London, London, London

This past weekend I made the trip up to the wonderful city of London, England.

We arrived Thursday Night and grabbed a train from the airport to our hostel. But that would be to simple of a trip and lack any excitement, so the travel gods decided to mix it up for us and catch Victoria Station (one of the main station and the direction we were heading) on fire. Luckily, everyone in England speaks English so it made our long and roundabout travel a little bit easier to figure out. We finally arrived at our stop only to find out the tickets we had wouldn't work and required us to buy a new ticket to leave the station.
We grabbed dinner at a really cool pub not far from our hostel which prided itself on it's unique beer selection and original food choices. I settled for a really good beer that was brewed just four miles up the road. We got a free sample of Cracklin, which is fried or seared bacon fat and it is absolutely amazing. Then for dinner I had a rib dog, coca cola sauced barbeque on a toasted honey bun with fries and coleslaw that according to Kerry was really good. Overall, it was a really good dinner.

The next morning we rose bright and early to take a bike tour of London through the royal parks. We saw a lot of the main sites such as Kessington Palace (home of Will and Kate), Hyde Park, Wellington Arch, Admiral Arch, Building and Square, Buckingham Palace, Trafalgar Square, Westminster Abbey, Parliament Building, and of course Big Ben. Our guide was a local London guy who was really informative and quite funny, he was a big fan of pointing out why London is so much better than Paris. We grabbed lunch in the Crypt of the Saint Martin Church right off Trafalgar Square.

Wellington Arch

Admiral Arch

Westminster Abbey

Big Ben

Buckingham Palace

Following the bike tour we made our way to Kings Cross Station and Platform 9 and 3/4. It was a super convenient way to get to Hogwarts for the night. But actually, we got on our train and headed to the Warner Brother Harry Potter Studio Tour for the night. We entered through the front doors of the castle into the Great Hall before exploring the entirety of the set. All of the animal actors were there so we got to meet Hedwig, Crookshanks, Mrs. Norris, Scabbers, Trevor, Ningini and Fang. It was really cool to see the way everything was set up and filmed. We also sampled Butterbeer which is AMAZING. We spent about four hours exploring all the different sets and costumes. It was by far one of the coolest things I have done and my inner nerd was estatic.

Embracing my Inner Luna and Heading to Hogwarts

Yule Ball

Still waiting on my letter

Buttterbeer

Catching a ride on the Knight Bus

Hanging out with Hedwig

Hogwarts Castle

Diagon Alley

The Great Hall

Once again we woke bright and early on Saturday morning, we had to allow proper time to get all dolled up for the event I have been so excited about for ever, London Fashion Weekend at the Somerset House. The only aspect of the big four fashion weeks that allows non press, buyers, and celebs to attend. We checked in and got our Julien Macdonald tote bags filled with goodies from the various sponsors including Essie Nail Polish, Maybeline baby lips, Beauty in snacks, label m. hair products, coupons for free goodies in London shops, and more. We browsed through the shops and looked longingly at the designer clothes that didn't quite fit in my study abroad budget. We then attended our first catwalk show, which was a Trend Show. It featured outfits from various designers falling into the top four trends for this spring and summer, Precious Metals (jewel tones and shiny), Lace Embrace (daytime lace), Flower Power (bold florals and head to toe floral), and Good Sport (athletic and varsity sport inspired). After out first show we returned to lounge and grabbed a glass of pink champagne, because it doesn't get more posh than that. We hit up some more shops and browsed the lounge which also housed VIP talks from major industry professionals. Then we went to the show I was most excited about, the Julien MacDonald catwalk. He has dressed basically anyone is anyone, we are talking Beyonce, Heidi Klum, Taylor Swift, and so so many more. He was introduced by the amazing Hillary Alexander, a major british fashion force as she is the Fashion Director for the Daily Telegraph and has been around the industry for ever. Julien MacDonald makes beautiful dresses that are glittery and fun but sheer and edgy all while remaining tasteful. I fell in love with his Spring/Summer collection and have decided that if I ever get to buy a major designer dress for some reason I would want him to dress me.

Hillary Alexander

Trend Catwalk - Good Sport

Julien MacDonald Show

Julien MacDonald Show

After the fashion show we met at the Gore Hotel for a late afternoon traditional British Tea. I had a rose tea that was really good. The tea was served with finger sandwiches, scones, macaroons, sweets, and lots of pastries. It was a really neat experience and the food was really good.

We then spent the night walking the the River Thames, seeing the London Eye, crossing the Waterloo Bridge, and sightseeing. As it started to get darker we made our way via the London Underground (we were masters of the tube) to Picadilly Circus. This is a really cool area of town that is filled with pubs, restaurants, bars, clubs, theaters, and lots and lots of people. We grabbed dinner at a place that claims that it might just be the best fish and chips, maybe. Since I was still full of tea, I simply got potato soup but stole a bite of the fish and chips and they were quite good. We walked the streets of Picadilly Circus after dinner before calling it a night.

Rose Tea

The Food

Westminster from the River Thames

Picadilly Circus

Picadilly Circus

My final day in London we woke up and headed back over to Westminster Abbey for service (fun fact, it's 18 pounds to go inside but free during a service). It was a really cool service as it was almost entirely choral service. 

We then headed over to the Sunday Up Market held in the Old Truman Brewery. It was a really cool place, there are tons of booths selling art, clothing, jewelry, and other eclectic items. My favorite part of the market was the food section, tons of booths make fresh food from every culture right there and give out free samples; Londoners really know what they are doing with Indian food, and the Malaysian pancakes were one for the book, I actually bought a banana and nutella crepe made from scratch right in front of me that was phenomenal. 

Then I sadly had to board a train back to the airport and head on back to the good old Madrid, but London was an amazing trip and city and who knows, maybe I'll be back someday. 

P.S. If anyone is curious, I was put on a British Fashion Blog for my style at London Fashion Weekend. Here is a link:
 http://www.chiqueuniquecritique.com/2014/02/ss14-street-style-14-in-this-case-yes.html

#It'sTImeForAfrica

I went to Africa.

There is a stamp in my passport for the continent of Africa.

I spent this last weekend in Morocco, and it was the most amazing trip of my life. It has been three days since I returned and it still is quite surreal. 

We departed early Friday morning from Madrid via bus to the city of Seville, a popular town in Southern Spain. After grabbing lunch at a little sandwich shop, we made our way over to the Consulate of Portugal. This was the place we met up with our tour group for the weekend (since we knew next to nothing about Morocco we thought it best and safest to travel with a group, best decision ever). From there we hopped on another bus and made our way to the southern coast, I got my first passport stamp leaving Europe at the port and then boarded a ferry. Taking a ferry across the Straight of Gibraltar into Africa was by far one of the coolest things I have ever experienced, from the balcony you can see both Spain and Africa all lit up under the full moon. 

We arrived in Tanger late that night and headed for dinner and settled in at the hotel; only it took me a little bit to settle in since I had a killer view from my balcony of the ocean and it was hard to leave that for bed.

Crazy Winds Crossing the Straight of Gibraltar

Post Ferry Hair

The View from My Balcony

We woke up bright and early the next morning to head to the city of Chefchaouen, the blue city. it is about two hours outside of Tangier. We entered into the Old Medina (the city center) which was completely surrounded by a castle wall/barrier. We grabbed lunch on top of the Cafe Aladdin, which was phenomenal. The views from the roof were amazing, you could see the entire city and up into the mountains which the city was named for. Lunch was really good too, we had a fresh pepper and tomato salad followed by a Moroccan chicken and rice dish with fruit for dessert. Following lunch we had a tour of the city from a local man, he told stories of the history as well as enlightened us about present Chefchaouen. The entire city is a Muslim city, as well as an entirely middle class city, it also used to serve as a stop for caravans. We walked the streets seeing the traditional old baths, the local baker where everyone brings their bread to be baked, the old caravan market, the outdoor laundry facility, the mountains the city was named after (it looks like horns, and the city name translates to four horns), and saw all of the beautiful blue and white streets. Following our tour we had time to wander the city ourselves and to bargain with the locals. I made my first real purchase other than a postcard here, I talked a local artist down to 120 dirhams (a little under 12 euros) for a large, original, hand painted canvas. We then returned to the bus to head back to Tanger for dinner, and of course watched Aladdin on the bus.

That night we had dinner and a show. We were surprised with traditional Moroccan music and a fire dancer. And I must say, for a fire dancer who looks like he was almost three times my age he was at least three times more flexible than me.

 

The view from my seat at the table

The traditional tile and blue front door

Pick your color dye mix

Moroccan Street Art

Hangin with Our Local Guide

Traditional Moroccan Music

Fire Dancer

Sunday morning we woke up bright and early again, this time to visit the coastal town of Asilah. At first glance I thought it was similar to Chefchaouen with it's blue and white buildings, but upon entering I was pleasantly surprised by the unique culture of this town. Asilah has an annual art competiton, but rather than painting normal canvases, they paint the walls of the city. The winners stay up year round, causing the blue and white streets to be filled with all sorts of different colors and designs. We were given a tour, in the middle of which I was told to jump the wall of the city. I was confused but I followed the guide who went up with ease, it was at least a four and a half foot wall, so after a couple attempts I managed. Luckily there was a platform on the other side of the wall here which created an amazing look out spot onto the Atlantic ocean. After returning to the ground we finished the tour, stopping at the wall of relationships, people come from all over the world and sign this wall with someone they love or looking for love (I signed alone, but I wasn't not going to sign it). WE then were given a bit more free time. Something about Morocco makes me a spended, and I bought an original turqouise and coral ring (coral is very popular in Asilah as it is supposed to bring good fortune and was for the royals originally). 

One of the Art Competition Entries

Signing the Wall of Relationships

Local Art Gallery

After Asilah we grabbed a lunch of pepper salad and kebabs and headed back towards Tanger. We stopped along the way at the Caves of Hercules, a really cool sea cave that is said to be wear Hercules lived. I' m not buying it, if you watch the movie it's pretty obvious he didn;t live in a cave, maybe it was a vacation cave, but whatever. It was still really neat to see, you enter into this damp dark cave and then out of no where is a bright light (hint: it's the sun) with water pounding against the rocks from the ocean. The pictures will never do it justice, as the water pouring in and the sunlight mixing with the darkness of the cave was one of the neatest things I've seen. It was stunning.

After the Caves of Hercules, we headed to the CAMELS. Yes, the oh so anticipated camel ride. Leave it to me to find the one crazy camel who needed a muzzle, his tongue hanging out everywhere. His name was Ali Baba and he did not let me get off of him following the ride, he would sit down so I had to jump into this guys arms. Once I was off he sat and looked at me with a goof expression. I'll take it though, I didn't get spit on, but one camel got kinda mad when I stopped taking selfies with him and he bit my ankle (can we say DIVA). Anyways the camel ride was SO MUCH FUN. Plus, where we rode the camels had a killer look out spot.

Caves of Hercules

Throwback to Greek Week last year as Hercules's muses

Cave of Hercules

We and my Diva Camel Bestie

Casual Camel Riding

YAY for CAMELS

Killer Look Out Point

After out camel ride we had to head back towards the port to cross back over the Straight of Gibraltar and back into Spain. But it was one amazing trip, one that I won't ever forget about. It literally was the trip of a lifetime and I took it with seriously the greatest people on earth.

PS. Did I mention our tour guides were gorgeous? Check out Pedro, Tobas (who I thought was named Carlos the entire trip), Ricardo, and Giles. No complaints here. 

Livin' In Madrid

This blog has two parts. The first part is all about my past weekend that I spent here in Madrid living the life of a true Madrielleno, the second half is more of a FAQ type thing, or simply put classes, food, and boys.

PART 1

So I have officially been in Spain for over a month now, and it has been the the best month of my life. We have a lot of big trips coming up and midterms just around the corner, so we decided to stay in Madrid for this weekend a live the true life of a Madrielleno (a Madrid local).

Thursday afternoon was actually a really exciting moment for me, it may seem small or silly but it was the first time when I was able to hold my own and fit in with the locals completely. It's pretty obvious to most that I am not Spanish due to my height, light hair, and blue eyes, so my goal was never to be seen as a local but rather as a permanent resident, someone who knew what they were doing and wasn't s silly traveler. So on my way to class on Thursday there was very high winds, a group of women were all huddled near each other at the crosswalk and one bumped into me, she said something to me in Spanish and laughed and I simply replied to her Spanish that this wind was crazy. They all laughed and I was dragged into their huddle, it was a good moment.

That night we decided to brave Kapital, the seven story night club that is very popular among locals and nonlocals alike. We picked Thursday night since it has free entry versus the sixteen euro cover charge on other nights, and we grabbed drinks at a bar across the street before hand rather than paying the twelve inside. It was quiet the experience. We did our best to keep up with the locals who are notorious for their night life that runs until seven or so in the morning, we made it to six before we could no longer suppress our hunger. We found a pizza place befor eheading home for the night, er morning. I will say the locals are smart in one way for staying out all night the metro opens back up at 6am, so you save money on a taxi.

Kapital

Everyone was tired on Friday, we all took the day to rest up, study or upcoming test, and for a few to stop a developing sickness. I walked around outside a bit, as I had to head over to school to pick up a package. But after shower and dinner, I read my new kindle for a bit (best birthday present ever from Mom and Dad), before retiring for the night.

Saturday after a tapas lunch at El Tigre, we decided to explore the neighborhoods of Madrid that we had yet to visit and were more eclectic; I personally loved Tribunal with all of it's cute boutique shops and restaurants, it has winding streets with bright windows and beautiful building throughout. We also ventured to Chueca, the gay district, Banco de Espana,the financial district, and went deeper into Gran Via. It was really cool to see the differences between each neighborhood, but at the same time realize how cohesive it all is. That night we went to El Chapandaz, a cave bar in Moncloa, the local college scene. What is a cave bar you ask, it's a bar that looks like a cave on the inside and it's awesome. Its known for serving large serving drinks (think large fishbowls and vases), so the eight of us split one bowl basically of panthers milk, it's a house drink that is served from the ceiling. It was a really cool place.

Panthers Milk for 8

Tribunal

Sunday we ventured to El Rastro in the rain to see if we found any knick knacks or souvenirs, sadly I didn't buy anything but there is a local jewelry maker that caught my eye, so until next time. WE grabbed lunch that afternoon at a popular joint that was recommended to me by my brother DJ, for my birthday he sent me my own birthday dinner since I couldn't celebrate it back home. It was rainy and cold, so I tried an onion soup that was phenomenal and had croquetas, which are similar to a mozzarella stick but have meat inside, and then upon DJ's recommendation I had the sirloin with foie gras and it was one of the best things I have eaten while abroad. So well done brother, well done.

We also visited the Museo de Thyssen-Bornemiszma, it is private collection smaller then the Prado and Reina Sofia but was my favorite museum I have visited so far. It is home to many modern pieces by Picasso, Dali, Pollock, and more as well as and exhibit on El Greco, and classic pieces by world renowned artists.We made it through about half of the museum and plan on returning to see the other half relatively soon.

El Rastro

Sirloin with Foie Gras

 Thyssen Museum

PART 2

Here is a list of the questions I have gotten the most from people over the past month...

Question 1: Do you actually go to class? What are they like?
Yes, I go to class. I haven't missed a single one since I have been here. I'm only taking four classes this semester as to keep the course load light and only have class Monday through Thursday which gives me an extra day to travel. I'm taking design, which is taught by one of the founders of the Barcelona Center for Design, and we have just begun our first project. I had to design a personal logo for who I am and what I stand for, and now as a class we are creating a digital magazine to conclude our graphic design unit. I'm responsible for writing and designing my own article as well as submitting a cover design for the magazine. The magazine is completely class run and the professor has no input on how we go about it, who does what, and how we go about it.  I'm also taking a management class that I find very interesting, we are learning the basics of management and decision making, but we will finish the semester with a project presentation where we must interview a manger within a major company (my professor has a connection to the main manager for Carolina Herrera, so fingers crossed I can get her). My political science class is focused on Government and Politics in contemporary Spain, it is really interesting and we are taking several field trips to see the places and remnants of recent happenings here in Madrid from the Spanish Civil War until today. And my final class in ITM, which is a kinda boring computer business class, but hey I gotta take it.

Question 2: What's the food like?
Amazing My host mom is a really good cook and she loves to experiment with different recipes, we also eat pretty healthy which I like, it's all organic and we have an unlimited amount of fruit all the time. There is a lot of seafood since we are near to the coast, which is a slight adjustment but I haven't had any fish I haven't liked yet. A very common dish for my host family as well as all over Madrid and Spain is Tortilla, it's eggs, potatoes, and olive oil all mixed together and I guess baked. It sounds very simple and plain, but it's really good. There is a lot of bakeries here and they love baguettes which is fine by me, they are also the world's number one producer of olive oil so we have a lot of that here too. Overall, it's really really good.

Question 3: Boys
Not a question I know, but I have gotten quiet a few questions about the boys. And no, there are no boys in my life, I am not in one place long enough for that to happen, plus Spanish boys tend to run on the short side. So I'm still holding out for a royal or athlete, sorry y'all.

Me in ten years as a queen. Also known as a painting from the Thyssen