País Vasco

Last weekend, the 21-22 was our first ESN trip away. We left bright and early on Saturday morning, destination: San Sebastian. After about five hours on the bus we arrived in an overcast beach city. We started by taking the funicular up to the top of one of the hills. Despite the drizzle and incoming fog the city was still very beautiful, you could definitely imagine why the beach is considered one of the best in-city beaches in the whole of Europe. About three minutes after taking this photo the fog swept in and the city completely disappeared.

Next we wandered along the sea wall. I have to admit, smelling the sea air and feeling the sea salt whip through my hair was refreshing, I miss being so close to the sea in New Zealand! When we got to the end there were three sculptures as well as seven breather holes, which when there is a strong swell, water and air rushes up through them. They were awesome! Next up was the city tour. By now the rain was really coming down and the realisation was sinking in that my feet were soaking wet. Not great but I still wanted to walk up to the statue of Christ and get a different view of the city, well worth it.

The next morning our trip continued on to Bilbao. Now Bilbao is something different again. Old churches tucked in between and behind small city lanes, lots of people wandering the streets, and a dark brown river that winds its way separating the old and the new city. We mainly explored the older part of the city and then in the afternoon, after a delicious three-course meal, we went to the Guggenheim in the newer part of the city. WOW. I loved it! Only five euros with my student card and an audio-guide included. The outside was an exhibition within itself. The entrance has a giant dog that is made out of flowers, around the side there is an enormous spider along side other creative pieces of art.

Tomorrow I am off to Madrid with fifteen other exchange students from Massachusetts. Better go pack!

Drinking, driving and everything in between

Oviedo is like no city I have ever been in before. Statues, fountains and cobble stone streets stretch through the whole of the city. The city is well-lit and always full of people. I wish that my photos could do the city justice but it is just not the same as being here breathing and living the Asturian culture. La Calle Uria is one of the main streets in Oviedo, full of shops and a department store I discovered on Thursday, which is just like Kirkaldie and Stains in Wellington! The old women walk along the streets together often arm and arm wrapped up in fur coats and sometimes with a cigarette in their hand. It seems everyone smokes here. I cannot get over it, I have to smell it everywhere I go. Drinking is a big part of the culture here as well. It is not different to the parts of Europe I have travelled to but it certainly is done a lot more often than what we would do in New Zealand. The driving here is very different too! A red light is treated more as a warning that you might need to stop but does not seem to be regarded as an obligation. If no one appears to be in the way the drivers often keep going. Parking is just as crazy. If they cannot find a park in the city they often park on yellow lines, or drive up onto the footpath. If they cannot find a park in the suburbs they sometimes just leave their car double parked in the middle of the road. Obviously the people here are aware of these habits and are used to swerving cars that are in their way.

ESN, which is the the Erasmus Student Network here in Oviedo is so well organised! This week was the Welcome Week so there was an activity on every night. So far I have had a city tour of Oviedo and neighbouring Gijón, cider tasting, a tapas night, a walk up to the El Cristo statue (think Rio De Janeiro but smaller), a typical Asturian dinner and a night out on the town. We also watched Vicky, Cristina, Barcelona directed by Woody Allen, a film I would recommend and you get to see a little bit of the magic that is Oviedo! Everyone who comes along to these events are usually the ones that are studying at La Casa de Las Lenguas like me, so it is a great way to meet heaps of nice people. Most are American but there is the odd one from other countries. ESN has organised heaps of trips around Spain too so I'm going to try go on as many as possible. País Vasco, Galicia, León, Portugal, Salamanca, Ávila, Segovia, Andalucia and a final trip to Ibiza with 3000 other exchange students are all on the agenda! I just hope my course and other commitments won't conflict with any of these!

I had some time to kill on Thursday before our trip to Gijón. I decided to go visit the Campo del San Francisco, a small park in the central city, in search of the peacocks that supposedly wandered through there. It was so idyllic, walking through the park observing all the people, with their dogs, lovers, family or friends. The bells were playing their usual tune across the city (I have now learnt that the tune is the Asturian anthem). The sculptures and fountains are scattered throughout the park too. Oviedo just continues to blow my mind every time I explore a new place or meet another lovely person, I know it is going to be hard to leave here in four months time.

Melbourne and Arrival

MELBOURNE

Let’s start from the top. I had an awesome six days in Melbourne with Cordelia. It was my first time there and it certainly helped having a local there to show me the ins and outs of how things are done. It was so hot; I think it got up to 38 degrees Celsius. On those days we stayed inside or at least until the afternoon.

Delgraves Lane

What I did:

• ·      Checked out the city, 29/12 and evening of 30/12
• ·      Went to rooftop bar and had a few drinks with Cords and her friends 29/12
• ·      Visited Brunswick Street 30/12. It made me think a lot of Cuba St with its kooky little shops and interesting people but bigger, as everything is in Melbourne.
• ·      City circle tram evening of 30/12
• ·       Caught up with Josh and his uncle, went along South Bank and ended up having a pizza in Delgraves lane 30/12
• ·      Went to Cord’s friends house for new years and had a few drinks and ended up seeing the fireworks, they literally were going off all over the city! So cool! Then we went to Club Soda on King St. 31/12-1/12
• ·      Mary, Cords and I visited Heide a museum of modern art a bit out of the city. This was an awesome gallery and housed pieces by Sidney Nolan and Joy Hester among other well-known artists 2/1

My flight left Melbourne at 11:10pm on Monday the 2^nd and I managed to be sitting next to a girl who was flying to Paris, so I got to practice my French! The flight took just over 14 hours! About 8 of those hours I attempted to sleep. From Abu Dhabi to Brussels the flight took just over 7 hours. The landing was a bit shaky and I actually started to get quite nervous. Once in Brussels I just had to sit down and have a Kriek (cherry beer), it had been too long! I also had some Belgian chocolate too mmmm. When we left Belgium it was pouring down with rain and so windy, typical Wellington weather. What a change from 38 degrees! Flight to Madrid was about 2.5 hours. From there I killed about 4 hours and then got the bus to Oviedo. So after about 41 hours of flying, busing and waiting in different airports I made it to Oviedo on Wednesday the 4th!

Whisky Business - The best cocktail I've ever had! (Rooftop bar)


OVIEDO

Howard, the man I am staying with at the moment, meet me at the station at 5:30am. It was so great having someone actually meeting me there, instead of what would’ve been me alone looking for a hostel. I went back to his place and slept all day!

Thursday was my first real day in Spain. It didn’t get light until 8am. Once it did we went for a little wander in the streets of La Corredoria. Here, most people live in apartments, so everywhere is just apartment buildings. I understand a bit of the language but they do speak so fast! The people are really warm and nice but they are rude. It’s funny how fast I realised this, watching them push onto buses, push in front of you all the time and speaking over one another.   

During our walk we stopped in at Monica’s Sidreria and Howard organised for us to have a typical Asturian lunch at 2. When we arrived there was a little barrel on the table with a spot to put your glass in and you push a button and cider comes out. The way they drink cider here is different. You put about a mouthful in the glass and you drink it straight away, continue on eating and then do it again. Our meal started with a fresh salad with the usual ingredients of tomato, lettuce, onion and then they added octopus and little bits of ham. The main was a type of chorizo (sausage) and chips. Then we had a flan custard type dessert. All of this was then finished with a yellow coloured brandy sort of drink. 23€ was the cost of that meal for two people.

We had to be in Oviedo central by 6:15pm to meet one of Howard’s friends and her family to go to la cabalgata de los reyes. This is a big deal in Spain, bigger than Christmas. It was a massive parade for the Three Kings. The Kings threw lollies to the kids and everyone just went crazy. The whole parade was so spectacular and at one point they let off heaps of fireworks! Afterwards we all went to a bar to have more cider, (the children come too, no matter how old or young and how late it is.) They have a particular way of pouring cider here, the man goes out to the street, and he puts the glass on an angle and tips the cider in from above him with a straight arm. Oh and an observation I made when we were in a bar earlier, one of Howard’s friends got a cider she drank it almost to the end and then threw the remainder at the bar, so it was just dripping down the bar top’s wall, where you put your feet.