Riu Rio

Portugal was the fourth country I have visited so far, living in España. It's something I've always dreamed of doing, traveling to Portugal that is. I almost opted to study in Portugal, but none of the programs suited my fancy. After visiting, it's definitely not a place I would want to be for 4 months, since it's not excatly centrally located, but it really is incredible.

I was in Porto, which lies in the top of Portugal, surrounded by the coast, a river, and wine country. Although it seems obvious, I didn't know that Port wine can from Porto, which was a pleasant surprise when i stumbled upon this on the internet. With really no itinerary before the trip, six of us ISA students hopped on a bus and prepared for an amazing trip.

Driving in to Porto, after being landlocked for as long as I can remember, was like seeing Disneyland for the first time. I was a flawless coast, palm trees, beautiful vineyards and terraces, and to top it all off, a river and breathtaking bridges that split Porto from the bodegas (wineries) in Vila Nova de Gaia. Portugal looks like California, but it also has shares many of characteristics. Shortly after arriving, we toured the city to find a city well preserved and a cornicopia of old and new buildings standing side by side. Most European cities of this caliber hardly resemble what they looked like hundreds of years ago, but Portugal has kept Porto as authentic as possible. I didn't have to go searching for any of the history as it popped up every few minutes in the form of a barroque cathedral or the town hall building that stood outside of my hostel.

Some of the highlights of trip: Drinking Port wine for the first time. It gives you a killer headache the second you drink one glass because of the sweet taste and the high alcohol content (20%). Visiting the bodegas, (one of them was named Barros and is family-owned, though I didn't have the guts to ask for a share of the family fortune.) They give free tours and tastings, which make the walks very interesting from bodega to bodega. GOING TO THE BEACH! Although the main Porto beaches are located right next to the industrial zone, the beauty of the Atlantic Ocean it hardly overshadowed by few smoke towers. Getting on national television. My other favorite part, clearly. There were elections for mayor, which had been hyped everyday we were in Porto by party buses and fiestas that compare to the hype of Obama's election week. Rui Rio, the eventual winner, rode the party bus right outside my hostel and it was parked across the street for about an hour. M

y friend Jordan and I went outside to try to get on camera with Rui Rio....we were successful! I touched the mayor-elect of Porto and we danced to "I've Got a Feeling" in front of all of Porto, courtesy channel 4. Brian and Theo stayed behind to get the evidence, but nobody had a camera handy. I promise it happened!

Mi piace Milano, tutti i giorni!

It's been a few weeks since the last blog, which can be attributed to my European traveling. Hard life, I know. After the Oktoberfest fiasco, I laid low until the next weekend. My next trip was to Milan to see my girlfriend who is studying in Florence, Italy. We decided to meet in Milan, which isn't quite half way, but flights are very cheap to Milan from Madrid. It was a fiasco getting to Madrid between rush hour traffic and the rainstorms dispersed throughout the "campo". The only downfall of flying cheap European airlines such as Ryanair and Easyjet is they often fly to smaller or more obscure airports that require extra traveling after arriving. I had to take an hour long bus ride from Milan Malpensa to the Stazione Centrale.

It was nice to finally be back with Sarai since we hardly get to see each other whilst abroad. Our hotel was a one star on the 4th floor of an apartment building. Very cheap and surprisingly warm and welcoming, the hotel served its purpose. We were skeptical to use the elevator, since it seemed like it would break at any second, but it was reliable and much easier than climbing five flights of stairs (In Europe, the ground floor is zero instead of one).

Highlights of the trip: seeing Milan's famous Duomo. A bit darker in nature than the Spanish cathedrals that I'm use to. "Shopping" in the eight-story designer department stores, which hold the likes of D&G, Prada, Emporio Armani, etc....you get the point (anything out of my price range). Going to an Internazionale Milan game, better known as Inter Milan. We bought Eto'o jerseys and cheered when Inter scored in stoppage time, causing flares to be set off in the stands. Insanity. La Bella e La Bestia (Beauty and the Beast) musical, translated into Italian. We got some of the last tickets for cheap and we ended up with amazing seats on the second level, towards the front. Again, simply brilliant. Apart from appreciating the time with Sarai, I experienced my first professional soccer game and Broadway play.

After making it back for lunch on Monday (flight at 630am on Monday), the week started over again. More class, more Spanish life, more of the magic that never seems to leave Salamanca. I read in a tourist book that Salamanca is the Emerald City of Europe, likely accredited to the cathedrals that rise like the spires of Oz. More on my weekend in Porto soon......