Buenos dias, chicas y chicos. Writing essays in Spanish is very tiring, so I figured I would take some time to think in English. Much easier.
It all started on the top of a double decker bus in Dublin. The infamous Alex Reinhard had met me in the Dublin airport and we were on our way to delight in all of the spoils of Ireland, the land of our ancestors. We expected a lot out of the Emerald Isle, and we weren't dissapointed.
My first stop in Dublin was the Shelbourne Marriott Dublin, a Rennaissance Hotel (quick shout out to Mr. Eric Reinhard, the man who made it all possible). The room was the swankiest I have ever seen, and probably will see for some time. Apparantly, the Shelbourne is somewhat of an institution in Dublin. The Irish Constitution was signed there. Heads of State stay there. Politicians rub elbows in the downstairs bar. And now, it played host to the Reinthay Reunion Tour '08. Congratulations boys (also: breakfast was incredible).
Thanks to my roomate's habitually rediculous connections, we met some great Dublin locals who showed us around town. On St. Patty's we pulled a fairly standard Reinthay move and snuck into the Guiness Brewery completely on accident ("Wait a sec, these arrows are pointing the other way..."). A great start to a great day. The beer was cold and fresh, and from the top of the building you can see the city proper, the president's house, and the ocean. We listened to some live local music (the Auburn Marching Band also showed up at one point) as we toured the inner workings of the most famous brewery in the world. Everyone, everyone was in a jolly, "oh my God I'm actually here" mood. How could you not be? Drinking Guiness from the tap in the capital of Ireland on St. Patrick's Day is hard to beat.
Other incredible Irish memories: walking through St. Stephen's Green, Temple Bar district, touring the National Gallery, late night frisbee on the streets of North Dublin, and, of course, the Jameson Distillery (and all its fallout. Sine Metu)
After somehow making our 6am flight, the Reunion Tour continued, this time heading for Frankfurt, Germany. We sampled some of the local cuisine (frankfurters and apfel vine) in a charming plaza in the museum district and stood atop the former tallest building in Europe, the Maintower.
At first, the city and our timing seemed a tad dissapointing. We had arrived on a religous holiday and all of the famous museums were therefore closed. But life, once again, had something more important in store for us, as we were privy to a Good Friday service inside St. Bartholomeaus' Cathedral (one of the few buildings in downtown Frankfurt to survive WWII). Later, we watched as the Pastor lead the singing congregation along the riverfront to pray.
In the evening, we sampled some of Germany's famous "dicotec" culture and made our way to Cocoon Club. There was pulsing house music, eight euro jagermiester drinks, and a spaceship in the middle of the dance floor. That about says it all.
As I read this I realize just how fortunate I was to have such an amazing opportunity. The cities were amazing and the company was better still.
Next up: The Mathay family takes on Pais Vasco. Coming Soon!
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Sunday, April 13, 2008
It's always sunny in Andalucia
Ahhh Andalucia, land of Flamenco dancing and bullfighting and Muslim architecture and wailing gypsy guitar. Our little group of twenty KU students made the treck down to Spain's sunny underbelly the first week of March, visiting three cities crucial to anyone's understanding of the region: Cordoba, Granada and Sevilla. We also saw how olive oil is made, que interesante.
Cordoba was the capital of the Muslim dominated south of Spain during the tenth and eleventh centuries, and at one time was the largest and most culturally advanced city in the Western World. Here Muslim's, Christians and Visogoth's all lived and prayed together in "relative peace", and the many crosses, cresents and stars of abraham dotting the city skyline reflect this. It is also home to La Mezquita de Cordoba, a completely unique mosque that is filled with hundreds of pillars supporting hundreds more red and white arches, creating the affect of walking through some spiritual forest of palms. This effect is partially ruined, of course, by the big, fat gothic cathedral that the conquering Catholics plopped right in the middle during the Reconquista, but still- very impressive. Other interesting tidbits: I ate Rabo de Toro (Bull's Tail) with Gazpacho, I had either the third or second best breakfast of my life in El Hotel Conquistador, I managed to avoid the crazy gypsies selling herbs and fortune tellings during lunch.
On to Granada, home to both Spain's most famous castle/palace, the Al-Hambra, and also one of its largest universites (only fifty thousand students). Translation: Two days full of incredible memories of palaces and cathedrals and gardens and views; two nights of which I remember very little. One of my favorite moments of this whole european trip, though, happened just inbetween the "phases" of Granada; sitting in the Mirador San Nicolas, watching the sun as it set behind the city and the beautiful castle/palace, listening to an old gypsy play his guitar and sing.* Words do it little justice.
Finally, we concluded our excursion with a run through Sevilla, land of the worst spanish speakers in the world. They don't pronuciate literal hal thei word, maki i really har to understan. A friend of my roomates described learning spanish in Sevilla like learning english in Glasgow. Imagine! Anyway, I also got to tour the third largest Cathedral in the world, get my picture taken with Chritopher Columbus' (alleged) bones, and walk through the gardens of Fernando and Isabella, the first rulers of Spain. Also, outside of Sevilla our group stopped in the ancient roman town of Italica, where I walked through its coliseum and fresco-lined ruines. I realized later it was the oldest thing built by man that I have ever seen.
It's funny how it sometimes takes being away from something to discover what it really means to you, but on the plane back to Santiago there was a general feeling that we were all going home. I love life, especially here.
Much has happened since my return, but this is a heavy test week and there is much to do. More to come, more to come!
Nos vemos pronto.
-Patrick
*do not buy his CD. Surprisingly, it doesn't work. Gypsies...
Cordoba was the capital of the Muslim dominated south of Spain during the tenth and eleventh centuries, and at one time was the largest and most culturally advanced city in the Western World. Here Muslim's, Christians and Visogoth's all lived and prayed together in "relative peace", and the many crosses, cresents and stars of abraham dotting the city skyline reflect this. It is also home to La Mezquita de Cordoba, a completely unique mosque that is filled with hundreds of pillars supporting hundreds more red and white arches, creating the affect of walking through some spiritual forest of palms. This effect is partially ruined, of course, by the big, fat gothic cathedral that the conquering Catholics plopped right in the middle during the Reconquista, but still- very impressive. Other interesting tidbits: I ate Rabo de Toro (Bull's Tail) with Gazpacho, I had either the third or second best breakfast of my life in El Hotel Conquistador, I managed to avoid the crazy gypsies selling herbs and fortune tellings during lunch.
On to Granada, home to both Spain's most famous castle/palace, the Al-Hambra, and also one of its largest universites (only fifty thousand students). Translation: Two days full of incredible memories of palaces and cathedrals and gardens and views; two nights of which I remember very little. One of my favorite moments of this whole european trip, though, happened just inbetween the "phases" of Granada; sitting in the Mirador San Nicolas, watching the sun as it set behind the city and the beautiful castle/palace, listening to an old gypsy play his guitar and sing.* Words do it little justice.
Finally, we concluded our excursion with a run through Sevilla, land of the worst spanish speakers in the world. They don't pronuciate literal hal thei word, maki i really har to understan. A friend of my roomates described learning spanish in Sevilla like learning english in Glasgow. Imagine! Anyway, I also got to tour the third largest Cathedral in the world, get my picture taken with Chritopher Columbus' (alleged) bones, and walk through the gardens of Fernando and Isabella, the first rulers of Spain. Also, outside of Sevilla our group stopped in the ancient roman town of Italica, where I walked through its coliseum and fresco-lined ruines. I realized later it was the oldest thing built by man that I have ever seen.
It's funny how it sometimes takes being away from something to discover what it really means to you, but on the plane back to Santiago there was a general feeling that we were all going home. I love life, especially here.
Much has happened since my return, but this is a heavy test week and there is much to do. More to come, more to come!
Nos vemos pronto.
-Patrick
*do not buy his CD. Surprisingly, it doesn't work. Gypsies...
Also, another word of caution to readers. Most of the following was done under the direction of Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises and Kerouac's On the Road, two literary staples of travel in northern Spain. If anything appears objectionable or misguided, I would suggest you talk with them. Lord knows I've never been accountable for my own actions.
A todos mis amigos y familia: dejadme paciencia y os daré el mundo.
As many, many of you have noted in your emails and skype conversations, I don't update this blog as often as I should. Indeed, in the time between my last post and the current one I have travelled though eight cities in four countries. As happens so often in my life, I have dug myself quite a hole. However, as I stumble through writing these next few blogs, please know that there is always more to come, and I would ask you to remember the words of Alexander Dumas: "All human wisdom is summed up in two words- wait and hope." I'm just taking some time to be super-wise.
Venga, Ciao
-Patrick
As many, many of you have noted in your emails and skype conversations, I don't update this blog as often as I should. Indeed, in the time between my last post and the current one I have travelled though eight cities in four countries. As happens so often in my life, I have dug myself quite a hole. However, as I stumble through writing these next few blogs, please know that there is always more to come, and I would ask you to remember the words of Alexander Dumas: "All human wisdom is summed up in two words- wait and hope." I'm just taking some time to be super-wise.
Venga, Ciao
-Patrick
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