About a week ago, my boyfriend and I went to Porto, Portugal. It´s a city that has the potential to be one of the most beautiful cities in Europe, but the Great Recession has hurt it a lot. Porto is almost a perfect juxtaposition of remodeled antiquity and old architecture that has fallen to such a degree that it´s almost unsalvageable. What was really hard to see was those old houses and buildings with grafitti. You could make out their greatness, but today´s youth seems to mock its history with tagging. It was also difficult to find restaurants. While they claim to eat according to the Spanish schedule, we walked an hour and a half to find a restaurant and all we found were two very overpriced restaurants.

Regardless of those things, Porto was fun. The mornings are cool and comfortable while the afternoons get very warm. It´s not the heat, so much as the humidity that really affects you. We stayed at Hotel Dom Henrique, which is in the center of town and it´s a very comfortable place to stay. On the 17th floor is a bar with a panoramic view of the city. One of the most enjoyable things was drinking port up there during the sunset. Once it is dark, at least during the week, there are very few people walking around and we couldn´t find any nightlife. Maybe we were looking in the wrong place. Up the beach a little ways in Foz there was supposed to be a lot to do. However, without a car and much knowledge of the city, we didn´t want to risk getting lost at night.

Our hotel recommended the Yellow Bus Tours. For 19€, you can take the yellow bus for two days, go to Calem Cellars for a Port tour, and take a 50 minute ride on the Douro River underneath five of its six bridges. We went on all three bus routes, which also have audio in six different languages: Portuguese, English, Spanish, Italian, French, and German. Since we were only there two days, it was a very convenient way to see the city. I really enjoyed Calem. The tour was in Spanish and we learned a lot about the different types of port and the process of making it. All of the grapes come from the area, not Porto, but further east nearer to the Spanish-Portuguese border. Once the tour ended, we tried a white port and a tawny port. We met a Spaniard from Almeria and his wife who was from Austria, I believe. We also met three women from Brazil, but who now live in Miami. I really enjoyed meeting people from around the world. Everyone was so friendly.

I always love getting out on the water. The river ride was relaxing and beautiful. We saw the city and enjoyed the summer breeze. Unfortunately, I did not put enough sunscreen on and my back, six days later, is still a little red. Lesson learned!

Lastly, the churches were beautiful. Much of the architecture is baroque, so everything is over the top. They didn´t allow pictures in many places, so I got postcards. The churches were so decorated that it was difficult to take it all in. Another must-see place is Palaco da Bolsa, or the Stock Exchange Building. It´s right next to an elaborate church, which you also need to go inside. The Stock Exchange Building has many beautiful rooms, but the Arab Room really is a treasure. It was built to impress and it really does. It´s breathtaking. The designers styled it after the Alhambra in Granada, Spain, but from a Catholic perspective. I know, it doesn´t make much sense, but it truly is a must-see.

I´ll spend this week relaxing in Madrid and Alcalá de Henares. Next week we will visit Santiago de Compostela, the third most holy city in the Christian world after Rome and Jerusalem.

I´ve been in Spain for a week now and I have loved every minute of it! I´ve been fairly busy and I hardly touch a computer. So far, I´ve mostly been in Alcalá de Henares, which is a city in the community of Madrid. I´ve been here three days total and I haven´t done much more than walk around the city, window shop, and have a few tapas in the various bars. Since I studied abroad here, I´ve already done most of the touristic things. Although it may sound silly to go to Spain to just walk around, I really enjoy it. It´s exhilarating to be in a foreign city without a cell phone, by yourself, and to just enjoy the atmosphere; I felt free and relaxed.

This past weekend I went to Extremadura. While most American tourists don´t go, they really should. There are many cities that are gems and most people don´t even know about them. In two days, I visited Valle de Ejerte, Plasencia, Cáceres, Trujillo, and Guadalupe. Extremadura is known for its cherries, ham products, and cheese. In Valle del Jerte, I plucked cherries off of the trees and they were simply delicious. I´ve never tasted such good cherries in my life. Plasencia has a beautiful plaza; I don´t know much about it though...Cáceres is a World Heritage Site with so many churches that I lost count! It´s the town of the conquistadors. Almost all of them came from Extremadura because of the primogenitor: since only the first-born son inherited, many people were poor, so they made their living going to the Americas. The tombs of some conquistadors were in a cathedral in Cáceres, but since there was a wedding, we couldn´t see them. The jamón serrano, chorizo, salchichón, queso, and wine were all delicious. Trujillo had a great statue of Francisco Pizarro, who conquered the Incas. There are two palaces there, but we didn´t have time to go inside. Guadalupe was incredible. While there´s not much more to see than the main plaza, cathedral, and monastery, it´s definitely worth a visit. There is a black Virgen of Guadalupe there. Take the tour of the monastery (4€) and you will see it up close. There is an amazing collection of artwork and items that the priests wore throughout the ages. Phillip II´s desk is in the church, there´s a Christ carved out of a single tusk, paintings by Goya, Rubens, and el Greco, along with a crucifix carved by Michaelangelo. There are rooms that are entirely painted with amazing frescos and many relics with bones from the first Christian martyrs. I kissed one relic, but due to the noise in the tour group, I´m not sure what it was for. Since it was near the Virgen, I think it had something to do with her.

Words cannot describe how beautiful Extremadura is. Really, one should dedicate at least half a day to many of the small towns.

Tomorrow morning I´m off to Oporto, Portugal with my amazing boyfriend. Although I´ve basically forgotten all of the Portuguese I´ve learned, I´ll do my best and I will let you know how it went!

http://www.npr.org/2011/06/06/136923478/playwright-edward-albee-defends-remarks

I listened to this on my way to work today. I thought that Albee made a very good point: unless a writer/artist/person is homosexual, his/her sexuality has nothing to do with his/her work. I never mention my sexuality in regards to my job, nor do my coworkers. I certainly would not say that my favorite writer is "straight Jane Austen" because that has nothing to do with her work.

On the other hand, I did find it interesting that there are no great plays in the USA that deal with homosexual issues. It will be interesting to see one emerge in the next years. I think that it would be wonderful to have a surge of new plays that are all vying to be the next best play in the US.

Well, half the year has passed. Let's see, what do I want to accomplish before 2012?

1. get healthier (exercise, eat right, lose weight)
2. swing dance 1-2 a month
3. start and finish Big Lebowski sweater (and drink some White Russians in the process!)
4. have people over twice a month
5. practice opera once a month
6. read for fun 10 minutes a day (just like I used to, but I read hours as a girl!)
7. do something new with my boyfriend each month
8. maintain blog
9. teach Spanish! and force my students to sing :)
10. organize apartment daily and clean apartment weekly (I'm going to try to make it so anyone can come inside at any time and the whole place is clean and organized. My boyfriend helps a lot with that...)

Think I can do it? Let's hope so!!

Women Can Sniff Out Men Without Knowing—And Vice Versa

You Bug Me. Now Science Explains Why. : NPR

Knitting Yarn Sale from KnitPicks.com

YouTube - Knitting in the Portuguese Style - KDTV 307 with Andrea Wong