Most Beautiful: Ciudad de Artes y Ciencias
Most Disgusting: seeing a man holding his baby over a curb while the baby pooped
What I will miss the most: endless running trails and gardens in the Río
What I will miss the least: people smoking everywhere and smelling like smoke
Most Creepy: getting stared at by stray alley cats at night
Most Bizarre: the random explosions I hear pretty frequently- possibly fireworks?
Thing I wish I could bring back with me: Fanta Limón! (and lots of chocolate)
Most Surprising: bananas are kept in the fridge, milk is kept in paper cartons in the cabinet, shoes are always worn in the house
Best Discoteca: Umbracle
Most Addicting: Spanish bread
Best Bargain: 6 euro flight Barcelona to Pisa
Most Thought-Provoking: the reality of living in a city rather than just visiting
Most Delicious: Llao Llao covered with chocolate and strawberries
Worst Hair: (tie) the woman with bright orange dreadlocks all the way down her back & the man with exactly 3 dreadlocks all the way down his back surrounded by a normal haircut
What I wished I could point and laugh at: the men decked out in full suits while riding their mopeds when it was 90 degrees out
Best Landmark: Alameda Bridge
Best American stereotype: that we eat at McDonald's all the time
Favorite Photo (tie, I couldn't decide):
Best smell: Bakery's fresh bread in the morning (and pastries)
Worst smell: the seafood section of Mercado Central
Scariest moment: second week here- getting on the wrong bus and being taken completely out of the city (off my map) before looping back to the exact same place I started only to realize that I should have gotten on the bus on the other side of the street.
"Why is this happening to me" moment: Being forced to sit on a clown's shoulders while he is riding a unicycle in Granada
Most popular discoteca song: "No Speak Americano" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CR8logunPzQ
Best View: from el Penon de Ilfach rock in Calpe
"Probably shouldn't have done that" moment: wandering through the dark alleys of downtown Valencia following a "Google Maps" route to the discotecas
Most awkward: every elevator ride taken (they are extremely small) - they say hello and goodbye whenever you or someone else enters or leaves the elevator
Most memorable professor quote (about the island near Spain): "Ibiza is just sex, drugs, and 'rock and roll.'"
Favorite meal at home: tortilla de patata, puree de calabacín, and an enormous quantity of bread
Funny and shocking at the same time: my host mom screaming "guapo!" (handsome/attractive) at the TV whenever they showed Fernando Torres- her favorite soccer player
Favorite literal spanish to english translation: caballitos del mar = little horses of the sea (seahorses)
this is your best post yet! So many great experiences....funny, weird, strange, heartfelt, odd..
ReplyDeleteBig news... I heard through the rumor mill that Fanta Limón is available at World Market. I've yet to confirm. See you Friday. Wear your woolies!
ReplyDeleteYes, dress warm or you will be an icicle
ReplyDeletebefore you can say "jack robinson"!
I know you hate to leave it all behind, but the memories will last forever.
Safe travels!
See you soon. LYM
If fanta limón was available in the US I would be sooo happy! That stuff is delicious, if it was sold anywhere it would probably be World Market.
ReplyDeleteI am not prepared for the 50 degree temperature drop. at all.
Dear Emily,
ReplyDeleteI got to your blog by chance (I was looking for the Gulliver playground since I did not know what this was about) and I really enjoyed all the interesting stories and adventures you were writing about and they gave me some more hints about what to see in Valencia since we will leave for a one-week vacation to Spain on Thursday. While reading I found out that we have some things in common (interest for soccer, Harry Potter, ...) and I also did a study stay abroad (went from Germany to Italy, where I actually remained). Hope you are fine back in the US and thanks for this fantastic blog!
Katharina