Well, my friends, I love Spain. But here are a few things I'm looking forward to enjoying quite soon: Family and friends. Fires in the fireplace. White chicken chili. Heat 24 hours a day. Stromboli. Family and friends. 104 The Rose Christmas station. Christmas movies on TV. The smell of an 11 foot Frasier in the living room. Brunch at the hotel. Family and friends. Family and friends. Family and friends.
Traveling is amazing (I'll recount my trip to Valencia shortly), but there is something about being with family at the holidays that reminds you that the true value of adventure comes in reliving it through stories with those you love.
So here I go, reliving my adventure in blog form...
"Remember, trap as much light as you can, and also a bit of salt from the breeze of the Mediterranean sea." - María José, in an e-mail offering a restaurant suggestion
I did trap quite a bit of light, in pictures. But the only salt I brought back consists of the grains of sand that are stuck in the crevices of my boots and the table salt that my body is still digesting from my culinary experiences. Nonetheless, the breeze of the sea and the vitamin D of the sun made this weekend a marvelous weekend away from the currently chilly city of Madrid.
Sidewalk in Valencia
Valencia is known for it's "City of Arts and Sciences", which has a science museum, an aquarium, and a theater inside some pretty amazing buildings.
L'Hemisfèric: Oh, ya know, just an iMAX theater, planitarium, and laserium (for those of you who don't know, that's a laser light show). The reflection of the building in the water makes it look like an eye, leading to it's other name: "The Eye of Knowledge."
L'Oceanogràfic: An aquarium! All of the buildings inside the complex were really neat as well.
AND I saw a dolphin show for the first time since I was about 6.
Valencia is also known for its paella. And since I obviously don't go anywhere without considering what I will eat, I wrote an e-mail to María José (one of the teachers at my school) asking for her to remind me of the restaurant she had suggested the day before at school. It was well worth the 30 second e-mail I sent off, because here is what awaited Napala and I at Casa Roberto, the restaurant that won first prize in an international contest of paellas. I have never loved rice so much.
Perhaps you think this is a lot of food. It is.
Perhaps you thought we wouldn't finish it. We did.
Then, as we walked off our "rice babies", we enjoyed the Christmas lights of the city.
One of the main streets in the city.
But we're resilient and the paella did not stop us from eating again on our trip. Here's a peek of some of our other indulgences:
Our first pintxos experience since Santander. You pick what you want from the bar (all are some sort of bread with cheese/vegetable/meat topping) and at the end to pay they count the number of toothpicks you have.
We enjoyed a coffee at a very pinterest-like cafe on the beach.
Of course the coffee was necessary after all of the pastries we ate on the beach. This one was my favorite, a chocolate filled chocolate magdalena. Deliciously chocolate but surprisingly not too sweet...
Spread of seafood that Napala and I shared: mussels, tuna, shrimp, prawns, and another unknown fillet of fish.
So yes, a lot of salt that I brought back was from the food that I ate. But I also breathed in the breeze from the sea during a nice long walk on the beach.
The weather was a perfect fall day, not too hot nor too cold.
And of course, we explored the city a bit more. After spending so much time in Madrid, it was fun to be in a city where you felt like you knew it after just one day. So Napala and I enjoyed meandering our way through the streets.
Part of a porch outside the ceramic museum.
Enjoying the architecture and design of the ceramic museum. I think I paid more attention to the building it was housed in than the actual ceramics.
So all in all, Valencia was wonderful. It wasn't a winter wonderland, but I certainly can not complain about walking along the beach in December. I fully enjoyed my last adventure in Europe in 2012 and will be bringing a few pieces of it home at Christmas time. Get excited family!
Now, since I haven't blogged in quite some time (almost two weeks!), here are a few other updates about my life.
El Juramento. I went to see the opera at Teatro de Zarzuela with my French roommate and her boyfriend on Wednesday! (It was 2,50€... how could I not?) At first I had a hard time following, but after a while I realized it was because they were using old language, which included different vocabulary and the use of vos as tú. Luckily I had learned about some of that in my Spanish linguistics class so I caught on after a while. Here's a short clip of El Juramento.
P.S. Don't worry, I couldn't understand them either. There were captions on a screen above the stage.
Advent. "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it... The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth." John 1:1-5, 14
Every year since I was in 7th grade, I have had the opportunity to dance in an advent service of some kind. When I was in high school, I was often dressed as an angel, dancing in Hershey Free Christmas services. (Bonus fact: One year I even had to wear Christmas lights under a massive white dress so that I lit up.) When I was in college I danced with Sacred, contributing to Pillar church or Hope chapel services. And this year, 6 time zones away, in a foreign country, I was given the opprotunity to blend dance with the scripture in Spanish. In our modest Sunday gathering of about 65 people, I moved to Juan 1:1-14, sharing my form of worship with a whole new group of people.
The response was overwhelmingly postitive, reminding me that although I often hold back to blend in, my individuality in this form is something that can contribute positively do a body of believers. Just because I don't get to dance around the Dow with wonderful friends from Sacred every Saturday morning does not mean I can forget the mission of a club that was so influential in my college life. Sacred Dance Ministry: to live and spread God's word through movement.
Check out 15 year-old Amber rocking the angel get-up. I remember one year I walked through a snowstorm in this outfit because our power went out and I we couldn't get our car out of the garage. Oddly enough, nobody stopped to pick up the girl wearing an angel outfit and UGG boots.
The turkey carcass. It has been transformed! Luckily I did so before Luis cleaned out the freezer and found a rather large carcass taking up a quarter of our very small freezer.
Making turkey stock is about a 5 hour affair. Good thing I don't work on Fridays.
But the end result, a vegetable lentil soup, was awesome!
Madrid es más navidad. So say the signs all around the city. This past week they finally lit up the lights that have been taunting me since just after Halloween. And they are quite beautiful!
Inside the huge tree in Sol.
One of the many lights that are hung almost saucer-like over one of the main streets.
Continued love from friends and family. As I said before, the most exciting part of coming home this year is the opportunity to see my friends and family. Nonetheless, I am continuously encouraged by letters (and the occasional package!) from home. When I came home from Valencia to my apartment on Sunday, the card and Trader Joe's treats reminded me of the hug that I would walk into on many other occasions. So thanks, guys. I love you and I appreciate your constant support!
Don't mind if I do!
Much love,
Amber
