Amsterdam!

This weekend began 6 weekends in a row of trips, and being in Amsterdam was a great way to start it off! I arrived in Amsterdam friday morning. After having some minor difficulties figuring out what train would take us to our hostel(kind of tricky when the signs are in Dutch) we were finally able to figure it out! We made it to the Flying Pig Hostel without getting lost. After checking in we headed off to the Anne Frank Museum. This museum is the actual house, they call it the "Secret Annex" where Anne Frank and her family went into hiding during the Holocaust. It is hard to imagine that 8 people were able to live in such a small space for over two years. The museum was very interesting. There were a lot of videos of people who had known Anne, including her dad, as well as many of her diary entries. The museum did a really great job of telling such an amazing story. After that we headed off to the Van Gough Museum. This museum was very impressive and filled with paintings and sketches done by Van Gough as well as a few other artists. I like to think that the paintings I have painted in my art class here are pretty good, but I can't even imagine painting the things that Van Gough came up with.

Saturday morning, after enjoying the free breakfast at our hostel we headed off on a free walking tour of Amsterdam. I figured this would be good way to learn more about Amsterdam because none of us knew a lot about the city. The tour was much more interesting than I had expected. Our guide was a little nutty, but she definitely knew what she was talking about. We walked through many different parts of Amsterdam including the Red Light District, it was bizarre to say the least. That afternoon we headed off to the Heineken Experience, which is basically an interactive tour of the Heineken Brewery that is located there. It was really cool. They took you through the entire process of how the beer is made, it actually takes about 6 weeks! Part of the Heineken Experience was going on this ride where you were supposed to be the beer so you went through all of the steps that a beer did when being brewed. It was like a roller coaster, so fun! The next morning we went on a canal cruise before heading off to the airport for our flight back to Madrid. Amsterdam was a great city and a lot of fun! Next weekend I head off to Ireland for another weekend trip!

Amsterdam!

One of the many bridges over the

canals in Amsterdam!

ingredients used for Heineken Beer!

Update on the past few weeks!

In Cadiz for Carnival!

So its been awhile since I blogged last! Here's a quick update on the past two weeks!

February 23-27- I finished midterms(yes, I actually go to school here sometimes). That weekend almost everyone at SLU madrid stayed in Madrid(this is rare) because we had all just gotten back from long and exhausting winter break trips. The weather this weekend was between 70 and 75 degrees and sunny, in February. Because of all the amazing weather we all laid out in Retiro Park and I even got a little sunburnt. We also did some shopping and my friends Anne Marie and Brittany got there haircut. They were a little nervous because of the language barrier but after googling "spanish haircutting terms" everything turned out great! The next day we went to the Gran Via area and explored a local food market that was very cool and had great Ice Cream. We also went to a tapas bar called El Tigre. El Tigre is a local favorite and was very cool to see. It was a much needed relaxing weekend that luckily had perfect weather!

February 27- March 6- After another 4 day week of school it was time for Carnaval in Cadiz. This was a trip through a company called EuropeanVibe that included everything(bus, food, hotel, etc.)and about 75 SLU kids went. The trip took us to a huge festival(Carnaval) in Cadiz, Spain. It was kind of like Mardi Gras in Saint Louis except there were over 150,000 people there. Everyone dressed up in all kinds of different costumes, basically like halloween-anything goes. We stayed in a four star apartment style hotel that was beautiful and very close to a beach. The weekend was great, however on our 8 hour bus ride home our bus started smoking and we had to wait four hours for another one to come get us from the middle of nowhere! Beside that it was a very fun weekend!

March 6-March 13- Another week of school completed! Even though it is only March this weekend was my last weekend in Madrid finals week in early May. It is crazy to think how fast the time has gone by and that I only have 2 months left in Madrid:( Friday we started our day by going to our favorite restaurant near our house, Pizza y Pasta. After that we headed off to Corte Ingles to get a new camera for my Anne Marie after hers was stolen in Cadiz(along with the rest of her stuff, major bummer). Corte Ingles is a HUGE department store that has everything you could ever imagine including a full grocery store in the basement. It is so big that there are two neighboring buildings for it. It is perhaps the most overwhelming store I have ever been into. Anyway after getting a new camera we left and headed back to our house. That night we went to Kapital which is a huge 7 story nightclub. It is very well known in Madrid so we figured we had to go at least once! Saturday we finally made it over to the Prado Museum, we live about a 15 minute walk from there but hadn't gone yet. It was very cool to se all of the different artwork. Today was probably the most exciting day of the weekend, we went to a bullfight! Before going I really had no idea what to expect. I was aware that they killed the bull at the end but that is basically all I knew. It turns out that there are 6 rounds(so 6 bulls are killed, which was sad). At the beginning horses lead out all of the matadors who then stand behind small walls that protect them from the bull. After the bull is released the matadors take turns coming out from behind the walls and flashing around a pink cape. A few minuted later a man comes out with a huge sword on a horse and precedes to stab the bull just enough to wound him. After that the matadors run around with ribbon covered spears that they throw into the bulls back, but again this is just enough to hurt him but he is still very aggressive at this point. Some rounds that matadors would almost do tricks with the bulls where the bull would get SO close to them. One round a matador even got caught in the bulls horns and was thrown on the ground but he quickly recovered! After that they bring out a sword and the bull is stabbed. Even though it was sad to watch it was definitely worth seeing and was a very interesting experience. Madrid's stadium is the 3rd largest in the world and a ton of people come out to watch the weekly fights!

It is so strange to think that I have already been here for over 2 months and only have about 2 months left. Starting this weekend I am going on trips to Amsterdam, Ireland, Allcante(for my oceanography class), London, and then Spring Break in Italy for 10 days! It will be a busy an exciting 2 months, can't wait!!!

Bullfighting Stadium!

Matador with the Bull!

Bull Fight!