Visiting the Capital

On occasion we have a long weekend in which we don’t have classes on Monday. Naturally this means we have time to travel around Spain. For our first long weekend I went to Madrid, capital of Spain. Madrid is like the New York City of Spain, but prettier and less structured. With the largest city …

Semana Santa Part 1

3/19/16-3/27/16 Happy Easter! He is risen! I just returned from a week of vacationing aka traveling during Spain’s Semana Santa or Holy Week leading up to Easter. (More to share about my vacationing in Blog post Part 2) Being that Spain is a very Catholic country, this week is extremely significant and full of events. …

Moorish Spain: The History and Religion of Andalusia

03/12/16 Getting to know a foreign place involves taking winding side streets and in the process discovering the most amazing coffee shop imaginable. It means getting absolutely lost, asking someone for directions, and wind up becoming rather good friends. Tasting every food in front of you, making a fool of yourself trying to explain that …

Another Week, Another City: Seville & Cadiz

03/05/16 This program does an amazing job of showing us a lot of Spain! Today’s blog: Seville and Cadiz. Seville is the largest city of Andalusia with over 1.5 million people. Like most of Andalusia, Seville used to be under the reign of the Moors until being taken over by the Catholic King Ferdinand during …

Mi Ciudad

02/26/16 Greetings from Granada! These past days were full of highs and lows. Highs included being accepted into a lovely choir that happens to be singing some of my favorite pieces ever. Lows, I got a horrible stomach flu and was bed-ridden for a week. In case it was ever unclear, being sick in a …

Why Soccer Players Should Study Abroad

Balancing academics, athletics, and social life is no easy feat. Student athletes certainly have a lot of on their schedule and often overlook studying abroad as it is seen as something unobtainable. The thoughts of, “My coach would not allow it” or “I would be missing spring workouts” often come to mind. This blog is to …

Shredding the Pyrenees

From the beach one day to the mountains the next, Catalonia is full of surprises. Earlier this week I travelled north to La Masella, a Catalonian-Pyrenees Alp that stands just above 8,000 feet tall. With bluebird skies, stunning panoramic views, and solid company to ride with, this trip could not be any better… Then again, …

The Many Sites of Spain

2/8/16 Hello again from Spain! I cannot believe that I have only been here for two weeks. To justify my shock somewhat, I have been to a total of 8 cities in 13 days. Two such places are La Alpujarra and Ronda. In the region of Spain where I am living, called Andalusia, there is an …

The Adventure to Spain Begins

1/26/16 Well, folks, after many delays and some time travel-I am in the future now-I am at my final destination of Spain! Air France worker strikes and record-breaking winter storm Jonas certainly called for some traveling gymnastics. Thank you, Jonas. That’s two strikes against your name: excessive snow and the Jonas Brothers. (Apologies to anyone …

Fútbol, Football, Soccer

Camp Nou. The vibrance erupting through the stadium, the echo’s of yelling fans, the articulate yet free flowing style of Barcelona football, is all simply magnificent. A few days ago I had the pleasure of experiencing this firsthand as Barcelona FC played Athletic Bilbao in the Copa del Rey quarterfinal. Barcelona triumphed Bilbao 3-1, winning …