The Olympics - No big deal!

This weekend I had the opportunity to jump up on plane and fly to London none other than the 2012 Summer Olympics!!!  I have a friend who is living in London for an internship so I was able to avoid the insane housing cost by staying with her.  London is one of the most culturally eclectic cities in Europe but adding the Olympics makes it even more lively and diverse!  Unfortunately, I didn't have 200 pounds to spend on a ticket to any of the events in any of the stadiums but I did have the chance to see the men's and women's road races and other Olympic related events!

Friday I went to Trafalgar Square to watch the countdown to the start of the Opening Ceremony!

I saw so many people with so much pride for their countries but of course Great Britain was not going to get shown up on their home turf!

Everyone waiting!

The Olympics have begun!!!

Hello David Beckham...

U-S-A, U-S-A, U-S-A!

Men's Road Race - These two bikers were sprinting towards the finish line.  The  racer from Kazakhstan ended up winning. 

More bikers!

Next, we went to the London Live area in Hyde Park where you could watch Olympic events on the big screen.  Here Ryan Lochte is accepting his Gold medal.

On Sunday, I was able to see the Women's Road Race right outside of Buckingham Palace!

This was a once and a lifetime opportunity and I truly loved every second of it!  The Olympics are amazing because they bring so many different people together from all over the world.  Everyone I met was wonderful and was there to enjoy the beauty of the games.  I loved it so much that I was really sad when I came back to Madrid (to where I don't even have a TV) and couldn't be part of the action or watch the games.  I guess I need to start looking up flights to Rio for Summer 2016!

Corinne

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REBAJAS!

In Spain. They don't use coupons or have sales for every holiday. They just have two big sales a year called Rebajas.

 From July to August, everything is on sale to make new room for the new inventory and every store front looks like this:

They start with 1st Rebajas. Clothes are discounted 20% to 30%.
The after a couple of weeks 2nd Rebajas. Clothes are then discounted 40 - 50%.
Some things are discounted more heavily but all the stores look like a mess.
"Rebajas" will happen again after Christmas.

I don't know if I like this way of doing things because I don't like being in the store with a lot of people and the stores are always crowded now. But it's better than having to deal with coupons.

A Needed Dose of Awesome from MULAFEST

I literally just got back from a weekend in Lisbon, Portugal, but first I had to share the things I’ve done in the last week that are all backed up on my camera! #1 on the list: MULAFEST in Madrid.

Corinne & Liz helping to advertise at the entrance 

As soon as I found out about this… let’s say “alternative” festival, I was super excited and knew that I absolutely had to go. On the news, Madrid referred to it as a “festival of urban tendencies”, which I thought was pretty funny. Basically, it was a big showcase of various art forms like dance, graffiti, painting, and tattooing along with a free-for-all of BMX biking, skateboarding, motorcycles, and souped-up cars. How could I possibly miss seeing all of that craziness in one place?

First sight: Motorcycles galore

There were live bands at stages all throughout the convention center!

Mulafest graffiti artists made sure there was not a blank wall untouched.

Paint something!!

It spells “GRAFFITI”. Get it?

The BMX bikers made me feel lame for being on the ground.

Sk8r b0iz (Sorry, I had to.)

Corinne, Liz, & I in front of the GRAFFITI wall

Side story: I asked someone in Spanish to take this pictured and realized later that he probably didn’t speak any Spanish at all. Might have even been American. Oops!

Tattoo booths! As tempting as it was, none of us got anything done.

There was live karaoke with a band. This guy started it off, and was absolutely fabulous with his rendition of “Billie Jean”.

Dance class!

Crazy paintings – Wasn’t sure what this one was supposed to mean with its combo of brands and zombies.. Especially because all of the zombies were actually Snow White..?

I bet you thought the graffiti was over! It’s not!

We ended our visit hanging out and watching these dancers do crazy amazing things. It was sweet.

I don’t remember having an extremely artistic or urban experience when I was younger, but for some reason, being at this festival made me feel like I was in high school. Everyone was doing whatever they felt like doing, experimenting with random ideas, and was really passionate about the things that brought them the most joy. Mulafest’s main goal was to bring together artists from all backgrounds and places to collaborate in this one space and feed off of each other to allow their best work to come out. The result was more than impressive, and it highlighted a side of Madrid that I don’t think everyone gets to see. All of my waiting and anticipation was definitely justified. I know Pittsburgh has a lot of cultural and artsy festivals that go on throughout the year, so we'll have to see how they measure up!

- Alexa

Adventures in Sevilla (and Couch Surfing)

Almost everyone who has considered going abroad has heard of this website called couchsurfing.org.  The general concept is that people open up their houses to people travelling.  The best thing about it is it is FREE.  Yes, you heard right free. You just find someone online, tell them about yourself and see if they will be around to host you.  As scary as this may seem, doing this in Sevilla was the best decision I could have made.  What better way to explore a city than with people who live in and love the city.

I stayed with a girl named Rachel who took to me all of the best places.  Not necessarily the most touristy places but authentic Spanish restaurants and areas that I never would have found otherwise.

We spent 3 hours at this restaurant trying different tapas and wines.

The most delicious sweet wine!

Spain had a Eurocup game.  We were able to watch it outside at the Metropol Parasol.

Spain of course won :) It was so exciting to be watching the game with the Spanish people and being in a new city with new friends.

Couch Surfing was one of the best decisions I have made abroad so far.  I had a great time, met some fun and interesting people, and had a once in a life time experience in a beautiful city.

Chao!

Corinne

How Spaniards view the US Dollar

A Day off in Madrid

I don't always understand art but I like to look at it.

So when my roommate told me that the museums in Madrid are free with your student ID, I dug through my luggage to find my Pitt ID and let it sit there until I made time to go to the museum.

My bosses were out of the office on Friday and they told me to take the day and do something fun.

So of course I slept in until an indecent hour and then I decided to go to the Museo Reina Sofia.

I felt incredibly cultured as I walked around four floors of exhibits. Unfortunately I have few pictures to show for it because of rules regarding photography.

It was really, really cool after years of looking at reproductions of Dalí and Picasso in Spanish textbooks to see the real things. Reina Sofia has a large collection of work from both artists. 

The most random thing I encountered was an exhibit featuring "Rebel Without a Cause". I sat down and watched it for a few minutes. 

The most interesting exhibit I encountered was the "Guernica". One of Picasso's most recognized pieces of work and an enduring anti-war statement. I knew the picture but I did not know it's story. 

Picasso painted it during the Spanish Civil War in response to a bombing in the Basque Country of Spain. However, he did not think it was safe in Spain following Franco's rise to power and it spent 40 years abroad and only returned after Franco died. It's truly an amazing picture because it is so big: approximately 12 feet high and 25 feet wide.

I really enjoyed walking through the museum and seeing everything. I look forward to going to more museums here in Spain and back home.

Gorgeous, Gleeful, Gay Madrid

This past weekend was an exciting one because not only did Madrid win the Eurocup, but it was Gay Pride week, so the Gay Pride Parade was on Saturday! I’ve gone to the Pride Parade in Chicago a couple of times (never in Pittsburgh, unfortunately) , and this parade was surprisingly similar. But in Spanish, of course!

I say it was surprising, though, because the Spanish LGBT community has all of the rights that are still being fought for in the United States. Gay marriage is legal, same-sex couples can adopt children, homosexuals can openly serve in the military (a more recent development in the US), and so on. You would think that the parades and festivities in the US would be more political and the ones in Spain would just be a party (I mean, it is Spain), but I actually saw the opposite happen. There were tons and tons of foundations marching with their signs and banners about equal rights, equal treatment in the workplace, etc. I guess once you’ve finally received what you feel you deserve and what you’ve fought to have for such a long time, you make sure that it stays that way.

But don’t get me wrong. It was still a party. 

We were standing close to the beginning of the parade route, which was at Puerta de Alcalá. This is in Plaza de Cibeles.

“So, how does it feel getting interviewed by a transvestite?”

Gorgeous weather, international friends, sangria sold in the street, parade of happy people, rainbows galore… Does it get much better?

To love is not a crime.

It was kind of hilarious how much people loved the truck full of “bears”.
“You lookin’ for a MANLY man??”

Mandatory condom van – It had a large following.

My favorite part of gay pride parades: the pretty boy party bus

All of Chueca (the prominently gay neighborhood in Madrid) was decorated appropriately!

We didn’t actually stay for the entire parade because it went on forever. Also, we’ve turned into old people who get tired quickly because of long weekdays at work and class. There was definitely the option to stay out all hours of the night partying in the street! You can’t deny that Madrid knows how to throw a party, especially when it can celebrate something as great as giving equal rights to all of its citizens.

- Alexa