San Fermin

"Todo el mundo está invitado y a todo el mundo le gustaría venir, pero solo unos pocos son los elegidos"

Translation: All the world is invited, and all the world wants to come, but few are elected

And so the madness known as San Fermin finally begins. It is only 9 am here and already the shops and streets are filled with people preparing for the opening ceremony, El Chupinazo. At noon, everyone heads to the town center to put on their "pañuelo" (a red scarf) to symbolize the beginning of San Fermin. While I am not wearing the customery attire, almost everyone else is decked out in all white outfits with red belts. For the next 9 days, Pamplona is the party capital of the world. Tomorrow is the first "encierro" (or running of the bulls are we call it in the States) and I plan on having a front row seat- even if that means getting there at 6am. It has been amazing seeing the city transform in a matter of days.

On Monday when I toured the city, it seemed like a quiet, tranquil place.While there were people, it was nothing to the magnitude of the business of Madrid. However, yesterday the city transformed. Everywhere I looked I saw groups of young people (mostly Australians) heading to set up their camp. Even though the festivites do not officially begin until today,last night thousands of people were sitting in the streets drinking beer. Already on my walk to school this morning I saw people sleeping in the park. And this is only supposed to get worse. Luckily, I am actually here during one of the least crazy times. This weekend will be pure madness and most Pamplonicas actually leave town because they hate being bombared with all the tourists. I have a feeling 3 days of San Fermin will be more than sufficient.

xoxo,

Kacy

Feeling like a vagabond

It feels like ages since I have been near a computer with internet connection. Now that I am finally settled in here in Pamplona, I can finally sit down and recount what has happened over the past few days.

On Saturday, I spent the day in Alicante- a beautiful beach on the Costa Blanca. I took an early morning train and arrived in time to meet up with some friends from Madrid. After spending the day at the beach, soaking up way too much sun, we ventured into town to enjoy dinner at the Marina. Of course we ordered sea food and enjoyed red wine as we looked out on the amazing scenery. After indulging in torte de chocolate, we looked around the open air market near the Marina and discovered more of the quaint Alicante community.

Sunday proved to be the most emotionally tumulotous day yet. After catching an early train back to Madrid, I had exactly one hour to get back to my homestay, grab my suitcase, and make the train for Pamplona. After sprinting home, I came home to my mama Española dripping in sweat and in a state of desperation. The look in her eyes when she realized I would be leaving for good in a matter of minutes was heart wrenching. She quickly prepared me lunch as I threw items into my suitcase. When I reappeared to say my final goodbye, emotions took over the both of us as we scrabbled to take photos to remember my time in their home. While I was expecting to cry when having to say goodby to Mama María, I did not realize what a wealth of emotions I would feel. I left wishing I could have given them a proper goodbye. However, my hope is that in the near future I can return and see them again.

After the rollercoaster of emotions I experienced, I was elated to finally make it to my seat on the train and have time to process everything that had happened. With each moment on my train to Pamplona, I became more and more excited for what was to come. When I finally arrived, I was not only greeted by beautiful scenery but fresh, cool air. My homestay mom, Ana, is amazing and we have already spent hours talking together in Spanish. On my first day at school I also met a wonderful girl from Australia named Jacqueline. We have already made plans to visit San Sebastian this Thursday on our day off. Needless to say, the city is in a fury right now as everyone prepares for San Fermin. It is going to be incredible and a once in a lifetime opportunity. I can not wait to share more details about the festival, but as it is, this post is rather long, and I feel bad for the 2 of you who actually read all of this.

Tomorrow I will post again (however, no photos, since I can not use my computer) and introduce you all to the Pamplona I have come to love.

xoxo,

Kacy

The final days in Madrid

I can not believe I am already leaving Madrid- these past 2 weeks flew by. Yesterday, after taking care of some business at the train station, I walked around the Buen Retiro Park some more and finally got to see the Crystal Palace. Before finding the palace, I stumbled upon the rose garden. After reading the map a few dozen more times I finally found the palace. It is such a beautiful structure with such calm, serene surroundings. If I ever do come back to live in Madrid, I will be spending every Sunday reading under a tree near the Palace. Right now both the Crystal Palace and Valzquez Palace in Retiro are being used as museums by the Reina Sofia. While the Valzquez Palace featured a wonderful artist named Leon Goulb, the Crystal Palace had much stranger modern art that simply consisted of eery music, dirty windows with scribbled notes someone had made on the dusty windows & a large platform in the middle of the palace with screens showing images of the city and a slide to get down to the ground on.
After looking at the art musuems, I continued my walk through the park and ended up on the other side with the Puerta de Alcala. Known as the Plaza of Independencia, the arches are in a sense a door to another part of Madrid. After more walking (I am so sore today!) I finally made it to the National Library where I looked at some more exhibits before heading to Serrano to window shop. This area of town is essentially the Rodeo Drive or Madison Avenue of Madrid.
Since all I could afford to do was window shop, I hoped back on the metro and finally sat down for the Menu del dia. Since lunch is typically the big meal here (except if you are living with a host family like I am), restaurants offer three course meals for roughly $15. While I have been cheap this entire trip, yesterday I treated myself to a nice, leisurely meal.

Today, on my last day in Madrid, my plans are rather lazy. I am so glad I got to have a true feel of the city and discover so many parts of it. With the Gay festival this weekend, I am sure I will end up in Chueca tonight before I head for Alicante for the weekend. Hopefully I will be able to post by Monday but my new homestay in Pamplona will most likely not have internet.

Oh well! The joys of a new adventure!

xoxo,

Kacy

Just because its Marchesa

Although I adore fashion and design, when it comes to following all the latest collections, I usually end up exhausted and ambivalent (and Im only looking at them online!). However, Ive always loved the romanticism of Marchesa's designs and basically wish I could be Georgina Chapman so I thought I'd share some of the beautiful and colorful designs from the resort collection. Just divine.

Jenna

El Escorial

Yesterday was mostly uneventful. I took my time in the morning lounging around the house before i did some more exploring of downtown Madrid. After class I came home for a cat nap before heading out for unlimited Sangria at Casa de Cerveza. A perfectly mellow day- which will be much needed as the craziness of this week progresses.
This past morning I finally made it out to El Escorial- an incredible monastery an hour outside of Madrid where all the Spanish kings are buried. While I was able to take pictures of the outside of the monastery, I was not allowed to take pictures in the most impressive part. Housed inside the monastery is an incredible basilica cathedral. They were playing coral music while I was in the church and I got to listen to the Hallelujah Chorus as I sat in the pews and took it all in. After I got back into the city, I was exhausted and so happy to come home and find my homestay mom had made Spanish comfort food for dinner: PAELLA!
This weekend is shaping up to be very exciting! The gay festival is this weekend in Chueca which means tons of people will be in the city. However, I will only get to enjoy it Friday night because I am heading to Costa Blanca (aka the beach!) for an overnight stay before I leave Madrid. With all the hecticness of the city, I am throughly looking forward to twenty four hours of white sand beaches & tropical cocktails. I can not believe my time in Madrid is almost over! Luckily I have Pamplona and all the festivities of San Fermin to look forward to!
xoxo,
Kacy
p.s. here are some pictures of 2 things I LOVE in Spain: stumbling upon fun kitschy shops like the one with these vintage lamps & the amazing pastelerias

Reina Sofia & Rebajas

So for those of you who are not friends with me on facebook, I am happy to announce that I finally found a camera chord! I am hoping it will make these posts infinitely more entertaining to read.
Last night was probably one of the worst nights I have had here for one reason & one reason alone: the HEAT!!! The past few days Madrid and all of Spain has had record breaking heat. While I am more then used to these temperatures being from Arizona, the lack of air conditioning is what makes it miserable. I am fortunate enough to have a fan in my room but last night for some reason the heat made it impossible to fall asleep.
My day, even with the lack of sleep, was not ruined. I got up early and headed to the Reina Sofia. With 4 massive levels, it is impossible to see everything in one visit. Thus I focused on the modern art & the amazing Pablo Picasso collection. The most impressive work of art I have yet to see the Guernica; it commends your full attention. The exhibit begins with the various sketches and phases Picasso used to create his masterpiece. After seeing all the different sketches he did, I appreciate him so much more as an artist. I am also fascinated by the subject matter surrounding the Guernica (aka the Spanish civil war) and plan on reading more about it later tonight. After I finished visiting the exhibits, I sat down for cafe con leche in the beautifully modern cafeteria located in the museum's new, more modern buildings.

The Museum Gardens

The new addition- amazing architecture!

The museum library I could totally see myself studying in.

With time to kill, I decided to head to a shopping district near school I have yet to browse through. BIG MISTAKE! The large Spanish clothing chain Mango (I know, we have it in the states....but not in Phoenix) is having the "rebajas" (like every other store in Madrid) which means everything, and I mean everything, is 50% off. Needless to say, I picked up a lovely leather satchel as well as a beautiful skirt. After class I did a little more shopping with some girls from class but solely for gifts from my lovely friends back home. Between all of this, I had no energy to go out tonight- even though I wish I had because it is so hot in the apartment. Oh well!

xoxo,

Kacy

Segovia & El Rastro

It is hard to believe I have already been in Spain for a week. While the days feel tremendously long (most likely due to the fact that the sun does not set until 10pm), this week has flown by. However, in many ways I feel like I have lived in Madrid for a very long time as I have quickly become accustomed with the Spaniard's way of life. Everyday, I am learning to fight my inner American self and take time to enjoy the simple pleasures in life- like sitting & enjoying a cup of coffee.

On Saturday, a group of us went and toured the nearby town of Segovia. Our first stop was the former winter castle of the King of Spain. While we did not go inside, the gardens were beyond incredible. With over 26 fountains, each was just as ornate as the next.

After the palace, we went over to Segovia- which is known for its ancient Roman aqueducts. After making the long trek up to the city center, we got to see yet another incredible cathedral before heading to the castle that inspired the Disney castles we see at Disneyland and Disneyworld!

The view from the top of the castle.

The Castle.

The Cathedral of Segovia.

After Segovia, we decided to keep the night relaxed and just had wine in the park where Templo de Deblod is located. One of our favorites things about the Spanish culture is how everyone gathers in parks (with Sangria of course!)

Today, I got up (relatively) early and had coffee at a plaza near the outdoor flea market known as El Rastro. Later I met up with one of my friends, and we explored the seemingly endless vendor booths- I have never seen anything like it! After spending too much money, I came back and layed by the pool and also practice by spanish with the "soccrista" (lifeguard). Afterwards I headed to the Plaza de Toros with my room mates to take some pictures and grab some ice cream. While they decided to actually go to the bull fight, I decided this was one Spanish cultural item I would skip out on.

As you can see, my weekend was full but I enjoyed every minute of it. And no- I did not find a camera cord, just stole some photos that my friends have uploaded to facebook. Tomorrow I will FINALLY be visiting the Reina Sofia.

xoxo,

Kacy