Peregrina Soy y A Santiago Voy

When Andrew and I arrived in Galicia we found ourselves staying at the most homey little hostel. It probaly felt that way because it was a home. An elderly Spanish couple lived in and rented out the large apartment. The man sat each of us down with maps which he highlighted and marked with Xs and straight lines. He even knocked on our door one night to offer us some homemade sweets. We knew we'd like it immediately, though the city and area itself didn't prove to be wonderful til we dug a little deeper.

We made it to Santiago de Compostela. It's the Cathedral at the end of the "Camino de Santiago", the pilgrimage during which brave people begin in France and trek across all of northern Spain. For as incredible as I think it must feel to accomplish something of that magnitude, I am sure I am not the person for it. After walking 30 minutes to the bus station with my heavy backpack I was already asking "Are we there yet?" For as impossible as it sounds, it is rare that I go through a single day walking the streets in León without seeing one or two determined pilgirms with walking sticks, backpacks, and shells hanging off of their gear.  

This Cathedral is really impressive, but the view from this park here was surreal. This photo looks photoshopped to me, and yet they didn't have a single postcard with any of the views from the park. The city was small, so my friend Andrew and I had plenty of time to go in EVERY single tourist shop looking for this postcard. Dear photographers of Santaigo de Compostela: take my advice, the park is where it's at.

 

This is my glass elevator to my hill top home. It looks straight out of the movie 'The Incredibles'. I hope somebody agrees with me on that. This took us up to get a lovely view of the coastal city of La Coruña in Galicia. Being on the Atlantic Ocean for the first time ever from Spain was a strange feeling. It honestly smelled like home. It was weird knowing that if I were to go straight across the water I'd hit home.

We stopped off to play on this "baby beach". It reminded me of the one in 'The Notebook'...remember the part where she is wearing that ridiculously old fashioned bathingsuit and runs through the water saying "Say you're a bird...say it". Well if I didn't know better I'd think they filmed it here. I asked Andrew to hold my purse for a minute and he insisted on putting it on and wearing it as a satchel. He was far too concentrated on how he looked with the bag to notice the wave that came crashing in on him, soaking his feat. And so, here we sat for quite a long time drying him out while I got to learn about his past life as a child toy model.

I have some strange obession with this park, but I only ever wanted to walk through it at night. I couldn't quite put my finger on it, but I'd felt like I'd been there before. After insiting we walk through it for the fourth time, I realized I'd dreamed about this park- a long time ago. It was a random dream and I don't remember much of it. I was living in a neighborhood where houses weren't too close together and this park was in my backyard and I had to cut through it, running on the paths in my little pink lacy dress to get to my friend's house on the other side. Always at night. It felt like home for no good reason. I would go all the way back just to feel the way I felt when I walked through the park. If you don't believe my obsession with it- just ask Andrew how many times he had to walk through it with me. And also. The picture does it no justice.

Here I am on the top of the mountain. If you look behind me you can see the thin strip of land and then on the other side, more ocean. The city of La Coruña is a really strange fan shape with a skinny neck attaching it to the rest of Spain.

 

Here we are again in Santiago, stopping to smell the roses. Who doesn't want a rose tree growing in their front yard?

Here is one of the coolest parts about La Coruña. The hedges for the year and month are real. We touched the little leaves making the 4 and those felt fake. But that takes some serious dedication to change the date in the garden daily. We were so impressed, in fact, that we made a special trip by here each day just to make sure the gardeneres were doing their job.

This particular night, Andrew tried to convince me to hide out in the park to catch them changing the date at midnight. It sounded like a great idea until about 11:30 at night when the park filled up with teenagers dressed in costumes drinking and yelling obnoxiously. So as much as I love this little park and wanted to sit there endlessly, I rested well knowing that the man would change the date, whether I was there to supervise him or not.

Galicia was beautiful. We ended up seeing the entire city of La Coruña on foot and I could give you directions, places to eat, shop, get gummies, milkshakes, see the best views, and sit on the beaches. The things I am still not able to do are: speak in gallego (though we could read almost all of it), and tell you where to go to eat their specialty fish and octopus. I avoided eye contact with any food that was capable of holding eye contact.

La Tierra de los Cazurros

Back to my little city with Jennie. I walked her all over and saw things even I had never seen. These are some of our old walls made with those windows with tiny openings on the other side. It's so they could shoot arrows out the big side without getting hit by arrows coming in their direction.

Of all the graffiti in León (and there's a LOT), this is possibly the only one I appreciate. Well actually, someone made a huge red heart on the sidewalk for Valentines that said "I love..." and some girl. That one I rather enjoyed as well, though I think there are less destructive ways to tell someone you care. On paper, for instance.

That's me on the Spiderweb. I have always wanted to play on it, and this certain day there happened to be no children in sight. Surely they were all still in school. So if you're ever looking for me Friday mid-day...you know where to find me.

Possibly my favorite Jennifer quote from the whole trip. Said very seriously. "The problem is I can't go through the squares, I have to go through the octagons." Her eyes may or may not be closed in this photo. Either way, it's great.

Welp, I'd never gone into this "Palacio de los Guzmanes" which is ten minutes from my house. The man at the desk was telling us to come back for a "tour" in 20 minutes and as he was looking at Jen saying this he suddenly stopped and looked at me. "She speaks no Spanish, huh? Looking at me with that face." And Jen was, indeed, cluelessly smiling at him. 

Learned that the palace was sold by the Guzman family and the government bought it...for 600 euro. I could afford that after less than a month's stipend over here. Too bad I wasn't around a century ago to buy it. Anyways, the family crest was a basket with snakes coming out of it- not really feeling that.

For no reason. The sun looked cool. And I'm next to the Cathedral.

The walk down Calle Ancha from the Cathedral to my house. Gets a killer sunset. And I do mean killer because you can hardly keep your eyes open.

On my little tour I learned a few cool things. Whereas Jen kept busy taking the pictures. The woman told me that because León is both the city name and the province, they have to differentiate somehow with the symbol. Both are, obviously (or not so obviously to some) a lion. Without a crown it is the symbol of the city and with a crown, he is the symbol for the whole province.



And....we paid to go into the cloister (not sure if that's the correct translation...but those of you who know anything about churches will understand). I had never gone into the middle of the cathedral and it gave such a different view. We were surrounded on all sides by the old walls and towers but you could still see the sky. Worth my 2 euros and having to wait for the 60 year old plus tour group to vacate the area.

Then we spent a solid hour at the gift store. The woman who works there must know who I am- I think I am the León resident who visits the gift shop most frequently. I am like a vessel for guests. I am single handedly holding down the León tourism industry. They should pay me back by letting me climb the towers in the Cathedral. Fell free to write letters to them, telling them you agree. 
León Cathedral
Plaza de Regla
León, España

Una Pequeña Ciudad Fortificada

Toledo was much more beautiful than I had expected. Immediately after walking up the (very) steep hill, we saw old architecture everywhere, from old walls, to an entranceway into the city.

We took a little train around the city so that we could get a more distant view from the other side of the river. It was unreal. Somehow it reminded me of Harry Potter with the bridges, the river, and the castles.

Toledo is up on a hill and all the buildings (in true Spanish style) are very close together, leading to awesome views if you can get up high enough.

Not a terrible amount of things to do in Toledo, but it was worth it just to see the buildings. They have such a well preserved city that was taken over by so many different groups and you can see the Jewish synagoges, Catholic cathedral and Roman architecture. Worth a stop.

This is one of the many Spanish babies I've added to my collection since September. Possibly the most adorable as well. And the easiest to snag seeing as how his parents are nowhere to be found.

Cervantes! The oh so famous writer. This is one of our only pictures together from the whole trip, and Cervantes is hogging all the attention. What can you do.

A cool little park on the way out of the city. There was a house made of sticks in the middle of the park and it almost looked fake. But I would so live there with my cat, Simba, and speak Spanglish for the rest of my life. Luckily "Simba" is still the same in Spanish so my lovely cat wouldn't get too confused.

Una Mirada Más Profunda

       At this point, I've been to Madrid so many times, I don't find it intimidating anymore. However, for being my least favorite city in the entire country, I am there far too often. This time, I had good reason- to pick up Jen who came to visit all the way from Buffalo. She wanted to do and see everything, which actually got me looking at parts of Madrid I hadn't seen before. I've been to the Crystal Palace a handfull of times, but only every from the outside. I could see this big all-white sculpture made of plastic. I never understood what made white laundry baskets and lawn furniture so exciting. Jen wanted to go in, and this is what we discovered.

        Such a small detail and I was so surprised by it. How could I have walked past that many times, never going in, and never knowing that the very bottom of the sculpture got exciting? That's what I get I suppose.

 
   My favorite spot in Madrid is looking over at those steps and thinking how pretty it looks to see all those people sitting on the other side. "You've never been over there? But it's your favorite place in Madrid?" Jen said. I suppose that it  is fairly ridiculous that I never took the five minutes to join the exciting people on the steps across the water.
 

      And we made it! I can officially say I've been to the other side of the water now. Suppose I needed a little push. I'm a creature of habit. When I go to the same places, I go see the same things, I take the same routes. It's crazy, really.

      The very center of Madrid...therefore the very center of Spain. Kilometer zero. My first time standing on it.

     The far side of the Royal Palace near the gardens. All I'll say is, my daddy and his crew could have done a more exciting garden for the king.

       Madrid treated us fairly well. We had a very interesting roomate who we quite enjoyed spending the evenings with. I made her bed and she in turn gave me an icecream bar. Match made in heaven. I attempted to listen in on her Portuguese conversation and caught about 3 phrases of her entire 20 minute conversation...perhaps I should take up another foreign language. She also insisted that I looked like Kate Hudson and any part of me that wasn't exactly like Kate was filled in by Kirsten Dunst. The interesting thing is my sister Megan gets the Kirsten Dunst card a lot and my sister Jesse gets the Kate Hudson one. Well well. I disagree with it all but it was just so strange to get the same reaction from some Brazilian girl in a hostel in Madrid. Feels like a small world.

La Vida Cotidiana

Some days, Leon is just like any other city in any other country. I go to work, eat, go tutor, cook, and go to bed. I think "I could do this anywhere". Then there are other days and other moments I realize this place and this little life are unique and irreplaceable.  This view of the back of the Cathedral, which I only get on occasional Wendesdays when I have to walk this way, is one of those views I couldn't get anywhere else. It's always right around 7pm and the sun is starting to set, and its the face of the Cathedral that doesn't make it into tour books or onto postcards. It feels like I'm the only one that's seen it before. The only one who has appreciated it this way.

Whenever I go this way around the back of the city, I'm always headed to my favorite tutoring. My two young ones who I see three times a week and who learn faster than any adults I've ever met. My time spent with them is so much more rewarding than anything else I do in Spain.
 

They now beg me to play "Go Fish" with these animal cards. Though, up until recently the usual was "Le pido a Diego, do you Have (strong H)...camel?" Response: "Gold fish". So many things wrong about the little Spanglish conversation they had between the two of them, but so many things right. You should see them now!

Sometimes, my little loved ones get tired and cranky. On this particular day, I was accused of "cheating" (a word that I had to teach them because they are such good cheaters). He made me sit on the other side of the door so I couldn't look at his cards. Meanwhile, he sat on his knees to look through the glass panes to see mine.

They have taken to yelling to their parents every day at 8:30 "Mom! Leigh's leaving!" It's one of my favorite things they do. Along with when I ask them "How old are you?" and they respond "I'm fine, thank you." No no no. And once I said "Are you always fine? Some days aren't you feeling better or worse?" The response was perfect. "I don't know what fine means but I always say it because it's the only answer I know!" Of course he said that in Spanish. Now that I've taught him other options he enjoys saying he is "mad" or "in love" or "sick". The two of them never fail to put a smile on my face.

This past weekend we had weather up near 60. It was unbelievable and I headed to the river to do my work and to read. It's five minutes from my house but spots I had never been. I think that innately we take advantage of what is nearest to us. That includes both places and people. We put off our family, significant others, and close friends to make good impressions on new people or to get work done. We travel across the world and try to take it all the sights as fast as we can, but then never go to the parks, restaurants, and monuments in our own towns and cities.

This is along the river and looks awesome with the sun. I can't wait til the leaves come back, it'll be even better.

Didn't mean to get philosophical today, it must be the nice weather.

Nagranganas

Mike, you must have known you couldn't get away without this making it into my blog. Two weeks after trying to teach him the word for "orange" (naranja) to try and order him some orange juice, it was still coming out "nagrangana". I think this is about the moment when Sarah posted on his wall "Without all of us girls, he'd be up a creek of nagranganas" and Amy, obviously, couldn't control herself.  
 
 

So! We finally got back to Leon and I felt back at home though it was weird to have these two in my city. Here we are with Gaudi. After stalking his architecture throughout Barcelona, these two kids finally got to be introduced. Here they are, probably arguing about which one is going to ask for an autograph.

I have taken this same picture with all of my Oviedo friends when we visited. Just a little stairway with the Leon crest up above it. We tried really hard not to get random walkers in our shot but it just didn't happen. 

At the big man statue waiting for Sarah to bring us delicious ingredients for making taco salad (obviously very Spanish...not). Which is why we have to hunt down tortilla chips, salsa, black beans, and sour cream. It took us until about a month ago but we've finally found all four of those things. Now I want cheddar cheese, pretzles, brownies, and peanut butter (that doesn't cost half my stipend).

Here is my lovely boyfriend wearing a solid black T-shirt. Please all send him compliments so that he will continue to wear it. I, most obviously, bought it for him. He was very sweet and pretended to like it but I hope he has not sewn any sports logos onto it since he has been home. Though. The chances are high. Except that I'm unsure of his sewing skills. Also I find this entertaining as I was giving what must have been a GREAT hug while he is surely looking up sports info or reading the news on his Ipod. Can't win :). 

This was our last night in Leon, after two nights of tapas and going to class and tutoring with me. They got to see just how unorganized my school life is, but how it all balances out with the fact that we have great (and free!) tapas. Can't have it all. We went to Alimerka (my Spanish Wegmans) and each is armed with a sleeve of my favorite cookies which taste like smores and are highly addictive.

And here, finally, at my Plaza de la Inmaculada right by my house. I'm unsure about the pose but it does hilight some of their Alimerka purchases. Mike was thrilled to be able to bring home his favorite chocolate milk because it doesn't need to be refrigerated until opened. Gross, but true to Spanish style.

So since they've left I've gotten back to my little Spanish lifestyle, which now seems a bit boring in comparison. I rather miss having two little buddies following me around saying "What next, Leigh? Can we take a nap, Leigh? I want some Alimerka cookies, Leigh. What should I wear, Leigh?" Amy and Mike were two super lovely guests to have and I'm so thankful they were able to make it all the way out to explore a little of Europe with me. Madrid, Paris, Barcelona, Oviedo, Leon. I surely won't ever forget it and, bad news for Mike, none of us will forget the "nagranganas". Miss you both, already.

Volver

When I left Oviedo in May 2009, I wasn't even sure I'd ever get back. Then, less than 2 years later, I've been to Oviedo 5 times in the past 4 months and even brought two of my favorites from home. Here's Amy and me in front of my old apartment. I said, "Take a quick picture before Merce (my host mom) sees us, or I'll get yelled at for not calling her, and she'll never let us leave!" Fact. She yells because she loves me. And apparently she loves me a LOT.

We met up with our friend David, and as we were heading up to his apartment, I turned to Mike and Amy and said "David speaks Spanish so when you meet him say "Encantado/a...or don't say anything at all, just smile." My directions were quick and blunt, and apparently didn't go across to well. I noticed later when Mike had been nearly silent for over a half hour, "You told me to speak Spanish, or not speak at all!" Fair play. I am sometimes unaware of the way I say things. I prioritize situations in my mind and leave out feelings and people who deserve that extra minute of clarification or comfort. Learning (painfully) slowly.

We went out to have Paella with David. We also ordered croquetas and huevos rotos. We attempted to be very Spanish, and the food was great, as was the awkward table conversation between people of all different levels of Spanish and English.

We had to visit La Gorda. This statue itself isn't very exciting, but I can't even list all the fabulous people I've met here to go off and have adventures. Quedamos en la Gorda? Siempre.

Yes, I realize how unflattering this picture is of me, but I have to post it. Because. It captures (so very well) Mike and me. He is sweet, patient, genuine. And I. Am a pain in the ass. For no good reason, except just to be one. He saw this and said "Leigh, all you had to do was look at the camera, it would have been such a nice picture!" He makes it sound so simple.