Thanks

Just wanted to say thanks to all of you who read the blog. I had fun, and I hope all of you were able to get a little taste of Spain though my experiences. Hasta pronto.

Matthew

More pics

The Guggenheim

Sunset from our apartment's rooftop in Girona

The Mediterranian

Los Pirineos

A Pyrenian switchback

Some people pics!

Home

I've made it home, look for some updates soon...

Nearing the end

So I've decided to take a break from the blog for the rest of the trip (I leave friday) and will just update it when I get home and tell you all about my reflections and put up pics and all that cool stuff. So until then you can all have one less site about visiting while your online and check back in Next sunday or so and hopefully the blog will be full of fun and exciting new things!

Week two in Girona

So after we returned from our sojourn to the Basque country we were all ready to relax for a bit and since we still had our rental car for a few more days explore the surrounding area. So that's what we did. And my dad and I rode our bikes, lots! It was a good week but nothing to earth shattering to tell you all about unfortunatly, just a day trip to the coast (which I didn'ty take part in) and then a trip up into the mountains to a small cool old town and then to another town called Banyoles where we saw a really cool old bridge, but other than that my dad and I just biked, slept, and ate, and all was good.

Vuelta Ciclista al Pais Vasco

So Monday morning was our last in San Sebastian and we spent the morning walking to the top of the hill neaer the beaches and were treated to an amazing view. We then headed off to try to find the last climb on of the first stage of teh vuelta ciclista al pais vasco or tour of the basque country. It was amazing the coincidental events that happened to be going on in the San Sebastian area while we where there and everyone thought this would be a good one to check out. I guess it was meant to be becuase we acidentaly stumbled upon the course and were able to stake out a spot on the final cat. 2 climb before the decent into the finish about an hour before the riders where expected to arrive. Unfotunatly it was raining, but spirits where high, its not everday I get to see my favorite riders in action. So there we were as first a rider from a spanish continental team went by off the front with a small gap followed by a lead group led by Saunier Duval and we could see Tour winner Alberto Contadoe and Cadel Evans near the front. The power is absolutely amazing and those were the only 2 I could identify before they were gone, and this was on a big climb! We were then able to watch the slower groups come through getting a great look at American Chris Horner and Luxembourger Frank Schleck (at least thats what we thought and yelled at the time, however upon reading some articles after it was actually his brother Andy, hopefully we aren't the first to make this mistake). So it was just to cool, what a trip this has been! We then headed back across Spain to our "home" in Girona. So I'm starting to catch you all up here, the most recent news is that I met Myles at the airport today (he is now asleep and trying to dejetlag) so its shaping up to be a fun last 10 days with trips planned to Barcelona and out to the coast. Hope to keep you all posted!

Bilbao-Bilbao

Bilbao-Bilbao is a huge bike tour that I just happened to see advertised in the back of a spanish bike magazine that I was reading and coincided with out trip to San Sebastian. The add claimed 6000 people would participate in this 116 km tour around the basque country. So my dad and I figured that even if we weren't able to finish we could get some cool phootos (which we didn't) and some cool free t-shirts (of course they only had xl left) and some cool stories (which we did!) so we decided to go for it. The day was unfortunatly overcast and freezing cold, but the ride was great. There really were 6000 participants and the course was not nearly as daunting as the profile made it seem and the speed was less than anticipated so all in all a really cool and fun day in the saddle.

San Sebastian

As our first week in Girona came to an end the fam and I rented a car and headed off to San Sebastian for a long weekend on the atlantic coast. We took a route through the france on the way to see some different scenery and another angle to the ever present mountain here. We arrived in San Sebastian late friday evening and after getting settled headed off to check out the famous San Sebastian tapas bars. They lived upto the expectation, some of the best and most nicely presented tapas I've seen yet. Saturday we headed off to Bilbao about an huor away and the capital of the basque country. There my dad and I registered for our ciclotourismo ride the next day (to be talked about later) and then we went to see the Guggenheim! It is the coolest building I have ever seen! The art inside is no comparison to the builing itself and its curves and titanium sheen. The inside is just as spectacular though I don't think I can really descride it to you well. So we headed back to San Sebastian for our dinner reservation at a Cideria in the hills outside the city. On a recomendation from Mr. Hynes and multiple guide books we thought this typical basque country affair would be worth checking out. Cidra is slightly alcohlic and bitter cider which they serve freely at the ciderias along with a multiple course meal. The huge vats (i don't think thats the right word) anyway the big round things they store the cider in are a site in themselves and the food was supurb, though I'm not a huge fan of the cidra. After an getting a good nights sleep my dad and I headed off Sunday for Bilbao-Bilbao's ciclotourismo tour.......

Riding with the big boys!

So I know that I'm behind but I'm skipping up to today for now because I had one of the absolute highlights of the entire trip. My dad and I were out for a ride, just cruising along when we heard some voices behind us and turned back to see a group of pros from both slipstream and high road. As they passed we said hi and then saw them a km or two up the road pulled over to shed some layers and we continued on. About 15 or so minutesw later they came by again but one pulled back next to me and asked "was that english that you were speaking back there" we chatted a little and then he asked IF WE WANTED TO JOIN THEM! So of course we did. The one I had been talking to was Lucas Euser from slipstream so for about 30 km I got to sit on the wheels of a group of pros and chat with lucas about biking, life in europe, that kind of thing. We had to leave them after about 30 km as they headed off on there 6 hour ride and my dad and I headed back to Girona, but it was absolutely amazing. And he gave me his e-mail so I'm hoping to be able to get out for anothe ride with him before we head out! But its was just sooooo cool, I still can't believe it!

Week one in Girona

So I'm way behind the times here, but I'll try to catch you all up here. After meeting my Dad and Emma upon my arrival in Barcelona we spent the weekend in Barcelona (for times sake I'm not going to talk about that weekend as there will be other times to talk about Barcelona). Taking the train from Barcelona to Girona draging my dads bike box the whol eway we made it to our apartment in Girona and met my mom there who had driven from Salamanca where she had been studying. The apartment is nice, if not a little cramped. I'm in a room with bunk beds and a look out over Girona suburbs to "Los Pirineos". The first week we spent mainly afjusted to the city and exploring, and of course my dad and I broke out our bikes for some of the most amazing riding in the world. Other than that the first week was pretty uneventful. And the following weekend we headed off to San Sebastian. So that I'll have to talk about in a later post, but now I have to get back to the Barca game. I guess halftime doesn't give me enought time to give you all a proper update, sorry.

Simo and Cagliari

I apologize for the long wait for the next post, I've been on the go and havn't had the time to update, but here goes. I flew out of the piso airport to Cagliari and Simo was there waiting for me on the other end. We headed off to his house and had a pasta dinner before heading out to a local disco until the wee (that doesn't look right?) hours of the morning. Th enext day was easter sunday and I had one the the best and largest easter meals of my life with Simo's family. I then was trated to a tour of Cagliari from the back of Simo's scooter, which was really fun, and I can't believe thay aren't used as much in US cities to get around. The timing of my travels could not have been better because both Willi and Simo were on easter vacation, so that evening we headed off to a beach house about an hour outside of cagliari that "a few of my friends have rented for the vacation" by a few of his friends simo meant about 20-25 in a huge house perched above the ocean. We stayed there the next few nights, and it was, well, an experience I suppose. Its amazing that nobody cares what you do in Italy, we were blasting music and making a huge racket till 6 or 7 in the morning everyday, and they had been doing this all week, never could have happened in the states. After that we headed back into Cagliari for the rest of my stay. The next day we hung out and that eveing I got to play soccer with some of Simo's friends who assured me "don't play soccer". I wish I could play soccer like Italians that don't. But it was a blast. We rented out a small field under the lights for about 40 euros split between 10 of us. I guess tehre are fields like this all over the place in Cagliari and it was really cool. My last day we just hung out around his house and then I headed off to the airport and back to Spain, after a great two weeks of being able to see Willi and Simo. It was so good to be able to see both of them again and I'll try to get some pictures up, but I know you've all heard me say that before, so don't hold your breath. Hasta luego.

Florence

So I got to florence at about 7:30 in the morning and sat around the train station for about an hour waiting for information to open so I could get a map of the city. I knew that I wouldn't have much time there and at this point I was pretty tired and frustrated of travel, but I had to go see what I could while I was there. It's not everyday your in Florence you know. So around 8:30 I began my wandering of the city, still with this stupid pack on my back, I was really getting sick of the pack. My first stop was the Duomo, a truly amazing catedral adn very different from the old stone catherdrals I have been used to seeing, I think it was my favorite so far. I then ehaded down to the river and wandered around in no particular direction. I then headed up to the Michalangelo park which is way up on a hill overlooking the city. I must say that the view is much more spectacular than the statue of the naked man. I'm sorry to those art lovers who read this, though they may have decided to have stopped reading after the last sentence anyway. So we'll continue. I then headed back down got lunch and some much needed strong italian expresso and went on my way in no particular direction. I walked a lot and saw a lot of things, but it was a very quick and sleep deprived tour, so I really don't have to much to say. It is a beautiful city and I would love to go back and really be able to appreciate the art and the city. But unfortunatly this visit wasn't great. So at 4 I caught the bus to the Piso airport and flew off to Sardinia to meet Simo!

Germany to Florence the trip that went wrong

Starting from where I left off from the last post that night was supposed to be my last in Germany and I would head off for a few days in Florence the next morning. I was accompanied by Willi to the train station the next morning for my 8:19 train to Stuttgart. As we said goodbye a train pulled in and Willi said thats the one so I hopped on. Unfortunatly that was not the one. It was going the wrong direction. So there I was sitting on the train completely clueless that I was on the wrong train. Fortunatly Willi had realized the mistake and that I had got on the 8:16, not the 8:19. He proceeded to call every stop along the way and had everybody on the look for me if I got off. I was still clueless and nobody spoke english so I just chilled on the train thinking all was well. The train then stopped at the end of the line and I thought something had gone wrong with the trian and was told by someone who spoke little english that this was true, they were wrong. The train was just waiting to go back towards stuttgart. So I just kept sitting there wondering when we would get to Stuttgart and what I was going to do when I got there. To bring the story to an end the train went back the same way it came and fortunatly Willi was waiting for me at his stop and so I got off and was able to spend another night with him, not bad at all. The next morning I tried again and was able to get on the right trian to Stuttgart and make my connection to Zurich, I was going to connect there to Milan and then to Florence and be able to see the alps! Of course a tree fell in the tracks and the train couldn't continue. So we were bused to another station where we took two other trains to arrive at a station that had a train going to Zurich. By the time I arrived in Zurich I had missed my train to Milan, and the one that left 3 hours after. So I had a choice to make. I could either go to Milan and wait till 5 in the morning to go to Florence or wait 7 hours in Zurich and take a night train direct to Florence. I chose the latter. So I had to kill 7 hours in Zurich which might have been fun except that it was freezing cold and raining, so I walked around a bit, got soaked and waited in the train station, got my train to Florence and made it there without any more trouble, but never got to see the alps, which was the entire point of making that leg of the trip by train. Oh well, I will have to see the alps some other time. And I eventually made it to Florence, but it was a long leg of travel!

Germany!

OK, so I finaly have a little time to sit and tell you all about my travels. At the moment I'm in Barcelona and tomorrow I head off with Dad and Emma to our apartment for the next month in Girona. So I headed off from Salamanca two weeks ago now (or something like that) on my way to the Madrid aiport. From there I flied to Stuttgart where Willi was waiting for me with his dad when I arrived. From there we headed off to Willi's town Mockmuhl. We arrived at Willi's house around 11 o clock and ate a little dinner before I headed off to bed. The next morning I awoke and we had a breakfast of some cold cuts and bread and then headed off to see the town. It was a really nice little town, and it felt good to be out of the city for a little bit. We wandered through the old walled part of the town and saw the old catedral before climbing the hill to see the castle that overlooks the town. The architecture is notably different in Germany and you can see the wooden beams in the buildings (I will try to get pictures up asap). That afternoon I got to play the first soccer during the entire trip as we joined in a pick up game at the basketball court in town. It is amazing the level of even some of the very young people we played with, soccer is such a huge part of life here for the kids, its very cool. I was then treated to a german kabob (german fast food) which is meat and some lettuce and other things in a pita like wrap and is very good. That night we went out on the town and I was able to meet many of Willi's friends. The next day was Willi's birthday and so I got to accompany Willi and his mom and dad to the Senshiem museum about an hour away from his house. I have to mention the drive because the German autobahn is wild and with Willi's dad driving we were pushing 170kph much of the way. The museum was great. It had a vast selection of cars starting from the 50´s american cars ranging to modern ferraris. As well as a huge collection of artifacts and machines from world war II. We even got to see the car Hitler drove, which is amazing to think about. The museum also has a collection of planes, the greatest being a concord which are displayed on the roof of the museum and which we could explore. One of the highlights of the museum for me was when I got to see the bike that Jan Ullrich rode to victory in the 97 tour de france (still cool, even if he was completely doped when he did it). We then went out to a pizzeria for a birthday dinner for Willi and then back home and out with friends again. This was supposed to be my last night in Germany, but that story is for the next post.

Yet another brief update (Sorry)

I hope I'm not completely boring everybody with these quick updates, but at the moment its the best I can do. I made it to Florence early this morning after needing to take the night train from Zurich to Florence. I've spent today wandering around Florence, a truly beautiful city and I wish I could have spent more time here. Unfortunatly I have also had to lug my 25 lb. backpack around as well. But I head to the airport by bus at 4 this afternoon to catch my flight to Sardinia where Simone will meet me at the airport, so I can't wait. I really hope I have time in Sardinia to tell you all about my time with Willi and hellish travel from Germany to Italy (all over now fortunatly). So that's that. Caio.

In Zurich

Yet again no time to right a full report, but I promise I will as soon as I have the time. But here's the next update. So I got on the right train this morning and arrived in Stuttagr without problem. Than of course on the way to Zurich a tree fell in the tracks and I was, along with everyone else on the train, to take a bus to another train station, than a train to yet another train station before finally arriving at a station with a train to Zurich, that I almost misssed. So I arrived in Zurich 3 hours after my train to Milan had left. I am now in the middle of my 5 hour wait in Zurich until I take a train through the night arricing in Florence at 6:45 tomorrow morning. This has effectively ruined the Florence portion of my trip as I fly off to Sardinia to see Simone tomorrow night. So I'm bumbed that I missed out on Florence and will only be able to run around with my luggage tomorrow morning and take a few pics before heading off to the airport. On the other hand I can't wait to see Simone, so mixed feelings on this side of the ocean. Hope all is well with everyone on the other.

In Germany (still)

So yet again I don´t have time to do a proper job but I will give you all an update of my travels and make sure to get the whole story up as soon as I have time. Hopefully sooner than later. So I´ve had a wonderful stay with Willi and met his family and friends and just overall had a great time. I was supposed to leave this morning by train to go to Florence. Unfortunatly I got on a train going in the opposite direction that stuttgart this morning and so was given a tour of the area and returned to Willi´s town two hours later. Fortunatly he had realiyed that he had put me on the wrong train minutes after I had headed off and was able to arrange to meet me at the train station again in his town. I was oblivious to all this since nobody spoke english, but I saw him out the window as we pulled in and jumped off. So that ruined hopes of me continuing on to florence today and I will try again hopfully with better luck tomorrow. THough I must say I have no confidence that I will be able to make it. I´ll let you all now if and when I arrive in Florence. Though I won´t be able to get to a computer again until saturday with all day travel tomorrow(leave willis house 730 and Florence and 11:00 tomorrow night) So we´ll see how all this goes.

Germay in brief

So I have made it to Germany arriving late last night with Willi there to great me at the airport. The travel was great, and its been so good to spend some time with him after 2 years. Anyway I will try to get a more detailed post up soon.

PICTURES

Spanish travels with the madre

So I apologize that I havn't been keeping the blog updated as of late but I would rather not post than bore you with irrelevant and bopring posts. However I think things should be looking up for the blog as a new chapter in the trip is about to begin as I travel to Germany and Italy and then onto Girona. Anyway mom arrived thursday and after spending my last night with my host family and last day of classes we headed off together in a rental car to explore the region of Castilla y Leon, the province that Salamanca is in. We spent friday afternoon in the Sierra de Francia. It's an area to the south west of Salamanca into the foothills of the mountasins; where we found some magical old villages that seemed from an entirely different time. After exploring here we moved on to find lodging in Segovia, about 2.5 hours away. We arrived in Segovia around 10 and had an adventure trying to navigate the streets of the old city to find our hostel and parking. After checking in we went out for a nice dinner around 11:30 (not unheard of in Spain), and then returned to crash in the hostel. In the morning we got our cafe con leche in the Plaza Mayor and then off to explore Segovia. Segovia offers 3 main attractions that we were able to visit. The first being a segment of an old roman acquiduct built around 100 bc without mortar! It is about 4 stories tall at its highest point and is absolutely amazing. The second was a castle that looked straight out of a Disney fairytale and in fact inspired the castle in Sleeping Beauty. The final attraction was a cathedral bording the plaza mayor which was also spectacular. We spent our secoind night in Segovia and then this morning headed off to the walled city of Avila (home to my favorite cyclist Carlos Sastre, unfortunatly he was not sited). But the wall was amazing. I can't imagine how these things were built without the use of modern machinery, its absolutely baffling. So we were able to meander along the wall and outside the city for a bit and then back to Salamanca for me to say bye to my host family and for my mom to move in with hers. At any rate we are all settled and tomorrow I'm off to Madrid in the afternoon to catch my evening flight to Germany to visit with Willi which I am so excited about and then on to 2 nights in Florence before flying to Cagliari to soke up some Mediteranian sun with Simone! So it has been a very exciting weekend with more fun on the horizon. I will try to get some pics up asap because my words (and probably the pictures for that matter) cannot come close to doing these things justice.

Spanish Elections

So just to worn everyone I am not well informed on the issue but I feel like I really should make some comment since I am in the country. So here's what I know (and hopefully is correct): The socialist party that was already in power won the election again by a reasonably close margin. My host mother decided not to vote saying that she did not particularly like either cantidate and feels that both just say things to get elected but in the end don't follow through. I also know that a basque politicion was assasinated, but I'm not sure why, only that he had three children. So there is my lack of information on the issue, but I can sleep better now having at least mentioned it. My final week in Salamanca is winding down and friday afternoon I will head off with mom who arrives here thursday afternoon for her two weeks of study while I travel. So that's that. Hope all is well state side, hasta luego.

The Plaza Mayor

Here is a video I took of the Plaza Mayor here in Salamanca, it is really spectacular. It is said to be the most beautiful plaza mayor in all of Spain if not the world.

The Plan!

So there is really nothing new to report on the Salamanca front. I've been sick for the past week or so but feel as though I've turned the corner. Because of this I havn't really been up to much as of late. Though I did watch the Madrid-Roma game the other night which saw the third of the 4 Spanish teams remaining in the Champions league knocked out leaving only Barca!

With this lack of interesting Spanish things to talk about I think I will fill all of you in on my plan for the upcoming few weeks. I have only one more week remaining in my classes here in Salamanca finishing on the 14th of March. The 13th my mom will arrive from the States because she is going to study here for two weeks before the family reunites in Girona for the month of April. On Monday the 20th I fly from Madrid to Stuttgart where I will meet my friend Willi who lives outside of Stuttgart and studied at PA 2 years ago (right?). I will spend a few days with him and then on some day (I can't remember at the moment) I am going to take a train from Stuttgart to Florence over the Aples which should be amazing. I will spend a day in Florence and then go to Piso outside of Florence to fly to Cagliari on the island of Sardinia where my friend Simone lives who studied at PA last year. I will spend a fews days with him and then fly to Barcelona to meet up with my dad and sister and we will all make the trip out to Girona together to mee tmy mom and move into our apartment there for April!

A soccer filled weekend

So I've been sick the past few days which put a damper on my weekend but I was able to watch myy host brothers soccer game and both the barcelona and real madrid games. My host brother plays for the Salamanca team and they had their game sunday against Real Madrid (the club is actually run by the real real madrid same uniforms and a big bus with real madrid on it, so that was kinda cool. The staduim was really nice, big for a youth game and lots of spanish fans. I only have one bad picture unortunatly because the sun was in our eyes by the time I remembered to take the photo. Anyway they lost 1-0 on an unfotunate goal, but it was still fun to watch and a great level of soccer, much higher VT high school or nordic or anything I've ever played in the states. For those of you who went to Europe with me I was reminded of the french team that killed us the first day. Anyway that night I went out to watch my first game at a bar for the first time because the game wasn't on at home. This was absolutly the way to go. Barcelona on a big projector and Madrid on another TV on the other side of the room filled with excited and drunk spaniards. What more could one ask for to watch soccer? Unfortunatly Barcelona lost and Madrid win increasing there lead to 5 points in la liga, but it was still a good time. Oh and Ronaldinho scored a sweet goal on a bicycle kick which I recommend all of you should youtube.

Vantage Point

So everybody has to go see the movie Vantage Point because it takes place in Salamanca Spain. It also looks like a good flick anyway, so everybody has to go see it this weekend. I think there might be a big premier here in Salamanca tonight with all the actors and cool stuff like that, so I may go check that out. I'm going to my host brothers soccer game tomorrow and I think Avila on Sunday so it should be a fun weekend.

Spanish elections 08

So what a contrast there is between the election process in Spain and the US. As I'm sure eveyone is aware, the election process in the Us startted probably a year ago for an election in November, still months away. The candidates have spent millions of dollars had multiple debates and we still don't know who the candidates will be for the general election. While in Spain it's an entirely different story. Spain holds its election on March 9th, or somewhere around there. The candidates just started their campaigning last week and had there first debate the other night. I found the contrast between the two election process's interesting and the spanish think we are absolutely crazy for having out elections go on for so long. So that's that, hope everying is enjoying the snow and sun in VT.

Ham anybody

So here is the leg of ham I talked about in the previous post

Tapas and other news

So I went out for tapas the other night with some friends and we went to the most gourmet tapas bar in Salamanca (this means tapas ranging from 2-3 euros) so not that expensive. I had already eaten dinner by the time we went so I only had 2 tapas. The first was some great roasted chicken and the second was a yogurt desert with honey and nuts. Both were eligently displayed and delicious. IN other salamanca news I realized the other day that the pig leg in our kitchem (I'm not sure you can see it in the pics of the house, but I will put one up soon) was actually not decoration but is for eating. So this I thought was interesting and something very different than the states where we never just have cured meat lying around, and certainly not an entire pig leg. I've continued to ride a lot, usually going between 50-60 km and its been great, unfortunatly it looks like rain is coming in for the rest of the week. So thats the Salamanca update and I'll try to get a picture of the pig leg up soon for your viewing pleasure. Hasta Luego.

Chocolate con churros

So after going out the other night I was treated to an very traditional spanish dish of chocolate con churros early in the morning (Churrerias usually don't open till 5 am) and they were great. Churros are fried dough and then dipped into a super rich chocolate sauce and they are absolutely amazing.

My House

GOOOLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL

So this country is absolutley futbol crazed. And by futbol I mean soccer, not american futbol, which though fun to watch at times just cannot come close to comparing with the real thing. I think everyone growing up here wants to be a soccer player when they grow up and everyone watches all the games or listens on the radio and is just passionate about the sport. It has been really fun for me to be able to watch the likes of Ronaldinho and Robinho and all the greats on TV, a very rare occurrence in the US where all you can see is the mls which is not close to the same caliber and features amateurs and washed up european pros (coughdavidbeckhamcough) sorry I has something is my throat. For example I walked back to my room the other morning to see my host mother checking up on the soccer highlights from the night before. But it's really just been lots of fun for me to be able to see this soccer, now I have to find somehwere to play, hmm.

Sun!

So after 3 days of drizzling, and at times hard, rain, the sun shines again in Salamanca and the prospects of a ride this afternoon look very good, so I'm excited. My time in Salamanca is flying by, as already nearly 2 of my 5 weeks here are gone.

I've started to think abouit my two weeks of travel during which I will visit Wille and Simone (for those of you who don't know them, they were exchange students from Germany and Italy respectively). However I'm trying to figure out where else I should travel, so if anyone has any suggestions for exciting or fun places to go in western europe, please let me know. Also if you have any tips for european travel (trains, buses, etc..) it would be much apreciated. Thanks!

Ciudad Rodrigo

So I went to the ciudad Rodrigo today about 80 kilometers outside Salamanca with a group of friends from brazil. It took us an hour by bus to reach the city. The public transports is great, the buses left on time and were really nice, very different experience from my last bus ride in a foreign country in Costa Rica, but I won't go into that. Anyway, it was a bit expensive for my cheap taste but well worth the sights at the end of the ride. Ciudad Rodrigo is a really cool old walled city. Besides the city itself being really cool, we also got some great views of the surrounding country side. To learn more about the city here's the link www.wikipedia.org/wiki/ciudad_rodrigo

Here are some of the pics:

Disclaimer

So I feel as though I should put out a disclaimer because I have been getting some negative feedback about some of the content of the blog. First, I am not an idiot, I'm just not spell checking the blog because using the computers here is expensive, so I try to spend as little time as possible on them. I hope that everyone will understand what I'm saying no matter if I spell their with an i or not. Also, I am not trying to offend anyone, I am only expresing my opinions and observations about the differences between life in Spain and in Vermont. If I have offedned you I apologize. Hope this clears things up for everyone.

So life here has continued on much in the same fashion as it has for my entire time here. I must say the first week did go by quickly. Imagine 20% of my time in Salamanca already over and I've barely done anything, I must fix this. The most exciting news I think I have to share is that a nice German couple arrived in my house today and I got to show them around the city because they speak no spanish and I am now the official translator. Afterwards they gave me some great German chocolate, so I'm pretty psyched about that. I have class again tomorrow and rumor has it that some Aussie's are coming to I'll have to try to meet them and see if they know my relatives. So that's the update, hopefully I'll have something a little more exciting to share in the future.

Great Ride

So I'll try to keep this blog interesting for all of you who don't share my obsession of man powered machines, shaved legs, and spandex. However since I am obsessed I cannot help myself from writing about it. So I went for a great 70 km ride out through the farmland outside Salamanca and the surrounding area today. It was great, just kilometers of flat to rolling roads and farmland with few cars and towns in sight. Very cool, biking really is a great way to see the surrounding area. Anyway, the next best part of Spain is that I got back at 3 just in time to eat lunch and then go back to bed for the siesta. Tonight I'm planning on watching both the madrid and barca games back to back, which should be fun, the spainards are very enthusiastic about their soccer. So other than that not much to report going on here in Spain, hope all is well in the states.

First real ride!

First I would just like to say Biking in Spain is absolutely amazing!

I figured out how to leave the city yesterday afternoon and so I headed out after lunch today to see if I could retrace my steps by bike. I could. So I headed out of Salamanca towards Alba de Tormes, which I think is towards the south west (not positive). Anyway it only took 5 minutes to get out of the city and 3 or 4 kilometers to really get away from developments and other houses. The terrain was open and I went directly into a brutal headwind on my way out of town, but got to fly on the return. The terrain is very different from vermont, slowly rolling with nothing to steep, should be great minus the wind. The drivers here are infinitely better than the VT rednecks (No I'm not trying to offend anybody, this is just an observation, and I'm probably biased anyway) in their Ford F 150 with take back vermont bumper stickers who try to run you off the road, flick you off, and honk all at the same time. The drivers here will even yield to a biker in traffic, how sweet is that. Anyway, it was absolutely great. But I'm off, I think I'm going to try to sample some tapas tonight to celebrate valentines day. Hope everyone has had a great day back home and enjoyed the new snow and sun.

Pictures!

Finally some pictures






So it's not much but hopefully it helps a little

Not much going on, so lets talk about a normal day

So I'm just hanging out at the school right now, and I think later I'm going to walk around and try yo figure out how to get out of the city and set up some epic rides for this weekend. I just met the only other American student at the school, which is cool. Though there certainly are some cool aspects of being in the minority because we talk about culture in the classes and so I'm learning not only spanish but also different aspects of culture around the world.

Since I don't have any events of interest to talk about I think I'll talk a little about the differences between life here and life back in VT. Though some changes I think can be related to moving from a small town to a "big" city. The major difference is the time of day that we eat and also what we eat. Usually I have some cereal early in the morning and then head off to school. Here breakfast is really just sweets. I've been eating hot chocolate with cocoa puffs in it, an interesting combination, along with a variety of other cookies for breakfast. Unfortunatly I have yet to sample some fine spanish coffee. Anyway, I then go to class from 9am-1pm and return home or hang out at the school. I eat lunch around 2 or 2:30. It is the biggest meal of the day usually consisting of multiple courses. For example today I ate a potato and chicked soup followed by a fish fillet and then a yogurt for desert. Then I have the afternoon and evening to do whatever I want. So far this has meant homework and sleeping, as well as my bike ride the other day. Dinner is between 9 or 10. After dinner I can hang out in the house or leave again to do whatever.

So thats a normal day so far. As to the difference between culture and customs I havn't noticed anything to ground breaking. Though they do seem a little more "touchy feely" than we usually are in the States, and also tend to lean in really close when your talking. They also stare much more than we do, and it is not considred inpolite, though it can make me feel uncomfortable at times. Hope this has been interesting, I'll keep posting any other differences I notice. Iḿ still trying to figure out how I can post pictures, but I need to find a computer where I'm allowed to upload pics, which is a surprisingly difficult task, and not one I anticipated. Anyway, hope all is well is the states and that Obama continues to roll. Thats all for now, time to go scout out where to ride, bye.

First Ride

So I went for a pretty amazing ride today. I averaged a blistering 12 kph for 1 hour, WOW! I got completely lost trying to get out of the city to find some decent roads, but I eventually got to dizzy from roundabouts and had to return home. Anyway, thats pretty much the only interesting thing to happen to me today. So that's that's bye.

A detailed account of the trip and life in Salamanca

So I'm all settled in now, at least as much as can be expected on my second full day. So here's the story of my flight. The plane from Boston was delayed two hours, which meant that I would miss my connection in London, bummer! I´d never been on a delayed flight before and didn't really know what to do. Anyway, I got to London and then had to go get reassigned to a new flight. Which happened to be leaving in 10 minutes. So I literally, and I mean literallt sprinted through the airport to catch the flight. I imagine I looked like a complete idiot. But I made it. I got to Madrid and cleared customs no problem, apparently I don't look much like a terrorist, which is good. But my luggage was not there. So I had to figure out who to talk to and where they should send it. By this point I was very frustrated and very exhausted. I then met the driver who was going to take me to Salamca who was a little bummed that he had to wait in the airport for me for 3 hours. But he was still a good guy. Anyway we headed out to Salamaca at 150kph blasting Eiffel 65 Iḿ Blue da ba di da ba di, and all was well again. So I got to my homestay and settled in for a bit and ate dinner. After dinner I was invited by 2 girls from France to go out to a club with the rest of the people from their group. This was an experience, and I got to display my horrible dancing skills, lots of fun. The interesting thing was that we were pretty much the only people at the club, because it was only 11 and everyone leaves to go clubbing at 1 or 2 in the morning, so I'm not sure I really got a feelfor teh club scene. Anyway it was interesting. Sunday I didn't do much, just walked around the city. Today I had my first classes, which went smoothly and I was placed in the intermediate spanish group, so I was happy. So thats all that happening on this side of the atlantic. Hope all is well back in the states. Please post any questions for me and I'll try to answer them. But thats the update so far. Hasta Pronto.

A Traveling Fiasco

So I´ve made it to Salamanca safe and sound, but without my baggage due to a delay out of Boston. I don´t have time to write more than that, but I´ll try to get a full update to everyone soon. Oh, and I was deferred admision to Midd if anybody wants to know.

All Packed!

From This:

To This:


Not bad for three months in Europe. Anyway, all this is just crazy. I can't believe I actually leave tomorrow and said good bye to all my friends today and won't see them for months. But I can't wait to get there because it's going to be a blast. I guess you could say I have some mixed feelings at the moment. To top it all off I'll arrive in Spain and then be able to see if I got into Middlebury. Wow, everything happening at once!

Homage to the Tarmac

So I finally got my new bike today, just in time for me to take it to Europe. Waiting to the last minute does seem to make things more exciting. It's a specialized tarmac, and is absolutely amazing. So I though I would put some pics up because it's just that sweet.

In other news I've also started packing, so I'll probably get a post up about that sometime tomorrow.

One Week from Departure

So I've been getting ready, making all the necessary purchases, Its absolutely crazy to think that I've been planning this trip for a couple years and now am leaving in a week. It looks like the weather over there is alright this time of year, and I won't miss the freezing cold VT mornings.

I'm not feeling nervous yet, but who knows, that could kick in at any time. Anyway, just though I'd post a little update. The next time I'm writing in this I'll probably be in Spain, isn't that a funny thought.

A little more home-stay info

So I just got word from Enforex with a little information on the home-stay, though still not much considering that I'm going to be moving in for 5 weeks, but I guess all I can do is go with the flow. Anyway my Mrs. Benito Ramos does live by herself, and she has hosted students before and it sounds as though she will be hosting other students my age at the same time so that will be pretty cool. Thats all the info I have for now, I'll keep the blog posted if I hear anything else. Hasta luego (I have to start practicing my spanish now).

A few more details, sort of

So I thought it might be a good idea to share a little more detail about the school and city that I'll be living in. Salamanca is a city of about 160,00, just a little bit bigger than East Hardwick. Located between the Portuguese border and Madrid, as can be seen on the map below. It is a college town hosting the university of salamanca and of course many other small language schools. It sounds like the language is great, and here are a couple links with more details. http://www.enforex.com/school-salamanca.html
http://www.languagecourse.net/school-enforex-salamanca.php3