Well today is Sunday and we leave tomorrow for Texas. I’m so excited! These last five days have been a blast, and these last three weeks have been unforgettable. I had a chance to go see a Van Gogh exhibit which was amazing, and tonight we go see Carmen. Yesterday, Saturday, was a blast. I went to see the Gay Pride Parade, and it was like nothing I had seen before. There was an estimated 200,000 people there last night.
Other than that my last few days here were spent shopping for gifts for friends and family. Today my roommate and I went on a search for the Harley Davidson store. My brother just got a Harley Davidson bike so I thought it would be great to get him a shirt from the store. Well we went to the store after getting lost yesterday and when we got there it was closed. I was so disappointed. I wanted to get myself a shirt from there too, but no dice.
As if that wasn’t bad enough, my roommate who is from Chile, wanted to go to a Chile restaurant and when we got there we found out it had been closed for two years already. It’s been more than fun here, but I can say with everything in me that I am more than excited to go home. Texas here I come!
Sunday, July 1, 2007
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
Lucky Turtle...
Sorry I seemed to have left out where the lucky turtle is located. I, along with some friends, found it in Barcelona at the cathedral...you´re going to have to ask around a few times becuase it is really difficult to find being that it is small. Its worth it though. It was a great little adventure and with the way my trip has gone so far after I rubbed it...the turtle works..if you believe in stuff like that. I will post a picture of the turtle along with many others as soon as I get back home in good old Texas.
Sunday, June 24, 2007
Final Judgement
Today we visited the Museo de Bellas Artes de Sevilla, and we got to see ¨La Planchadora¨by Pablo Picasso. It was amazing to be standing less than 10 feet away from such a wonderful painting. As beautiful as it was there was another painting that truly caught my eye. It was ¨Final Judgement¨by Martin De Vos.
It was painting that depicted the final judgment and how people were being separated between heaven and hell. There were several demons grabbing on to people and pulling down to the side. Those who were being pulled into hell had looks of agony on their face. In the very back of the painting you could see people being tortured by being stretched out and apart and by hanging. Up above all of this are angels coming down and bringing people up to heaven. Those people who are being touched by the angels to be taken into heaven have a look of relief upon their faces, like a lost child who has found her mother, its a huge weight taken off. The way De Vos had it all meshed together, at first glance you can’t really tell who is going to heaven and who is going to hell. As you look at it closer and longer at it you can see the angles coming down and people crying. It’s a painting of both eternal pain and happiness.
What attracted me most was off to side of the painting there is a pair of yellow eyes. At first you can’t tell what it is, but as you look at it you realize that they are they eyes of serpent. The snake eyes are evil yellow and the mouth is open, and inside the mouth is where the condemned are at. These beasts like looking creatures are tossing, or pulling them into the fire. All the while the others are at the bottom waiting to meet their maker.
Martin De Vos ¨Juicio Final¨
It was painting that depicted the final judgment and how people were being separated between heaven and hell. There were several demons grabbing on to people and pulling down to the side. Those who were being pulled into hell had looks of agony on their face. In the very back of the painting you could see people being tortured by being stretched out and apart and by hanging. Up above all of this are angels coming down and bringing people up to heaven. Those people who are being touched by the angels to be taken into heaven have a look of relief upon their faces, like a lost child who has found her mother, its a huge weight taken off. The way De Vos had it all meshed together, at first glance you can’t really tell who is going to heaven and who is going to hell. As you look at it closer and longer at it you can see the angles coming down and people crying. It’s a painting of both eternal pain and happiness.
What attracted me most was off to side of the painting there is a pair of yellow eyes. At first you can’t tell what it is, but as you look at it you realize that they are they eyes of serpent. The snake eyes are evil yellow and the mouth is open, and inside the mouth is where the condemned are at. These beasts like looking creatures are tossing, or pulling them into the fire. All the while the others are at the bottom waiting to meet their maker.
Martin De Vos ¨Juicio Final¨The reconquest.
Wow its been really hectic theses past few days. I think all the traveling is finally catching up to me. Right now we are in Sevilla, we got here yesterday, Saturday. Thursday and Friday we were in Torremolinos, which is now my favorite place to be. It has a wonderful beach and ice-cold water. Friday was a free day, so my roommate and I spent the whole day at the beach. It was truly a day of relaxation. We sprawled out on the beach chairs under the umbrella and got a golden tan. Well my roommate got a golden tan, and I just got darker. Either way it was great.
About half way through the day two people walked by selling half hour massages, so we figured we might as well get one. It was great to have a massage while being on such a wonderful beach, for a second there I forgot where I was. I was so relaxed I think I fell asleep shortly after that. As comfortable as I was with just laying down we did get up and get in the water. I swear my toes were blue because the water was so cold. As you walk deeper in your legs start stinging a little because of how cold it is. If you just jump in and start swimming it makes it easier to adjust to the temperature.
Well with a day of relaxation comes several days of work. In class we went over the re-conquest of Spain. One key player of the re-conquest was a man who went between sides, the moor and the Christians, El Cid. El Cid is a native of Burgos, but Spain as a whole adopted him as a national hero. Another major part of the re-conquest was the expelling of the Jewish. They were given a choice to be baptized or to leave and never return. Although they were allowed to take their belongings with them they had to give up all money and land as well as any other property they owned. The Jews were kicked out simply because it was thought that they were persuading others to go back to the old religion. There were several reasons as to why the re-conquest happened. It was to establish political and religious unity, to weaken local political opposition to catholic monarchs; out of fear and profit are just a few of those reasons.
Well I still have much to see as well as much to learn.
About half way through the day two people walked by selling half hour massages, so we figured we might as well get one. It was great to have a massage while being on such a wonderful beach, for a second there I forgot where I was. I was so relaxed I think I fell asleep shortly after that. As comfortable as I was with just laying down we did get up and get in the water. I swear my toes were blue because the water was so cold. As you walk deeper in your legs start stinging a little because of how cold it is. If you just jump in and start swimming it makes it easier to adjust to the temperature.
Well with a day of relaxation comes several days of work. In class we went over the re-conquest of Spain. One key player of the re-conquest was a man who went between sides, the moor and the Christians, El Cid. El Cid is a native of Burgos, but Spain as a whole adopted him as a national hero. Another major part of the re-conquest was the expelling of the Jewish. They were given a choice to be baptized or to leave and never return. Although they were allowed to take their belongings with them they had to give up all money and land as well as any other property they owned. The Jews were kicked out simply because it was thought that they were persuading others to go back to the old religion. There were several reasons as to why the re-conquest happened. It was to establish political and religious unity, to weaken local political opposition to catholic monarchs; out of fear and profit are just a few of those reasons.
Well I still have much to see as well as much to learn.
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
Holy Grail!!!
Well yesterday I saw something I thought I would never see in my life...the Holy Grail. It was so exciting. I was one of the ones who jumped on the bandwagon and read the Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown. It was a brilliantly written book and I rather enjoyed it, but I never in a million years thought that I would be able to actually see it. When we went in to the cathedral I just wanted to skip everything else and go straight to the Grail, but my friends wouldn’t let me. I´m glad they made me stick around and take a gander. I saw so many other interesting things like a Painting by Goya that had St. Francis in which he is performing an exorcism. The man lay dying in the bed refusing to repent his sins. Behind the man there are two demons lurking at his side waiting to take him. As morbid as it may sound this by far has been my favorite painting I have seen while in Spain.
The Valencia Cathedral held many chapels inside. There was one chapel in particular that I found extraordinary that would be the chapel in which St. Vincent the Martyr’s intact arm lies in a glass box. While listening to the audio tour I was looking at this arm in the box trying to figure out why they would just randomly put it there. Well to my astonishment it is the actual arm of St. Vincent, and it is in fact still intact.
Overall I would have to say that my time in Valencia was well spent. I’m am so glad that I had the chance to see such art and history all once.
The Valencia Cathedral held many chapels inside. There was one chapel in particular that I found extraordinary that would be the chapel in which St. Vincent the Martyr’s intact arm lies in a glass box. While listening to the audio tour I was looking at this arm in the box trying to figure out why they would just randomly put it there. Well to my astonishment it is the actual arm of St. Vincent, and it is in fact still intact.
Overall I would have to say that my time in Valencia was well spent. I’m am so glad that I had the chance to see such art and history all once.
Natural art with man made art.
Barcelona may not have been my personal favorite, but it still had a lot to offer. Spain as whole has such beautiful architecture, and its all wonderful especially the Parque Guell done by Antonio Gaudi.
Antonio Gaudi was a brilliant artist who combined natural art with man made art. Normally you visit a park thinking you see some pretty flowers, some trees, maybe a pond or a river. You would never walk in and expect to see arches, pillars, domes, and mosaics. At Parque Guell that is exactly what you get. When I saw how he incorporated his art to blend so well with nature I was astonished. I had never seen anything like that before. It felt as if we were in a different world. It was like something out of a fantasy. Technically we were in a fantasy, his fantasy.
Another place we visited was Sagrada Familia. This church is amazing. It was started in 1882, and it is still in progress. The 330 ft. towers are considered local landmarks. Gaudi was considered different and unique because of how he would combine different styles to create one. The church was a mixture of medieval and modern elements. The fact that that it is still unfinished will make that much more unique, because now there will be more modern feel that still follows his pattern.
After seeing these two great pieces by Gaudi, me and some other students decided to go look for a lucky turtle. This turtle was shown in the Disney Channels Cheetah Girls. It is said that if you rub the turtle you will have good luck for a year. So the whole time we are looking for the turtle I’m thinking that its pretty big statue of a turtle. Well it turned out to be a medium size sculpted turtle that was on a wall. It was pretty funny all of us were rubbing the heck out of that turtle. So far nothing really lucky has happened to me so we’ll see if the turtle really works.
Antonio Gaudi was a brilliant artist who combined natural art with man made art. Normally you visit a park thinking you see some pretty flowers, some trees, maybe a pond or a river. You would never walk in and expect to see arches, pillars, domes, and mosaics. At Parque Guell that is exactly what you get. When I saw how he incorporated his art to blend so well with nature I was astonished. I had never seen anything like that before. It felt as if we were in a different world. It was like something out of a fantasy. Technically we were in a fantasy, his fantasy.
Another place we visited was Sagrada Familia. This church is amazing. It was started in 1882, and it is still in progress. The 330 ft. towers are considered local landmarks. Gaudi was considered different and unique because of how he would combine different styles to create one. The church was a mixture of medieval and modern elements. The fact that that it is still unfinished will make that much more unique, because now there will be more modern feel that still follows his pattern.
After seeing these two great pieces by Gaudi, me and some other students decided to go look for a lucky turtle. This turtle was shown in the Disney Channels Cheetah Girls. It is said that if you rub the turtle you will have good luck for a year. So the whole time we are looking for the turtle I’m thinking that its pretty big statue of a turtle. Well it turned out to be a medium size sculpted turtle that was on a wall. It was pretty funny all of us were rubbing the heck out of that turtle. So far nothing really lucky has happened to me so we’ll see if the turtle really works.
Mellow atmosphere.
Right now I´m in Valencia. We´re having lunch on a patio of a cafe. This is just how I imagined it. Sitting down and just watching th world go by me. It feels so hot you can literally feel your skin toasting. I was in the sun no onger than five minutes and I already have tan lines. Its worth it though.
Valencia is so relaxing. It reminds me of the beach back home for an exception of the water. The Gulf of Mexico is more like river water, and here the water is more like a saphire blue. I didn´t get a close up of the beach but what I saw was more than enough to get me to come back.
Lunch was great. Being from Texas I´m used to eating fried fish, and i normally don´t eat fish any other way. This fish that we had at the restraunt was so juicy and full of flavor I just couldn´t resist. It was baked and smothered with butter sauce that had some lemon in it. After that we had baked apples. I had never had baked apples, and I´m gladI tried them. It was a whole green apple, like the granny smiths, covered with carmel baked to perfection. The apple itself was still crunchy on the outside becuase of the skin, but it was nice and soft on the inside. Most of the juice from the apple came out and blended with the carmel.
What made the meal even better was the entertainment. A man just sat off to the side playing his guitar and singing. You could tell that he took his art very seriously becuase he showed up with an amp and a microphone. Normally the street performers show up with just an instrument and box for money.
Valencia has a mellow atmosphere. The people are friendly, the weather is comfortable and the experience is one of kind. Well I´m off to see another one of a kind article...the Holy Grail.
Valencia is so relaxing. It reminds me of the beach back home for an exception of the water. The Gulf of Mexico is more like river water, and here the water is more like a saphire blue. I didn´t get a close up of the beach but what I saw was more than enough to get me to come back.
Lunch was great. Being from Texas I´m used to eating fried fish, and i normally don´t eat fish any other way. This fish that we had at the restraunt was so juicy and full of flavor I just couldn´t resist. It was baked and smothered with butter sauce that had some lemon in it. After that we had baked apples. I had never had baked apples, and I´m gladI tried them. It was a whole green apple, like the granny smiths, covered with carmel baked to perfection. The apple itself was still crunchy on the outside becuase of the skin, but it was nice and soft on the inside. Most of the juice from the apple came out and blended with the carmel.
What made the meal even better was the entertainment. A man just sat off to the side playing his guitar and singing. You could tell that he took his art very seriously becuase he showed up with an amp and a microphone. Normally the street performers show up with just an instrument and box for money.
Valencia has a mellow atmosphere. The people are friendly, the weather is comfortable and the experience is one of kind. Well I´m off to see another one of a kind article...the Holy Grail.
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