Hola!!!
So here is a recap of my life since my last blog:
• I moved up to B1 level at school which is so exciting; finally at a level I feel comfortable at and know I am learning new vocabulary and practicing my speaking much more.
• Went downtown Grenoble for the first time and experienced the London Pub (this bar is very Americanized with posters of famous celebrities, American and English music playing and random odds and ends from either the US or the UK).
free shots from the bartenders :)
And now for more recent adventures: I just got back from an amazing weekend in Madrid, Spain! And you will never guess who I spent the weekend with! My good friend from school in Prague who I haven’t seen in 10 years...Natalie! Crazy right? We have been in touch since we left Prague through letters and recently facebook, but I was a little nervous to see her in person after all this time, but when I walked off the plane and saw her waiting there for me, everything just fell into place; we picked up where we left off! It was amazing! Unfortunately, I couldn’t stay with her in her apartment because it was too small and just on the outskirts of Madrid, so I stayed in the city centre in a hostel called Castilla. The owner was very nice, but I’m glad Natalie was there with me while checking in because she could communicate in Spanish since the owner did not speak English very well. So after we checked in and got settled Natalie and I hit the town!
plaza de Espana
Natalie took me to the main street of Madrid called Gran Via. It totally reminded me of New York City with the cabs, the buildings, the lights, the shows, everything… and one of the first things I noticed while walking on the main drag, which was literally on every corner…Starbuck’s Coffee. I felt at home just from seeing that, McDonalds and KFC haha. After walking the strip, we stopped in Plaza de Espana. This square was surrounded with trees and fountains and in the center was the Cervantes monument. We took pictures and then sat by the fountain and chatted until it was time for our dinner reservation. And let me just say that in Spain, dinner time doesn’t begin until 10:30-11pm at night, which means that lunch time isn’t until 2:30-3pm in the afternoon! This took some getting used to, but time flew by catching up with Natalie and it was dinner in no time. Natalie’s mom recommended this Tapas restaurant called Serrano 93, which she fully paid for (that was so sweet of her!), and oh my goodness the food was to die for! It was authentic Spanish cuisine and let me just say that for the first time ever, I actually like tomatoes now :)
Friday morning came quick and I was on my own until the afternoon when Natalie got out of class, so I decided to venture out on the town. It rained all day Friday, but that didn’t stop me from seeing the city. I bought myself a tourist book of places to see and things to do because even though Natalie has lived there for years, she doesn’t live in Madrid and doesn’t really know what to do and see. Without the book, I think I would have been lost. So I started out by walking from the hostel all the way to Gran Via and from there ended up in the Plaza de la Ciebeles where the Palacio de Communications (the postal service headquarters) is. This plaza is one of the most famous plazas in Madrid and the fountain of Ciebeles, which is in the center of the roundabout, is also a historic symbol of the city.
I also saw Plaza Mayor. This famous square was built in the 16th century with a Baroque style architecture and absolutely gorgeous! There are 136 houses and 437 balconies making this square one of the most inhabited in Madrid. In the middle of the square is a monument of Philip III.
Another popular spot I visited was the Puerta del Sol. When you first get into the square you see a statue of a bear and a strawberry tree, which is representative of Madrid’s coat of arms. The square also has the famous statue and fountain of the Fuente de la Mariblanca.
By the time I saw all of this, I realized that Natalie hadn’t called me yet. I look at my phone and realize that it has no service…at all! I tried calling her but of course it didn’t work (which now makes sense because I only signed up for the phone to work in France, but at the time definitely didn’t remember doing that)! Ah! I walked into the closest shop I could find and asked to use their phone to get a hold of my friend and explained my situation. The guy was so nice to let me use the phone, but when I gave him the phone number he came back saying that the phone number was not a working number, it just kept giving him the busy signal. Now I started to panic because I had the wrong phone number of Natalie’s, my phone isn’t working and I do not have a computer or internet access to get a hold of her! The guy didn’t know of any internet café’s or payphones anywhere! I didn’t know what to do…but knew that Natalie probably went back home and we would just meet up later that night for dinner and the discos. For now, I didn’t, well really couldn’t, worry about it because there was nothing I could do. So I decided to continue touring.
I started walking down another main road, Calle Mayor, which led me to the Palacio Real and the Cathedral of the Almudena. Standing on the corner of the street, I was in awe of their beauty and elegance. Inside the church was breathtaking…there was vaulted ceilings, painted ceilings and stained glass windows. The palace was just as beautiful. It was actually built after the Palace of Versailles, just outside of Paris, and it definitely resembles that. Here, I toured the royal chambers, the royal library, the royal armory, the porcelain room, the throne room and the royal pharmacy just to name a few.
Palacio Royal
After spending a few hours here, I realized I should probably be getting back to the hostel and figure out how to contact Natalie for tonight. On the way back I was so lucky to find an internet café, so I tried to call Natalie again except this time it actually rang! Her battery had died earlier that day so she had no way of getting a hold of me either, but thankfully we were in contact now and made plans to meet for dinner around 11pm. Natalie also informed me of her plans for the evening after dinner. Some of her friends and her were planning on taking me out to the discos, which I was super excited for, but then came the shocking news…they party from midnight until 7AM!!! How can anyone do that? When I heard that, I was afraid, but in the end, the experience was going to be worth it. Had dinner at midnight (latest dinner I think I’ve ever had) then the clubbing began! I’m proud to say that even though I didn’t make it until 7am, I did make it until 5am…which for me is awesome because in San Luis, I am used to the clubs/bars closing at 2am and in Grenoble it’s 1am. Overall, it was such a fun night meeting Natalie’s friends, dancing and partying in Madrid! The only downside was that I reeked of SMOKE. In Spain, people can smoke anywhere, anytime, anyplace; there are no restrictions like in the US or France. My clothes, my skin, my hair, my purse, everything smelt like smoke...I took 2 showers to finally feel clean and smoke free!
Saturday and Sunday were more tourist days for me…and let me just say that I booked it to see everything Madrid has to offer. Here are some highlights of this beautiful city:
Victory Arch- one of the entrances into Madrid
City Hall in Plaza de la Villa
Church of Santisimo Sacramento
Plaza de Orient and the Royal Theatre
Prado Museum
Puerta de Alcala- the most famous and representative of the monuments in Madrid
Retiro Park: monument of Alfonso XII and the Palacio de Cristal
National Library
Church of the Salesas Reales
Air Force of Madrid
I am so glad that I was fortunate to visit Madrid and catch up with one of my good friends! It was a tiring weekend, but so worth it!
This weekend, my CEA group is going on our first excursion to Aix-en-Provence in the southern region of France known as Provence. Look back next week for pictures and adventures!
A bientot,
Steph
P.S- So every Thursday night, my CEA group has a meeting/hang out session and tonight, my 2 roommates and I were walking back to our apartment from the tram stop and this is where the story gets interesting because in the middle of this parking lot we were walking through, this older man comes running out in front of us. At first I didn't notice anything different about him, until I looked closer.... he was completely NAKED minus running shoes and a workout band around his stomach and thighs!!!!!! All 3 of us were in complete shock...who does this type of thing, especially in the middle of winter when it was below zero last night, I mean come on! Not only that, he turns around to apologize to us and then continues to run only a few feet in front of us with everything...and I mean everything... showing. It definitely was not a pleasant sight to see at all, but something that I don't think I can ever forget happened haha oh the French...
Sunday was our last day in Aix and our program director took us out in the countryside to see mount Saint Victoire. Our program director, Patrick, told us all to wear comfortable shoes because we were going on a nature walk, but little did we know that we were about to embark on an actual, fully fledged hike up part of the mountain! Half way up, I was starting to sweat like a pig and could feel my legs getting a workout that’s how steep we were climbing! “Nature walk” my butt. When we finally made it to the top, the view was gorgeous. You could see the entire valley all the way out to the coast as well as lavender fields and vineyards. It definitely was worth the hike to see the view and enjoy our lunch up there. After we made it down, we explored the visitor’s area where we saw a video on the history of this region and also some donkeys. Yes, seeing donkeys at first was strange, but it is the countryside of France. We hung out with the donkeys for a little bit and as we were turning to head up to the bus, the 2 donkeys closest to the fence belted out this moaning/grunting sound at us. It was like they were telling us they were upset we were leaving haha It was a sight to see! 
