Here's a cool map showing where all the students, staff and faculty on the program are living:
View Viterbi Overseas - Apartments in a larger map
As you can see, we are scattered across the city without much clustering. This makes getting together a bit more difficult, but also gives us each a unique experience and our own niche of Madrid to explore. For those of you that are curious, my house is denoted by the most northeastern marker.
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Monday, July 6, 2009
The Dirty South Part 2: Granada and Córdoba
I’m writing this post at 1am in my adorable pink bedroom. It’s 1am in the morning, but thanks to my irregular sleep patterns and the 80-degree air I’m still wide awake. Daytime temperatures in Madrid are starting to reach 90 and 95 degrees, and still every guy on the street wears pants... I just don’t get it. Although to be fair, it wouldn’t be a normal day at USC if I didn’t see at least one girl wearing shorts and Ugg boots, so I guess Spain isn’t alone in putting fashion over function.
Continuing on from the previous post, where I ended with the nail-biting cliffhanger of leaving Sevilla... three hours of bus riding and one pit stop in Podunk, Spain later, our jam-packed tour bus rolled into Granada, another Moor-influenced and very hot city of the South.
After having a chance to wander the streets and devour an incredibly delicious and incredibly cheap döner kebab, we reorganized for a group tour of Granada’s ancient city center. Notable stops included the Granada Cathedral (featuring the effigies of King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella) and the Albayzín (a district of distinctly Arabic streets and buildings).
With only a few hours to spare before a scheduled event that evening, several of us wandered the labyrinthine Albayzín for a bit before heading to a supermercado to purchase dinner supplies. Armed with baguettes and brie, we spent an hour in a local park feasting on my favorite Parisian snack while watching local counter-culture folks prep for a nude bicycle parade. My apologies for not taking any pictures.
Around 9pm (things get started awfully late here), our group reconvened at our unfortunately plainly scented hotel for our cultural event of the trip: a traditional gypsy dance performance. Getting to the venue was an adventure itself – our bus ride was akin to the Indiana Jones ride at Disneyland (though not quite on par with buses in southern Taiwan), and we had a chance to roam the ancient Moorish quarter of Sacromonte amid gypsy accordion and guitar players. I felt like I was no longer in Spain, but rather some ancient Arabic city. Dim lamps illuminated stone passageways and winding cobblestone streets, while sandstone buildings and towers loomed in the darkness. Everything had an air of history and mystery, of ancient secrets buried deep within the stones.
Our wanderings eventually brought us to our show, which took place in a cave-like room adorned with cheap plaster and cheaper decorations. One by one, a family of gypsy dancers stomped and swayed their way up and down the room while others played guitar, sang and clapped along. For the finale, the lights were dimmed and the family grandmother performed solo, dancing like a woman half her age.
Following the official show, several students were asked to join the dancers, including the always-intrepid Craig:
The following day began with a bus ride up to the Alhambra, a 14th century palace and fortress situated on Granada’s highest point and the most visited monument in Spain. We wandered from the outer wall up to the main palace, passing through courtyards and terraces spotted with exotic flowers and fountains. Like many of the other stops on our exploration of southern Spain, the buildings were distinctly Arabic but certainly Christian influenced. This is due to Granada’s special role in Spanish history – it was the last town to be reclaimed during the Reconquista (the reconquest of the Iberian peninsula from the Muslims) under the leadership of King Ferdinand II and Queen Isabella. In fact, since this is where the King and Queen were situated at the conclusion of the war, it was also where Christopher Columbus rushed to meet them for financial support of his voyage to the New World.
Once finished with the palace, we moved onto the Generalife, a palace and garden nearby. Just like the Alhambra and the Albayzín, the gardens felt distinctly Arabic – walking through, I felt like I was partaking in a scene from One Thousand and One Arabian Nights. Exotic plants lined the winding paths, while fountains gurgled and pools glistened. It wasn’t hard to see why these gardens, in conjunction with the Alhambra and Albayzín, were designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO – one more down, woohoo!
That afternoon, we took yet another bus to Córdoba, a nearby town known for its historic center and former mosque, the Mezquita (mosque) of Córdoba. The inside of this gargantuan structure (it was the second largest mosque in the world at one point) was filled with simple pillars supporting innumerable red and white striped archways. Everything was plain and without any iconography – no paintings, no statues, no stained glass windows, nothing but silence and shadows. That is, everything except the Gothic cathedral nave plopped down in the middle by the Spanish during the Reconquista. The cathedral could not have felt more forced or inconsistent in such a place, with its many windows, gold plated statues and heavily symbolic icons. It seemed as if the Christians, having reconquered the city, felt the need to make a statement. The result was a bit discordant, to say the least.
After several more hours of exploring the city, evading the heat (it was well over 100 degrees) and downing some delicious cerveza con limón (beer with lemonade), we loaded up for a final bus ride to the train station and our Ave train home. Four days, three UNESCO sites and an arrival in Madrid at 2am with class/work the next day at 8am… not a bad weekend.
Continuing on from the previous post, where I ended with the nail-biting cliffhanger of leaving Sevilla... three hours of bus riding and one pit stop in Podunk, Spain later, our jam-packed tour bus rolled into Granada, another Moor-influenced and very hot city of the South.
After having a chance to wander the streets and devour an incredibly delicious and incredibly cheap döner kebab, we reorganized for a group tour of Granada’s ancient city center. Notable stops included the Granada Cathedral (featuring the effigies of King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella) and the Albayzín (a district of distinctly Arabic streets and buildings).
With only a few hours to spare before a scheduled event that evening, several of us wandered the labyrinthine Albayzín for a bit before heading to a supermercado to purchase dinner supplies. Armed with baguettes and brie, we spent an hour in a local park feasting on my favorite Parisian snack while watching local counter-culture folks prep for a nude bicycle parade. My apologies for not taking any pictures.
Around 9pm (things get started awfully late here), our group reconvened at our unfortunately plainly scented hotel for our cultural event of the trip: a traditional gypsy dance performance. Getting to the venue was an adventure itself – our bus ride was akin to the Indiana Jones ride at Disneyland (though not quite on par with buses in southern Taiwan), and we had a chance to roam the ancient Moorish quarter of Sacromonte amid gypsy accordion and guitar players. I felt like I was no longer in Spain, but rather some ancient Arabic city. Dim lamps illuminated stone passageways and winding cobblestone streets, while sandstone buildings and towers loomed in the darkness. Everything had an air of history and mystery, of ancient secrets buried deep within the stones.
Our wanderings eventually brought us to our show, which took place in a cave-like room adorned with cheap plaster and cheaper decorations. One by one, a family of gypsy dancers stomped and swayed their way up and down the room while others played guitar, sang and clapped along. For the finale, the lights were dimmed and the family grandmother performed solo, dancing like a woman half her age.
Following the official show, several students were asked to join the dancers, including the always-intrepid Craig:
The following day began with a bus ride up to the Alhambra, a 14th century palace and fortress situated on Granada’s highest point and the most visited monument in Spain. We wandered from the outer wall up to the main palace, passing through courtyards and terraces spotted with exotic flowers and fountains. Like many of the other stops on our exploration of southern Spain, the buildings were distinctly Arabic but certainly Christian influenced. This is due to Granada’s special role in Spanish history – it was the last town to be reclaimed during the Reconquista (the reconquest of the Iberian peninsula from the Muslims) under the leadership of King Ferdinand II and Queen Isabella. In fact, since this is where the King and Queen were situated at the conclusion of the war, it was also where Christopher Columbus rushed to meet them for financial support of his voyage to the New World.
Once finished with the palace, we moved onto the Generalife, a palace and garden nearby. Just like the Alhambra and the Albayzín, the gardens felt distinctly Arabic – walking through, I felt like I was partaking in a scene from One Thousand and One Arabian Nights. Exotic plants lined the winding paths, while fountains gurgled and pools glistened. It wasn’t hard to see why these gardens, in conjunction with the Alhambra and Albayzín, were designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO – one more down, woohoo!
That afternoon, we took yet another bus to Córdoba, a nearby town known for its historic center and former mosque, the Mezquita (mosque) of Córdoba. The inside of this gargantuan structure (it was the second largest mosque in the world at one point) was filled with simple pillars supporting innumerable red and white striped archways. Everything was plain and without any iconography – no paintings, no statues, no stained glass windows, nothing but silence and shadows. That is, everything except the Gothic cathedral nave plopped down in the middle by the Spanish during the Reconquista. The cathedral could not have felt more forced or inconsistent in such a place, with its many windows, gold plated statues and heavily symbolic icons. It seemed as if the Christians, having reconquered the city, felt the need to make a statement. The result was a bit discordant, to say the least.
After several more hours of exploring the city, evading the heat (it was well over 100 degrees) and downing some delicious cerveza con limón (beer with lemonade), we loaded up for a final bus ride to the train station and our Ave train home. Four days, three UNESCO sites and an arrival in Madrid at 2am with class/work the next day at 8am… not a bad weekend.
Thursday, June 18, 2009
The Dirty South Part 1: Sevilla
This past weekend, our 50+ person group of students, faculty, staff and one free-loading TA escaped Madrid for the heat and history of Andalucía, one of Spain’s 17 autonomous communities (the country’s equivalent to states). By taking advantage of Corpus Christi and the national holiday it offered on Thursday, we had ourselves a four-day weekend to explore the ancient cities of southern Spain.
First up was Sevilla, the third largest city in Spain. Stepping off the Ave high-speed train and into the 95-degree air initially felt wonderful, but it wasn’t long until I was drenched in sweat and panting like a dog. But after a summer with weather like this, Sevilla was certainly manageable.
Once we were situated in our hotel, a group of us wandered the insanely narrow streets of the old town until happening across a restaurant with a decently priced menú del día (menu of the day – two courses with a drink and dessert). For eight euros, I was treated to a pile of paella, seared beef with vegetables, ice cream and a cool glass of tinto de verano (red wine mixed with a Sprite-like soda). Complemented by an endless stream of street singers and accordion players, it was my most satisfying meal yet in Spain.
Next was a tour of the city’s ancient palace and fortress, the Real Alcázar. With its first stone laid in 1181, it is the oldest active palace in all of Europe and also a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Like much of the buildings in southern Spain, it is a unique architectural combination of Christian and Arab themes – for example, it is one of only a few places in the world that images of people can be found adorning the walls of the distinctly Arabic structure. Fun fact – several of the courtyards were used in filming the King of Jerusalem’s court in the movie Kingdom of Heaven. Cool!
After finishing our tour of the palace, several friends and I wandered through the royal gardens behind the palace. Lots of awesome fountains, exotic plants, and plenty of sweat thanks to the sweltering heat.
That night, our group had our taste of truly touristy nightlife. Not much to say regarding the evening, but look what I found:
Woohoo!
The next day we conquered the Cathedral of Sevilla, the largest Gothic cathedral and third largest church in the world. Plus, it was another World Heritage Site, so obviously I was very excited!
To say that the inside was huge would be an understatement. It was a ludicrously gargantuan space that I couldn’t possibly hope to capture with my cheap point-and-shoot camera. The church was also home to the tomb of Christopher Columbus, who’s exploits led to the prosperity of Sevilla (all boats coming to and from America were required to pass through the town, leading to an astounding level of wealth and exotic imports for Sevilla’s citizens).
After wandering the central nave for a bit, we climbed the Cathedral’s bell tower (named La Giralda). Interestingly, the inside of the tower consisted of a series of ramps rather than stairs, another sign of its mixed heritage – muezzins (the Arabic leaders of daily prayer who shout from the top of the city’s tallest structure) used to ride to the top on horseback. As expected, the top of the tower presented an awesome view of the city.
We spent the rest of the day wandering the city and avoiding the heat, which was well in excess of 100 degrees. After a dinner of tapas and montaditos (miniature sandwiches) and quick stop by the local disco, it was off to bed.
Next up: Granada! Hopefully we'll be staying at a hotel like this one:
First up was Sevilla, the third largest city in Spain. Stepping off the Ave high-speed train and into the 95-degree air initially felt wonderful, but it wasn’t long until I was drenched in sweat and panting like a dog. But after a summer with weather like this, Sevilla was certainly manageable.
Once we were situated in our hotel, a group of us wandered the insanely narrow streets of the old town until happening across a restaurant with a decently priced menú del día (menu of the day – two courses with a drink and dessert). For eight euros, I was treated to a pile of paella, seared beef with vegetables, ice cream and a cool glass of tinto de verano (red wine mixed with a Sprite-like soda). Complemented by an endless stream of street singers and accordion players, it was my most satisfying meal yet in Spain.
Next was a tour of the city’s ancient palace and fortress, the Real Alcázar. With its first stone laid in 1181, it is the oldest active palace in all of Europe and also a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Like much of the buildings in southern Spain, it is a unique architectural combination of Christian and Arab themes – for example, it is one of only a few places in the world that images of people can be found adorning the walls of the distinctly Arabic structure. Fun fact – several of the courtyards were used in filming the King of Jerusalem’s court in the movie Kingdom of Heaven. Cool!
After finishing our tour of the palace, several friends and I wandered through the royal gardens behind the palace. Lots of awesome fountains, exotic plants, and plenty of sweat thanks to the sweltering heat.
That night, our group had our taste of truly touristy nightlife. Not much to say regarding the evening, but look what I found:
Woohoo!
The next day we conquered the Cathedral of Sevilla, the largest Gothic cathedral and third largest church in the world. Plus, it was another World Heritage Site, so obviously I was very excited!
To say that the inside was huge would be an understatement. It was a ludicrously gargantuan space that I couldn’t possibly hope to capture with my cheap point-and-shoot camera. The church was also home to the tomb of Christopher Columbus, who’s exploits led to the prosperity of Sevilla (all boats coming to and from America were required to pass through the town, leading to an astounding level of wealth and exotic imports for Sevilla’s citizens).
After wandering the central nave for a bit, we climbed the Cathedral’s bell tower (named La Giralda). Interestingly, the inside of the tower consisted of a series of ramps rather than stairs, another sign of its mixed heritage – muezzins (the Arabic leaders of daily prayer who shout from the top of the city’s tallest structure) used to ride to the top on horseback. As expected, the top of the tower presented an awesome view of the city.
We spent the rest of the day wandering the city and avoiding the heat, which was well in excess of 100 degrees. After a dinner of tapas and montaditos (miniature sandwiches) and quick stop by the local disco, it was off to bed.
Next up: Granada! Hopefully we'll be staying at a hotel like this one:
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