Today was our day in Peniscola (which is about 2 hours north of Valencia). We met up with our group at 10:00 a.m. this morning at the institute. Two of our classmates got lost while walking to the meeting place, so I'm glad we are so close because it makes everything easier!! We waited over an hour for them before our program directors called their host mom & we ended up having to leave them. When we got on the road, Dr. Goetz let us try pastries called "sus sus" which is a sugary pastry filled with cream. Our host mom had packed us a lunch, so once we started going we braved looking inside. Turns out she had packed us the dreaded tuna from yesterday, a sandwich with chocolate spread, and a sub with tomatoes and cheese. Katie and I decided we would toss the lunch and buy it once we arrived in Peniscola.. just to be safe.
The view when we stepped off the bus
Once we were in Peniscola, were toured the town and the famous castle of the Pope Luna. We learned about Pope Luna in our class yesterday, so it was interesting to apply it to our experience and see it for ourselves! There was a wedding going on in the castle when we were there which was amazing! I'm sure their wedding pictures were incredible..After the tour, we visited all the shops around the castle. There were little gift shops all throughout the area that had so many cute things. We ended up buying headbands and we tried a bowl of ice cream (helado de oreo). The man who ran the ice cream shop was the only rude person we met all day. We think it's because he didn't like that we were trying to ask for samples of the flavors..whoops! Halfway through the day, after shopping a little, it started to downpour. I'm talking giant raindrops. Everyone we talked to said this is the first time in four years it's rained this much on the coast. I guess we brought the rain with us? To avoid getting soaked, we stopped in a little cafe for lunch. I ordered a jamon y queso con papas fritas (ham sandwhich with fries). It was much much better than the tuna every would have been. No me gusta tuna. Luckily, the rain only lasted 20 minutes!
Later in the day, we started walking back to the bus and the bridge in the picture below caught our eye. Turns out, all the couples that have begun their "life of love" together in Peniscola, sign a lock and add it to the bridge of love. In the picture, you can see all the different locks lined along the edges. Katie, Sheridan, Jake, and April decided to brave the ocean before heading back on the bus. When in Spain?? After much debate, I decided against doing it too (dummies).
The bridge with locks of love
Me walking the coast! (not swimming)
After a two hour bus ride, consisting of much needed sleep, we returned back to the institute. When we came back to our homestay, we rested for awhile before getting ready to go out. Our host parents had friends over and we introduced them to some "Popular American Music". We found our host dad loves the song "Sorry for Party Rocking by LMFAO"... Hearing him sing it is absolutely hilarious. For dinner, we ate finger foods like ham sandwiches, potato chips, and their version of pasta salad. The pasta salad consisted of warm lettuce, pasta, tomatoes, and TUNA. The tuna always makes its way into everything... The chips resembeled lays BBQ chips and were delicious!
Left to Right: Gemma (host mom), me, Katie, Jamel (host dad)
Later on in the night, Katie and I met up with our friends at the bar we went to the first night. We couldn't find everyone at first because the bar was closed and it was hard to see the bar on the street. Luckily, our friends were nice enough to come meet us anyways and take us to a different bar that they had found earlier, so we weren't alone/lost after all! Almost the entire group from the trip went out so it was a great time! When we came back we were exhausted and confused as to how to keep up with the Spainard social life. It's very different then back home or in Farmville! It will be nice to have a free day tomorrow!
Hasta Luego!
So how was siesta? I love your blog! I was shocked when I looked this morning and had 3 to read! I guess I need to check daily. Matt and I both said the one thing we regret about college was not studying abroad. Enjoy it! Not sure why it has me as W but it's Kate!
ReplyDeleteSiesta was fantastic! In Spain, their food portions are bizzare. Breakfast is basically nothing, lunch is a snack around 10, then "comida despues de desayuno" (food after breakfast and a snack) is a huge portion of food and the biggest meal of the day. By the time you eat that around 2 or 3, you are ready for a rest! And the blog is a lot to keep up with.. but I've been trying to do it once a day so I will remember everything. There is so much going on and I know if I wait, I will get lazy and forget haha. It will be cool for me to look back at it after the trip! I'm glad people are enjoying reading it!!
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