Counting Down

Exactly one week left of university left here in Madrid. I’m still not sure what to think of it all. My sister gets here in 7 days. And then Berkeley comes to me a few days later.

The weather here has been hot and dry. During the days its best to stay in the shade or inside airconditioned buildings. Moving around the city is unbearable on the metro and busses. So its best to find a cool spot and stay there. And the public pools have yet to be open for the summer. But while the days are unbearable, the nights are amazing. Every plaza has sprung to life with impromptu cafes exploding wherever there is space. Last night I went for a stroll at 12:30 and discovered heaps of Madrileños doing the same. I sat myself down at a table in my summer dress and enjoyed a caña, just enjoying Madrid. Nights like last night keep making me want to cut down my traveling for the summer and just stay here in Madrid. Forget Paris, Rome, Amsterdam, and Istanbul. I’m happy here with Madrid and my friends here.

That being said, I took a trip with Adriana to Lisbon last weekend. Just half-hour after landing she had the unfortunate luck of tripping over a jagged piece of metal sticking out of the cobblestone sidewalk. This resulted in a slower pace for the weekend, which was quite all right with me. I went to Portugal with no expectations or plans so there was no rush. What I found in Lisbon was the ancient version of San Francisco. Streets traversing up and down steep hill. Views of the bay coming in and out of view as streetcars help people climb upwards. They even had their own version of the Golden Gate Bridge.





The first night I explored the Bario Alto with an Australian girl from the hostel. We wandered the packed streets for a couple hours, stopping occasionally in bars with good music (including a Brazilian bar featuring a guy playing bossanova songs on an acoustic guitar). Tired, we made our way back to the hostel with a new friend- a stole 20 ml beer glass.

The next day Adriana and Katherine (the Australian) and I headed out to Sintra to see the fairy tale castles and do some general exploring. It was just beautiful. If you don’t believe me, just look at the pictures.



Our last day in Portugal was spent in Belen with a couple more hostel kids (a hipster from Italy who I talked about Elliott Smith and Xiu Xiu and lab technician/high-jump coach from Finland). Adriana and I had just enough time to check out a Frida Kahlo exhibition at the design museum, bid farewell to our new friends and catch our short flight back to Madrid. Aside from the toe-injury and a tiny airport mix-up, the weekend was spectacular. But I was glad to return to a country whose language I could speak. I really do love listening to and speaking Spanish.


And now back to writing papers and studying for finals.

Oh yes, if you have the chance to get your hands on the IAS Spring journal, check out my article on page 8!