Three Kings Day and January in Logrono

The kings you see in the video are just big puppets... The three actual kings rode on horses with their own entourages of soldiers and other floats. The three kings were from the three ancient kingdoms of the world from that time: (more or less) Europe, Asia, and Africa. It was really kind of funny and interesting, because most of the people had a favorite king. I talked to one of my professors, and she told me that she had liked one of them since she was a little girl. Just because. Maybe he gave her the most gifts of all the kings... I don't know.

Abby and I were lucky to have her brother Rob stay with us until the 18th of January. He went back to continue his travels in Asia. His incredible journey has already led him through Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand. He's seen mountains, volcanoes, seas, cities, incredible people, and some of the most beautiful beaches in the world. Check out his website if you're interested: he is Roaming Rob at RoamingRob.com. If you're reading this, Rob, good luck, sauwadeeeee, and we hope to see you later this summer back home in North Dakota (dry season / tornado season).

Rob, Abby, and I played a game (introduced to us by Abby's family) called Bananas. Imagine it as a kind of Bananagrams--anagrams with bananas. Basically you make words with letters in crossword style. It's a very fun game that causes lots of spirited debate... what is a word, and what is not? We ended up playing every game with the internet at our side linked to dictionary.com. It was still difficult to decide some words, however, and it generally came down to a vote every time.


My personal favorite word, or attempted word, I should say, was one of Steve's (Abby's dad): rainboy. He tried to explain that it was Rainman's son. The scary part was how at that moment he reminded me of my dad... trying to bamboozle everyone at family games! Sorry guys! I know you both read this.

We took some more pictures of the city (some of the coolest so far, I must say) and enjoyed the unusually warm weather we've been having in Logrono this January. Honestly, for the past four days, we've had mid 50s to 60 degree weather during the middle of the day... and the nights haven't been all that cold either. We've been told that it frosts nearly every night during this time of year, but it hasn't been. Everyone is, of course, happy with the warm weather, but they're also a little unsure because (as we from the States know) a little warm weather in the middle of winter is just a tease. That being said, I think that you folks back home could use a tease or two about now... I've seen the temps, and they're not pretty--though pretty good for conversation.

I had no idea before coming over here that there were so many storks that flew through and lived in Spain. They're literally all over the country--at least many places that we've visited anyways. The fun part about them is that they're quite large and they like to perch and build their nests on top of the tallest structures, which end up being the cathedrals. If you're able to see a close-up of my picture, or maybe you can see it anyways, you'll notice that there are probably at least eight or so storks in one tower alone. There are many more around, and they like to make loud calls that sound like giant woodpeckers knocking on trees. The sound obviously travels for some distance too, being as high up atop the cathedral as they are. Abby and I can easily hear them sometimes from our apartment.

We're really anxious for spring here, even though I went running today and I was just fine in my shorts and t-shirt. But we want to see flowers and trees blossom! We want to stroll along beautiful scenery and enjoy the green countryside--even though there's still a fair amount of green grass here in the city. I think spring here in Spain comes a little quicker than spring back home... so we can only hope that by the time it's spring in the States it'll be pushing summer here.

Take care everyone! Hope you're not cursing us and our lovely weather too badly. You can always come visit, you know!

Castilla y Leon

Abby and I visited three Spanish cities (consecutively) in January after New Year's in Madrid: Segovia, Avila, and Valladolid. All three cities are in the autonomous community of Castilla y Leon, northwest of Madrid and west - southwest of La Rioja. We toured each city in one day, staying in a hotel, and taking the local bus or train to the next destination.

Segovia

Avila

Valladolid

My memory card ran out of space by this point in the trip. Valladolid was the city that I stayed in the first time I went to Spain in 2004. I was in Valladolid for one month taking a Spanish conversation class. Abby and I went to see some of the sites that I remembered, including the university I attended (which was located in the middle of an old bullfighting ring), the Plaza Mayor (all decorated for the holidays), and the big city park (complete with birds of all kinds--the most interesting being the albino peacocks).

We made it back to Logrono just in time to enjoy Three Kings Day (Dia de los Reyes Magos)... aka Epiphony.

2008 in Spain

I was actually a bit thrown off by the celebration of the New Year in the Times Square of Spain (la Puerta del Sol en Madrid). I thought that we'd have to arrive four hours in advance of the New Year just to have a standing space to see the famous bells ring twelve times... but I was mistaken. Once again, it seems that the Spanish are in it for the long haul: the real celebrating went on after the New Year commenced. The Puerta del Sol was not so packed as I thought it might be, and a large portion of the people I noticed there were actually foreigners. I heard a lot of Italian, French, German, and Chinese. In typical Spanish fashion, there was no MC or anyone to coordinate the mass of people, just a massive screen in front of the government building with the bells above.

It was very festive and exciting, and the music streaming from the big screen was very nice also: a mix of British and American rock, along with a few electronic beats, and a few Spanish hits as well. The New Year came, and we, all dressed in the height of Madrid New Year designer fashion (10 Euro wigs bought from the booths of nearby Plaza Mayor), had our grapes ready in hand. The custom in Spain is to eat one grape for each of the twelve bells that ring in the New Year. You have about a second to eat each grape, and so, inevitably, each person ends up with about twelves grapes in their mouth. We had a little tin containing twelve grapes for each of us, and so, when the time came, we just downed it. It was so loud we could hardly hear the bells anyway.

Apparently, like I mentioned before, the really excitment for Spaniards begins after the bells toll. They are ready to celebrate in their favorite bars and clubs in the only way they know how: all night long. We, who already expended much of our energy earlier in the day, could scarely keep up with them at this point, and so we became mild observors. The streets were very packed with people coming and leaving. I think that many people celebrate the New Year at home or in restaurants and other places with friends and family, and then they come out afterwards to take it to the night. Not a bad way to do things if you ask me (it's funny; I heard from a Spanish professor that they do the same thing on Christmas!). Anyway, I'll spare you the locurity of trying to explain the Spanish nightlife to you just now. Check out my pictures if you want a to see a taste. I have it listed on My Pictures site on the left hand side of the page.

Anyway: we spent a little while trying to find a cafe that sold sandwiches with prices that weren't hiked up astronomically high for evening's festivities. We found our place, sauntered around for a little while, and then hit the sack. Luckily, our hotel was located five minutes walk from the main streets, and so we heard nothing of the ensuing fiesta.

Breakfast, more sleep, and more relaxing watching CNN International on our hotel's satellite television (we don't get that station or any English station here in Logrono) made up the first of January for us. The day after we were off to new places again. Abby and I had rooms booked in the nearby cities of Segovia, Avila, and Valladolid for the next three nights. The path through those three cities would actually lead us in the direction of Logrono (they are all located in the autonomous community of Castilla y Leon).

I will make a post expaining these places; but, stay tuned to My Pictures to get a look at the castles, cathedrals, and holiday festivities of the cities we visited.

I hope everyone had a great Christmas and New Year! I know we did here. It was very different, and I can't say that I didn't miss everyone and the way we celebrate the holidays back in Minnesota/North Dakota, but just knowing that you're keeping up the tradition makes me feel a lot better. Good luck to all of you who made New Year's resolutions this year. I feel like the New Year has just begun for me (today is January 12th), and I think that those of you who know me best would agree that this is quite typical. I generally run about a week and a half behind; but, then again, you know not too worry yourselves about me too much. I'm learning quickly how fast a week can go, and also, if you push yourself, how much can actually get done in a day.

Bye for now, my friends and family. I wish you all a Feliz Ano (Happy New Year) y muchos mas! (and many more!).

Long Time, No Blogs...

I really got to get cookin on these blogs, because I've been a lot of new places since I wrote last. It was almost a month ago that I last wrote about Milan, Italy. Wow! Abby's family came to visit us for Christmas; and, together with everyone, we traveled to Madrid, Toledo, Bilbao, Zaragoza, and we celebrated Christmas together at our apartment here in Logrono. It was a very busy time, and it seemed like we were always on the run; but, now that I think that we have the time and the energy to look back at everything, we all realize what a special experience we had, and we'll always remember how we shared it together.


Sniff sniff. Sorry, I get sooo sentimental sometimes. I'll break down the trip for everyone who just wants to see some pictures of far-out places. Here we go!


December 20, 2007 (Madrid - Capital and largest city of Spain)

Abby´s family flew in to Madrid on the 20th, and we stayed in an apartment there for three nights. It was a nice furnished place, right near the center of town.

We saw museums and monuments and palaces and cathedrals, and on the 22nd we took a day-trip to Toledo (an hour south on the high-speed train).

I had so many pictures of all the places we visited, that it was easier for me to put them on My Pictures site instead. Click the link to go there, or look at the left side of my page for the My Pictures link. I´ve already posted pictures of Madrid and Toledo and Logroño and myself and Abby´s family, and I will be posting more very shortly; so, stay tuned.

What next? After our day-trip to Toledo, the next morning we took the bus four-and-a-half hours through the mountains and the valleys and the plains to Logroño, our homestead. We all stayed in our apartment (not too far from the center of our city) and we toured a little bit, got in the Spanish Christmas spirit of things, and cooked and celebrated together like only North Dakotans / Minnesotans can. It was a fantastic time, with lots of laughs, games, toasts, pictures, and more.

The day after Christmas, we took a day-trip on bus to the northern Spanish city of Bilbao. Bilbao is a good deal bigger than Logroño (though much smaller than Madrid), and so we found ourselves short of time to see the city in its entirety. I don´t think any of us would disagree though that the best part of the city has to be the fabulous Guggenheim museum. We got many amazing photos of the outside of the impressive structure (which was made to look like a metallic ship!) right along the river than runs through the city.

The very day after we got back we took another day-trip on bus to nearby Zaragoza (east of Logroño). Zaragoza is a similar size to Logroño, and we liked the feel of the city very much. It was a foggy day, but we managed to enjoy ourselves as we strolled amongst the castles, the bullfighting ring, the churches, bridges, and cathedrals.

The last day in Logroño was for pure relaxation. We shopped, we did some last day touring, and we assembled ourselves and our bags for another journey south to Madrid.

With our last remaining day in Madrid, we went to parks, and museums, and rode the city´s Christmas Bus. The excitement in the capital was only growing after Christmas because of the anticipation for the New Year.