Valencia: horchata, oranges and paella

Semana Santa (aka Holy Week) is a big deal in Spain. They have several processionals a day starting Palm Sunday until Easter Sunday. This year I didn't see a single processional because I decided to travel to somewhere new with Javi. We decided to go to Valencia since neither of us had been there before. I had only heard good things about the city and after researching the city a bit I learned about one of Valencia's best sights is the City of Arts and Sciences (CAC) and once I looked into that I was so excited to get to Valencia. The CAC is comprised of 4 main buildings: the Hemisferic (IMAX),the Science Museum, La Reina Sofia Performing Arts Center, and the Oceanografic (aquarium). Also there are gardens and lots of paths that were great to walk on.

Javi and I arrived in Valencia on Sunday 17th at 9.30pm and we were there until Friday 22nd at noon. We had 4 full days to see everything and we actually had time to spare. The trip was a lot of fun, we saw a lot of new things and even had down time to read and relax in the city's gardens which were beautiful. :) I hope you all enjoy the pictures, some of the ones I took at the Aquarium didn't turn out so well, but I think you can still see the animals well enough. Hope you are all enjoying your Spring break! Happy Easter!
Ciudad de Artes y Ciencias (CAC): Performing Arts Center, IMAX theater, and the Science Museum
*A little bit about the aquarium: There are 8 different habitats in separate buildings which made it much more interesting.
The tropical habitat, I loved this little fishy. He is so colorful and really liked being near the starfish.
Javi and I at the Oceanografic. As you can see it was absolutely beautiful and we had great weather that day!
At the end of our visit we saw a Dolphin Show which was fun. It just reminded me of how much I want to swim with dolphins one day.

Here I am in the temperate aviary habitat. The birds were so bright and colorful that it made the pictures look that much better. I must give props to Javi for taking a great picture.
Turtles!!! I was sooooo tempted to reach out and touch them.
Some of the birds in the aviary.
More tropical fish....these little guys were quick swimmers which made it difficult to take a decent picture of them.
There was an underwater tunnel that connected the tropical habitat to the coral habitat and it was so much fun to walk through because you got to see all the fish swimming above you.

Javi on the other side of the tunnel...for some reason there weren't so many fish on his side.
Some sharks moving along the tunnel....their underside was so freaky!
Again, my new little fish friend. I just loved his coloring.
Starfish and a sea cucumber!!!
Around the Oceanografic there were several pond areas of beautiful clear water with different types of birds living in the different ponds. For example: ducks, pelicans, and egrets.
Hmm...I don't remember what these fish are called, I want to say they are sand dabs.
Birds of paradise....makes me remember Cal Poly.
Arctic habitat: a beluga
Walruses...they were putting on quite a show for the visitors.
Probably one of my favorite animals at the aquarium, the sea turtle!

The Science Museum
There was a walkway along the different buildings of the CAC and we walked by several odd statues.
Javi with one of the odd statues.
The gardens we walked through in the CAC.
Javi and I at the CAC....another beautiful day!
The side of the Science Museum with the IMAX at the end.
Just thought this would be a fun picture. :)
Valencia's city center: Torres Serrantos
Javi at the front of one of the towers.
The street next to our hostel.
La Basilica in Plaza de la Virgen
The virgen dressed up in her Semana Santa cloak
The ceiling of the basilica.
A fountain in Plaza de la Virgen.
Plaza de la Reina which was my favorite plaza because of the beautiful bright red flowers in the center and the horse drawn carriages.
Javi's great idea. The building behind me is the cathedral.
Inside of Valencia's cathedral there is a chapel with the Holy Grail cup that Jesus drank from.
Javi and I in front of the cathedral.
Plaza del Ayuntamiento, which was a one minute walk from our hostel. We were in the perfect location to see the entire city.
La playa Malvarrosa: We decided to go to the beach the last day of our trip, but unfortunately we had bad weather and it was too cold to walk on the promenade. We basically were on the beach for 5 minutes as I snapped some photos and then found a bar to go into to have a drink and stay warm. We also had paella (which is from Valencia) for lunch which was delicious!
Malvarrosa's beautiful promenade
Malvarrosa beach
Jardines Turia were absolutely beautiful. The gardens stretch out to be 5.5 km long and are a great place to walk around and find a bench to sit down and read on. This is exactly what Javi and I did. :)
Jardines Turia
A fountain in the gardens of turia.
A museum in Barrio Carmen which is the oldest part of Valencia.
Here I am in the cloister of the museum of the Barrio Carmen.
The cloister with a well in the center.

I hope you all enjoyed the pictures. The trip was so much fun and I would love to return to Valencia one day!

Quick trip to Madrid

Hi everyone! I hope you all enjoyed your weekend! This past weekend I decided to go to Madrid to visit my friend Mayuka who this month was hired at the Japanese Embassy in Madrid. I had a great time with her. We didn't do much sight seeing since we both had been there several times before, so we mostly just walked around the city and Madrid's park Buen Retiro. I only took a few pictures, but enjoy!

Besos, Celeste
El Rastro, a market that goes on forever!
Another view of El Rastro
Here I am in Puerto de Sol, one of the main squares in the city. It is also where all the shopping is.
Mayuka in Plaza Mayor.
Plaza Mayor
One of the many human statues in Puerto de Sol. I was actually impressed by this one.
City hall which is in Puerto del Sol.

Salamanca for the day

Salamanca: My flat mates and I decided to take a day trip to lovely Salamanca. Emily and I were hoping to see our study abroad coordinator who we had in Santander, but unfortunately she was busy (however we did run into her during lunch at a restaurant....what are the odds?!). It was a nice day trip and a great break from my normal weekly schedule. :) Enjoy the pictures!!!
Plaza Mayor...one of the more recognizable plazas in Spain.
Our walk towards Plaza Mayor.
Main entrance to the Universidad de Salamanca. There is a story that is told here; every student that passes through this university is supposed to find the frog carved into the facade. If the student finds the frog on their own, they pass their exams to graduate.
Look at the skull on the far right, on top of that skull is the little frog....it is incredibly difficult to find.


A view of the cathedral from the river. Also in the foreground you see a stone bull, which is written about in a classic Spanish story called Lazarillo de Tormes.
This is a statue of Lazarillo de Tormes and the blind man who he had worked for.

One side of the cathedral in Patio Chico.

A monastery that we happened upon. :)

La catedral de Salamanca.

Casa de las conchas (The shell house).
Another university building.

Hope everyone is well!
-Celeste

Segovia...where I technically should be living.

My dear friend Kyle invited me to join him and a few of his British friends to Segovia this past Saturday. We spent the afternoon (from 1-7pm) in the small city. It was absolutely beautiful and a really nice city. It was my first time there and I had been told by countless people that it is one of the places I just had to visit before I left Spain. Now I only have 2 more cities to visit in Castilla-Leon and I will have visited the entire region! :)
Kyle (on the far right) acting as our tour guide. I believe we were in front of the aqueduct at this point. From left to right: Dominique (lives near Birmingham), James (West Midlands, near Wales), Chrissie (near Leeds), Claire (northern Ireland) and Ashley (Wisconsin).
Plaza Mayor
View from the castle.
El Alcazar....a very large forested area.
Iglesia San Millan



A beautiful gazebo in the middle of plaza mayor.
An electric bus!!!
Walking towards the aqueduct.
In front of the cathedral: James, Kyle, Chrissie, Dominique, Claire and Ashley.
View of the cathedral and city from the castle.
Kyle and me in front of the cathedral.

The main tower of the castle....where we climbed 152 steps to get to the top.
One side of the castle....I've been told by several Spaniards (I'm not sure if I believe this yet) that Walt Disney modeled Sleeping Beauty's castle from this castle.
The old moat.
Segovia's beautiful castle.
Casa de conos.....house of cones.
Kyle informed us that every house had its own "stamp" that was used to decorate the outside of the house, so you knew to which family the house belonged to.
The aqueduct from the top.
The aqueduct.

Beautiful, isn't it?