Hablas Espanol?
Erica, her boyfriend Larson and I recently played hookey for a week. Part one was Salmanca, Spain and part two (to be found in a seperate post) was Rome.
Larson's cousin Katie is currently studying in Salmanca and her sister Anna was visiting during the same time that we were. Can't tell you how great it was to have a local to show us the city (and to help us order food in Spanish). A bit of background on my espanol skills. I took 3 years of Spanish in high school but haven't used it in quite some time thus my skills are mal (bad). I took Spanish from Senora Perez who was great but was also quite the stickler in regards to tardiness. And I think I was tardy practically every day as I had Spanish first period. Thus, I remember having to complete 900 make up minutes in one semester to make up for my tardiness. Funny thing is, when you made up time, you were only allowed to study spanish or use the spanish program on the computer to practice vocabulary words and conjegating verbs. Thus, my grades in the class drastically improved. Mom, I was only trying to be a better student by being late...I think that's a valid argument backed by cold hard numbers (test scores).
Anyways, we were pleasantly surprised to find that our hotel was located on the Plaza (the main plaza in Salmanca).
We were not as pleasantly surprised to find that our hotel room bosted a bathroom with a glass door and a shower with a clear glass door.
Just so you know who's who... the order is as follows:
Erica, Larson, Katie, Anna
Below are pictures of the Plaza at day and night time...
And if you're curious about how they keep the plaza so clean...see below. It's like one big vaccume.
I spent quite a bit of time in the plaza as it was a pretty small city and the plaza was the hub of activity. Mostly I sat and read...but I also had the opportunity to practice my espanol. There is an elderly gentleman who spends every day in the plaza and will talk to you regardless of if you want to or not. Every day he came and talked with me though most of the time I just smiled at him and said no comprende...and when asked if I spoke espanol my response was un poco (a little). On my last day, he came to talk to my twice so I really gave it a good effort. I had to substitute words with things that I knew and hope he understood. We actually did have a bit of a conversation though...was kinda fun.
Every morning we started our day out at a juice bar. And I'm not lying when I say that this is the best juice that I have ever had. You can get practically any combination of juice...my combo was orange and strawberry. It was fresh and thick...and amazing.
There is a tradition in Salmanca. For a bit of luck with their exams, students go to a specific wall to find the "frog". If you are able to locate the frog, you will have good luck on your exams. I found the frog (the bit on top of the skull). I also took a picture but not to worry. I took a close up, so if you ever get to go to Salmanca and are searching for the frog yourself, you will not know where it is. Thus you too have a chance at finding good luck.
Salmanca is basically a college city with not much aside from the University, the plaza and one cathedral. Thus, we did what everyone else was doing....euro shots (think the equivalent of dollar shots).
And finally, the cathedral.
Then it was time to head back to London, so we could head out to Rome. Funny thing is, there was a 12 hour gap between when we landed in London and when we'd take off again. We landed after 6pm and we were scheduled to take off at 6am. Now we could have gone home for a bit, but it really wouldn't have been all that long when you factor in how long it takes to travel to and from the airport in addition to needing to be at the airport 2 hours prior to the flight. Additionally, it would have been expensive to travel home...thus we made camp at the airport. It wasn't all that bad, until an elderly man next to me decided it was time to get ready for bed. I looked over and he had a blow up mattress and a sleeping bag. I'm thinking, man he's smart. But then he took off his pants and his shirt, pulled his silk sleeping mask over his eyes and crawled in bed. I was baffled to say the least...
Being the lightest sleeper ever, I didn't sleep a wink at the airport. The naked elderly man did, but I sure didn't. And that's where we'll leave this story. To be continued in the Rome post... (I know you're on the edge of your seats)
Larson's cousin Katie is currently studying in Salmanca and her sister Anna was visiting during the same time that we were. Can't tell you how great it was to have a local to show us the city (and to help us order food in Spanish). A bit of background on my espanol skills. I took 3 years of Spanish in high school but haven't used it in quite some time thus my skills are mal (bad). I took Spanish from Senora Perez who was great but was also quite the stickler in regards to tardiness. And I think I was tardy practically every day as I had Spanish first period. Thus, I remember having to complete 900 make up minutes in one semester to make up for my tardiness. Funny thing is, when you made up time, you were only allowed to study spanish or use the spanish program on the computer to practice vocabulary words and conjegating verbs. Thus, my grades in the class drastically improved. Mom, I was only trying to be a better student by being late...I think that's a valid argument backed by cold hard numbers (test scores).
Anyways, we were pleasantly surprised to find that our hotel was located on the Plaza (the main plaza in Salmanca).
We were not as pleasantly surprised to find that our hotel room bosted a bathroom with a glass door and a shower with a clear glass door.
Just so you know who's who... the order is as follows:
Erica, Larson, Katie, Anna
Below are pictures of the Plaza at day and night time...
And if you're curious about how they keep the plaza so clean...see below. It's like one big vaccume.
I spent quite a bit of time in the plaza as it was a pretty small city and the plaza was the hub of activity. Mostly I sat and read...but I also had the opportunity to practice my espanol. There is an elderly gentleman who spends every day in the plaza and will talk to you regardless of if you want to or not. Every day he came and talked with me though most of the time I just smiled at him and said no comprende...and when asked if I spoke espanol my response was un poco (a little). On my last day, he came to talk to my twice so I really gave it a good effort. I had to substitute words with things that I knew and hope he understood. We actually did have a bit of a conversation though...was kinda fun.
Every morning we started our day out at a juice bar. And I'm not lying when I say that this is the best juice that I have ever had. You can get practically any combination of juice...my combo was orange and strawberry. It was fresh and thick...and amazing.
There is a tradition in Salmanca. For a bit of luck with their exams, students go to a specific wall to find the "frog". If you are able to locate the frog, you will have good luck on your exams. I found the frog (the bit on top of the skull). I also took a picture but not to worry. I took a close up, so if you ever get to go to Salmanca and are searching for the frog yourself, you will not know where it is. Thus you too have a chance at finding good luck.
Salmanca is basically a college city with not much aside from the University, the plaza and one cathedral. Thus, we did what everyone else was doing....euro shots (think the equivalent of dollar shots).
And finally, the cathedral.
Then it was time to head back to London, so we could head out to Rome. Funny thing is, there was a 12 hour gap between when we landed in London and when we'd take off again. We landed after 6pm and we were scheduled to take off at 6am. Now we could have gone home for a bit, but it really wouldn't have been all that long when you factor in how long it takes to travel to and from the airport in addition to needing to be at the airport 2 hours prior to the flight. Additionally, it would have been expensive to travel home...thus we made camp at the airport. It wasn't all that bad, until an elderly man next to me decided it was time to get ready for bed. I looked over and he had a blow up mattress and a sleeping bag. I'm thinking, man he's smart. But then he took off his pants and his shirt, pulled his silk sleeping mask over his eyes and crawled in bed. I was baffled to say the least...
Being the lightest sleeper ever, I didn't sleep a wink at the airport. The naked elderly man did, but I sure didn't. And that's where we'll leave this story. To be continued in the Rome post... (I know you're on the edge of your seats)
posted by Kathryn.mills @ 1:36 PM
1 Comments:
At 4:13 AM,
K & A said…
Katie,
Wow! Have you done nothing but blog the last 2 days?? What awesome trips - and your first camping trip! (by the way, camping usually involves a tent! :)) Glad to see you got to live it up your last couple weeks. Safe travels home!
Kristina and Alex
Post a Comment
<< Home