O Valencia!: Cuenca very much.

The view from the river.

A few weekends ago my friends and I decided to make a day trip to Cuenca (About 2-3~ hours away by train). We got up fairly early and met at the train station and then took the subway to a satellite station (Unfortunately not actually in space). We arrived in time and settled in on the train as the sun started to rise. It was mighty fine to get out of the city a bit and see the countryside. There were tons of little pueblos and one stop was a single house in the middle of the mountains and only one guy got off the train (Talk about service).

Casas colgadas

As we got near Cuenca, the train started to shake quite heavily from side to side. It made it pretty tough to sleep as my head smacked into the wall (a lot). When we rolled into the city, we got a map from the help desk and walked towards the older part of Cuenca. We immediately noticed the smaller town vibe compared to Valencia (80k vs. 1 million). We walked up to a small river and headed up a hill towards the "hanging houses" which the city is known for. There are only about 3 or so that are truly built on the edge of a cliff and share a wall with the rock face. It was pretty crazy to see them in person and to imagine living in one of them (Constant fear of houseslides?)

Upside down nose rock.

Nearby was a giant bridge that crossed the valley to a monastery. I took a pretty intense amount of fotos here and eventually we wandered up near the hanging houses and saw that one was a restaurant. However, it was about €30 for a meal (Totally within my budget). So we moved on and walked through the narrow and hilly streets until we found the main plaza and the cathedral. Inside there was some pretty sweet stained glass that cast colors all over the walls. It is interesting to see all the cathedrals here which are hundreds of years old and then compare them to the churches and cathedrals in America (Such history).

Cuenca was a bit colder due to its inland location.

Next we continued up the hill to a lookout at the top that gave some wonderful views. We ate lunch at a nice and cheap restaurant and then spent the rest of the afternoon wandering around. Later, we chilled at a park and eventually caught the train back. It was a lot of fun to take a side trip, but we started to run out of things to do after seeing the sights (We were avoiding things you have to pay for).

My host mom told me she doesn't like this bridge. Too high up.

Last Saturday night, MTV España put on their annual enormous free concert in Valencia. This year the headliner was the Arctic Monkeys who are from the U.K. There were also some local bands that we didn't arrive in time to catch. It was a pretty cool experience being there and seeing thousands of Spaniards hanging out at the edge of the Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias while the policia patrolled on horses, dirt bikes, and 4-wheelers (But never stopped any illegal behavior). The weather wasn't great that day, but it had stopped drizzling in time for the show and so there were at least 10,000 people there. They drained one of the giant wading pools in the CAC and so the stage was set up where it is normally watery. The music was excellent and although we were separated at the beginning, somehow by the end my friend Tanner and I had found everyone we came with and a bunch of other ISA people. It was pretty ridiculous.

There were creepy guys walking around offering to take pictures for people (I think for a price).

One of the most interesting changes with regards to Spanish culture is that interrupting others while speaking is not considered rude and is constant. If I don't interrupt at the dinner table, I won't get to say anything at all. At first it was hard to try to catch the Spanish when they were all speaking at once, or knowing who to follow. Now I am used to it and my friends and I interrupt each other all the time. I am sure I will accidentally interrupt someone and appear rude when I return to the States. Multiple conversations going on at the table are completely normal as well.

At the base of the hanging houses.

In other news, I have started watching a television show in my free time that is called Aguila Roja (Red Eagle) which is about a school teacher who moonlights as a Samurai-Robin Hood in Medieval Spain. It is pretty ridiculous (evil men plotting to kill the king and all that jazz), but a good way to keep working on my listening comprehension skillz. The main character is kind of like Zorro and has a Sancho Panza-like sidekick.

I enjoy Spanish architecture.

Random thought: We never drink milk here. The only time I have it is in my coffee every morning. It is also kept in non-refrigerated parts of stores and sold in 1 liter boxes (Weird). My family does refrigerate it once it is opened at home, though. At meals, however, we drink water 99% of the time. I wonder if there is an osteoporosis problem here. I worry for the structural integrity of Spaniards.

Bonus Photos: