Cordova, or totally muslim Spain

So, after very strange night in Cadiz i took bus and after 4 cold hours (becaus they have some problems with conditioners) in bus i was in Cordova. Why did i want to go there? Because there is very beautiful and nice church that used to be mosque, but was transformed into church. That is pretty interesting, but really, i exected to find sonething else there. Ok, church is nice, but it isnt enough. Exactly, the most interesting thing that i found there was my host: the guy from Polestine tbat literaly introduced me to the muslim culture: he told me a lot about ranadan and invited to the family diner with very traditional food, that i loved, but where i felt quiteuncomfortable, because all prople there were connected to each other. More i travel more i dont get this borders between countries: look, in totally catholic sain there is a huge muslim comunity, right in themiddle of Andalucia, whats the use of borders here? And this isnt the only one example, they are everywhere, just look around you!
Oh, i forgot that i was talking about Cordova :) so guys, if you are there, go to the church (it us free on sundays from opening till 10:30) and dont forget to cross the brdge at sunset, because vew on the city from the other sid is amazing! 

Cadiz, or how ive visited atlantic ocean

Sooo, from Jerez i came to Cadiz. Why? Because im a crazy girl and i really wanted to see Atlantic ocean. So what can i say about this place? Well, i wasnt very lucky, i got there on the last day of 'regata' and it was so crowded that it was simply impossible to move freely in the streets. In Cadiz there wasnt luggage storage again, so my back was crying and suffering. But there i met some guy from CS, who wasnt able to host me, but who found a place for my luggage and showed me Cadiz and its cousine! What else did we do? Well, we went to the beache, and even it was really cold, we slept there. In general i cant say anything about Cadiz, it is nice, seaside is awesome, but i saw almost nothing, and at 6 am i had my bus to Cordoba, that was way nicer and friendlier than Cadiz, so, guys, see you there!

Jerez, or how spain doesnt care about tourists

So, after saying 'goodbye' to lovely Sevilla i headed to Jerez - motherland of famous sherry/brandy. Jerez is a very small place, so i didnt plan to stay there overnight, i just wanted to visit it and to drink some wine. So i arrived there expecting to leave my luggage at a luggage storage at the train or bus station, but guess what - they dont have it! Moreover they even dont have any tourist information at this stations!
But ok, if im here im not going to give up. So with my backpac i went to the city center (that was quite tricky to find). What can i say about Jerez? It is nice, city center is pretty, but nothing more. The main tourist attraction here is bodegas - wine factures - but i wasnt interested in some scientific information about wine, i wanted to drink it, so i went to the first place i found and staied for like two hours just talking to the waiter and writing :)
Now im going to Cadiz, where i still dont have any place to sleep. So, see you guys!

Sevilla, or how bad i am with any kind of transport

Sooo, i am in Sevilla now! As you remember my previous stop was in Valencia, that is quite far from Andalucia, but to cross all this space i used Ryanair forthe first time in my life. I think using thi company for he first ime is like loosing virginity: flights will never be the same for you :) kidding, actually everything was pretty good, as i idnt sleep the night before i slept all the time in he plane so i dont remember a thing :)
So, finally i landed in Sevilla.  i was really excitedabout Andalucia, you know people say that Andalucia s actually a real Spain, so i planed to stay here about two weeks, to enjoy this real Spain with flamenco, corrida, wine, ocean, heat, and tapas. The firt disappointment - it wasnt hot here, just +32, nothing like i expected. Second: there are no free tapas in Sevilla, and in majority of Andaluia :( But come on, im here notonly because of food (right?).
Sevilla! This is a wonderful place: quite calm, but no ttoo much there re a lot of tourist, but hey dont annoy you, there is a lot of history, bu the city center is so small that ou dont need to be in a rush. Perfect place! In Sevilla as always i used CS, and m host was wonderful, he gave me a bike, maked good places to eat, and cooked lunch :) i have to sop on the bike: ive never used bike in a city before, so for m it was really interesting but hard  the same time. But actually i was ong pretty good ntill one night, when i decided that. Was skilled enough to ride a bike in the street without lights :) now me poor knee reminds me how wrong i was :)
But letstalk about Sevilla! City is just wonderful! It is very old, very beautiful, you can find any attraction you need: visiting old Cathedral, gettng lost in Alkazar's gardens, watching corrida, going out, dancing flamenco - everything that Andalucia s famous for! As i had 4 days there i could see and visit everything, what id done :)
But there is Still something missing about Sevilla ... Ah, right, food! Ooooh, that is so good! Ven there are no free tapas, but here are tapas, and i must say tha i love tapas! Tipical tapas here are croquets of jamon and fish, small sandwiches with fish, pork cooked in some special souce that is called  whisky. There is very nice plase o try tham in santa cruz barrior that s called 'columnas', and on close to the cathedral that is called 'hijos ...(i dont remember)'. And also sweets! There is this torta de Sevilla that is made from almond flour or from aceite and that are just amazing, also there are chocolate glazed baked biscuites heart-shaped and small glazed candies, that you can ind almost everywhere, but for the first one i recomed pasteleria that is right in the begining of calle de constuticion, and for the others place that is called 'horno' that is just in front of the cathedral :)
Well, even i really enjoyed Sevilla i couldnt stay there longer than 5 days. While traveling i always have this feeling, that you can call needle in your ass, but this feeling doesnt let me to stay in one place too long and always drives me into some joureys. So, jus following this feeling, im going to another part of Andalucia - to Jerez, famous for its alcohol :)

Valencia, or city that never sleeps

It's time to write a couple of wods about Valencia. I was going there without any idea where to stay, because i ddnt have luck with couch but the truth is that it was my luck! I wrote an mergency couch request, and one guy replied me that h as space, but also that another two grs will stay there and tere will a party that night. Good for me, no? I have to saythat on my last night in Madrid we didnt sleep (because it was friday and it was my last night) and also ive visited Cnca on my way to Valencia, so you can imagine how exhousted i was :) but when i came to my host's place t was full of people playing poker. Ok, why not. Icant say that it ws a huge party, but we finished it only at 5 am :)

Next day we went to see the city, walked a bit, but afer crashed on the beach (i like this sightseeing :). But te was omething really important about that day: i was going to see my friend Laura, who i met two years ago in Iceland, isnt that crazy? So we met, went to some amazing place,that is call 'small Venice', had a picnic with he friends, id tried orxata, they ade e a list f food that i have to try (i cant live without it now :) everything was so, so nice. Than we went to party but as i was extremely tired, we stayed up only untill 2 am. But of course i didnt go to bed at this time, i dont remember how, but me and my host ended up playing Mario :)

Next day was the last one. I was wondering around the cit, found amazing gelateria at plaza de la reina, where you can fine all possible (and impossible) tastes of ice-cream. Lao. Finally had my paella! Ooooh, that was so good, i even cant describe it. One guy from valenca gave e a lst f places where you can eat really good paella, so ill just write thus list here:

Si vas a la Playa, los sitios no son baratos pero estan bien en 4 bares para mi gusto: (colocados por orden de preferencia)

1ºLa Pepica

2ºCasa Museo Blasco Ibañez

3ºLa Marcelina

4ºLa alegria de la huerta

Si vas al centro de la ciudad 

-L'Aldaba

Otros:

-Casa Clemencia ( es economica y esta muy buena tambien y esta cerca de la parada vicent zaragozá) - i was here!

-El Blayet ( La paella y el pescado increible pero no es muy buen sitio para ir porque no esta cerca de ningun sitio turistico)

-La genuina ( esta tambien en un edificio tipico valenciano (La Barraca)pero necesitas coche para ir)

- El Brosquil  

But the most inereting is the end of the day. My host really wanted to try some russian food, so deided to make pelmeni for him and two other girls (for the first time i my life, actually :). After, we went to se El ciudad de arte at night and then we went to the beach! At night! Isnt tat crazy? And you know why? Because it was my dream :) so we came home only around 6 am, made pancakes, saw the sunrise, and i went to the airport to catch my p,ane to Sevilla! 

Getting lost in Cuenca

Hola! As always im getting lazy to write here, but im trying to do my bet :) so, so, so, on my way from madrid to valencia i decided to visit one small tawn, that is situated right between this cities. Way there was quite tricky: to go there from madrid you can take both train and bus, but you have to buy tickets in advance, because when i came to the bus station the first bus was sold out. But what is even more hard is to get out of there: last bus leaves at 4 pm, so if you want to stay there longer you have to take tain, but thre are very few ofthem :)

Well, what place did i visit? Cuenca! It is famous for its houses that are built on the edge of mountains. What can i say? This place s amazing! Architecture, nature - so beautiful, so old! And what is really important for me there are almost no turists. For this place you dont need more than 4 hours (untill you want to go camping). Once you are there dont miss the pasteleria close to the bus and train station: it is the most famous place here, you can get very good sweets or empanadas there for really good price. 

The main attraction here is its 'falling houses' that are really magnificent! Actually i really cant imagine how and why did people build it in 16-17 centuries. Also i cant help writing about main cathedral - it is a bit messy, like it is built out from different buildings, but it doesn't make it less beautiful.  What else? Just dont miss this place, and dont use car there, you can see muuuuuuch mire just walking around, and place isnt that big (but it didn't prevent me from getting lost, but because of it i saw very nice district of Cuenca :)

Next stop - Valencia!

Panegyric to Madrid

Ah Madrid! Im in love with this city. There is something especial about this place, something unique, something very attractive... I really cant explain it, it is Madrid!

I spent here 6 days and it wasn't enough for me, im like peques - i want more! I cant say that all my experience ere was positive - nooooo! I had problems with accommodation, i caught a cold, i suffered from sun, got lost several times. But despite all of this i really love Madrid! I love its tiny tricky streets, its bars, its offertas, its vine, its food, museo de jamon, its museums, its architecture! I love to hang out at night on Plaza del Sol, to wonder around La Latina, to do shopping in Chueca, to relax in Jardines! 

What else do i like about Madrid? It is so cheep to be tourist here! Museums (Prado and Reina-Sofia) are totally free for students, the same was Thyssen for me (because it is celebrating its 20th birthday this year and for everyone who "was born" at the same year it is free). Food! If you are hungry - go to Museo de Jamon, there you can find bocadillo y empanadas for 1,5€. Want to party? Go to Tomy Roma's during the week and get two beers and onion rings for 3€! Or go to bars on Via Grande near Lion theater, where you can get bear for 1€. Do you want to enjoy nice view? Go to egyptian temple or Palacio Cebelius, from both place you can get amazing city view for free! 

I can talk about Madrid endlessly, really! Madrid is Spain for me. Here i saw real spanish manifestation, here i talked Spanish, here i enjoyed life! And of course i cant skip talking about people with whom i shared my staying here! Zrinka, girl frommy project, was the perfect travelmate for me: she loves to walk, she loves to talk and she loves museums! Thank you for everything!

Well, now it s time for me to say "good bye" to this wonderful city, but im sure that we will meet again! 

The reason why i went to Barcelona

So here im, back from legendary Barcelona. Honestly? I dont understand why people admire it that much. I think they just havent been in madrid :) yes barcelona is beautiful, yes it is near the sea, but there s something artificial about it. For me madrid and barcelona are like moscw and st. Petersburg. One city is very beatiful, more attractive for tourists, and more comfortable, but another one, well, another one is full of histry, has its own spirit, is alive - and that is really important for me. 

But why dd i go to barcelona? To see my dear Suzie! Last time when we saw each other was last summer in paris, and look at us, here we are togother again, in totally different country, ne yea ater, but both of us ad feeling like we met just yesterday. That s why i love traveling, it s an aaing opportunity to meet amazing people! Oh, dear, ill miss you!

This crazy Madrid

Madrid! Madrid! Madrid! I didnt expect anything extraordinary from this city, but it came out to be an amazing place. Madrid is magnifisent! From the first sight you think that there s nothing interesting here, but after one hour in the city you cant imagine being in any other place :) There is simething in the ar here! the most important here is atmosphere, it s like a city spirit, you just feel it. People here are very open, you see a lot of smiling spanish faces on every corner. Food is ceap and good (you can just go to the jamon museo and eat some bocadillo or 1€) Parting is also pretty amazing here: here are a lot of pubs and clubs, or if you prefer you can just go to Latina and hang out at so e square there. 

And dont forget about museums of Madrid. It tured out that all museums here are totally free fo students - motre money for parties :) museums, well, you know that it is something very important for me. Yesterday ive been to Prado museum, and this was something unforgettable fr me, because i really didnt expect to see so many masterpieces in Spain. 

As you can guess im not alone here. After our project in Aranjuez some people wanted to stay in Madrid, but in the end only one croatian girl stayed here, and that is good, because both of us like museums, to walk, and to eat cheap) 

Well, right now i'm going to spend another amazing day in Madrid, and this night im taking bus to go to Barcelona for a day. Why? To see my dear american friend, who i met last summer in Venezia! So, see you! 

This volunteer project

Hello the world! It has been two week seens my lat message here and all this time i was (and i am) in my volunteer project, near small spanish town Aranjuez. This project is very different from anything ive ever done. This place is a rehab center for people with AIDS. I cant say that work is very hard, but it is quite hard mentally to stay here: be surrounded by this people and to feel guilty just because you have normal life - this is hard, but i am very happy to be here, to do all this work. Also every person in this center has its own story, and when you know it you understand that your problems are so easy to solve. It is very strange place, it is like another world, where people try not to think about reality and live in a perfect socialistic community. Is it good? Yo no se, but this is it. 

As it is a volunteer camp there is an international group of volunteers here: 7 amazing people from all over the world with whom i am happy to share all this experience. Here we are doing many different types of work: cutting vegetables, cleaning, washing clothes, helping with disables and of course cooking (my favorite one :) Also a lot of other people work here, lie EVS volunteers, or former residence of the center. 

This project is really amazing, it is an opportunity that only some people are willing to use, it is a very important experience for me. But if you ask would i like to cme back here i wont be able to answer you, because, as ive already said, it is very hard to stay here with all this people, to stay with them and to know that after two weeks ou are coming back to the normal life, while some of them never can do the same. 

Summer 2012

So, so, so

This summer is so lazy and busy that i had absolutely no time for writing here, but ill try to do my best to do something with it. 

Right now im in frankfurt airport on my way to ... Spain. Beautiful, amazing spain. I cant wait my landing there, because after old unfriendly moscow im dieing to see and feel toally different world :) 

What am i going to do there? Travel, have fun, drink, walk, sleep enjoy, nd of ourse do ome volunteer job. Actually im evn going to participate in two projects: one in madrid and one in Kōln. In general ill be abroad for 79 days, till 16 of september. I think it is going to be legend ... Wait for it ... Dary summer =)

I dont have anymore free internet access bu ill write more later, i promise 

How i got stuck in Budapest

I love Europe, it is so unstable today, you never know what to expect XD

So, on my way home i had 18 hours stopin Budapest, and i asked some couchsurfers to host me and to show around fastly. My hosts were very nicecouple. Guy even met me at the airport, because i was sogood in getting lost. He said that as i have only one night in Budapest i had togo out - not a problem, sowe went to the karaoke. But the problem was that i cought a cold in Vienna, so i had no voice, and instead of beer and singing i was drinking hot tea and whispering XD Anyway it was fun

Next day we woke up early and the first think i heard was the news that the wonderful Malevairlines that i had to take ran bankrupt. Yay! Finally Europe understood that it needed me and didnt want to let me go,but unfortunately my visa was about to expire, so i was looking for the new cheap tickets, and found it for the next day, but when i was buying it there was some mistake on their web site, so themoney on my bank account were blocked but i didn't have ticket. And here my wonderful host family helped me a lot, they called to the office, to Poland and solved the problem. But because of this i had almost two more days in Budapest, so we went for the sightseeing.

Budapest is really beautiful, architecture is great, it is very clean, very friendly, the only thing that was confusing me there were russian metro trains (legacy of Soviet Union) XD We walked all around Pest part of the city, went to some open market where we took some hot wine and etc.


Budapest is devided in two parts Buda and Pest, once they were different cities, but not today. Also all the city is full of different strange sculptures, like in Reykjavik. And what i liked about it, there are not that much tourists, so you can see the real city. Also public transport works really good, but they check your tickets always, except day time in trams XD

At evening my hosts took me to their friend's birthday party after what we went to the very fancy club Moulin Rouge (Pariiiis is following me) with very cool mis of 80-s music. In that club i was shoked by men there - hey dont try to grab your ass, actually if they want to dance with you they do it in a very nice, a bit old fashioned way, and after italy i was really shoked by it XD

Next day we went to the Buda part of the city, that is famous for its main church, that really was great. But this day was snowing for the first tme during the winter (how lucky i am) and it wasn't that nice outside, so we took some very good hot chocolateand went home where my host Zsuzsi cooked some traditional Hungarian food - i loved my hosts there)

And inseveral hours i was on the plane to Warsaw where chocolate liquor and chocolate helped me tomake night shorter, andnext morning i was in Moscow)

Actually there was another story with my tickets, i think because of the mostake on th website system doubled my surname and onmy ticket my name looked like "EkaterinaGoncharova Goncharova", and there were possibility that my ticket wasn't valid, but at the endeverything was ok and i am home now XD

Russian Prague

As you remember originaly this trip was my friend's idea, who wante dme to join them, but because o fthe tickets we could meet only in Prague and only for one day, but it wasnt bad. Actually for me it was good, because there were 6 of them and for me traveling with six russian people was too much XD

They met me at the bus station and brought to the place where they were staying: huge luxury appartment in some fancy hotel in the city center - niiiiice. It was so good there and so cold outside that we could go outside only for the food, and we did it,i took them to the same place where my host took me, and they fell in love with czech food XD After we made some very fast sightseeing and went to the supermarket to buy some food, because they wanted me to cook for them (i love it, you know) XD. So in the evening i cooked some carbonara, other girl made mojito and we watched my favourite traveking movie - Eurotrip

So the next day we woke up quite late, but as we were staying in a hotel, we could have free breakfast, but only three of us were awake, so we went downstairs in our pijamas, took as mush food as it was possible and came back - so russian style XD Then we made standard sightseeing, ate some traditional food, took a lot of photoes, had fun all together, but it was way too cold outside, so i hardly believethey enjoyed Prague) Oh, and also my friends were obsessed with character of one old czech cartoon - mole,sowe went to the toy store where they bought at least ten moles (and one was for me XD)

Then i packed and they came to the bus staton with me, then they went to eat again and i went to my next stop on my way home - Budapest!

Prosperous Vienna

So, from Prague i went to Vienna. Why Vienna? Well, it was very nice city and it was easy to reach from Prague (and very cheap - 24 euro, student bus). But also one girl from AIESEC project in Catania lived there and was so so glad to meet her.

So, my first day in Vienna my host tookme to the very famous and beautiful palace and park, that was 10 minutes away from his place. Hofburg Palace reminded me of any other palace i'd visited actually: the same beautifulpark, same palace with a lot of gold inside, same fountains - as you see i wasn't impressed)) Only place there i liked was a hill from where youcould have very very nice view, but that's it)

But at evening I met with my friend Anita, we went to the museum district where we had some drinks, then we went to the very underground bad that was in the former sinagogue,where we met some french guys and i tried very tipical for Vienna Kasekrainer sausages, than we went to another place, that was one of the oldest diskoplaces in Vienna, than it was too late already (or should i say too early?) so we went home

Stephansdom

Next day i went for the sightseeing with korea guy who was also hosted by my host. We went to the very city center, saw the main church Stephansdom, Parlament, Opera house and something else. He was looking for some very old street so he asked one woman on the street about it, but instead of it she told us that that day was the only day when we could go to the Mozart museum for free - of course we went there. Actually, ifyou are not lucky with free entrence, dont go there, nothing especial) Than we went to some randome restaurant to have some tipical food, that was way to big for me to finish it XD


Next day Anita took me for the ice-skating near Rathaus, and as i hadn't beenskaing for two yearsi was exhousted after it, but i had enough power to eat some tipical sweets and drink punch XD We ended this day in the mall,so girly)


This day was my last one, so in the morning Anita took me to the open market, then we went to the top of the nest to the city muntain from where we were supposed to have an amazing view, but it wasso cold, that we didnt care abut view. After we met at evening to have some drinks, andi really wanted to go home early, to sleep good and to be in time for my bus, but on my way home i met somespanish guys, joined them in the bar and we ended up watching Shrek in spanish somewhere in the city. Also they put my phonein chineese and that night i had no idea what to do with that XD

view from that mountain

And next morning, fortunately, i already was on my way back to Prague

Actuallu i want to say couple of words about Vienna. This city reminded meof German, but better Germany, it is not that strict, and people here look friendly, language is more pleasent XD Also this place is very well organized, but after Prague it was expensive fo me (after Prague everything is expensive)). To visit all Vienna 3 days are enough, at least it was for me. 

Unexpectable Prague

Ok guys, it'd been a long time since i worthe here something, but it did mean i didnt travel, nooo, i was just too lazy, but this new year i made a resolution to write here, so im trying to do my best now.

this nice bar

After my big italian trip i went to italy again and after it i promised my mum and my friends to settle down a bit and to find a job and actually to study, but, as i like to say, you never know where life is going to bring you. So once, cold january night, when i was supposed to prepare myself for the one of my exams, my friend, who was going to the German-Prague trip asked me if i want to join her and her friends. Well, i said i would think but i didnt have any money, but but but i need any excuse to check prices for tickets) so i did it aaaand i found amazingly cheap tickets to prague almost for the same dates that my friend wanted to come there. Do i need to describe what happened next?)

Well, in less than two weeks i was in Prague) On my way there i had a connection between flights in Budapest and was supposed to have the same on my way back, but you will see what happened after))

Dancing house

So, Prague... Well, to be honest, i didnt expect anything amazing or memorable from this place. Also id been there before, maybe 4 years ago, and didnt have any good memories after.

and night club)

Anyway, to stay there i use my favourite website ever - Couchsurfing, i staied with guy who is originally from Venezuela, but who currently moved to Prague. You know, sinse my visit to Hamburg i understood one important thing - you impression of the city totally depends on people you spend time with. And i must say that this guy in Prague was just perfect for me (like a friend!) - the first night i arrived i was almost sure that my host wouldnt go out and that we would just stay at home, but no! He offered a small city tour and than - tadadam - going to the bar to try famous Czech bear, but on the way to this bar we saw some huge night club that we decided to check out later (what a mistake!). But also i saw some nice Prague places with night lights - what is definitely worth f seeing, especially Dancing House, that looks unreal at night (next to Jiraskuv bridge). Well, bar was really nice, very tiny, but it has spirit, you know (it is somewhere on the right side on Smetanovo embankment). I tried bear (of course) and some local food - fried cheese (i must say that during this trip i wanted to try as many  kinds of traditional food as it was possible). I loved it! Than we met friend of my host and we went to that night club. I dont remember how did i get drunk, but i do remember that that place was fool of british guys and that we were dancing on the stage - no comments guys XD But at the end club was quite OK, it is situated next to the Charle's bridge with blue lights at night, really easy to find)

Next day my host made really great job: he showed me all main attractions in Prague. Firstly we went to the tower that-looks-like-Eiffel  on Petrshin hill, from where you can see all Prague. Actually i think this place is too high and Prague is toosmall from there, but it was the only one place where i saw snow)) From there we walked to the Mala Strana (one of the Prague's districts) where the main attraction was palace with magnificent St. Vit's Church, that i s so big that cant cuit in your camera)) From there through Charle's bridge we went to Stato Mesto, where there is main square with beautiful churches and famous clock, that will blow your mind XD As i told you, i wanted to try some local food, so my host took to me to the very nice place called "U Pinkasu".

I'd better skip drinking part and tell you something that attracted me to Prague (and i isnt legalize) - my favourite writer Franz Kafka spent almost all his life in there, so i just had to see his house and monument (and the last was the hardest to find, but we did it!).

Well also i just have to mention that Prague is a perfect party-place where people go out every night, and going crazy, sometimes even too much, wait, can it be too much?) I loved Prague's nght life, #1 for me in Europe)

Actually in Prague it is so soeasy to meet people, there i met my good friend Maria Angelica from Colombia, who participated in nternship in Moscow last year, and now both of us were in Prague - fantastic)

What else can you find in Prague? John Lennon's wall for example, or all kinds of Absinthe, or amazing Gothic architecture, or the cheapest and one of the best bear in Europe, or whatever you can imagine =) Maybe famous Prague's clock didnt blow my mind, but Prague did (even if i dont remember part of time there clearly).

But now it is time to move to Vienna. Why Vienna? You will see)