Visitors

October 12, 2010

José and some of his friends came to visit Cuenca for the day. We spent most of the day walking around Cuenca seeing the sights and then spent the rest of the evening in some of my favorite bars, eating tapas and having a few cervezas. Across from Las Casas Colgadas (The Hanging Houses, which Cuenca is famous for) there are some cliffs and we went walking along them. I swear I was going to have a heart attack as José and his friends hoped along the rocks right on the edge of the cliff. They had to literally drag me over near the edge so take a picture and I was basically shaking. I'm not too afraid of heights but there are no railings! Literally, you can stand on the edge and look down at the river and easily just fall over. So I preferred to stand farther from the edge while they all jumped around and gave me a heart attack.

Thursdays out in Cuenca

October 10, 2010

 

Thursday nights usually consist of Bea and I going to the main plaza and having a botellon (everyone stands in the plaza, drinking, walking around, hanging out before the bars). Then we go to La Calle, the street with all the bars here in Cuenca. Don't get the wrong idea, this street is not even really a street because it isn't long at ALL but it has a decent number of bars on it. We usually got to People, a dancing pub (which I originally thought was called Pitbull...) and then head to Cache, the disco in Cuenca. It is hard to get used to the hours here because we dont go to the Botellon until midnightish and then go to People around 2 and Cache around 4-5 until... well let's just say I'm adjusting to their weekend schedule ;)

Day Trip to Madrid

Palacio Real.

Inside the theater.

"Annie."

I took a day trip to Madrid where I went to see the Palacio Real and the musical, Annie. I went by myself as I didn't have many friend yet... but I'm glad I did because I got upgraded from the balcony to the 7th row. I think the felt bad for me because I was the oldest person there without a kid and I was alone. But whatever, I happily took the upgrade. I wanted to go see Annie instead of something I had never seen because I figured it would be easier to follow along. The songs were easy to catch on to... "The sun will come out tomorrow//El Sol brillará mañana." I completed the trip with a huge plate of nachos from Fosters Hollywood, the American restaurant. And of course, after I have really lost my taste for pop (Coca-Cola light is just NOT the same as Diet Coke), I found this is the only place that gives free refills on drinks. Go figure.

Outside the palace.

Main square, Plaza del Sol.

Free Refills, whatttt!

My nachos, my obsession.

I had an extra hour before my bus left for Cuenca so I went into a bar near the theater and had a shandy (beer with lemon Fanta), okay two, while I waited.

An end to a great day in the city.

Cuenca in the Fall.

 I love walking or running down by the river. There is a great mountain trail that goes super high up in the mountains and you can see all of Cuenca. You are parallel to a statue of Jesus and it honestly feels like you are on top of the world. I thought that most of the trees would change colors and shed their leaves but Spain is actually pretty green still in the winter. But there are trees that change colors and it is beautiful: trees full of yellow, burnt orange and lime green line the river. Nothing beats the sound of crunching leaves under your feet in the fall.