LA VIA DEL TREN SUBTERRANEO ES PELIGROSA.

You might wonder why I entitled this post with the title, "La via del tren subterraneo es peligrosa". Well, the answer relates to my father, like usual when I say something funny. He's definitely a character. The meaning of this sentence literally translates as the "subterranean train track is very dangerous" and it appears in almost every New York City subway car. Since my dad grew up in the city, these are the words he chose to tell me before leaving for Madrid. Coincidentally, it's basically the only phrase he does know in Spanish (unless there's some other phrase he repeatedly read on the subways getting to and from Fordham as a student..). What he didn't know is that the metro system in Madrid is probably a thousand times cleaner than the New York City Subway and probably (most definitely) runs a lot quicker too. Oh, also.. it's about a million times easier to navigate around than the subway he is used to. No express vs. local lines or colored lines which also have numbers or capital letters representing the same things. Phew. I was worried I wouldn't be able to get around Madrid, but I made it all by myself! I didn't even get on the subway car going the wrong way when I was meeting Claire.

I wish I understood the reasons why.

Retiro Park - so beautiful!

On the left is prime people watching. No one else really noticed this group of people dressed this way, but I did. Oh yes, I really did. I also asked myself who I would dress up as if I had the opportunity. Probably Mr. Potatohead.







My adventures before meeting Claire, though, included walking around by myself, creeping in on other people's conversations, people watching, gawking at the amazing architecture all around the city, taking a million pictures and generally, just getting to know the city. I was on a mission to find a coffee shop and while I had located it on Google Maps, getting to the real thing proved to be a lot more difficult on the way there (because I actually saw it on my way back to the hostel to pick my things up).

Anita = Annija, right? Same difference. 

I ended up at a Starbucks where I attempted to use my Spanish skills to get a coffee, but she picked me out as an American with little Spanish skills right away. I did attempt to speak Spanish, but I'll assume it's because I didn't lisp correctly when needed to. Also probably due to my American accent even in Spanish.. oh well. At least I didn't order a skinny vanilla iced coffee with skim milk and whatever else the stereotypical American girl would get at Starbucks. All things considered, I have to the conclusion that Starbucks here is a whole ton better than it is at home. Also, Starbucks was one of the few places that didn't get annoyed that you wanted to get a coffee, "para llevar" - to go. I suppose the Spanish are a lot more into relaxation than us fast-paced Americans are used to...

I will now include pictures of the wonderful architecture you can find all over Madrid. Because honestly, I think that pictures could really be the only ones who could explain just how beautiful this city is. My words would not do it justice at all. No matter the street, there is something unique about the building you are standing next to. Balconies were a common occurrence as well, but unfortunately not many people were out on them. It might be because they were super tiny. If I had a balcony outside of my window, I would sure as hell be standing out there looking over the streets of Madrid. There was graffiti in certain places, like any other major city, but it definitely isn't nearly as much as in other cities, such as Dublin or even Riga. 

 All of the street signs in central Madrid were painted to perfection such as this one. Every one of them was unique and essentially represented the street that it was named after. This one, Calle de San Sebastian, was right near my hostel next to the Church de San Sebastian. Honestly, even writing about my memories in Madrid is fun because I remember memorizing directions of getting from the metro to the hostel but it all was essentially just a Google map in my head (not even the satellite kind). It was so surreal being somewhere that I had spent so long studying so that I didn't look like a complete tourist!

 

I believe that this was the outside of a little restaurant I found on my walk over to the main areas of Madrid. It was so intricately painted that I couldn't not (yes, double negative) take a picture of it. It was open at the time I walked past to take this photo, but it seemed pretty hustle-and-bustley when I walked past again later in the day. It might have been siesta (nap) time. I absolutely love a country that essentially has a nation-wide nap-time in which it is advised to do things that don't actually require too much noise. Perfection!

I went to the top of this! So exciting! But more of that later :)

This here was probably my favorite building of them all, if I had to choose. The sun always had a way of shining onto it and reflecting just the perfect amount of light. Because it's essentially the first thing you see when getting off at the Bank of Spain stop, one would assume it's the real deal. I'm still not exactly sure what it is, but I do know that the architecture is magnificent and the view from the top over central Madrid is spectacular. On my last night, I think a took about 10 pictures of it from essentially the same angle so that I could remember it forever and ever. Or until the next time I go to Madrid and do the same thing again, essentially.

So unbelievably beautiful and gold!

Now this. This is the top of the Bank of Spain in downtown, central, tourist Madrid. How beautiful. The fork in the road with this building serving as the corner is the exact marker that essentially represents Madrid. They probably wouldn't have been able to pick a better candidate. The angle on top with gold resting at its feet is just breathtaking. I spent a good amount of time just gazing up at the top, wishing I could get a zoomed in, close picture of the angel's face so I could feel what it's like to look over the main area of Madrid as it does. In a way, I envy that angel for having a home in a city as beautiful as this one.


Next post will be about actual people, promise. I'm just so mesmerized by everything that is Madrid.

Ay Caramba - Dia numero uno!

Well, considering I haven't been in Madrid for almost a week now, I figured I should probably write down and/or blog about the experiences I had before they're gone from my mind forever.. considering I have probably the worst memory ever (except for when it comes to music), I probably should have done this a lot sooner but... I forgot to. Typical, right?

this was on a parking garage, but i just love how the exclamation points make it sound so excited!

I've also decided that I definitely can't post everything about Madrid in one little teeny blogpost considering I was there for a good five days. So.. I figured I'm going to try split it up as evenly as I can. Honestly, these five days were probably the best times I have had so far while studying abroad (aside from being in Dublin of course). Not only did I get to see a beautiful city with the most beautiful architecture that I couldn't help but always look up, but I also got to explore this city with two of my best friends (Claire and Zareef) and one of my future roommates, Anne!

El Oso y El Madroño - the symbol of Madrid

I didn't sleep the night before flying, therefore I expected to be completely exhausted that first day in Madrid. I was wrong. Once I got there, I couldn't stop listening to all of the conversations (which I understood a lot of, surprisingly) and once I finally got to the city, I kept getting ADD and looked at ALL of the buildings. Honestly, I'm still completely baffled by how much Spanish I actually know. I fee like if I studied abroad in Madrid, I would totally get the hang of speaking casually and eventually get fluent. AND THEN I'd be trilingual - HELL YES. But alas.. I am living in Dublin and am only bilingual (which I guess is more than other people could say...)

el hostel - as opposed to hostal (which is better)

Things that amazed me about the Spanish accent. The lisp. The lisp was hard to grasp the first couple of times I tried speaking with people. examples of lisp words include: Barthelona, Grathias, etc. (side note: Favorite moment making fun of these accents was me and Zareef saying Barthelona and attempting to yell Claire's name with a lisp and some South African clicks included. She walked ahead and pretended not to know us.. who woulda thunk she'd be embarrassed)

the ceiling of my hostel - que bonita!

I had previously arranged that I'd stay with Claire at her homestay, but because she was still in Italy with her roommate the Saturday I showed up in Madrid, I got to stay in a hostel for the first time outside of Ireland. I have to say.. I definitely prefer staying in hostels in Ireland because for the same price, I get a room with only three other people with a bathroom ensuite. Nevertheless, the Cat's Hostel (yes, cats as in meow) was not too bad despite my having to live with 11 other random people for the night. There were lockers in which I put all of my stuff and I spent the night snuggling with my purse, instead of a person. Woof. At least my identity wasn't stolen!


Continuing on... as I had previously mentioned, I spent the first day exploring Madrid with my future roommate Anne. We walked around all the main touristy areas briefly, which included Banco de España, Puerta del Sol and we even visited the modern art museum, Reina Sofia. Personally, I have never been a huge fan of modern art, but I figured it might be different in a foreign country. In one aspect, I was right.. it was completely different. But different in the sense that it was even weirder than I would ever have imagined. The majority of the exhibits we visited included videos of Spanish movies with subtitles. Looked normal, so I figured I would sit down and put the headphones on. Little did I know that these headphones had someone whispering something completely different than the subtitles and into only one of my ears. Needless to say, we left after only checking out a couple of the exhibits. 

my first cup of coffee in Spain which I drank after experiencing Reina Sofia. 

After the weird, but still necessary for the story, experience in the modern art museum, Anne and I decided to catch up for a bit, have some coffee and soak up the remaining sun rays of the day. She's been abroad for the whole year in Madrid, so there was a lot she needed to hear about! Although.. good thing facebook and the internet do exist, because I'm not sure I would have been able to recount everything that has happened at AU and Ireland while she's been in Europe... my stupid, awful memory. 

Well, this has just been a recap of one of my days... onto the next day, conveniently located in the next post about my explorations around Madrid by myself before Claire's imminent arrival! 

First post from Madrid!

I have yet to really think about how I want to go about writing about Madrid (since I loved every minute of it) but I figured I might start with one of the most memorable moments I had in Retiro Park - the musicians. I'm not sure what percussion instrument it is, but I was intrigued by how he hits a different part of the instrument and different pitches comes out. If only I knew exactly what instrument this is and how the mechanics work... Until I figure it out, I'll just enjoy the sounds and relax while listening.

More posts from Madrid will come in the future!

I have seen some interesting performances while here in Dublin so far. Most recently, as I was running errands downtown (which has become somewhat of a habit since I have a lot to do and because I love being in the O'Connell Street area), I saw a guy setting up his rather unconventional drum set. He used a big, plastic laundry basket as the bass drum, for example, and actually used the street poles as a separate instrument to hit against. Needless to say, it was an awesome sight to see, so I took a video to remember this in the future! Now I just need to find the guy in a Scream costume playing the accordion on the streets.. he honestly makes my day.

Also, I realize it's sideways, but I haven't quite figured out how to fix that myself. 

This one is taken at a personal favorite bar of mine - Fitzsimon's. It's located in Temple Bar, which is usually where all the tourists go (because I'm totally past the stage of being a tourist, right?) and most people always ask us why we go there since we are living in Dublin. The answer is always, "the atmosphere is great and the live music is just spectacular!" Sometimes they play similar songs but this first night we went was great because it was a duo that played. Above is an Adele song they played, but they also broke out the accordion a couple of times to play some classic Irish tunes, which I absolutely loved. 

We sing a lot in Fitzsimon's to the musicians playing, but we hardly ever get to hold the mike ourselves.. which is why we decided to go karaoke-ing one night. If I had a video of myself, I'd totally upload it but 1. I don't have one and 2. Grace is a vocal performance major, so clearly she sings WAY better than I do. Just sparing everyone's ears, you know? Please don't kill me for posting this, Grace.. but the guy in the background totally is in love with the way she sings (which you can see by the way he head nods every time she does a fancy run or what not). 

Leap Day Celebrations.

Oh, look! My favorite movie that's so absolutely well done and the acting is great! (not my favorite, but I did watch it before coming to Ireland). Also, made me want to go to Dingle so bad. SO BAD.

But yes, I was in Ireland during Leap Year. No, not every woman proposed to some man. Which was a bit of a bummer because I would have liked to see more women down on one knee proposing to some men. All in all, it was a rather normal (but still amazing) day in Dublin. The sun was up and the weather was absolutely beautiful. If only I was in Dingle.. my day would have been made.

Yes, before you ask.. you will notice that both me and Veronica proposed to Tom. And it actually happened after midnight, so it technically wasn't leap day anymore, but a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do, right? Truth be told, there weren't many people at the bar at this time. We did see a couple of men sitting at a table so we decided to go up to them.. As we were about to get down on one knee, they began to hold each other's hands and looked longingly into each other's eyes. Upon seeing that, we scurried away realizing that they were not at all interesting in us, or rather, women in general. Ah, such is life. 

Tom wasn't as excited to be proposed to twice, does he? Granted, he does have reason to be almost laughing at me considering I had proposed via facebook chat to Brayden earlier in the day and he already said yes. What a good friend.. didn't want to hurt our friend's feelings. Very respectable! I really did only want in for the picture... priceless, isn't it?








And thus ended our Leap Day celebrations! Happy March everyone!! Can't believe that my study abroad experience is almost halfway over. Time flies by so fast when you're having the time of your life!

Dope Irish Places - Old Jameson Distillery

A little off the beaten track, mostly because every tourist usually only visits the Guinness Storehouse in St. James Gate is the Old Jameson Distillery. I'll begin by posting a video of my absolute favorite Jameson commercial, which coincidentally was playing right when we got there. I just can't get enough of the video thing since I figured it out, can I?

I really liked this distillery mostly because it was only by guided tour that you got to see everything. It's not used to make the whiskey anymore, but rather just a museum that people can walk through to get a general idea of how it's all made. But Bow Street, where the distillery is located now is the same area where John Jameson first began making his whiskey. It all began by seeing a short video of John Jameson's own life, which I found super interesting. What I distinctly remember is that the logo for Jameson Irish Whiskey is actually the crest for his family. Underneath the crest are the words, "Sine Metu" meaning "Without Fear". This motto was used and taken to heart by Jameson himself especially during the temperance movement when it seemed that alcohol was never to be drank again.

These are the lovely ladies I went to the distillery with: Grace and Veronica. We saw loads of people with Guinness Storehouse bags from the gift shop. Upon noticing that, we figured we, at some point in our lives, should do a drinking tour of Ireland and the world at the various different storehouses/distilleries/breweries. Guinness and Jameson in Dublin, Smithwick's and Kilkenny in Kilkenny, Beamish in Cork and the list goes on and on...

There were lucky eight people who got to taste test the differences between American whiskey (Jack Daniel's), Jameson and Scotch whiskey. The Jameson is distilled three times, Jack Daniel's once and the Scotch twice. After that taste test, you can definitely taste the difference. As seen below, I clearly was not a big fan of the Scotch whiskey. To tell you the truth, I liked the Jack Daniel's the best and when asked to push forward which one we liked the most, I was about to represent 'merica and proudly push the American whiskey forward when I got the dirtiest look from Grace saying, "Do NOT do that". After due consideration, I realized that because I was in the Jameson Distillery, I should represent the Irish and push forward the Jameson as my favorite. And what a surprise, it was 8 for 8! Everyone miraculously liked the Jameson the best. 

... realizing that I have to taste test that awful smelling scotch.

smelling the scotch whiskey...

The whiskey pictured above is one of the most expensive bottles that they sold. This is because the twelve year old whiskey held in barrels for yes, twelve years, is considered to be a collector's item. The longer whiskey sits in the barrel, the better tasting it will be. Definitely not meant to be chugged by college kids wishing to get wasted for a night, waking up with a headache. This is meant to be enjoyed slowly, particularly not in a frat house. 

The tour concluded where it began, in the front room. Under our feet were the original stone barrels where the whiskey was held and above us was a chandelier made strictly of Jameson bottles. The decor was amazing and very proper for the distillery. If only I had a chandelier like this... Who is down to help me make one? Anyone? Maybe these ladies will help me. And remember, Jameson is "triple distilled, twice as smooth, one great taste". 

Reasons I came to Ireland: Music

Towards the beginning of the semester, the study abroad office organized a trip and performance to the Merry Ploughboy Pub in Dublin. It was a bit off the beaten track, but upon entering, you could totally tell that it was mostly for tourists because of the large advertisement complete with pictures of musicians and dancers. Also, we as a large group were all herded upstairs to a big room with a stage all set to go. Contrary to popular belief (outside of Ireland) not every pub has traditional Irish music playing or Irish dancers tapping their feet along to the music. Most pubs have the decor that has become very welcoming to me, but are playing modern music on the radio - Mumford and Sons, Lady Gaga and such. 

The tune above was one of a couple of tunes that were meant to be more reflective rather than clapping along, singing merrily. Personally, I liked the tin whistle tune loads better than listening to the tradition reels and double jigs that I've been learning about in class on the various instruments. Also, if you look closely, you can see that on the microphone stands there are cup holders for the beer. Only in Ireland, I feel. I saw that and just laughed. Have to make the drinks super accessible even while on stage! Bulmers, Guinness, Smithwick's galore! 

This tune was particularly funny - I wish I got a longer clip. The singer began by asking us if we knew our ABCs, which of course we do. This modern take is definitely not age appropriate for kindergardeners learning their ABCs for the first time.. considering they're talking about Jack and Jill going up the hill to get some water (which is fine) but Jill comes back crowning... yeah. that. 

I just love the music so much. Honestly, this night at the pub was one of my favorite nights so far. I just was so excited. Being here in Ireland listening to traditional Irish music and watching dance (sometimes) is a totally different experience than being home in DC listening to tunes on my Macbook. I know, first world problems while studying abroad.. 

In fact, I got so excited that I was clapping the most excitedly out of everyone in the group. And because of that, I got to go on stage and be right next to the musicians! AND I got a free t-shirt out of it. Granted.. the instructions that the cute little Irish man told me to do when he started playing were a little odd coming from him.. I was told to put on the t-shirt as "sexily as possible".. I think it was the fastest I had ever put on a t-shirt. And that was even something the musicians commented while I was leaving the stage.

Also, I do realize that this happened in January and now it is March, but I hadn't figured out how to upload videos onto the blog until now. Better late than never, right?