My Christmas Day, 2010

So, this is what I did today.

cooked and baked with Nicki! she concocted this angel food cake :). 

Saw 19 windmills at Kinderdijk, a town close to Nicki's.

Pretended to be a windmill myself... :)

feasted my eyes on this fantastic film--loved it!!

All in all, a lovely, lovely day!!  Merry Christmas, everyone!

Merry Christmas from NL!

Hello and Merry Christmas-eve from the Netherlands!  I have had quite the journey the past couple days and am enjoying my time here so much!

On Wednesday, while I was still in Spain, I went to school for the last day of the year.  For the first hour-ish, we all had chocolate y biscocho (their thick and delicious version of hot chocolate and a pastry to dip in the chocolate!).  We then all went over to the community center for the Christmas celebration, where all of the classes sang a song in Spanish and in English, and awards were given out to 2 students from each grade.  Before all of this could happen though, the Reyes Magos (Three Wise Men) came to collect letters from the kids and ask what they want for Christmas :).

Los Tres Reyes Magos :)

My favorite class singing their song in English.  

After the assembly, all of the teachers went back to the school and had some food and drinks and then headed off back to Villarrobledo to continue getting ready for my trip.

Hours later, I was off to Madrid, and after a few hours snoozing and wandering around the airport, it was off to the Netherlands!

Nicki picked me up from the airport in Amsterdam and hung out there for a few hours before heading to Nicki's place in S'Gravendeel.  Here is the classic picture of the Amsterdam sign, complete with flying pigeon!

We also went to the Anne Frank house--wow, it was so powerful.  I want to describe it with all of these adjectives like 'wonderful', 'cool', etc, etc, but I can't, because in reality, it wasn't a wondeful thing that she and her family had to go into hiding there.  It was surreal to be there though, It was very moving to be in such a known place.

We walked around Amsterdam for a little while longer, had some dutch pea soup and cheese, hot chocolate, walked around more, and headed back to Nicki's place.

Today, we went grocery shopping, and got to see Nicki's town, and met her dad, mom, aunt, uncle, grandma, and her aunt's very fat cat.  Loved it. :)  Then, we came back and made some Wet Burritos.  In the Netherlands.  They were very delicious, here is Nicki enjoying them!

Well, that is it for now!  I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas!!

Mary

The One About Italy

Hello, my friends.  Here it is.  The long awaited blog entry about ITALY.  We haven't had internet at our apartment since we returned from Italy, and I wish I could say that it is fixed now, but it's not.  Our friends are very generous though and let us use theirs whenever we want to! So, here is my take on Italy.  I hope that you enjoy it and that you don’t get bored reading.  Warning—it is fairly lengthy, but I think it’s worth a read through J.  Pictures included!

9 days in Italy—beautiful, peaceful, restful, breaktaking. 

Day 1 – We arrived in Ancona in the evening and went to the closest Pizzeria.  I quickly decided that I would probably live off of pizza during this vacation. So good! We found the place that we were staying, and had a delicious pasta dinner with smooth Italian wine.  Krista and I both decided that everything is smoother in Italy.  The wine is smooth, the olive oil is smooth, even the ice cream (gelato!) is smooth! That is the theme of the country J.

After dinner, we went to this tiny, hole in that wall bar that had live music—it was pretty cool.  The band sang in English for the most part, so that we understood, and it was really nice just to sit down, relax, and enjoy some good music!

The next day Krista and I explored Ancona.  We got up early, around 8-ish, and were out by 8:45, ready to explore—after café, of course J.  So, after caffeine and pastries, we started our day in Ancona.  First, while we were en route to the more scenic part of the city, we stopped in a shoe store and I may have bought a pair of boots. Maybe.

Anywho, we stumbled upon a human rights exhibition and learned all about Ghandi, MLK, and many other peacemakers in the world J.  It was a cool exhibit to see, and although we knew a lot of it already, it was good to be reminded of how important peace is in the world, and how the world really does need peace.

We then walked down the long, main road on Ancona that hugs the sea to a nautical themed restaurant where we had lunch (pasta included!) and gelato (MMMM!).

After lunch, we continued walking and made it our goal to get to the highest point of Ancona where we could see all of the faded blue and gold domes—which we did eventually make it to J.  Let me tell you, the view from the top was amazing—a vast seat, twinkling lights from the city at night—and well worth the walk up there.

Ancona is a port city and has lots of cruise ships and ferries that dock in and out.

 The views getting there were amazing too!  The older part of the city is just gorgeous.  Old buildings, high archways, and winding cobblestone roads.  It reminded me a little bit of Toledo, just in Italy. 

After Ancona, we caught the train to Rome, found our hostel, and headed straight for a pizzeria J.  After getting some pizza, we also got a significant amount of gelato, and went back to the hostel to shower and change.  Krista and I were in separate rooms the first night due to a little mix up, so I went into her room and met the other people there.  They were from Mexico and we all spoke Spanish with each other, which I really enjoyed!  To my surprise, after the first few days in Italy I realized that I really missed Spain and speaking Spanish, so it was nice to talk to those people for a little bit.  Krista and I decided that it would be fun to walk around at night and see the monuments all lit up, so we walked to the closest metro station and got off at the Collosseum stop.  When we got out of the station, I didn’t even realize what was directly in front of me.  It wasn’t until Krista brought the enormous and ancient formation to my attention that I stopped in my tracks, completely in awe of what I was looking at!  Could I really be in Rome?  It’s on TV and the movies so much, am I really looking at it with my own eyes? 

Hello, Colosseum!

Why, yes, Mary Zick!! You are, in fact, in Rome!  You are standing right next to ancient history!  Your life is treating you well!

Me touching history! :)

Needless to say, the rest of Rome at night is absolutely gorgeous.  The area near the Pantheon was my second favorite—there was a lot going on, a lot of people out and about, and I may have had gelato again. Okay, I did.  At this point, I am oblivious of my addiction…but realization does come, my friends!

Now, my favorite part about Rome,  probably predictably, was The Vatican.  We saw it from what I thought was a short distance that night and decided to walk over there.  It was a lot further away that I had thought, but it was so worth the walk to go over there and see it at night.

After that, we attempted to head back to the hotel on a number of buses, but ended up on the opposite side of town at 3 in the morning and finally got a taxi back.

After sleeping for a couple of hours, we got up early to go back to The Vatican to meet my friend Mark who is a seminarian in Rome.  He had set up for us to celebrate mass with some of his Priest and seminary friends in the bottom of the church in one of the many little rooms that are near the burial places or various popes and saints.  That was really cool, and we also saw the tomb of JP II.  It was a large, square slab of white marble with “John Paul II” on it in Latin “IOANNIS PAULI II” (something like that?), with metal roses attached.  I thought they were real at first, but they are permanently on the tomb.  Very pretty. Click here to see a pic :). 

After mass, we got four caffe lates and pastries, and enjoyed a typical breakfast, chatting about what life is like in Europe compared to the States.  Mark’s friend has family who live in Spain, so we had fun talking about all of cultural differences between Spain and other places.  All good things, of course J.  I find that every day I am here in Spain, I fall in love with it a little bit more, which makes leaving in June harder than I thought it was going to be. 

After breakfast, we got a tour of the Vatican—truly beautiful with a lot of Bernini’s architecture and gorgeous paintings, and the Pieta.  I also climbed to the top of the dome and saw the entire city from up there.  Here is a little glimpse:

View from the top of the dome at St. Peter's!

Amazing—right? I thought so!  After that, we waited in St. Peter’s Square to see the one and only POPE!  What a cool experience!  Before he came out, they put a little carpet out of his window to signify that he was coming, and then he appeared in the window with a greeting and prayers for everyone.  It was awesome, definitely such a memorable experience. 

The Pope! Benedict the 16th

After the Vatican, we ventured to the Spain steps and the Trevi fountain.  The Spanish steps were…steps, haha, but they were nice, and the Trevi fountain was super impressive! It was so beautiful!  I tossed some coins in and hope that my wishes come true J.

Me tossing coins into the Trevi Fountain.  Little boy watching me. 

After that, we headed back to the hostel and got back around 6:00.  I told myself that I would take a little power nap and have some dinner around 6:30 or 7, but I woke up at 12:00 am!  My nap turned into a night’s sleep, pretty much! I was so tired.  After having some fruit for my grumbling stomach, I went back to sleep and woke up around 9 or 10 the next day, ready for some more sight seeing.  That day, we saw the Collosseum in the daylight and then headed over to the Vatican Museum.  Thanks to Mark’s great advice about the best time to go to the museum, we got right in and didn’t have to wait in any long lines or anything.  The museum was awesome.  I got to see some masterpieces, such as The School of Athens, and, of couse, the Sistene Chapel ceiling.  I could have stared at that thing for hours, it was incredible.  We weren’t allowed to take pictures, but I don’t think that I’ll ever forget what it looks like.  So lovely.

After the museum, we made our way over to the Trastevere area, an artsy area in Rome where they have 1 American university (I forget which).  All of the streets are cobblestone and brick, there are twinkling lights and cool little bars and shops everywhere.  Seems like a really cool place to live!  I really enjoyed it. 

The next day, I caught an early train to Florence, and then a connecting one to Sieci to see my cousin, Eddie!  This was easily my favorite part of the trip.  I got to see family, which just meant so much to me, and spend time in the Tuscan countryside.  Very Diane Lane.  Very awesome.  I stayed at this little Inn down the road from Eddie’s seminary and was greeted with a beautiful view every morning, and every time that I looked out of the window.  It was so beautiful and peaceful.

The beautiful Tuscan countryside. 

Also, Eddie’s seminary is essentially Hogwarts for priests.  The Griffindor flag is everywhere (except it is really the Martelli family crest :D), some of them wear capes…sometimes the food just appears out of NOWHERE as if there are house elves, it just is Hogwarts, and I loved every second of it!  So awesome.  Eddie’s friends were so welcoming and nice to me, it was great to get to see where he goes to school and get to meet some of his friends.

GO GRYFFINDOR!!!

Eddie and I went into Florence for an afternoon and we got to see the winter house of the place where he lives in Sieci.  The family that used to own Eddie’s seminary, the Martelli’s, had a house in Sieci for the summer (now the seminary), and one for the rest of the year in Florence.  We toured that which was really cool.  Eddie really liked it a lot, and he was so excited to see the connection with the place he has been for the last 3 years and the place in Florence.  I was glad we could do that.

Sadly, after galavanting around Florence, my visit with Edwah had to end.  I was very very sad to say goodbye.  Eddie and I have always been very close, and in this season where I am missing my family a lot, it was a breath of fresh air to see him and be around him. 

But Venice was waiting for me, and I was desperately awaiting its beauty, so I left Florence on an evening train, and eventually arrived in Venice.  After getting off at the Santa Lucia train station, I found my way to the water bus and followed the directions to Hotel Alla Salute.  The view in Venice as night was equally as impressive as Rome—so beautiful!  There is something about the water at night that has always fascinated me!

Krista was waiting for me at the stop—she had gone to Perugia, Italy while I was in Sieci and Florence, and we met up that night in Venice.  We went to the hotel and shared some wine from the seminary and some cookies that she bought to go with the wine.  Actually, they weren’t really cookies, rather maybe what heaven tastes like. Anyway, we got some good rest and woke up the next morning ready for some exploration. 

Okay, Venice is just simply beautiful and has great shopping.  I spent way too much money there, but to be fair, it was mostly on presents for other people.  And some for myself, but mostly for other people J.  It seemed like there were hundreds of Venetian blown glass stores—so beautiful to look at. 

That night, we had a great pasta dinner, and returned to the hostel, ready to leave in the morning for our flight, which we DID make, even though we both thought we were going to miss due to the ryanair bus overselling tickets. We had to wait til the next bus came, but we still made the plane, so that was good for sure.

We flew back into Alicante, Spain, which I immediately fell in love with because I could not see my breath outside and I could walk around in a t-shirt if I wanted to.  And the sun was out. Oh, and it’s on the beach.  Did I mention that I love Alicante?  By a happy coincidence, Tara, Ashly, and Haley arrived to Alicante from Germany the same time we did and got on the same bus we did.  We all decided to hang out at the beach for a little while before the train went back to Villarrobledo.  It had been a very crappy morning, but the presence of my good friends immediately made it an amazing day.  We laughed, played at the beach, exchanged stories, and promised to ourselves that we would return to Alicante soon.  Loved it J

So, in a nutshell (a big nutshell), that was my amazing 9 days in Italy.  It was amazing, eye-opening, freeing, and just such an amazing vacation.  I loved it J.

Next stop—The Netherlands to visit Nicki!  I am so excited.  Before that though, my lovely Cuenca friends are coming to visit.  It is always a blasty blast when all 6 of us are together, so I am REALLY excited for them to get here!  As for now, I am relaxing at my apartment, putting off cleaning, and enjoying the peace and quite that comes from having a broken internet J.

Until next time, friends and family!   I miss and love you all!

Besos,

Mary

Thanksgiving in Spain!

What a great past few days it has been!! Thanksgiving weekend for me here in Spain has just been such a blast, I feel very blessed to have such good friends here!

On Thursday, Krista and I hosted Thanksgiving at our place and our neighbors and friend Haley came over!  I have to say, we pulled it off quite well, and the turkey turned out GREAT even though it was our first one, woop woooooop!

Krista with our 1st turkey!

All done!

From left to right: Mary, Maria Jose, Leo, Dylan, Leo, Nerea, and Krista

Dylan exploring the apartment

We had plenty of leftovers on Thursday to last us for Friday, and did the whole thing over again on Saturday with our friends from Villa!  We had 6 Americans, 1 Bermudian, 1 New Zealander, and 3 Spaniards:).  It was SUCH a fun time.  We had mounds of food and wine, laughed a lot and got our fill!  

Ana and Silvia got to fight over the wishbone--Silvia won!

It was really fun to share our American traditions with our non-American friends.  I think everyone really enjoyed themselves--it was a really fun time!

Italy in 4 days--woohoooooo!

Ciudad Real, Albacete, NIE madness.

Well, it has most certainly been an eventful weekend and week.
I was invited to go to Ciudad Real with some friends.  It is the capital of the province next door to Albacete, also called Ciudad Real.  It is a college town, so I definitely felt right at home, haha :).  I went with Haley, Ashly, and Krista, and we stayed with Haley's friends that she went to school with in 2008 when she studied abroad.
Ciudad Real has some really good shopping--I am quickly becoming a fan of Zara, Bershka, and a lot of stores that are similar :).  We shopped a little, went out for tapas to this place called Isla de Cuba, and went dancing at night.  It was a really fun weekend!

Ashly, Haley, and Krista before going out dancing!

A plaza

It was a really fun and relaxing weekend--I laughed so much and really enjoyed hanging out with my new friends Gordo and Coleta (Angel and Alejandro, haha), and these wonderful girls that I have had the privilege of getting to know here :).  Such wonderful friends!


Onto the NIE.  AHHHHH I am going to explode!! Basically without my NIE card, I can't leave Spain withough being denied re-entrance.  SO I have to go to Albacete (I was just there yesterday and last Tuesday) tomorrow to ask for "autorizacion de regreso"...and then I have to wait ten days, go back to Albacete to get it again, and then go back to Albacete AGAIN when my card FINALLY arrives.  Probably in January or something.  What a ridiculous process!! I wouldn't mind so much if it wasn't costing me so much money though.  Train and bus rides, and then they have all these stupid fees. I don't even get paid that much and I think I am discovering the meaning of living paycheck to paycheck. guuuuh.  le sigh.  Anyway.

Also, today I went back to the restaurant/pension I stayed at the first week I was here and saw Flor, Mirela, Joaquin and Jose--the family that owns the "Tasca". My goodness, it was so good to see them again.  So so so good--I felt like I was seeing family.  I will definitely have to visit them again very very soon--next week!!

Krista and I are SO excited!! We are going to Italy next Thursday--I couldn't be more thrilled :).  I get to see my cousin, Eddie, who is in Seminary in Italy, and I get to see my family friend, Mark Thelen, who is also in Seminary in Rome.  Bring on the tours and gelato!! WOO HOOOO!!!

Toledo: love at first sight!

This past weekend, Krista and I travelled to Toledo, Spain and met up with our Cuenca auxiliar friends Corinna, Helen, Natira and Jaclyn.  Toledo is literally the most beautiful city I think I’ve ever seen—I enjoyed it so much.  You all can laugh at me for saying this, but it was like a feast for my eyes—rolling dark green hills with trees sprouting from them, Castle walls everywhere, Jewish, Arabic and Christian influenced architecture in one city reflecting that at one point in time, all three of the groups lived together peacefully in the city.  I think that is so beautiful. 

So, to begin the trip, Krista and I left Villa early in the morning.  7:07 am to be exact. So early, but so worth it too! We took the train to Madrid, and then took another train to Toledo and arrived around 11.  We hopped on a bus that took us to Plaza Zocodover, the main plaza area with a lot of restaurants, bars, and Mazapan shops that Toledo is famous for.  I had mazapan for the first time in Toledo and really liked it!  For those of you who are Homestar Runner fans, I couldn't stop saying "MARZAPAAAAN!" in the homestar voice...haha.  Sometimes I just amuse myself.  Anyway, mazapan is delicious!  We got to Plaza Zocodover and then walked the rest of the way to our hotel.  It seemed longer than it really was, just because it was a new place and we kept venturing down different alleys with tall walls and cobblestone and brick paths.  Example A:

So cool!! I loved seeing this pretty much everywhere we went. 

We got to the hotel earlier than expected, so we left our bags there and wandered around, mostly down by the Tajo River.  We found some cool fort-like structures and climbed around, enjoying a bag of snacks that I purchased at the train station to tide us over until it was time to eat. 

here is Krista steering the fort :)

Anyway, after checking into our hotel, we wandered around again to get some lunch and cafe.  We had a delicious Cocido menu del dia, complete with Morcilla (blood sausage), that Krista was brave enough to try, but I still haven't been able to stomach the idea of eating!! It's literally fried blood. eeeckkkk

Me enjoying my sopa cocido con fideos :) yummy!

We walked around a lot more after that, and saw a lot of Toledo, actually.  I'll put up a few pictures here, but more of them will be posted later to my facebook and I'll enter a link as well.  We walked across some castley walls and just walked around the city, enjoying every view!

Krista and I with Miguel Cervantes :)

I seriously have no idea how this happened...but this is a PICTURE!! and it looks so much more like and oil painting or something!! how cool! :)  I didn't edit it at all!

Anywa, Helen, Jaclyn, Natira and Corinna joined us later that night, and we had quite the hilarious and memorable night!  Jaclyn lived in Toledo a few years ago for a study abroad term, so she showed us around, and at the end of the night, we went to a dance club that is a museum during the day and used to be a church! I thought that was kind of funny, but it was a really good time! 

The next day we toured around Toledo again.  We saw Cathedrals, the Mosque, and more Mazapan shops with Mazapan castles in the windows :).  

Here are some of my favorite views!

This is all six of us.  I am not looking...haha, but I think it's a nice picture of everyone else!

So, there we are!  I hope you enjoyed the plethora of photos from Toledo.  I loved it there so much and I am looking forward to going back :).

ALSO, Krista and I just booked tickets to Italy for Dec 2nd.  We have a break between the 2nd-12th, so we'll be going to 4 or 5 different cities in Italy!! I am so excited, especially because I get to visit my cousin, Eddie, who lives outside of Florence. WOO HOO!! I love Europe!!

Love,

Mary