Best Week Ever and my Trip to Cáceres

By the title you can obviously tell this is going to be good, so here it goes.

Monday:

Probably the least exciting day of the week, but the weather was beautiful when I walked home with my friend, so I decided to run up the mountain. The view is especially beautiful after a 10:45 min. run uphill to the top.

Tuesday:

Merida(see other post)

Wednesday:

Today, I went on a run to all the Parks around town: Paseo Alto, Parque Principe, and Parque Rodeo. We didn't have Internet at the house because it had gone out the day before(Spanish technology one thing I am not going to miss), so I went to the library to do some things. I came back after it closed to find my street half-full with people. Apparently the Virgin of the Mountain(statue) was coming down to Cáceres for the week and it is a huge deal. Our street was decorated with Spanish flags and banners and sage was spread across the street. Anyways we got to watch the whole procession from the comfort of our balcony. How cool is that! Once-in-a-lifetime experience that only Tim and I got. Also after the Virgin went by the internet turned back on for a few hours. Miracle of the Virgin! We have Internet! It then went out at 1AM.

Thursday:

Manoli had left to go to Madrid today, so Tim and I had the house to ourselves for the weekend. After I got back from school I realized I had left my jacket there, so I raced back there and found it sitting on the bench I had left it at. After stopping there to use the glorious internet for awhile I headed back. It looked like it was going to pour, so I thought ultimate frisbee was going to be canceled. However, right before then it got really nice out. There I met up with the usual gang plus a friend of the Spanish guy. We threw the disc for awhile until 2 others came and then we played about 6 games. Tons of fun!

That night was the festival San Jorge. All I knew before this is that there was a parade and the burning of the dragon. I went around 10 PM to the Plaza Mayor which was packed with people, so I couldn't find my American friends, which is something I never thought would happen. Anyways I ran into some of the ERASMUS people I know and watched the celebration with them. First there was a parade, then they acted out the whole story of San Jorge in the Plaza with a 300(the movie) like narration. The princess was even on a real medieval balcony of a 1000+ year old tower(Definitely not in Kansas anymore). I know I hate it too, but it just had to be said once. After that they burned the dragon, which made a huge bonfire(bigger than Dad's)while covering us all in the ash( now I know how the people in Iceland feel). After that was fireworks, at first I thought oh Spanish fireworks whoo hoo we have the 4th of July(my favorite holiday) this will be nothing. Wow i was wrong. First of all, they shot the fireworks of the Ayuntamiento(government) building on the edge of the Plaza Mayor, so all of the fireworks were really close and really loud. Second of all, the show lasted at least 20 minutes it was amazing! Third, due to the proximity of the fireworks and lack of safety standards some weeping willow type fireworks came down red hot into the crowd(well where the crowd was before we all frantically moved back) it was like the end of the world, fire falling from the sky.

After that I went with the Czech girls to a tapas bar where we got a huge plate of tapas and a liter of beverage for 5E like $7(really cheap). We had San Jacobo's(like the ravioli with crust on it filled with ham and cheese), Alas de Pollo(Chicken wings, the Czech girls had never had them, and something like fish sticks). We were stuffed. Good Day!

Friday:

Decided to do all the things that I hadn't done in Cáceres this weekend, so therefore this was my trip to Cáceres, the city I have lived in for the past 3 months. Met Tim on The Hill(Cuesta de Marqúes) and went to the Casa Museo Arabe(200m from house). It had pretty interesting info. about Arabic culture and was cool to see what a typical house looked like. After that I went up the towers of the Church of San Francisco Javier(400m from house), which offered spectacular views of the old city, the mountain, and our house. Then I went to see the Virgin at the Church of Saint Mary. You're supposed to guess the color of her dress before you go in and if you get it right you can make a wish. I guessed light blue, but it was red the color I had guessed the day before. After that I went to Parque Principe. There I sat at a bench by my favorite fountain. As the day faded I basked in the sun as I reminisced and pondered past events. That night I went to go see Alicia en el País de las Maravillas or in English(Alice in Wonderland). I liked the movie and I actually understood almost everything in Spanish, which was pretty cool.

Saturday:

I continued my tour of Cáceres. I went back to the church to guess the color of the Virgin's dress, I guessed light blue again(I wasn't going to be a fool again). I got it right! So I got to make a wish. After that I headed to the Torre de Bujaco, which is a tower that overlooks the Plaza Mayor. Inside I read about the monuments(apparently the Arco de Cristo, which is literally 50 ft from my house, is one of three Roman monuments in the city, how cool is that!) After I went to the top and got a great view of the Plaza and Cáceres. Then I went to Eroski(like Price Chopper) and got some olive oil to bring home. After that me and my roommate and a couple of girls went to a Corrida de Toros(Bullfight). We bought tickets from a scalper and got 5E off(yes!). The fight was different than I thought it would be, they were on horseback the whole time and it was very bloody. However, we did get to see a one of two women bullfighters, who was really good and got two bulls' ears(for having a good fight), so she got to walk out of the Main door which is a huge honor. Anyways after that me, my roommate, and 4 other people went back to that tapas place for dinner. We had san jacobo's again, salchichas(sausage), empanadas(meat stuffed pastries), panceta(basically fried fat, but better tasting than it sounds), and something else(can't remember right now).

Sunday:

Relaxed for most of the day. However, I did go to the mountain and run up 2X in a row, 10:36 and 10:19. I saw a friend on my way down after the first time and she gave me a crazy look when i went up the second time, but it really wasn't that bad. After lunch I went to the Parque Principe to do some assigned reading and some more thinking it was quite enjoyable.