Must Visit City: San Sebastián

San Sebastián is located in the north of Spain, sharing the French border. It is a city with an Atlantic Ocean view, and was my second favorite city that I visited in Spain, with Barcelona being number one.

Photo courtesy of Lonely Planet

One thing I love about Spain is how varied the geography in in the country is. You have the South which is hot and sunny, the midlands which are mostly made up of plains, the coastal regions, and the north, where it is green and lots of precipitation happening. San Sebastián has a little bit of everything. It has the beach, it has different seasons, and it has mountains.

The people of this region are of a descent called the Basques. They speak the Basque language, which is not of a decent of any kind of Romance language, unlike the other languages spoken in Spain. The Basques are an autonomous group of people, and are very passionate about preserving their heritage.

San Sebastián is also known for having incredible food, specifically being one of the biggest pintxo cities in the country. Pintxo is the Basque word for tapa, which are tiny dishes of food, kinda like appetizers, that you would eat at bar with friends, usually later at night. In San Sebastián, there are stretches of streets upon streets where you can hop into any (crowded) bar, ask the bartender for a plate, fill up your plate with some pintxos, and then enjoy with a drink.

One of the last things I want to mention about this beautiful city is the history of the Camino de Santiago, or known in English as the Way of St. James. This is a pilgrimage site, the longest in Europe, that passes through San Sebastián . This pilgrimage honors the spiritual journey of Apostle James, and the entire pilgrimage can be done in about 10 days.

My First Impression of a Hostel

Before traveling abroad, I had never even really known that hostels existed, and definitely had never been to one. The only time I had heard of them were on TV when people were traveling to other countries. The first time I stayed in one was in Spain, and spent the night at several during my time in the country. They are pretty much just a one-floor hotel, without the luxury-style living.

I would say that the image I had in my mind before stepping foot into a hostel was that they looked like a boarding school inside, with plain walls and pretty much just a bed in the room. I assumed there would be dirty community bathrooms, only offering the bare necessities.

I was surprised that my mangy prediction of a hostel was actually kind of wrong. The first

Hostel room in San Sebastián

hostel I stayed in was in San Sebastián, which was a surfing themed hostel (that city is known for attracting surfers, so it made sense), and I actually slept in one of the most comfortable beds I have ever slept in. There were three sets of bunk beds in my room, and I shared the room with three girls from my school, and our roommates were a girl from Canada and a woman from Barcelona, who I made friends with.

The hostel life is really fun if you’re willing to make new friends with the other travelers staying there too. My friends and I got asked to explore the city with one of the girls staying there the very first night. Unfortunately our faculty leaders had some things planned for us so we couldn’t go with her, but everyone was so friendly.

Everything was pretty clean for the most part, but what did weird me out slightly was how there were two shower heads in the shower, but no separating wall in between them… I’m not sure what the intention was with that, but I chose not to explore that route.

I stayed in another hostel in Barcelona, and that one wasn’t as nice. You had to pay to use a towel, and the showers were like those you would see by a pool, or at camp. They each had a wide tiled space with a curtain, and you had to push a button every 45 seconds to

Hostel common area/kitchen

keep the water running. The rooms were much more cramped, but when you stay at a hostel you can’t expect luxury living anyway!

Hostels aren’t for everyone, especially if the idea of sharing a room with other foreigners freaks you out, but I promise it’s not bad at all, as long as your roommates are good! I’m totally fine with staying at hostels because most of them are super cheap (I paid 25 euros for one night in Madrid), but try to read some reviews before you book it so you know what you’re getting yourself into!

I Dream of Mallorca

You know those PC desktop default backgrounds of beaches that look too perfect to be real? That’s the best way I can describe Mallorca.

Mallorca is one of the Balearic Islands on the East Coast of Spain, surrounded by the Mediterranean Sea. I took a flight from Barcelona to get there that only lasted about 50

View from the boat slide. Look at that water! ❤

mins, and if you don’t mind booking through the less expensive airlines like Ryanair, Vueling, or EasyJet, you can find really cheap flights. (I remember finding one for $10. Yes, you read that correctly!)

A surprising thing about Mallorca is that is almost overrun by German tourists. Before leaving my host mom in Valladolid, she told me that Mallorca is the island Germans go to on vacation, and Ibiza (to the left of Mallorca) is the one that many British tourists go to for vacation. While I have not been to Ibiza myself, I know it is a pretty wild place, the details of which I will not go into on my blog, but Mallorca seems to be a little more relaxed, although there is still the party and nightlife element to it.

Since my friends and I wanted more of the relaxing atmosphere on this leg of our trip, I

Es Trenc beach

asked some locals on the plane ride which beaches were the best to go to. A woman wrote down a whole list for us and the one we went to was called Es Trenc. I don’t think I have ever been more relaxed in my life, nor had I ever seen water as beautiful as the Mediterranean Sea.

The next day we took a 5 hour boat cruise (I believe it costed around 50 euros, but it was absolutely worth it) and we were served free paella and sangria (ask me sometime about

Me with my (almost) free sangria.

how I got duped on the free sangria, though. I’m still salty about it.). However, the absolute best part about taking this cruise was when the boat stopped and the captain announced that all the passengers could jump off the boat and go swimming. Jumping into the sea was a moment I can replay moment by moment for the rest of my life; how clean the water was, how warm it was, and how clear it was.

 

If I thought it couldn’t have gotten better after being in the middle of the sea, a Mallorcan sunset was all I need to prove that wrong. This place is so incredible, and is extremely difficult to be put into words. I hope everyone one day has the chance to see the beauty of this island.

Living the Spanish Lifestyle: The University Edition

During my time in Spain I attended classes at the University of Valladolid for a 4-week program. I took two classes which were Spanish Culture and Spanish Language/Speaking. I had class 5 days a week, and each class was 2 hours with a half hour break in between the two.

Overall, the classes were pretty much run like a class you would take at an American University. The school was technologically developed, with SmartBoards in the majority of the classrooms. What was a bit surprising to me was how the campus was pretty spread out through the city of Valladolid.

The city is considered to be medium sized, and is not like a “college town” as some cities with colleges in America would be considered to be. The majority of young adults in Spain live at home until their mid-twenties, or until they get married, so it is not just crawling with university students, they are very well mixed in with the rest of the citizens of Valladolid.

Campus view from outside the cafeteria

I attended my classes in the Modern Languages building, and next to it was the cafeteria and gym. The cafeteria was set up kind of like the traditional Spanish bar, with stools to sit on, and various sandwiches displayed behind little glass windows on the counter. I am a huge coffee addict, and during the mid-day break of almost every school day I would sit at one of the tables with my friends from the University of Akron and sip on my café cortado that only costs 70 cents.

I had my classes with all American students, with the exception of one student from Japan. I had classmates from Akron with me, as well as ones from Belmont University in Tennessee, San Marcos in California, and Drury University in Missouri. Apparently during the regular school

Café cortado (espresso with a splash of milk) 

year there is  more of a variety of international students, and I wished I had had that because I really wanted to make international friends and have the opportunity to learn about more cultures in addition to Spain, but I still made the most of my opportunity of studying at UVa!

As long as some of the school days felt some days, I really did enjoy being able to learn Spanish from native Spaniards and seeing how Spain’s education system differed from America’s. One very interesting aspect was that homework was not a big deal there. It did not count for a grade, and it didn’t really matter if you turned it in or not. The teacher would give you feedback on it, but your actual grade came from participation/attendance and your final exam score.

Part of me really wishes I could go back to the University of Valladolid. I thought the program was very well organized and would recommend it to anyone out there looking for a study abroad opportunity.

 

To Travel Alone or Not Travel Alone?

I have often had the thought of whether or not I should take a solo travel trip. If any of you know me personally, I am an extremely independent person who prefers to do things on my own, so I would love to do this. Also being a woman, I have many self-explanatory concerns about traveling to a foreign country by myself. But something still makes me want to take this opportunity, with the chance to force myself to continue to open up to others of different cultures, and have an experience that helps me discover myself.

Looking into this topic, Travel & Leisure reports in one of their articles that “almost  24 percent of travelers took a leisure trip overseas on their own last year, according to the Visa Global Travel Intentions study.”

This articles suggests that if you travel alone, you should pick up a business card from the hotel as soon as you get there, that way if you get lost you will have the address and phone number at all times. Another good thing about this is if you’re in a country that speaks a language you do not know, it will be easy to ask for directions from anyone just by showing the card’s address.

Don’t make yourself a victim of crime by bringing expensive jewelry, laptops, or other devices that someone would want to steal if they see you walking around alone with it. However, you do want to keep cash on hand in case you eat at a restaurant or shop at a store that doesn’t take credit cards. Travel & Leisure suggests that you split up your cash around your bag to prevent easy theft.

Bonding with the travel community is also a good thing to do to alleviate the feeling of loneliness. Especially in hostels, people are normally very friendly and it’s easy to make travel buddies to attend an event or go out for dinner.

Delaying your social media posts will prevent strangers from finding where you are. Safety is so important when traveling alone, and if someone knows you are alone, posts on social media opens up a whole window for someone to find you. Don’t hold back on those Insta posts, but just save posting them until a little later.

I hope one day I have the courage to take a trip alone, and these tips are a great start to begin to prepare myself.

Have any of my readers ever traveled alone? I would love to hear your suggestions!

 

Packing Probs

Many of us get plagued with the over-packing urgency when preparing for a trip. My strategy usually consists of bringing out all of the clothes I could possibly want to bring out of my closet and throwing them on the bed, then separating out the things I realistically need. A new rule of thumb I am trying to use is to ask myself three times if I would really need each piece of clothing, and if the answer is still yes after the third time, I go ahead and put that item in the suitcase.

As simple of a task as it should be, packing doesn’t have to be as difficult as some of us make it out to be. (Except for limiting myself on packing shoes because I want to bring them all. Forever the struggle.)

Guidebook author and travel TV host Rick Steves offers several handy tips about packing on his website. “Neutral colors (black, navy, khaki) dress up easily and can be extremely versatile,” Steves suggests. He also recommends to minimize packing by bringing items that serve multiple uses, can be worn repeatedly, and that can complement other items.

For us women, skirts are a fantastic addition to the suitcase because they can be worn casually or more fancy for an evening out. Steves does point out that it is important to bring something modest if you plan on visiting a site that may require a strict dress code, such as a cathedral. An easy fix to this if you don’t having something that covers your legs or shoulders is a cheap tourist t-shirt and a scarf to wrap your legs.

When it comes to saving space in the suitcase, I try to apply the method of rolling clothes as much as I can, except for bulky items or my dresses that would get wrinkled easily. Rolling the clothes as tight as possible usually saves more space rather than laying each item on top of each other.

One last tip that Steves mentions is something many tourists may not think of often. He says that wearing shorts is very uncommon Europe and are regarded as beachwear, not casual wear. Steves says that “no one will be offended if you wear shorts, but you might be on the receiving end of some second glances.” That being said, it’s ultimately up to you whether or not you want to wear, but just be advised!

Happy packing, travelers!

What Makes Cleveland a Tourist City?

Growing up about 30-40 miles from Cleveland and now working in Downtown, I have been able to see how the city truly has improved and is continuing to become one of the up and coming cities with the younger generation in America.

Sure, people from Pittsburgh will always dislike us and when non-Clevelanders think of the city they probably think of a few stereotypes, like that Lake Erie is a dirty place, or that we don’t have any decent sports teams.

Contrary to this, I had two friends from the South visit me last week and after always poking fun at Cleveland, they actually agreed that the 216 is a pretty cool place. (Except for the ravaging wind and snow they had to endure in April.)

If you find yourself in CLE sooner or later, these are some of the things that make the top of my list for visitors:

1. Any Cleveland sporting event. So many people make Cleveland the laughing stock of sports but this is the city that had their NBA team play in the Finals in 2015 and is currently in the playoffs this year. Our AHL hockey team is also in playoffs, and the Quicken Loans Arena downtown is home to these sports, plus our arena football team. If you head up the street to Lake Erie, you’ll run into the Browns NFL stadium. You can visit any time of the year and at least one of our teams will be in full swing, keeping the city entertained at all times.
2. The Rock n’ Roll Hall of Fame and Museum. Welcome to the 216, the home of Rock

   

   Photo courtesy of Wikipedia

   and Roll. This museum joins First Energy Stadium right on the edge of Lake Erie and showcases props and costumes while honoring music’s greatest legends, from Queen to Lady Gaga.

3. East 4th Street. A homey street to barhop, eat lunch or dinner, attend a concert or comedy show, and enjoy the company of friends. My absolute go-to area for a fun night!

Photo courtesy of East 4th Street

4. West Side Market. An adorable indoor market located in the Ohio City historical district

Inside West Side Market

of Cleveland. Local businesses set up stands selling fresh meats and fish, bakery items, and coffee.

5. Horseshoe Casino. Open 24 hours, you can can play at the tables or machines on either of the two floors. The bar is always busy with people dancing the night away with the live DJ each night, making Downtown a spectacular place to spend the night (also just a walk down the street from East 4th!)

Living the Spanish Lifestyle Part 2

In a previous blog post, I started to describe what it was like to live in Spain with a host family. One thing I did not describe in that post was the world famous Spanish siesta.

The siesta is the name of the mid-day naps everyone takes every single day. Yes, that is correct, every day just about everyone in the country stops what they’re doing, goes home, and crawls into bed or sprawls out on the couch for a while. Incredible.

It’s important to know that one of the biggest differences I gathered between the United States and Spain was the concept of work. Here in America we work ourselves to death, sometimes working even when we come home from the office and on weekends. Not the Spanish. Those who work in an office might not go home for siesta, but typically people will come home from work to eat lunch.

As described in my previous post about the Spanish lunchtime (which is linked in the first line of this post), it is an extremely important meal and is part of the reason why the siesta exists. You don’t necessarily have to sleep after lunch, but it is also a time to spend with your family at home. The Spanish place a lot of importance on the concept of family, and a main way to care for familial relationships is by sitting down and eating a meal together.

A story CNN did about 5 years ago outlined the fact that siesta time is now becoming less and less popular, due to the fact that Spain is starting to become more of a fast-paced, working country. The video is kind of funny because it shows people in a siesta contest in the middle of a shopping mall, but the reporter makes a good point. They say that “the Spanish are trying to have their cake and eat it too” in the sense that the Spanish people want to be good 21-century workers but they still want to take a nap every day.

It would be an interesting problem to have here, having to sacrifice valuable work time for sleep time, but from what I’ve seen of the Spanish, the ones who take daily siestas are far less stressed than those who don’t.

I’ll let you all decide for yourselves if you want to adopt the Spanish siesta in your own lives.

Culture Shock is a Real Thing

Culture shock: disorientation experienced when suddenly subjected to an unfamiliar culture or way of life.

When you spend an ample amount of time in a foreign place, culture shock is inevitable. You arrive in your new location of adventure with either an adrenaline rush or sleep deprivation and delirium, with eagerness to start exploring pumping through your veins.

Then you find yourself crying a few weeks later because you can’t find a Chipotle anyhere near you and you swear you will pack your bags and go home just for some of that world-class guac. But then as soon as you thought you were ready to come home, you eat a plate of the most delicious ethnic food you could ever imagine, and you eternally throw away the thought of actually craving processed American food ever again, and you decide that you want to stay in that country forever.

This is what the totally normal cycle of culture shock feels like. It is so important to be aware of these stages because when you are traveling abroad, you make yourself a foreigner and it is an extremely vulnerable position to be in, and knowing yourself and your emotions is crucial in order to understand the emotional roller coaster you will go through.

There are five stages to culture shock, according to Deborah Swallow, an international keynote speaker, seminar leader, and consultant who has worked in over 30 countries.

She outlines the 5 stages as follows:

1. The Honeymoon Stage: You feel curious, stimulated, and excited, still feeling close to the familiarity of home. There is an overwhelming feeling of happiness.
2. The Distress Stage: Also known as a confusion or reality check stage, when you truly realize all of the familiar things from home are no longer accessible and you begin to feel sad.
3. The Re-integration Stage: This is the stage in which you are actually adjusting to the culture, even though it does not feel like it. You become angry and feel like this new culture is inferior to yours, and think about how life back at home is going.
4. The Autonomy Stage: This is the acceptance stage in which you calm down from the anger and frustrations from the Re-integration Stage. You feel less isolated and being to grow from your experiences.
5. The Independence Stage: You have come full circle and truly feel like yourself again, feeling at home in your new location. You start to appreciate what this culture has to offer you and you feel comfortable and confident.

Photo provided by Millersville University

This cycle of emotion is completely normal is almost expected to happen to almost any traveler spending a long time in a foreign place. This phenomena can occur from language barriers, a lack of technology, or information overload.  I feel like I only felt this on a minor scale when I was in Spain, but I also felt that because I was there for only one month, I did not have time to fully experience each of these stages in their entirety.

 

Living the Spanish Lifestyle Part 1

During my study abroad experience in Spain last summer, I had the unique opportunity to

Mercedes, my host mom, and I

live with a host family. I truly think this helped me understand and assimilate myself into the Spanish culture, and was a way to be forced into speaking Spanish in the house.

 

I had an incredible host mom, named Mercedes. She was laid back, funny, and most of all, had the kindest heart you could imagine. Oh, and she could cook like no other. When asked if she spoke any English at all, she told my roommate and I that she only knew a few words, with one of them being “brownie”. This became very useful later on when she made me a giant brownie to celebrate my birthday.

My wonderful birthday brownie

The Spanish are such welcoming people, and Mercedes graciously cooked for my roommates and I three meals a day. We had a usual breakfast of either pancakes or toast with jam before school, and when we came home around 3:00 p.m. we had lunch, the most important meal of the day, according to the Spanish. Lunch is usually eaten late by American standard, and is the biggest meal of the day. It would start with either soup or a salad of some kind, then the meat or fish dish, ending with dessert, which is usually either yogurt or a piece of fruit. Dinner is eaten around 9:00 or 10:00 p.m., and is pretty

Toast and strawberry jam

light. Sometimes I would have a fried egg and some salad, or something called the tortilla española, a type of omelette of egg and potatoes fried in olive oil. Oh, and every lunch and dinner included a piece of bread, that was probably baked fresh that morning from the panaderia.

Having meals together with my host family really brought a sense of unity with the two cultures in the house. I loved spending time practicing my Spanish skills over an incredible plate of Mediterranean inspired food.