John Wallace- Spain 2019

Arrival 

William and I arrived at the Nashville airport for a reasonable 11:30 flight departure for Dallas. After a simple two hour flight and a lunch stop at the airport Applebee’s we embarked on our second flight to Madrid: a grueling nine hours. After nine hours of movies and NBA playoff basketball, we arrived at the Madrid airport in Spain and I could already tell we were in a much different place as the airport had high skying arches, gigantic light figures, and tan walls. Thinking our travelling was over, we hopped on a bus for a two hour ride to Salamanca, where we would be staying for three weeks. When we arrived at the bus station in Salamanca, our host mother Genoveva greeted us with hugs. We walked through the streets back to her apartment and admired the antique architecture and arrived at her apartment. We settled in our college dorm-style bedroom, ate a meal of rice and eggs, then promptly slept for the rest of the day.  

Stay in Salamanca 

On the roof of the Cathedral in Spain

Night View of the Cathedral in Salamanca

Outside the Cathedral in Salamanca

Plaza Mayor in Salamanca

For the following three weeks, we were in Salamanca. Things started off quick on the first day. We woke up at seven in the morning for eight o’clock classes. Our breakfast for that morning and the next twenty mornings consisted of three pieces of white bread, a croissant, plenty of nutella and strawberry jelly, and milk with chocolate powder. Immediately after, Genoveva led us through the streets of Salamanca to our school. We passed shops, went through the beautiful Plaza Mayor, and passed through some on the antique streets. We took classes from 8:45 until noon. The classes were all in Spanish and consisted of a combination of grammar lessons and discussion classes with our peers, college students as there were no students present our age just yet, and teachers, Alvaro and Angel. We would talk about our lives, comparing and contrasting our lives from the US to Spain, or just any general concerns we had. It was definitely some of the most fun I have ever had in classes. After school we would head back to Genoveva’s apartment for lunch, which consisted of a meat, soup, salad, bread, and fruit. For the first few days after lunch, we would participate in the siesta, or nap, since we were still very tired from the flight over. For the rest of the days we would explore the city and all of its wonderful places. We would walk through parks, shops(where we could see the clear difference between American and European clothes), gardens, churches, the college town, or anything we found interesting. One thing that we found most fun to do was playing basketball in the park next to our apartment. There we spoke the locals and although we were up against grown men twice the size of us, we were able to keep up with them and play some good basketball. We would also have culture activities in the afternoon which consisted of sports, tours of the cultural sites, or salsa dancing, which is more enjoyable than expected. Then we would come back for a dinner at 8:30 p.m., which was about the same as lunch. Then we would stay out until 11 and explore the nightlife of Salamanca and enjoy gelato in the Plaza. Some nights also consisted of stopping at a food truck festival for some food after dinner, seeing fireworks at the Puente Romano to celebrate the city, seeing a light show on one of the walls of the Plaza Mayor, or watching concerts for an art festival of Castille y Leon. These were really fun because we knew we would not be able to see anything like it in the US.

William and I at the tower in Granadilla

Excursions

Next to a pig statues at the Alberqua

Alba de Tornes

We also went a one day excursions to towns or historical sites around Salamanca or in the same region with our program. These places included the Alberqua, Alba de Tornes, Cacares, and Granadilla. At the Alberqua, we walked through a small, but culturally rich, town in which we saw a family house that was still in the same condition as it had been hundreds of years earlier. We also walked through small streets and besides streams going through the city. The Alba de Tornes was also a small town, but it had a tower that we were able to climb up and have views of the rest of the city and the landscape beyond. There was also a beautiful bridge with many arches. The next weekend we visited Cacares which is a city a bit smaller than Salamanca, but has a medieval town next to the Plaza Mayor. We were able to see the medieval architecture and the mix of cultures and religion in the town. That same day we visited Granadilla, which is an abandoned town with a tower in the middle that overlooks the mountains and lakes surrounding the town.

Travel Week

La Alhambra

Plaza de Espana

Bull Fighting Arena in Madrid

After our three week stay in Salamanca and saying goodbyes to friends our Genoveva, William and I made our way to the train station with our hiking backpacks to meet Sr. Paolicchi for a week's worth of travel through the southern region of Spain. After eating some bocadillas de jamon and a somewhat stressful train ride due to ticket problems, we arrived in Sevilla at around lunch time. We immediately left our luggage at our hotel rooms and went to a restaurant for ensaladilla rusa. Then we Sr. Paolicchi gave us a tour of the city. We saw the Plaza de Espana and the outside architecture of the cathedral and the bull arena. That night we went to an authentic tapas bar in which we had many little courses of food, but it added up to a lot. The following day we had tours of important sites in the city including the cathedral and the Royal Alcazar, a former palace of the royal family where we saw a beautiful garden and architecture. That night William and I attended a flamanco show and then enjoyed a dinner of seafood and steak with Sr. Paolicchi. We took a train to Granada the next day and stayed in the Hotel Sacramento, right in the middle of the action. The first thing we did was go to a seafood restaurant and we had mussels, calamari, some other fried little fish that still had the heads and tails. It was definitely the most seafood I had ever had. Then we toured around the city and hiked up to a location where we could get a fantastic view of La Alhambra, the gigantic fort looking over Granada. That night William and I went wandering throughout the small streets of the city and then met up with Sr. Paolicchi for a dinner of very nice looking tapas of salmon, Iberian jam, and hamas. We had a tour of La Alhambra the following day and we saw lots of gardens and carefully designed rooms and buildings at the fort. We were also able to get a great view of Granda as La Alhambra is so high up. That night we ate a luxurious meal of fish, meat, and different desserts. It being our last night in Granada, we

Real Madrid Futbol Field

went to the spot with the view of La Alhambra to see it when all the lights were on. The next morning, we left on a very nice bus to arrive at our final destination of Madrid. When we arrived in Madrid, we immediately got on the Metro and used that to travel to a stop near our Hostel. For lunch we had hamburgers, but with a Spanish twist. Then Sr. Paolicchi showed us around the metropolitan city so we could get our bearings since we would be there for three days. At first I thought it was just another big city like New York, but as we wandered more and more outside, we could see that there was more traditional parts than we thought.The next day, William and I had a scavenger hunt to complete in which we saw many statues and had to interact with the people to get our information. After completing it, we went to the Palace of the Royal Family. We then got patatas bravas and vistied the bull fighting arena, and fortunately there was no fighting going on. The next day we went to Toledo. We admired the architecture and the magnificent cathedral there. We were also able to see fantastic views of the landscape and city on the outside of the town. On our final day, William and I were able to choose what we wanted to do so we went to the soccer field of Real Madrid, wandered around the city to make sure we did not miss anything, and got some gift shopping done. The travel week in Spain is something I will never forget.

Toledo

Thanks

First, I would like to thank the Wilson Family for providing me with this amazing trip to Spain. There was not a better way to spend my last summer as an MBA student. Because of this experience, I was able to make memories and friends that will last a lifetime and I was able to become a much more proficient Spanish speaker. I also feel that I have a better perspective of the world now that I have traveled more. I would also like to thank Sr. Paolicchi for spending a week of his summer showing us around Spain and making the travel week a wonderful experience. This trip was amazing and I am truly thankful.