The adventures continue.....

Wow....ok ok, I know, I know.... I haven't posted in awhile. Sorry! I'm on top of things, I swear!!!

Well, last week, the girls and I made BOMB stuffed peppers....move out of the way grandpa!!! (just kidding....his will kick mine's ass anytime...) But ohhhhh...they were so good. We stuffed them with peppers, onions, garlic, cheese and cous cous...man, oh man!


Last weekend, we finally made the trek up to la Iglesia de San Roque..which is the highest church in the city...and when I say high, I mean high. The trek up there was tough, straight up, but oh, the view! It was awesome. We packed a lunch and just ate on the steps, overlooking the city. It really was spectacular. We could clearly see the mountain and the castle as well as the rest of the city.

View from the bottom of the mountain....
It's really just a tiny little thing....
Different view of the castle for ya....
good thing for automatic timers
goofing around..

Well, last Thursday I was lucky enough to have my good friend Lindsey, from Washington come over to visit me from Mallorca. (She's an auxiliar there). ohhhh, I haven't seen this girl in 2 years, it was sooo awesome! Thursday night, I took her out on the town....well as much of it that we could conquer....of course, we hit up Australian bar, you know, the staple of Calatayud. The hoppin' place where it all goes down... (not really) there were like five people in the bar, but we had fun anyway. It's sad because the bartender is beginning to recongnize us (his name is Francisco) and now he comes over to talk to us when we go in...oh, so sad...

Anyways, on Friday we decided that we would spend the weekend in Pamplona..so off we went! It's only about two hours away by train...and we got a super nice one! (earphones and everything...) We arrived around 6:30 in Pamplona....to the pouring rain...awesome. And on top of that, we had to walk to the hostel. haha....needless to say, we showed up looking a little wet. ha. Well, we stayed at Hostel Hemingway, which was close to the city center...the old part of town, el casco viejo (which literally means old helmet) But it was cozy and we got too meet some people there. Well, friday night we decided to indulge in falafel and Doner kebabs...mmm! It was outrageous because not only was it a kebab place....but oh, they served italian as well! wow, only in Europe will you find that. Needless to say, it was delicious and me and Linds overheard two Australian gals talking and we found out that they were staying in the same hostel! Weirdly, they were also both named Sara(h). ha! They were pretty chill though, we had a good talk.


Well me and Linds definitely did some partying this weekend....some of the people from the hostel went out and invited us along, some of them being native Pamplonians, so we actually got to go to non-touristy places....it soooo rocked! We were out until 5:30 in the morning. wicked good times...One bar was called Garika and the other, Cava....definitely reccomendable! hahaha

Well the next morning, we uh, slept in a little. Like you know, 12:30ish.... haha. We got up and walked around,we got to see the path that the bulls take when the fiestas de San Fermin take place in July....way easier to see without so many people around! The bullring there is the 3rd largest in the world, I can only call it less than impressive! It was giant! (third only to Madrid and Mexico City) It's insane, becuase the streets are sooooo narrow! I have no idea how all those bulls and people fit in them! Insane really.... Also, the city is well-known for Hemingway's novels....so its easy to see a lot of Hemingway stuff everywhere...especially the places where he liked to frequent. (Very cool, especially since The Sun Also Rises is one of my favorite novels) The ambiance of the city is great....Since its so close to France, there is a lot of French influence in the architecture which gives it a different feel. Also, its cool cause even though the city is in the region of Navarra, the majority of the city's signs are also written in Euskera, the language of Pais Vasco, the next province over. It's a really pretty language, however, its the only language in the world where no one can trace it back to anything...its unlike any other language. Yet, it's one of Spain's official languages. (For example, Garaika is a girl's name....and instead of the Spanish name, Ignacio...it becomes Iñaki...they do wicked cool things with k's). Anyhow, the city overall was a beautiful place...

The bullring....
The origin of the Fiesta de San Fermin...
El Encierro, where the bulls enter the ring
This is Sara, in the Encierro.
El Estafeta, the longest straightaway ofthe run, 300 m. See how tiny the streets are???
Again, we went out on Saturday night...this time to the local discoteca...(I'm so glad we made friends!) and again...we didn't get home until 7:00 in the morning...I love Pamplona! It was pretty funny though, cause the next day, Lindsey and I thought that our phones had automatically changed time zones, well, let's just say they didn't. We ended getting to the train station SUPER early... yes, we got to know the Pamplona train station very well....

By far the most beautiful building we saw in Pamplona. Not really sure what it is though.
The traditional dances of Navarra, a show we just happened upon while walking along the Casco viejo...
The statue of the encierro....depicting the Running of the Bulls, obviously Lindsey and I thought it could use a few more participants.
I know, I know...we CLEARLY had too much time on our hands....

Overlooking the Pyrenees...

Overall, t'was a very good weekend....Sometime this year I'll make it back up north to get to San Sebastian, which is also a city from Hemingway's book. Met some good people and got to see Lindsey! This weekend mom and dad are visiting.....this should be interesting! (haha, just kidding mom and dad, can't wait!!) So, off to Valencia we go!!

Things have been going well at school, today I got the chance to explain what Halloween was and where it came from....I also told them a few scary stories...(so easy to scare them!!!) You know, a little Mercy Brown never hurt anyone! hehehe. That was just entertaining for my benefit.... It is sometimes fun to mess with them... :)



Adieu!!