It's officially the holiday season!

Now that it's December, all of the lights that have been put up all around the city are lit up! It's so beautiful! There is even a winter wonderland in Plaza Mayor :)

Calle de Santiago

The Winter Wonderland of Plaza Mayor!

Lights hung all along the pillars in Plaza Mayor

We took chocolate con churros to-go, and ate them in Plaza Mayor.

There is a track with a train that the little kids can ride around the snow.

All of the polar bears move, and there is a ski lift in the background that has more polar bears wearing skis, and riding the lift.

Me, Julie and Leilani in front of the lit up Ayuntamiento.

The HUGE Christmas tree.

Santa's house (with a very young and skinny Santa Claus)

The Carousel

We had to ride it!

Julie, Abby and Leilani on the spinning tea cup on the carousel

León

*Saturday, November 28, 2009*

Genelle, Jessie and I decided to make a day trip of our own this weekend, so we went to León, a city about a 2 hour bus ride north-west of Valladolid. It ended up being a perfect and relaxing day! We just spent the day exploring the city (it is smaller than Valladolid, and easily walkable in a few hours) - definitely should have worn more layers though. I have never been so cold!

Trees that are connect by their branches!

Beautiful city of León

The Cathedral, which is known for its vast amounts of stained glass windows inside.

When we came across the Plaza Mayor, we discovered it was their Farmer's market! There were booths with vegetables, fruits, chorizo y queso, and flowers!

A stand selling chorizo y queso... typical Spain.

We went to a café later to thaw out, and were surprised to find so many different kinds of postres (pastries/desserts) - this was one of 3 window displays of fresh postres!

Such a cute town!

My favorite part of the city was meeting so many genuine and nice people. We have never felt so welcomed by Spaniards... we must have spent an hour talking to a woman who owned a jewelry shop, who told us about growing up in León, and her favorite places around the city. A couple also stopped to help us when we were standing in a street (we were obviously lost tourists, with our map out) - but they wanted to practice their English with us, as we spoke in Spanish asking directions. People also offered to take a pictures of the three of us, and we were given free samples of chorizo and cheese in the farmer's market in Plaza Mayor!

Overall it was a wonderful day, and improved my view of Spaniards. It was also nice traveling in a group of 3 - so much easier to make decisions and coordinate our plans for the day :)

Peñafiel and Wine Tasting

*Friday, November 27, 2009*

Today we had our last Cal Poly day trip - and it was a day of vino! We went to visit a pueblo (like a suburb, but really small, out in the country, and most of the houses are separated by miles) outside of Valladolid, called Peñafiel. The fortress that overlooks the city has been turned into a wine museum, which we were able to tour.

The Fortress

Rachel and I at the top!

Some of the girls

Part of the wine tasting museum was smelling different aromas - all different things that influence the taste of wine. You could also keep the name of the scent hidden so you could guess what the scent was.

One of the scents was chocolate - it reminded me of the game Follow Your Nose we used to play when we were younger - and still play every now and then :)

The restaurant where some of the people in the program ate lechazo (baby lamb) - the restaurant is on a river!

The gorgeous park next to the river where the rest of us ate our packed lunches from our Madres.

Next, we drove a while to get to a winery where we were given a tour.

It was sunset when we got to the winery - one of my favorite parts of Spain has been the sunsets and just the sky and clouds in general. So beautiful.

One of the tunnels in the winery... so many wine barrels!

There were also stacks and stacks of (empty?) bottles, separated by year.

Once the tour was over, we got to taste the wine :)

Thanksgiving in Spain

*Thursday, November 26, 2009*

I'm not sure if I've mentioned here in my blog how lack-luster the food is here in Spain, but it is definitely a topic of discussion among all of us Americans who are here. Besides our families and friends back home, one of the things we miss the most is the variety of food we have back in the states. The foods that were new and exciting the first week now seem bland and not so thrilling... and I have definitely had the same soup for dinner every night for more than half of the time I've been here.

I don't mean to complain, only let you know the situation and so you understand why it was so exciting when a bunch of us made plans to go out for some Mexican food to celebrate Thanksgiving!

We found this restaurant that boasted it's Tex-Mex (Mexican food) and margaritas, and thought it would be a nice taste of home (plus, we have all been craving Mexican food).

the restaurant, near Plaza España

the group!

Lily, Me and Genelle

Fajitas!

consumed nachos

It wasn't the same as the usual big turkey-day feast, then again, when else will I be in Spain with these amazing people?

All Things Valladolid...

So I have managed to remember to carry my camera around with me while walking around Valladolid, and thought you might want to see more of the beautiful city that I live in :)

Plaza Mayor:

Walking from Plaza Mayor to Campo Grande:

Plaza Zorilla (at different times of day):

Campo Grande:

Plaza San Pablo (right next to my house - I walk by it every day!):

I might put more up later. Since it is December now, the ENTIRE city is decked out for the holidays... pictures will be posted soon :D