Valencia (part 2)

The next day was spent doing all the touristy things in the city. We visited the torries, the cathedrals, had traditional paella, ate charros and chocolate, and even made it out to the beach! It was a full day that lasted all through the night, typical Spanish style!... but more on that later. PS- Sorry I didn't get more pictures. My camera battery was dying so I had to be picky and some came out blurry because I was taking them so fast.

 One of the entrances to the cathedral.

 The blue on the ceiling was unbelievable! This whole area had so much to look at and it was beautiful.

 We hiked up 200ish stairs to get to the top. And by stairs I mean a tight curvy staircase made for 1 way traffic, but included a 2 way. :)

 But totally worth it!

 The yellow building is the Valencian Study Centre. The picture is taken from the top of the torries.

Valencia (part 1)

My first weekend trip (where I was not working) was to Valencia, Spain! I had an awesome time. We stayed with one of the FSU Staff members who work at the Study Centre there. Luke (a GC with me) had friends studying there so we even had our own personal tour guides. The best way to see the city! The first few pictures were taken when we arrived. The city was beautiful. The next day we went on their Day Trip which was a hike about an hour outside of the city. It was mostly great except at the end we unknowingly were hiking straight up a mountain and everyone had drank their water. So instead of ending up at the river to swim we ended up at a resort, downing all their water, and sitting by their pool! It was a great day outdoors and a good way to get to know some of the students there!

 Our gracious host gave us wine and tapas when we arrived :)

 The torries. The medieval gate to enter the city. This was taken right outside the Study Centre. They even have pieces of the wall going through some of their classrooms!

 The bull fighting ring is the building on the right. It's right next to the train station. Some of the students said it was cooler than they expected, but I don't think I'd ever want to see one live.

 The town where we started the hike.

 The waterfall spring we ended up at. I snapped this before everyone got in the water. The water was freezing and the rocks at the bottom made it impossible to walk, but we stayed in most of the time anyway. Even found some caves!

 A cool pictures taken by one of the directors, Alicia. I definitely got a sunburn from this day!

Workhouse

On our way home from Yorkshire we made a stop at an old Workhouse. Many local parishes got together to built these as a way to take care of the homeless. It wasn't a great place, but it gave them clothes, food, and warmth. Everyone was split up by gender and whether they were able bodied homeless or the blameless (old and frail). They were not allowed to speak to or even see one another every, not even families. The children were even split up from their mothers. They built separate staircases so they would avoid one another. They worked 10 hour days to earn their keep essentially. It felt a lot like a prison, but the homeless had to apply to get in and you could apply to leave at any time with your family- although very few did since they had no money and no where to go. They intentionally made it not an enjoyable place so as the desperate would only enter. It was running as a type of workhouse even into the 70's although policies changed over time which changed the way it was operated. Kinda crazy.... I didn't even know things like this existed.

There are walls built around high enough so they could not see each other, but not high enough to where they couldn't escape since it was not a prison.

Men's Work Courtyard

Overlooking the garden area

Women's leisure courtyard. The semi-circles in the corners are their lavatories.

Bronte Sisters

On one day of our trip through Yorkshire we headed west to Hayworth to see where the Bronte sisters grew up and wrote they're most famous novels (Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights). We also took a hike to Bronte Falls which was a favorite past time of Emily's. The parsonage is the first picture. It's a little strange how close they live to the cemetery and also believed to be the reason why they all died so young and all from TB. Their water was getting contaminated by the bodies. Before we left we had an orientation with the students. One of the professors found this clip of a fake commercial, but it's hilarious! If you're fans of the Bronte's you should watch it http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-NKXNThJ610

This was the church their father worked out. Right across the graveyard... Although he lived to 84! Way longer than any of his family.

More Cats!

York, Yorkshire

This past weekend the Study Centre spent the weekend north of London in Yorkshire. It was a really nice trip. Pretty relaxing and really pretty. York was a pretty cool town, although the people were very weird! This was also my first "work overnight trip." It went pretty well all in all. I've discovered, however, that as I get older I get more 'car' sick. This includes buses, coaches, and even planes. Kind of an issue since we spend quite a bit of time traveling on coaches. I think they are probably the worst. I've pretty much gotten car sickness under control, but I can't control the environment on other types of transportation. Let's hope it doesn't get any worse than it is now or I'll never enjoy traveling!

Roman Ruins

Roman Crypt

I didn't get enough pictures, but everything in this particular area had really cool shapes and the lighting was awesome!

York Minster

I took multiple pictures like this throughout the wknd- I just love the way it looks. This is a path leading to the Minster.

Umm Hello! Although I didn't have time to go inside just enough to snap a pic

Minster at night

Or Just By Night....

Lindsey's friend Chris visited recently and on his last night in London we HAD to go do something. Unfortunately all the pubs in London close fairly early and we weren't really in a club mood. So what else than to explore the city by night? We stopped by a convenient store, picked up some soda and snacks, and hit the town. It actually ended up being kinda nice to walk around without a ton of people in your way and see things I had never seen before. I goal was to get lost or at least walk down streets we never had before. Lucky for him I knew the whole area pretty well and we never got lost, but did find some interesting things. As well as take random pics. Here is proof of the fun! PS- after getting home around 2:30AM from this outing I got a phone call that one of our girls was in the hospital (she's fine) and therefore trekked my way there and didn't get to sleep until 6AM. Let's just say I was kinda dreading having previously walked around for 2 hours, but it was fun and I think Chris had a great time!

Mind the Gap!

Where's Tayler? (FYI- here they call him Wally not Waldo)

Only fitting for a pedestrian to walk with a Pedestrian Sign!