Erich in Spain

Words cannot express the feeling of witnessing a nation in the moment of ecstasy that follows a World Cup victory. Seeing an entire plaza erupt with spontaneous cheering, chanting, and celebrating is something that I will never forget. I know I will not be able to properly convey the feeling of this moment, so instead I will try to describe the scenes that led up to this once in a lifetime moment. The preparation for the World Cup game started hours before the actual game was to be played. With a scheduled kickoff at 8:30, my friends and I made sure to be at the Plaza Mayor no later than 4:30 to ensure our seats. Even still we were later than many people and ended up only being able to sit on the side without shade. Luckily all the spots to sit at in the Plaza Mayor are restaurants and cafes with patios and therefore we were able to hold our seat as well as have a nice afternoon snack while we waited for the game. Having secured our seats, we began to explore the main square that was to thousands of spectators for the upcoming game. There were flags hung from the multitude of balconies surrounding the plaza, a huge flag unfurled down the center of the plaza, and people everywhere dressed in the colors of La Furia Roja. As more and more people began to flow into the plaza, waiters began to set up large TV’s in front of patios. As the hour of the game approached, the mode quickly turned from a festive mood to a very tense, anxious mood that would last for the duration of the game. The game was a blur. From kickoff to the final whistle, I remember cheering whenever something went Spain’s way and joining the collective groan when it didn’t. All of that paled, however, to the reaction brought on by Spain’s late goal. The crowd exploded into a mass of spontaneous cheering, the likes of which I have never seen and most likely never will again. The fans would never return to their seats again as they either watched the rest of the game standing up, or commenced to start celebrating the victory, a celebration that would be kept track of by days, not hours and a celebration that will play on in my head forever.

Christina in Amsterdam

I spent last weekend in Amsterdam, a city that I'd been trying to visit since I spent last fall studying abroad in France. I ended up choosing the perfect weekend to go, as I was treated to sunshine and beautiful weather the entire time I was there. This made it so pleasurable just to sit in the Vondelpark and people-watch and read while sitting in the sun, and to wander along the romantic canals lined by hundreds of bicycles.

Upon arriving at the Centraal Train Station and not knowing what to expect, I was a tad surprised to find myself in such an urban, crowded, touristy place. I started my time in Amsterdam on a very commercial street lined with hostels, bars, and "coffee shops," and not far from the famous Red Light District. I most enjoyed being able to escape this area, touring the outer rings on foot and by tram, enjoying the 17th century architecture, ambling through parks and canals, and visiting the wonderful museums. There was such a range of Amsterdam's history to experience, from Rembrandt's house from the 1600s to the hiding place of Anne Frank and her family during World War II. I was so glad to have had the chance to finally experience this unique and colorful city.

Caitlin says, "Hasta luego!"

My two month stay in Sevilla is now over, and I'm now beginning my travels through Spain, France and Italy. As much as I enjoyed staying in Sevilla with my host family and new friends, I'm excited to be traveling again. I've already hit Valencia, especially the Ciudad de Artes y Ciencias (City of Arts and Sciences) including the aquarium, which I have Ginny to thank for directing me towards! Then in Barcelona I saw Las Ramblas, Parc Guell, La Sagrada Familia and some other really cool stuff done by Gaudi.Travel is great because you meet so many new and interesting people every day, whether its in hostels, airports, train stations, restaurants or museums. I've met interesting people of all ages from lots of different places: an older woman who told me all about her love for Ireland, a British guy talking about his extended travels, an Australian girl doing a tour of the world, and a Danish girl talking about the differences and similarities of our countries. This is what studying abroad is about, it's learning about different people and cultures and broadening your perspective of the world.

While most other summer travelers are starting to head back to home or to UTD, I've still got another 16 days of travel. Although I'm definitely enjoying it, I will be ready to be back in Dallas and get back into things. Before then I'll just get to see and experience the food in France, the Mona Lisa, works of art by Michelangelo and Botticelli and Velásquez. I've already seen a lot of Spain and I'm very excited to move on to other countries in a few days.

Hasta luego!

Clifford and the World Cup

Sunday July 11 was one of the wildest days I have ever encountered in my life because of the World Cup.

In the afternoon, I went to see the Arc de Triomf and Parc de la Ciutadella. Barcelona's Arc de Triomf is red, smaller, and simpler than Paris's Arc de Triomphe. It isnt as grand, yet I love the red bricks that just make it nice to look at. The Arc is right across from the Parc. This park is magnificent. There is this pond/waterfall thing that has golden horses and stuff. It is huge and just plain cool. In the park was also a big mammoth statue, the zoo, Parliament, and lots of trees and grass.

After the Park, it was about 2:30pm, so I started heading over to the Picasso Museum which is free after 3pm on Sundays. I thought I was going to be a bit early, so I was taking my time and sauntering down the street. When I got to the museum, bam, a freaking huge line that starts at the door and keeps on going. It was 2:40pm when I got there. So I go stand in line, and behind me, the line keeps growing and growing. Luckily, the line moved very fast, and I got into the museum at around 3:05. I didn't think the Picasso Museum was very good, and I would have been disappointed if I paid to go in. Picasso's famous works are either in Madrid or Paris. The Picasso Museum is going under renovations right now in Paris, so I didn't get the chance to go there. Barcelona's museum has a lot of his early works, and from his Blue and Rose Periods. It only took me a little more than an hr to go through the museum. It really isn't that big.

After the museum, I went back home, then left for Plaza Espanya for the World Cup final around 6:15pm. The city set up 2 giant screens for people to gather and watch Spain play. By the time we got there around 6:45, there were already a lot of people there. The atmosphere was just crazy, and got crazier when the game started. There were 75,000 people there in Plaza Espanya last night. No joke. Everyone was shoulder to shoulder. (In Madrid, there were over 200,000 people gathered to watch). It was impossible to move around if you needed to use the restroom or something. I went before the game started, and it took about 30 minutes to get back to my friends. When Spain scored in extra time, everyone went ballistic. We were all jumping up and down, screaming, people where slashing their drinks all over everyone, fireworks were going off. When the game ended, the fountains surrounding the area turned red. More fireworks went off. Some people are pretty stupid though. They set off the fireworks, it goes up like 10 feet, and comes right back down towards the crowd. Everyone just pushed everyone back to create a big circle for the fireworks to land. People started jumping in the fountains and such. It was just insane. After this was all over, people started throwing beer bottles, chairs, and tables at policemen who had shields ready, and they fired some rubber bullets at people. I didn't take my camera because I didn't want to have so much stuff in my pocket, so the World Cup pics above are Jenny's. The metro was insane too. People were pushing their way into the metro doors, even though no more can come in. I've never been anywhere so packed like this. It there was an accident, everyone would have died on the spot. It was body on body. This guy tried to fit into the metro, but the doors wouldn't close, so he had to get off. As he got off, the guy next to me pickpocketed him. Coins fell out of his pocket, so he knew he just got his wallet stolen. The metro doors closed right after he got off. The look on his face was priceless yet sad. That's why I always keep my hands in the pockets at all times. Lesson learned for him. I'm so glad I got to experience this here in Spain. I didn't think Barcelona would be that into the Spanish team with them wanting their independence, but they were. Some people we met said that they were Spaniards for just today. It was really fun, crazy, and wild.

"Whoosh" you where here in Ireland!

Liz traveled to Dun Laoghaire, Ireland, which is just south of Dublin, along Dublin Bay.