Travels Around Andelucia

Tamara and I took a day trip to Cordoba to see the Mezquita and the Old Jewish quarters. It was originally a Mosque built by the Moors. When the Christians ran the muslims out they built a cathedral right smack in the middle of it. Very interesting to see how the styles kinda blend together.

Espana Navidad - Nerja

The first top two pictures are from Tamara and my Christmas Day hike in the Rio Chillar not far from Felicity and Stefan's house. The views were superb! The next picture is the view of Nerja from their front patio. The picture of the beach is down by the town of Nerja. And last, there is us having dinner on Christmas Eve.

Kerst Gourmet

Our corridor had a goodbye/Christmas/Sinterklaas dinner last night. We did the typical dutch thing or gourmet. You cook everything together on a hot plate on the table. It is really fun! We had so many different kinds of things to grill. I made a swedish akta kladdkaka with a cinnamon/cardamom/almond/vanilla bean whip cream. They said they were definitely going to miss me and my creations in the kitchen. As a gift, they gave me a small photo album of each of us in the corridor and a book called "The Dutch I Pressume?". So nice of them!

From left to right it is Linda, Dryas, Marieke and Stella. They are all dutch.

I definitely had the best corridor. I didn't say it but actually people that know me spread the word so lots of the foreigners want my room when I leave!

The First Frost

The top picture is the field across my balconey. Frost all over the grass. The second is the parking lot of my student housing. The following is a picture of the building "The Forum" I attended some classes in as well as spent all day in everyday last week studying for my tests. It is about 15min by bike from where I live. It is a new building and very "Hezellig" and nice to study it. The library is also in there. The bridge is a small one that connects the street to the building. It was covered in frost or powder ice so I had to take a picture. It was also strangely nice and sunny that day.
I've decided my idea of calling the weather cold is anything 32F or below. That is when I start to feel cold especially on the bike and my face starts to hurt from the wind :(

Bullar time!

Every December I like to make Lussekatter (lucia Buns) and Kanelbullar (cinnamon rolls). I made them here to give away as christmas gifts and also to bring some to Spain for Christmas morning. I think my roommates think that I am crazy but they benefit and don't care! Mmmm...they are yummy. It only took five hours...good thing I woke up early to get an early start. Now I can force myself to study for the rest of the week.

Weekend Trip to Prague

This past weekend I went to Prague to visit my friend Joanna who has been living there for over two years. I had such a good time. Prague is a beautiful city. It was a plus that the euro goes a long way there. I saw the typical tourists things like the Communism Museum, the HUGE castle and its surrounding buildings, St. Vitus, Charles Bridge, Old Town, New Town, The Astronomical Clock and the Christmas markets in the squares. Everyone needs to go before it starts getting more expensive. I hear the "New Prague" is Krakow in Poland. Next stop??

Joanna wanted me to show her how to make Kanelbullar again so we spent a day baking and trying to find cardemom in Czech. No luck, but I had brought some just in case!

Student Thanksgiving

Our spread was not as fancy and Grandpa and Gun's but it was really good! We even had some international touches with Chinese dumplings and a Malaysian dessert. We had the basics like stuffed chicken, stuffed butternut squash, mashed potatoes, cranberry/orange relish(thanks Mom!) and pumpkin pie. A Serbian girl made a really good vegetable soup as a starter. For a holiday touch we made Glühwein. Most of the students are from the Erasmus program. There were also a few Dutch students there as well. I think everyone enjoyed their first Thanksgiving!

And Ghent again

So much history so little time. I will just have to go back again and again and again.

Ghent

The top photo is Dolores. We where right up front which was easy since it was a standing hall. Trappest bier is AMAZING. I really don't like beer but let me tell you, the Belgians know how to roll. They know how to do things right. (Putting the issues they are dealing with right now aside)They have beautiful cities, chocolate, coffee, pastries, beer and lace. They enjoy the good things in life. I think I was a Belg in my past life. People were so friendly. They helped us even when we did not ask for it. They also have discounts for the citizens, students and youth. The Netherlands looks so strict, tasteless, overpriced and boring compared to Belgium. Too bad no Food Science Masters in Ghent...It must have been the French influence.

More Brugge

Still Brugge, we went to Chocostory which is a chocolate museum. Everyday we also had to sample the "wafels". I am addicted. Good thing I don't live there ;) The girls in the picture are Karima and Laura. It was us three who went to Gent for a concert (Dolores O'Riordan from the Cranberries was performing). In order to get a ride we had to leave Friday instead of Saturday. We decided to check out Brugge for a night and day. Totally worth it!!!!!

Brugge

I LOVE BELGIUM! The above pics are around Brugge. Our friend Amandine dropped us off in Gent on her way back home to Belgium for the weekend and then we took a train to Brugge and stayed in a fun hostel.