto, Més Que Un Club 

Andalucía (30/3-3/4)

A much needed update!

Firstly, Andalucía!

Four days, four cities! Not a lot of time in the end but was worth it for the 185€ (300NZD) that I paid, which included transport, accommodation, some meals and entry into some places.

The trip started on the evening of Friday March 30th with a 12 hour bus ride to Granada. The Saturday was spent exploring and visiting the cathedral. Two highlights of the wander around the city were; the tapas, and the tea. When you order a drink here you get free tapas to go with it. It wasn't your ordinary tapa or "pincho" you might get in Asturias though. It was big enough to be counted as a meal! Continuing our wander we came across the tea stalls and shops. The tea made the streets smell divine and every flavour imaginable was there! Think cinnamon with licorice, or cherry and apple. That Sunday we visited the Alhambra, which was amazing. Unfortunately we didn't get to see the Palacio Real because we missed out on tickets! That would be the only real let down of the trip I think.

That afternoon we moved on to Málaga! Here I got to see my first Semana Santa procession! You hear about them or see pictures, but it is nothing like being there! Men (possibly women too, I am unsure) wear long robes with a pointed head piece. They lead a big group of men (again possibly women, unsure) carrying a giant religious throne. Some of these ornate thrones are so big that some have to be stored outside of the churches they belong to as they are too big to fit through the church doors! Later on that night a group of us decided we would have dinner on the waterfront. We ordered the paella and 25 minutes later the waiter brings out a massive dish and serves it out to us. The paella combined with some tasty drinks, great company, and warm weather, made it a perfect night!

Málaga

Paella, Málaga

The next day we headed off to Sevilla! As it was Semana Santa and one of the busiest times of the year for the city, we couldn't stay there. This meant we only had about four hours to wander around. Seeing as there was so much to do and so little time we split off from the ESN group and did our own tour. The streets actually smelled like jasmine and orange blossom! The colours of the buildings and the flowers (which were everywhere) were so vivid! It was such a pity when we had to leave, but on to Córdoba we went!

Plaza de España, Sevilla

We arrived in Córdoba in the evening. I was so dead by this time I opted out of doing anything, had a nice long shower, and hopped into bed! The next day we started with a visit to the Cathedral/Mosque. Inside, the architecture and design were mind-blowing. At one point I was looking at an arch with Christian ornaments and then I could look through to the next one, which was one of the original Islamic arches. When we came out the rain had started. This made our city tour a bit of a miserable one as we were all getting soaked. According to Spaniards, it always rains in Andalucía in the Holy Week!

That night, a ten hour bus ride back to Oviedo and that was the end of my trip to Andalucía! At that point I was just craving to get back down there and to experience it some more. Even though it is a part of Spain, it felt like a different country. Cannot wait to get back there!

La Ruta del Cares

ESN organised for us to spend last Sunday the 25th of March walking La Ruta del Cares. It was an absolutely breathtaking trek in the Picos de Europa National Park. The path is carved in the rocks and at points you are right by the edge. We started in Posada de Valdeón and continued on until Caín where we stopped for lunch. We finished the trek at Poncebos after meeting a few goats on the way. The walk took about six hours including our lunch break, which was about an hour. I think it was about 21 kilometres in total! 

León y Gijón

It was one of my first weekends in Oviedo that I didn't have a trip planned. So what did I do? Planned a trip of course! I had heard a lot about León, so when my friend suggested we go for a day trip that Saturday (10/3) I decided to put exploring Oviedo further on hold and go to León. It is only about an hour and 45 minutes away on the bus from Oviedo, therefore easy to organise.

We wandered up to the Cathedral. The trick about this Cathedral is if you just want to have a glimpse inside you can if you enter on the left-hand side for free. Otherwise most tourists go in the right-hand side and end up having to pay for entrance. I don't think it is too expensive and you can get an audio-guide. We took the left-hand side option.

We kept wandering and came across the Saturday market. Mostly fresh fruit and vegetables. It was too hard to resist the delicious strawberries, so at the price of €2.49 a kilogram (4NZD) we got a good half-kilo to share.

After, we slipped into a restaurant and got a menu del día. It was absolutely delicious. I started with a goat cheese, walnut and apple salad. Followed this with trout covered in a mushroom sauce and then a cheese cake to finish. We also had a bottle of red wine to wash it all down. All this for €12.60, (20NZD).

Feeling absolutely stuffed we went in search for the Basilica. Some how we completely missed it and ended up outside a magnificent building that was a hotel and a church on the side. By this time the heat was coming on and we ended up sitting outside this building for a good half an hour to an hour soaking up the sun's rays. Heading back to the centre we found the real Basilica. As there are outside most churches in Spain, two dodgy, homeless looking men were seated. We hesitated on going in but did in the end and found out that this time we were in the real Basilica!  

Medusas

The next weekend on the Saturday (17/3) I went to Gijón to hang out with my tandem partner. The tandem programme at the University is a language exchange buddy. I am lucky to have a cool tandem and so we've become friends and hang out regularly. As she lives in Gijón, which is half an hour away, it was time I visited her city again. The weather was absolutely miserable. Typical Wellington winter weather, rain and wind at a force! Because of this we decided to visit the aquarium. I absolutely loved the aquarium. You start in a natural area with different types of lizards and turtles. You then move into the ocean. The logic is as you go through the aquarium you follow it as if you are going around the world visiting all the seas and oceans. Starting in Spain, going across to the Caribbean, round into the Pacific and so on. As the weather was so bad, it limited us on what we could do we ending up finishing up by having a milkshake in a café.




That night, Laura came over and we got into some baking and cooking brownie and pizza. Amazingly delicious!

Carnaval y Salamanca

So my blog is in much need of some love and a good update. Seeing as today I'm not going to class because there is a Huelga General or General Strike, this is the perfect opportunity for me to do it.

Laura and I before Avilés Carnval

Espuma en las calles

I should make a quick note about the weekend before I went to Barcelona. As it was the 'Carnaval' weekend this meant we had no classes on the Monday 20th and Tuesday 21st of February.
The Saturday night was Carnaval in Avilés. My friend Laura and I decided we would go as clowns. This would be easier because we were just going to do dramatic face make-up and hopefully that would pass as acceptable attire. People put a lot of effort into their costumes here. I saw whole families with babies included, dressed up in themes.
When we got to Avilés it was about ten at night. The streets around the main square were full of foam! It was impossible to get to the main square, where the music was playing, without getting caught up in the foam! We spent most of our time in the main square, dancing, and admiring the effort people had put into their costumes, before we headed home.

Restaurant where we ate lunch, Cudillero

On the Tuesday (21/2), I went to Cudillero with some friends. Cudillero is a sweet little seaside village North-West of Oviedo. We had a nice lunch in a restaurant before climbing the hill to get a great view of the sea, mini-port and the village. Two of the guys who came with us were Kiwis, so it was a nice breath of fresh air to have people who could relate to thoughts on Oviedo and Spain in general.

Cudillero, view from the lookout 

From the 3rd-4th of March was the ESN trip to Salamanca. The trip was for the national ESN event with over 1,000 exchange students coming together from around Spain.
When we got to the hotel we were surprised and shocked, the hotel was really nice! With my previous trips with ESN the hotels have been quite budget. After settling in we went to get a bite to eat before meeting up in the main square. The square, I had heard, is supposedly the most beautiful in Spain. It definitely was beautiful but it was full of people (mostly exchange students), so it was so much harder to capture the magic of it.

Salamanca, Plaza Mayor

For the afternoon we went around in our University ESN groups visiting places of historical significance, where we would have to compete in games against other ESN groups. It was definitely interesting but lacked being a proper guided tour, which we were told there would be.

Universidad de Salamanca, oldest University in Spain.
Spot the skull!

The evening was spent with all the exchange students in the hotel I was staying at, with never-ending food and alcohol!

The next day we set off to see Ávila and Segovia! Ávila is known for its medieval wall, which still encompasses the old city today. Segovia and it's aqueduct were declared World Heritage sites by UNESCO. We had tours in both cities and then were left to our own devices. We were in Segovia for lunch and had been advised to try the Cochinillo Asado, or roasted baby pig in English. More because it was expensive than anything else, I did not try it. Those who did said it was delicious.
Segovia is a beautiful city. One of the highlights is the castle, which looks like it's out of a fairytale, so magical.

Ávila

Aqueduct Segovia

Castle, Segovia 

¡Barcelona!

How to describe Barcelona? Amazing, fantastic, incredible?!

Barcelona has everything any metropolitan city has and more. The shopping, the nightlife, the amazing architecture, beautiful art, the Mediterranean sea, the tourists, the pickpockets, everything!

The highlight for the trip for me was catching up with my host sisters from Belgium, who I haven't seen for almost three years! It took about a day for me to flick back into French. At the start I was mixing French, Spanish and English, which was incredibly frustrating. Even though it had been almost three years, it felt like it was two weeks ago that we had said goodbye!

After having got up at 5:30 the morning of the 24th (February), taking the bus and then plane to Barcelona, as well as having to flick back to French, I was extremely tired. So we didn't do a lot, just ate out, wandered around and then I crashed before midnight.

Saturday, we got up and did a "free" tour around the Old City. I say free as it was a tour where you gave a tip at the end. We visited a place that was bombed in the civil war, the previous Jewish suburb and much more. Each part the guy had some sort of fascinating story to tell. The tour was a good two hours so by the end we were eager to go get a bite to eat and then check out La Sagrada Familia. We didn't end up going inside as we realised there wasn't a huge amount of time left and we wanted to still see Park Güell among other things. Standing outside La Sagrada was breath-taking enough. I cannot wait to go inside and check it out next time I make it to Barcelona.

A few metro rides and minutes of clinging onto our bags we arrived near Park Güell. There was a street that had escalators going right up to the entrance, which is great for lazy tourists! This would have to be my favourite place in Barcelona. It had awesome views of the city, right out to the Mediterranean. All the stereotypical tourists converged on and around the area with the multi-coloured tiled mosaic seats. Some were in circles drinking beer, others just basking in the afternoon sun. Too good! Unfortunately we had to move on but of course to see some more of Gaudi. Casa Batlló wasn't too far away on the metro. Again it is something that is hard to describe and photos alone won't do it justice.

That night we caught up with some of Alexia's friends from Mexico and went to a few bars before ending up in a club called Razzmatazz. As it is in big cities, 15 euro entry. Inside there are five different clubs each with a different theme and music playing, almost made the 15 euros feel worth it!

Sunday (26th February) came by way too fast and we were all so tired we went to the beach to get some vitamin D before heading back to the airport.

Barcelona was a fantastic city to visit. Although it is a part of Spain, they identify themselves as Catalan before anything else. Aside from the separatist sentiment I could also feel the economic turmoil that Spain is in right now much more than what I have in Oviedo. Luckily we didn't see any of the protests, which they are having in Spain at the moment.

Casa Batlló