Para leer la versión en español, hacer clic aquí. 

¡Hola! My name is Éowyn Bailey and I am a Classics and Spanish double major with a concentration in Latin America, Latinx and Caribbean studies, and I am studying abroad in León, Spain for the entire 2024-2025 academic year. To document my adventures and remember various memories, I have been writing periodical newsletters in Spanish to my friends and family, which have been transformed into this and upcoming blog posts. Before I get into my experiences in León, which will show up in a later blog post, I am going to share a little about my first week in Spain with my mother, which I spent in Madrid and some surrounding sites.

My mother and I got to Madrid on the 28th of July, exhausted after a long trip, but excited to finally be in Spain. Although, for the first day, we decided to relax and get acclimated to the new time zone, the following day we began to enjoy the culture, going to El Retiro, a public park and historic garden, to get an idea of what the local vegetation is like.

After El Retiro, we went to the Museo Nacional del Prado (the National Prado Museum) to see the various works of art that it contains, though, above all, at least for me, Goya’s “Saturno devorando a su hijo” (“Saturn Devouring His Son”), which is my favorite Spanish painting. Since photos are prohibited inside the museum, I only have some from outside it. The last thing I’d like to note of what we did was to visit the Real Jardín Botánico (The Royal Botanical Garden), which would have been more beautiful were it not for the excessive heat that Madrid was experiencing this past summer, and then we explored in the evening. 

On the 30th, we walked to the Templo de Debod (Temple of Debod), a building that Egypt gifted Spain for helping save some of the Nubian temples, and we visited the Palacio Real de Madrid (Royal Palace of Madrid) and the Galeria Royal (Royal Gallery) so we could escape the heat for a little while and learn about the history of the monarchy and country. That evening, we tried some of our first tapas of the trip, of which my favorite was the croquetas de jamón ibérico (Iberian ham croquettes).

We spent the 31st in two museums: the Museo de América (Museum of America) and the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte de la Reina Sofía (Reina Sofía Museum). Actually, if I had to recommend that you visit a museum in Madrid, I would say that my favorite was the Museo de América because it has numerous interesting artifacts, including quite a few that contain feathers. Admittedly, I liked the Reina Sofía a lot less, but I enjoyed the temporary exhibition of some of Eva Lootz’s works, which we saw at the end of our visit. Her exhibition spoke to me and is what I would call “art with a purpose,” about which I learned in my Montserrat course. I have put some photos of her art so you can see them and have the opportunity to have your own interpretation of them. In addition to the museums that day, we ate breakfast at a place that had the most delicious cinnamon roll with frosting and shredded coconut on top.

Instead of staying in Madrid on August 1st, my mother and I decided after many, many hours of trying to figure out the bus system, to visit the Monastery of San Lorenzo de El Escorial. The monastery included a garden, a library, a chapel and a catacomb, among other spaces.

Although I enjoyed the other days, perhaps my favorite day of the trip was when we went to Segovia, despite the fact that the day started out a bit problematic because my mother’s glasses snapped and she had to fix them with a band-aid I had brought with me from the states (I have the tendency to pack with the mentality of “you never know!”). 

Since I am majoring in Classics in addition to Spanish, I feel that my Roman Empire is, well, the Roman Empire. I had the opportunity to see the aqueduct for the first time and I was extremely excited. In addition to the aqueduct, we saw the Alcázar (a fortress) and a cathedral. We tried to take things slowly, especially after the glasses fiasco, and the fact that my mother had twisted her ankle while walking down the steps to the Alcázar. 

August 3rd was our last vacation day before my trip to Santander for the Spanish summer course during the month of August and my mother’s return to the states. We spent it in what is quite possibly my second favorite museum in Madrid: the Museo Arqueológico Nacional (the National Archaeological Museum). For those of you who do not know, my first love is Egyptian mythology, thus I loved the ancient Egyptian exhibit, though I also immensely enjoyed the ancient Greek and Roman ones. 

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¡Hola a todos! Today, I am going to present everything Santander and other excursions around the city during the month of August, in which Holy Cross students participated in preparatory language and culture courses.

August 4th was my first day in Santander, which was difficult for me because I was dehydrated and I believe I had a fever, although I still managed to walk with friends to go see the beach. Here are two photos that show the view from the plane and then the beach.

All the time I spent away from class was at the beach with my friends or, sometimes, alone. The days we went together we talked, laughed, swam, sunbathed and all around had fun. As you can probably guess, I tanned pretty decently during my month there. When I went to the beach alone, I would walk barefoot in the sand and sometimes in the water. Because I typically took these beach walks in the afternoon, I found quite a bit of sea glass and seashells, though I decided only to keep a handful.

In addition to spending time at the beach, we did various excursions, including to the Museo Nacional y Centro de Investigación de Altamira and the town Santillana del Mar, the El Castillo cave, and Bilbao. For the first excursion, we were under the impression that we were going to visit the Altamira cave itself, not just its replica in the museum. It was a great big disappointment, and afterwards, when we referred to that excursion, we called it “la cueva falsa” (fake cave). The rest of the excursions were better received also, as I keep discovering, I do not enjoy modern art very much, thus the Guggenheim in Bilbao isn’t on my list of favorite museums. Here I have photos from Santillana del Mar and Bilbao because I didn’t take photos of the Altamira replica and photos are not permitted in El Castillo. 

Another excursion we did in Santander was a hike in Liencres. Originally, we were told that it was a mostly flat hike (it wasn’t), which encouraged me to go. However, although it was a difficult hike and I am afraid of heights, which was something I had to combat along the way, I would say that it was worth it because of the amazing views and the opportunity to share that experience with friends. I tried to capture its beauty in my photos, but you would have to go there to really appreciate the views and the journey.

The last few things about which I am going to write focus on the “little moments” that I had in Santander. In the middle of the month, Olivia, Lilly, Elizabeth and I went to a cat café (Catfé) because we wanted a relaxing and fun activity we could do on a rainy day.

During August, many of us from Holy Cross went a few times to the festival of nations to buy gifts or fun little trinkets, eat and drink, and listen to live music. At this fair, I discovered my love for Inca Kola, a Peruvian drink😊. 

The last activity that I will mention took place the last week we were in Santander: we went to the beach to watch the sunrise before class and it was unforgettable. If I close my eyes and think for a minute, I can imagine the sky’s various hues and feel the cold sand and warm water around my feet and ankles. Absolutely an incredible experience.

Also, if you ever get the chance to go to Santander and try ice cream from Regma or Helados El Mejor Gusto, I would recommend it. From Regma, my favorite flavor was hazelnut and from Helados El Mejor Gusto, it was either dulce de leche or blackberry. During the month of August, I had more ice cream than I’d maybe care to admit 😅.

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In this blog post, I will talk about my first month in León, my home in Spain until mid June. The beginning of September was rough, especially because I was sick and had to move from Santander to my new place in León. If you know the strange feeling of hearing yourself when you are congested, imagine it while trying to speak a foreign language… Spanish sounded weird and it was very difficult during my first week of healing.

I spent a week in orientation with other Erasmus students, a program run by the European Union to study abroad, and other students from other countries outside of Europe, to get to know the city and Universidad de León better. Additionally, we went on an excursion to Ponferrada and Astorga, where I bought myself a succulent who is now known as “Calista.”

After the first week and all of the difficulties that come with becoming acclimated to a new environment, the fun began. We had our first experience in a club (and to quote Profe Papio of the Holy Cross Spanish department, mi presence in a club “was not on my bingo card for 2024”) with Ainhoa, our liaison. Although it was a lot of fun, I am very grateful that we are not a group that wants to go out partying every night because I like to go to bed at an hour that I consider “reasonable” and prefer to spend most of my nights relaxing and preparing for the next day.

Another spectacle that I enjoyed quite a bit was the cultural celebration of León. There were people dressed in the traditional clothing that danced and played music. The instrument that caught my attention the most were the castañuelas or castanets, which the women play. At the beginning of October, I bought myself a pair as a souvenir. I have a photo of some of us Holy Cross students with a group of women in traditional dresses, but you can also see a video of a dance they performed here.

In addition to this celebration, we celebrate daily life by spending time together and taking photos of the little moments that make us smile.

On September 21st, we went on an excursion to Gijón, a city in Asturias, with the Erasmus students. Although it was cold during the first part of the day, walking through the city and seeing the coast was nice. However, problems arose when it began to downpour and our shoes and socks got drenched. If you know the squishy feeling of having your feet completely soaking wet, you will understand the discomfort we felt the entire day. We stayed in a cafe for an hour to escape the rain and eventually made our way to the aquarium, which was an unforgettable experience for me. For those of you who do not know this tidbit about me, my favorite short story in Spanish is “Axólotl” by Julio Cotázar, an Argentine writer, and this aquarium has axolotl/ajolotes. Thus, I was on cloud nine and I believe that our decision to visit the aquarium was an excellent idea.

The final event of the month of September, which probably was the one to which I was looking forward the most, was the trip Lilly and I took to Tenerife to visit with Profe Papio, who was there to participate in an academic conference. Almost immediately after arriving, I was enchanted with the island and decided I didn’t want to return to León (I promise I did truly go back to continue my studies), believing that I had discovered paradise. The flora was breathtaking, the natural pools refreshing and the views from our AirBnb impeccable. Also, we ate well and had an amazing dinner with Profe Papio and her friend and colleague Jerelyn.

At night, you can see the stars like I had never seen before in my life and I brought back two souvenirs with me to León: a sunburn that became a tan, and an artisanal necklace. Despite the long journey and the other mishaps, it was a wonderful experience that I will always cherish.

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¡Hola! I hope you all are doing well. Here we are, once again, with another blog post about my continued adventures in Spain. Before beginning the narration for the month of October, I want to announce that, during this month, I walked 156.6 miles or 252.02 kilometers and these numbers bring my total to 475.6 miles or 765.4kilometers. Also, I would like to mention that, in the first semester, I took four courses, which include a general Spanish class of C1 level, the History of Colonial America, Spanish Renaissance Literature, and Spanish Baroque Literature. All of the courses turned out fairly well for me, though the last two were the most difficult.

At the beginning of the month, everyone in León was celebrating the festival of San Froilán, one of the city’s saints. Along the streets were stands filled with food, crafts and other products, and in the San Francisco park there was a food truck festival called “Come y Calle.” I bought myself a pair of castañuelas, a chimney cake, and a surprise gift for a euro. The funny thing is that I received a surprise gift (you will see the photo)… later, I gifted it to Daniel when we saw him. Afterwards, when he left to go out partying with his friends, he was still wearing it.

Without a doubt, we had a lot of fun during San Froilán.

On October 11th, our group visited the basilica of San Isidoro and we learned about the importance of the church/Catholicism in León. The days following, Brendan and Xander, two friends from Holy Cross, came to visit us. We went out to eat tapas and spent time together in some parks in León. During that time I also went to a used book festival and Dean Paco came to visit. The night of his visit, we dined in an Italian restaurant, where I ate one of the most delicious pizzas of my life. It had caramelized onions and goat cheese and I still dream about that pizza.

On October 13th, a date that I previously omitted because we had an excursion. We went to Astorga to visit the Palacio de Gaudí and las Médulas, an ancient Roman mine. It was a long and exhausting day, but it was worth it, especially because we had the opportunity to enter a section of the mine and enjoy the beauty of the extraordinary landscape.

Now, I am going to flash forward a bit to focus on the end of the month, including a visit to the León cathedral and a trip to Basque country. First up: the cathedral. While the stained glass is impressive and I enjoyed the visit, I felt a little disappointed because they were restoring the inside while we were there, which was not going on a few days before. Also, it was a cold and windy day, which did not help the fact that I was coughing and was sick with a sinus infection.

The trip to Basque country was amazing. Although we were not certain we wanted to go back to Bilbao the 26th after being there in August, we had new experiences in the city and a lot more free time to explore and participate in the city’s culture. We walked along the ría (kind of like a river, but with salt water) and went on a tour on a ship from an agency wittily called “Bilboats.” Afterwards, we walked through the city until it was time to go to the hotel.

On the 27th, we visited Getaria, a place we did not realize we were going to visit, but was a nice surprise, and San Sebastián. Getaria is a small city on the coast which made me immediately feel at home. If I were to return to Spain to live, I think it would be on my list of places I would consider.

Before going to San Sebastián, we visited el Peine de los Vientos, a collection of sculptures made by Eduardo Chillida. After that visit, we finally went to the city, where we walked, ate and shopped. I can understand why San Sebastián is one of the richest cities in Spain: it is very beautiful and clean and it is right on the beach. Also, I want to add that the evening we were in San Sebastián was one of the best afternoons I had had since coming to Spain. Imagine this: you are on a carousel at sunset, bathed in orange and pink, and absolutely happy. To me, it is like we lived the typical ending of an adventure film in which we rode white horses off into the sunset. During those five minutes or so on the carousel, we found pure joy. Additionally, before sunset, I ate a very rich and smooth dulce de leche ice cream, which contributed to the perfect evening. It is another food of which I still dream.

One day, when I was talking on the phone with my mother, she said to me, “you should include Casa Botines” in your newsletter because it is cool that there’s a Gaudí in León that you get to see often” and I replied, “but I pass it every day. It’s not that special” and I suddenly realized that I had become desensitized to something wonderful and significant in my host city. That is why I am including a photo here with some pretty pink flowers:

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¡Hola a todos! This newsletter details my experiences from November and December, though not including my trip to the south of Spain, Gibraltar and Tangier with my mother and uncle during the winter break. That will be in the next blog post.

November began with the hardest hike of my life. Although Daniel told me and Elizabeth that according to information online it was going to be easy and that all of the photos showed flat terrain, it was not that way at all. I fell multiple times and I complained a lot because I was having difficulties climbing since the path was full of acorns and wet leaves. Despite the setbacks and all of the complaints (which, basically, were only from me), Daniel was really patient with me and helped me climb the most difficult parts and, without a doubt, the landscape was worth it.

Around the middle of the month, we went to Galicia, which was a beautiful trip in which I confronted my fear of heights and had the opportunity to see another region of Spain. Although we learned many things, the Camino de Santiago formed a fundamental part of the trip.

The stop on the trip was to O Cebreiro, a small village that is on the route of the Camino de Santiago. While I would like to say more about being there, the only thing I really remember from that stop was the fierce wind that made me regret leaving the bus. After a quick visit to a local bar to warm up and drink something warm, we returned to the bus and went to the Convento de Santo Domingo de Bonaval y el Museo de Pablo Galego, a warmer place than the previous one. The most beautiful and interesting thing about that stop was the stairs, which form a perfect spiral.

Afterwards, we had some free time to explore Santiago de Compostela before the tour, which brought us onto the roof of the cathedral, where I faced my fear of heights. The opportunity to be on the roof and see the entire city at sunset was amazing and terrifying at the same time because I had to walk up and down the marble “stairs” to follow the tour, but the view truly was incredible and unforgettable. If you ever get to visit there and be on the roof, do it.

We spent the night in Santiago de Compostela before waking up and traveling to Finisterre, also known as “The End of the World,” which is the last trip on the Camino de Santiago, where pilgrims bathe in the sea to symbolize purification and rebirth. In the evening, around sunset, we went to Castro de Baroña, an enchanting Celtic settlement on the coast of Galicia. Perhaps this stop was my favorite of the trip because we could see the ocean and a reminder of the past, all bathed in crepuscular rays. I can imagine what the settlement was like: full of people and life, being an ideal place to live and tell stories.

Eventually, along came November 29th, the ceremony to light all the Christmas lights in León, which Elizabeth, Lauren and I attended. We saw the Christmas “tree,” the lights on the street and the angels and market which were alongside the cathedral. If you want to watch the video, click here.

A few days later, at the beginning of December, we went to the Valporquero caves, with the Centro de Idiomas students, bringing the grand total of number of caves in which I have been in 2024 to three, if we include El Castillo in Santander and Las Médulas. To be honest, these caves were more captivating and safe than El Castillo. I felt like I could walk more easily and without the fear of slipping and falling. Although everyone says that the Valporquero caves are better after a rainy season, I am grateful that they were not that way, especially because that ensured less of a risk of slipping and falling. The last thing I will note about the caves is that seeing all the stalactites and stalagmites rekindled my interest in and passion for rocks.

The second to last thing I will talk about in this blog post is what I did on Christmas morning. After going to bed around 1 a.m., I decided I wanted to wake up early to watch the sunrise over the cathedral, which surprised my hostess. I got up at 7:30 in the morning, got myself ready, and left home to walk toward the cathedral, which is about 20 minutes away from my apartment in León.

Now, I will display some extra photos from my walk through León or from things I had done, all of which do not specifically fit within a narrative or need a long explanation:

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As promised, here I will talk about my trip to the south of Spain, Gibraltar and Tangier with my mother and Uncle Eric. Welcome to all the chaos, happiness and celebration that this ten day trip contains! The most difficult part of this blog post was choosing all of the photos that I wanted to showcase because there are many that I love but there’s not enough space for all of them. And, with that being said, let us begin!

We open to the 28th of December, when I took the train from León to Madrid, where my mother and my uncle picked me up to bring me to Granada, where we spent the afternoon of the 28th, all of the 29th and the morning of the 30th. Without a doubt, the whole city is enchanting and I understand why it is one of the locations to which we send Holy Cross students (though, of course, I will always believe León is the best). Granada is rich in history and culture with sites like the Alhambra and the cathedral, the orange trees that line the streets, the overlooks that directly view the Alhambra and the city, various shops and restaurants, and, of course, cats. 

On the morning of the 29th, we went to the overlook called San Nicolás to see the Alhambra before visiting it. The journey toward it reminded me quite a bit of Holy Cross because all of it was uphill. Suddenly, I am really grateful to have chosen to go to León because it is a rather flat or level city. After staying at the overlook and taking photos, we went to the Alhambra and began the visit, which lasted nearly all day.

Then, at night, we returned to the overlook to see the Alhambra all lit up and, in the morning, we visited the Granada cathedral before leaving the city and moving on with the trip.

After visiting the cathedral, we said goodbye to Granada and visited the Parque Federico García Lorca in Alfacar before driving to Ronda, a “white” city in the province of Málaga. We only stayed for a short while in the park because there wasn’t much to see and we wanted to continue the journey, but you can see some photos of the poems that are there in addition to what the park looks like in general. Later, we drove to Ronda, where we enjoyed a spectacular view of the bridge and Desfiladero (a gorge) from our AirBnB. Click here to see a video of the view. In the afternoon; when we were already comfortable and had rested, we walked through and around the city to see the different views and get to know the culture. In the morning, we went on a tour of the bull ring and saw many cats in a nearby garden. If you ever have the chance to visit Ronda, even just briefly, I recommend it.

On New Year’s Eve, we went to Gibraltar, which technically means that I have officially been in the United Kingdom (I don’t think the airport counts). We walked through a part of the city to stretch our legs and in search of a place to eat. Later, because we were already there, we drove up the majority of the rock —a nightmare because there were no guardrails— and we finished the climb, walking. On the path to the peak there were many macaques and some geckos and it was absolutely incredible to see the coast of Africa in the distance and Gibraltar below. Afterwards, we went to Europa Point to see the lighthouse and watch the sunset and then we returned to the AirBnB where I ate the 12 grapes, as is tradition with the ringing in of the New Year.

We rose early on the 1st (Happy New Year!) to drive to Tarifa, the southernmost town in the Iberian peninsula, and catch the ferry to Tangier, Morocco. With Adil, our guide, we visited the Cave of Hercules and the medina, walked through a lot of the city, and, of course, we took photos of nearly all the cats we saw and stopped to pet many of them. My first time in Africa and Morocco was great and I would like to visit other cities there in the future. Because I do not believe my words are sufficient to describe the experiences in Tangier, I leave you with photos:

We returned to Spain midday of January 2nd on the roughest ferry-ride of my life. To say that I was nauseous would be too brief about the situation. As soon as we hit land, I swore I would not take another boat in the near future and we got in the car to drive to Sevilla, where we arrived by nightfall. Thus, we were able to enjoy seeing the Christmas decorations and the cathedral completely illuminated and (heehee) eat ice cream. The next day and first thing in the morning, we visited the Palace of Lebrija and —in the morning and at night— we went to the Plaza de España to admire the architecture and enjoy the sunlight. Sevilla, without a doubt, would be another recommended place to visit.

We left Sevilla the 4th to visit Itálica, an ancient Roman city situated nearby in the region, which contained various mosaics, some ruins of buildings and an amphitheater, and the Almodóvar del Río castle, which was en route to Córdoba. When we arrived there, we spent the afternoon in the mosque-cathedral and walking the city bridges, trying to take photos of the sunset. Being the last few days of the trip, we took things easy and decided that it was better to relax than try to see everything possible. On January 5th we drove to Toledo, where we visited the cathedral and walked the streets before returning to our starting point, Madrid, where we said goodbye to each other the morning of the 6th because I was going back to León and my uncle and mother to the United States.

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After the suspense at the end of the last newsletter, I will now reveal what I meant when I wrote “I was ready to return home to León and rest for a few days, which was not exactly what had happened”: three days after returning to León from our trip, I took an exam on Spanish Renaissance literature (January 9th), flew to Rome, where I stayed until the 12th, and returned to León to take my exam on Baroque literature on the 13th. Additionally, I was sick during the trip and two exams. Although many told me that “ah, you’ll be fine: you’re young and resilient,” the decision to travel between taking two exams and immediately after another trip and the submission of many essays is not one I recommend. Please don’t do it…for your own well-being.

That being said, welcome once again to my blog! In this edition I cover the months of January and February because not too terribly much happened and I think they go together well.

The trip to Italy and the Vatican did not go quite as I expected, although in the end it was a good experience. Like I already mentioned, Lilly and I traveled from León to Rome almost immediately after our final exam. We didn’t arrive until 1 am on the 10th and after checking into our hotel, we died (or, rather, we immediately went to bed and I don’t remember much after that). We woke up early that day too because we had a timed ticket to get into the Vatican. We also went to the Flavian Amphitheater (or Colisseum) just before sunset, which was amazing. Afterwards, we walked toward the Trevi Fountain, eating cannoli, and en route I bought myself a painting from a street artist who was painting in watercolor.

On the 11th we went to Pompeii, where it rained almost all day, and we took a tour through the ruins. We saw many cats, listened to stories about the ancient city and took lots of pictures. The Cambridge Latin 1 Course Book came to life for me that day. Here I’ll leave you with the photos because they speak for themselves and my words alone wouldn’t be enough to tell how much I loved Pompeii.

I returned to León on the 12th, took my Baroque exam the next day, and then I basically had an entire month to take care of various things, relax, walk the city and meet with professors in order to look over the grades I had received in my classes. Also (I almost forgot), I spent my birthday with some friends in a low-key celebration, which made me very happy. Here are the photos I have from the rest of January through the middle of February:

And thus arrived February 14th, my favorite holiday (this is sarcasm, though I spent it in the best way possible). That week was the first one of the second semester, but since I didn’t have class on Fridays, I traveled to Madrid to stay with my uncle and aunt, cousin and my aunt’s parents, who were visiting Spain (and me). We went to the San Miguel Market, the royal palace and Retiro park, among other places. While I walked with my family, I talked with my cousin (who was nearly 11 at the time) about Greek mythology, video games and many, many other topics. At the end of the visit, he said to me, “walking isn’t so awful if you’re with someone else and you have a conversation,” which might now be one of my mottos. I had an excellent time and I missed my family.

The last thing I’m going to discuss is that my friend Hannah visited me in León during the first part of Carnaval. We walked through the city, went out partying, saw a parade and ate a lot of good food. It was cool to spend time with her, especially since we had not seen each other since the prior year.

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March has already gone by. I did a little more this month than the first two of the year combined, including a trip to Porto with my family and Coruña with two friends. But before I cover those, I’ll discuss the rest of my experiences in León during Carnaval.

I attended the parade of the antruejos on the Tuesday of Carnaval. It is a celebration that acts as the recovery of a tradition in which various towns from the locality disguise themselves (wearing costumes) and run, jump and play drums, among other activities. There was a warning on the informational pamphlet that we received: it was possible that we could be stained during the parade (but we went without a concrete reason as to why). We thought we were safe in the back of the crowd, watching the parade… How wrong were we! They ran behind us and, in the end, we had sand stains on our pants.

On Wednesday, March 5 (Ash Wednesday), we participated in what might be one of the greatest traditions in León: the parade in which the sardine is burned. If you’re confused, there’s a good reason. I’ll explain it now. In this parade, the Entierro de la Sardina (the Burial of the Sardine), we followed the figure of a sardine in a ‘tour’ of the city until we reached a bonfire, where it was burned. There were women dressed in black to indicate that they were in mourning, a man dressed up as a professor, another as a priest, etc. Well, Elizabeth, Lauren and I followed the parade through the city, “crying” and wiping away the tears from our cheeks with a shared tissue. After the burial (in reality, the burning/cremation) of the sardine, the man posing as a professor commented that we did an excellent job lamenting the death of the sardine. And thus ended Carnaval.

After arriving home rather late after the Entierro de la Sardina, I had dinner and packed a suitcase to go to Porto the next day, where I was going to reunite with my mom, Uncle Eric, Aunt Kristin and cousin, Ella. A few hours after I arrived that afternoon, we visited the church of San Ildefonso, went shopping (I bought myself a sweater that I love), climbed many (too many) stairs and hills, and we attended a fado show. Also, I saw a cute black cat and shared a passionfruit Fanta and a guaraná one with my mother.

Then, on March 7th, I woke up rather early and because we were all up, my mother, uncle and I decided to go for a stroll to see a little more of the city. After that and post some grocery shopping to ensure breakfast for all, we visited an azulejos (blue tile) church, the famous bookstore Libería Lello, a stained glass museum and the Paço Episcopal do Porto. In addition to all of those activities, I discovered how rich Portuguese food is. For lunch, I ate the yummiest vegetables of my life and I would really like to return, even if only to eat them again.

Visiting Coimbra, a pretty city about an hour south of Porto occupied us on the 8th. We saw another cat there (heehee kitties!) and enjoyed the nice weather minus the half hour in which it down-poured. The next day I left Porto and my family and returned to León in the morning.

Here, I am going to flash forward a bit because I am going to cover my trip to Coruña with Elizabeth and Lauren during the 21st-23rd of March, of which the last day was Lauren’s birthday. The first day of our trip we, of course, visited the Tower of Hercules. Whether or not my friends wanted to see it, I was going to force them to go with me. That morning it rained so much and was so windy that we watched as a woman lost her umbrella (swept out to sea). At that point, having realized we wanted to spend a while indoors to escape the wind and rain, we went into the aquarium which, without a doubt, was well worth it. Among the various exhibits (both interactive and ones simply to look and read), we had the opportunity to see the workers feeding seals.

On the 22nd, despite the AEMET (Agencia Estatal de Meteorología) warning, we left the hotel for breakfast. At first, only a light drizzle was falling and we thought nothing was going to happen. In less than fifteen minutes (luckily the coffee shop we were going to was nearby), it seemed like we were caught in a hurricane with all the wind and rain. It was safe to say that we stayed there for an hour before meeting with Mosk, a foreign language assistant (FLA) who worked at Holy Cross last year. After lunch, Mosk took us to an Irving Penn photo gallery next to a harbor and we took a walk to get ice cream and see some new parts of the city and the ocean, and we all finally saw the octopus mosaic. We had a great time and enjoyed seeing Mosk again.

We got up early on the 23rd because we had to check out of the hotel and leave in the afternoon. That morning, we ate the best breakfast of the trip: I had a bowl of yogurt with granola, blueberries and chocolate chips and a piece of tortilla de patata; Lauren had toast with cream cheese, avocado and Iberian ham; and, Elizabeth enjoyed a piece of red velvet cake (I tried it too) and toast with cream cheese and avocado. We all drank orange juice and Cola Cao or a coffee in Elizabeth’s case. After breakfast, we sat on a bench near the ocean to watch the waves and people walking. This resulted in the opportunity to pet many puppies. What a wonderful trip it was!

Now, back to the middle of the month and I will also cover what happened after the Coruña trip. Elizabeth, Lauren and I went out partying, spent time with other friends, including a good friend of Elizabeth’s who visited from the US, and spring arrived. I have been told that spring is the best time to be in Leon and we are excited to continue our adventure here.

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Oh, how time flies! April is gone and there is so much to tell about the month. April was full of travel, emotions and several nights with few hours of sleep. How did I survive? I have no idea. This blog post is not going to follow an order that is completely chronological because of all there is to say and because I am going to skip the Holy Week (Semana Santa) experiences and put them in a different blog post because it was a very impactful week for me and deserves to have its own spotlight. And so we start with my trip to Amsterdam with Elizabeth the first weekend of April.

One of my dreams came true when we went to Amsterdam: we went to the tulip festival (my favorite flower) at Keukenhof garden, which was a beautiful and unforgettable experience. We had tickets for 11 am, but reality has its own plans sometimes… Due to some problems with the official agency that always maintains the buses and tickets, we waited until 12:15 pm to go to the garden, which changed the rest of our plans, though few, for the day.

Anyway, we arrived at Keukenhof and immediately we were amazed at the wonder of being there. Who knew that there are as many types of tulips as there are? I didn’t. There had to be at least a hundred different kinds based on what we saw in the garden, and that’s just counting the tulips and not including the fact that there were also hyacinths and daffodils in addition to other flowers.

After the visit to Keukenhof, we went to the Van Gogh Museum and the ‘Red Light Secrets’ Museum, which addresses the subject of prostitution in the Red Light District. Both were unique and interesting experiences but for different reasons. The Van Gogh Museum was great because I learned a little more about his life and had the opportunity to see several of his works. On the other hand, the Red Light Secrets Museum taught me a lot about the individual stories, including the risks and practices, of being a prostitute in the Red Light District.

The next morning, Elizabeth and I visited a coffee shop with cats for breakfast and afterwards, we visited the zoo, went souvenir shopping and ate stroopwafels. Although it was a less packed day of things to do, it made it a more leisurely end and the perfect way to conclude the trip.

On April 23rd and 24th, Elizabeth, Lauren, Maddie and I went with the Centro de Idiomas group to Segovia and Toledo, which was two days after the last day of Semana Santa. That trip marked the second time I had been to both cities. While we did not do as much as I would have liked in Segovia, I had the opportunity to visit more places and do more in Toledo than my first time.

In Segovia, we visited the aqueduct and the Alcázar and then went to La Granja de San Ildefonso to see the town and the fountains. It was unique to visit La Granja de San Ildefonso because it was my first time there. Nevertheless, it was still a trip I enjoyed overall.

In Toledo, we went to the mosque (later a Catholic church), a synagogue, the cathedral, the Iglesia del Salvador and the Iglesia de San Tomé. On top of all that, we looked for a sword for Lauren (we both wound up getting something). Overall, although it was a busy day, we had a great time and I enjoyed having new experiences in Toledo.

In the late evening of the 24th we returned to León from Toledo and four hours later, Elizabeth and I took a bus (the 25th) to go to Madrid for a flight to Vienna. If you believe that we’re crazy for doing that, you’re probably right. We got on the bus at 2 a.m. and flew out from Madrid at 8:30 a.m., arriving in Vienna around 12 p.m. We ate in the airport to pass the time before we could check into our AirBnB and to try to avoid the rain. After all that, we stayed in our AirBnB all afternoon because we did not want to go out in the rain and I had to finish an application for a scholarship and begin a class project. Furthermore, we prepared ourselves for our trip to Bratislava the next day.

If I only had one thing to say about Bratislava, I’d say that it’s an enchanting city. Since my first trip outside the United States was to Prague, Czechia, I was quite nostalgic spending the day in Bratislava, which has similar characteristics and vibes. From the train station, we walked to the old town, past the Bratislava Skate Cup (a fun and random little thing to see), across the Danube on a bridge that is for pedestrians and cars, and saw several monuments and pretty buildings. Finally, we arrived in the old town and had breakfast in a cafe; that meal was the best of the whole trip. After breakfast, we entered the city and started to discover everything about Bratislava. We visited the Blue Church which is called Modrý kostol in Slovak and is also known as the Church of St. Elizabeth, the Čumil or the Worker, which is a statue on the ground, and I ate a trdelnik, or chimney cake.

We spent the entirety of the next day in Vienna, trying to see as much as we could without tiring ourselves out too much. We visited Upper Belvedere, a baroque palace, which is now a museum filled with art by Klimt and other artists, St. Stephen’s Cathedral, the Augustinian Church, the National Library, and the Jesuit Church. We did all of this in addition to searching for some souvenirs. Although, in the end, it was a long day, it was worth it and I think we enjoyed our trip to Austria.

Now, April 28th, the best day of my life (this is sarcasm). My goodness, where to begin…? On April 28th, Elizabeth and I left Vienna at 12:20, only 10 minutes or so before the power outage that left Spain and Portugal (and some parts of other countries as well) without power for at least 8 hours in some places. While some flights were cancelled or rerouted, ours landed in Madrid on time, but still without stable or existing internet connection. I immediately contacted my mother and tried to conserve my battery in case of an emergency. Elizabeth and I also stood in a queue for cabs, where it took us two hours to get to the bus station to catch our bus and eventually arrive in León. Well, although we had time between landing and leaving the bus, we did spend two hours waiting for a cab and then another hour in the cab going to the station. Anyway, we missed the bus by ten minutes and were without an internet connection to tell anyone where we were or buy a ticket for another bus. Although sometimes my internet came back and only for a few minutes, Elizabeth’s didn’t. We were stranded. At 9pm, a little before the lights came back on in the part of Madrid where we were located, I received internet access and tried to contact anyone to help us find a way back to León or accommodation for the night. After speaking with my mother, who already knew the situation and had offered some solutions, she spoke with my cousin, whose bosses were in Madrid, newly called to be missionaries in the area. Kindly, they offered us a place to stay for the night, where we arrived around 11:15pm, and for dinner, as we had not eaten since 10 that morning. Elizabeth and I looked for tickets for the bus at midnight and then at 6am when we woke up, but found nothing. However, there were tickets on the website at 7 a.m. and we bought them to leave Madrid at 10:30 a.m. and arrive in Leon around 3 p.m. A happy ending.

Additionally, that night we met up with our new friends, Daniel (‘el nuevo’/the New), whom we met during Semana Santa. Here are some photos of me and Elizabeth outside of the bus station, wisteria in León and us with Daniel ‘el nuevo’.

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I will always lack the perfect words to completely describe my experiences from Semana Santa in León. Therefore, although I will put here the words I have already written for my Instagram post in addition to some descriptions of the days and processions, please know that everything that I feel is much more profound than what words could express. For the majority of the days, I will simply name the processions and their cofradías (a 1:1 translation would be ‘confraternity,’ which is, essentially, a brotherhood), hermandades (‘brotherhoods’) or organizations after the photos. Also, to give a bit of context: the people in the hoods who carry the pasos are called “papones” in León although, in the rest of Spain, they are known as “cofrades” (‘of the cofradía’) or “nazarenos” (‘Nazarenes’).

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I feel compelled to dedicate the time and space to share a summary of my experiences from Semana Santa. I will start with the numbers: I have taken nearly 1,900 photos and videos (some of which are duplicates that I will surely need to delete), I have walked almost 81.2 miles or 130.68 kilometers, my night with the most sleep consisted of 5 hours (the one with fewest, only 2.5 hours) and I have attended 27 processions and acts.

On Viernes de Dolores (Friday of Sorrows), we missed the first procession due to the rain. We were sitting at the Plaza de San Marcelo, a place on the programmed route waiting for it, but we did not realize that we should have gone to the starting place to see if it had been cancelled. Exactly that happened and, in place of the procession, there was an act inside the building.

On Sábado de Pasión (Saturday of Passion) we tried once again and we managed to go to the first procession of the day: el Camino de la Pasión y la Esperanza (The Path of Passion and Hope). Unfortunately, it was canceled due to it drizzling. However, we still were able to see an act. After being there until almost the end, we left in an attempt to see another procession (la Solemne vía crucis procesional or ‘the Processional Solemn Way of the Cross) because it was no longer raining, but there were other problems there… After waiting nearly an hour after the supposed start time, we learned that the church that was the starting point was locked and no one had a key. In the end, we returned home to eat dinner without seeing it.

Domingo de Ramos (Palm Sunday)

La procesión de las palmas (Junta Mayor de la Semana Santa de León por la delegación del Cabildo Catedral)

La procesión de los ramos (Parroquia de Jesús Divino Obrero)

La Procesión del Cristo del Gran Poder (Cofradía Cristo del Gran Poder)

La Inmemorial procesión del Dainos – Santo Rosario de la buena muerte 

(Orden Franciscana Seglar (OFS), en colaboración con la Cofradía Santísimo Cristo de la Expiración y del Silencio)

La Procesión de nuestro señor Jesús de la Redención (Cofradía Nuestro Señor Jesús de la Redención)

Lunes Santo (Holy Monday)

La Procesión de la Pasión (Cofradía de Nuestra Señora de las Angustias y Soledad, Cofradía del Dulce Nombre de Jesús Nazareno y Real Cofradía del Santísimo Sacramento de Minerva y la Santa Vera Cruz)

Martes Santo (Holy Tuesday)

La Procesión del Perdón (Cofradía del Santo Cristo del Perdón)

La Procesión dolor de nuestra madre (Cofradía Nuestra Señora de las Angustias y Soledad)

After meeting up with Daniel on Martes Santo, thinking we had already missed one of the last processions of the night, I heard drums in the distance. Suddenly, we ran toward them and determined which procession it was and we went running toward the end point. En route, we met Daniel ‘el nuevo’ (‘The New’), a photographer who guided us to the “best spot” to take photos. I will later put a photo we have with him.

Miércoles Santo (Holy Wednesday)

La Procesión Jesús Camino del Calvario (Cofradía de La Agonía de Nuestro Señor)

La Procesión del Silencio (Cofradía Santísimo Cristo de la Expiración y del Silencio)

La Procesión Virgen de la Amargura (Real Cofradía del Santísimo Sacramento de Minerva y la Santa Vera Cruz)

La Solemne Vía Cruciz Procesional (Cofradía Las Siete Palabras de Jesús en la Cruz)

Jueves Santo (Holy Thursday)

La Procesión de las Bienaventuranzas (Cofradía del Santo Cristo de la Bienaventuranza)

El Pregón a caballo (Cofradía Las Siete Palabras de Jesús en la Cruz)

La Procesión de la despedida (Cofradía Cristo del Gran Poder)

La Procesión de la Sagrada Cena (Hermandad Sacramental de Santa Marta y de las Sagrada Cena)

La Procesión María al pie de la cruz, camino de la esperanza (Cofradía María del Dulce Nombre)

Viernes Santo (Holy Friday)

La Procesión de los pasos (Cofradía del Dulce Nombre de Jesús Nazareno)

To access the Encuentro (‘Meeting’), which usually occurs in the Plaza Mayor, although this year it took place in front of the cathedral due to construction in Plaza Mayor, one needs a ticket. However, I did not have one… of course, you must be asking “then how do you have a photo of the Encuentro, Éowyn?” Well, because Daniel ‘el nuevo’ is a photographer, he managed to get the police officer to let me enter to watch it. Also, I would like to note that the paso “la Dolorosa,” which is of the Virgin Mary and is in the last two photos, was carried by Guillermo, another friend of mine.

Procesión de las siete palabras (Cofradía Las Siete Palabras de Jesús en la Cruz)

Solemne y oficial procesión del Santo Entierro (Real Cofradía del Santísimo Sacramento de Minerva y la Santa Vera Cruz)

Sábado Santo (Holy Saturday)

All of the Procession on Sábado Santo (Holy Saturday) were canceled to have acts inside their respective churches and the Semana Santa Museum due to the heavy rain that was falling the entire afternoon. After the second act, I visited Toni, a friend, who was working inside a tent in which there were the pasos for Domingo de Resurrección (Resurrection Sunday, or Easter Sunday). He advised me to pay attention especially to the fruit in one of the pasos and certain flowers in others. Here are the photos:

La Procesión del Santo Cristo del Desenclavo (Cofradía del Santo Cristo del Desenclavo)

En la tienda después de La Procesión de la Soledad (Real Hermandad de Jesús Divino Obrero)

La Procesión Camino de la Luz (Cofradía Santo Sepulcro — Esperanza de la Vida)

Piadoso Vía Lucís (Sacramental y Penitecial Cofradía de Nuestro Padre Jesús Sacramentado y María Santísima de la Piedad, Amparo de los Leoneses)

Domingo de Resurrección (Resurrection/Easter Sunday)

There’s only one procession on Resurrection Sunday: la Procesión del Encuentro (the Procession of the Meeting), in which three pasos meet in front of the cathedral: the pasos of Las Tres Marías (the three Marys), Jesus Christ resurrected, and San Juan (Saint John). My friend, Toni, carried the San Juan paso that day.

La Procesión de El Encuentro (Real Hermanad de Jesús Divino Obrero)

Lauren, Elizabeth and I with Daniel ‘el nuevo’ and his friend.

***

Here are some things that I bought and was given by the papones during Semana Santa. I have some little ceramic papones, many estampitas (the cards given out during processions), a balcony banner, some pins, etc.

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Although it was already difficult to write about my experiences during Semana Santa because I had strong emotions during that time, again it is difficult for me to tell everything that belongs to the months of May and June because it is to celebrate and lament, again, my last days in Leon and Spain.

Let’s start with June. If you remember well two newsletters ago, Elizabeth and I returned safely from Madrid to León after the power outage of April 29. Well, on May 1, we left León, again on a trip (this time with Lauren), to visit Valencia…

Everyone speaks highly of Valencia: there’s good culture, good food, it’s a good place to visit. While I agree with them (only to a certain extent, I would add), it’s not a city I feel compelled to visit more than once. Also, after going, we discovered that all the chatter about Valencia mainly comes from young people and party goers. But we didn’t go to party, but rather more generally for the culture and history.

May 1st was long in terms of travel and we only left the AirBnB to wander around the city and eat; we left the ‘fun’ for the next day when we went to the Oceanogràfic, Valencia’s aquarium, which was certainly worth it (and the price).

After the aquarium, we took a while to rest before visiting an artisan craft market and the cathedral in the evening. In addition to those places,  we wandered around the central area of the city to get to know it better, which led to seeing another church and some fountains, among other things. 

On May 3rd, at the suggestion of a professor, Asunción, I convinced Lauren and Elizabeth to go to Sagunto, a small town to the north of Valencia. Sagunto, compared to Valencia, is more charming in terms of history and culture, in my opinion. It has a church, a Roman amphitheater and several streets and cafes and everything can be seen in about a day. There was also a festival of ancient Roman culture in the center of town. I stopped to talk to a woman representing a weaver who explained all about the looms and other tools used for weaving in ancient times.

We left Valencia on May 4th to visit Madrid, which was my third time there (the first with my mother and the second with my uncle, aunt and cousin) and Elizabeth’s first time apart from the blackout. We had the opportunity to visit Paula, our friend and professor from Santander (in August, if you remember well the second newsletter), go to the Templo de Debod, participate (eat) in a feast of nations in the Plaza de España and enter the Prado Museum for a couple of hours.

Life between our return to León on May 4th until May 16th (which I’ll tell) was pretty quiet in terms of travel or more ‘notable’ activities, let’s say. Outside of being busy at the university (I had several projects, presentations, quizzes, etc. to complete), I found time to walk (even in the rain), meet with Daniel ‘el nuevo’ and attend a besamanos of María Santísima de la Misericordia.

I, completely fascinated by Semana Santa, convinced Elizabeth and Lauren to go to the Museo Diocesano y de la Semana Santa (Diocesan and Semana Santa Museum) on May 16th, where you see many figures from the pasos from the processions during Semana Santa. On the 27th I also went alone to the museum because I wanted more time to read everything and take pictures (the first time Lauren and Elizabeth, not as fascinated as I, went through more quickly than I wanted to go). Also, the second time there was music, which you hear in this video. The museum is small but charming, in my opinion, and it helped me remember Semana Santa.

So, on May 17th we went with the Centro de Idiomas students to Burgos and La Rioja and, although we enjoyed the trip, we decided in the end that it would have been better if we had gone ourselves on our own trip to Burgos and the surrounding area and maybe not to La Rioja, but such is life. We went into the cathedral in Burgos and that was the only thing we did there and visited a beautifully landscaped monastery and a winery (which was pretty boring, I admit) in La Rioja. Also, in Burgos the girls and I bought bracelets to remember the trip and now I wear it almost every day. That night, back in Leon, we went out partying and for the first time since December, our favorite bar (which, sadly, was closed again every weekend after) was open.

I woke up and got up the next day to go to church, and then called my mother to do something else while I went for a walk. As luck would have it, I happened upon the LEXIT demonstration, that is, the desire of the people of León to separate from Castilla. Originally LEXIT was supposed to take place on April 23rd, but due to the death of the Pope, it was cancelled and delayed until May 18th.

Almost a week later, we attended a broadcast of a soccer game in the bullring; that game determined whether the León team (Cultu) was going to move up in the rankings (spoiler: yes).  Basically in the plaza there was a big screen showing the game and you could feel the strength of the community spirit. Two times that were rather amusing were when the session expired and everyone started screaming. That same night we also attended some history showcases projected on the facades of the cathedral and San Isidoro.

The last thing to tell about May is the presentation and concert of the Nazareno, a figure that appears in a paso during Semana Santa and which they took to Rome for the Jubilee. The night (the 30th) before the concert (the 31st) I visited the chapel of Santa Nonia for almost an hour, contemplating, sitting in the pews, and taking photos of the Nazareno, the Dolorosa and other figures. If you want to see a video of the concert, there is one, here, of one of my favorite Semana Santa songs.

Now, June. Since I left León on the 14th and Spain on the 15th, I don’t have a whole month that I need to include. I tried to spend my last two weeks enjoying life and the city to the fullest. I walked a lot, the girls and I partied, I visited friends like Daniel for the last time and we ate well (including at the tortilla de patata festival in the plaza de toros) at some places we wanted to try. Here are some photos of those experiences and then I’ll talk about the more ‘notable’ ones.

On my last Sunday there was a procession of the Virgen de la Alegría (Virgin of Joy), one of the oldest pasos of León and it was a pleasure to see it in the plazas San Marcelo and Grano and, afterwards, the return to Santa Nonia. The weather conditions that morning were perfect and I really enjoyed having the opportunity again to follow the itinerary through the city.

Our last Tuesday together we fulfilled a dream we had had since almost the beginning of our stay in León. After seeing photos of friends on a terrace looking toward the cathedral, we determined that we needed to have dinner there at least once before we left. We spent three hours on the terrace, talking about the fond memories we already have of León and traveling together, eating good food and watching the sunset over the cathedral. What a beautiful ending!

We have reached my last day in León, what a sad but also beautiful day! I woke up, with my bags not yet fully packed, and did something I had wanted to do for a long time before: I went inside the cathedral to see the interior a second time and my last until the next time I can visit. I spent two hours inside to see the history, marvel at the architecture, stained glass windows and rose windows, write a poem and reflect on my entire stay in León. Afterwards, I went home for lunch and to pack my bags because I knew I was going to take a walk before having dinner with Elizabeth, Lauren and José and spending time with them afterwards.