London

The last week Dawe took a short trip to London, as the flights are usually quite inexpensive from Zaragoza. It was fun, although he spent only two days there (not counting the arrival and departure). As he doesn't want to bore you with all the details, he will only write some aspects that you will need to consider when you want to go there - and, of course, show you some pictures ;)

General advices:

• The airport (speaking about Stansted) is huuuuge. It takes a lot of time to go to your gate; take this definitely into account when you are departing from London. Moreover, it takes around 2 hours from there to go to the city centre of London - no matter if going by train or bus, it's basically the same.
• London is really, really expensive. Additionally, be advised that you have to pay for almost everything extra if you are staying in, for instance, a hostel. This includes also 'commodities', such as wi-fi... even though the web page states "our rooms have wi-fi" - yeah, sure, if you pay for it. Furthermore, it will cost you around 20 Pounds (yes, Pounds, not Euros) to eat out. In Chinatown you can get food cheaper, for instance, buffets from 10 Pounds but if you want to go to a 'real' restaurant, I guess it will be easily over 100. If you don't have that much money, you will only eat in fast-food restaurants, such as McDonald's, Burger King, KFC, Subway... I even saw a 'Five Guys' (I thought those ones only exist in America?)
• If you do not want to run the entire day through the city and getting tired, you will want to take the subway. You can easily get an 'Oyster Card', which you can top up. At the end of your stay, you can return it and the remaining money on the card will be refunded. However, it is complicated to understand how it works and where you can change the subway. This results in the fact that you will usually have to ask locals for directions. 
• The same goes for the city. With its many small avenues and streets, you will be in need of a map. But be aware that not all streets are incorporated into the maps and often details are being left out. Unfortunately, you can't get those ones at the airport but every tourist information centre has it. We got our from some girls I approached (if, by any chance in the world, one of the girls is reading my blog.. BIG THANKS to you! You saved our lives!)
• London has many things to offer and it is way too much to see in a few days. Hence, I would recommend to, first, plan everything beforehand what you want to visit and, secondly, to try to stay as long as possible - or as long as you can afford it ;) For instance, we wanted to visit four museums and many other things but we simply ran out of time.
• The weather is... let's put it this way, different from the climate in Zaragoza or Spain in general. Consequently, you will need a jacket. In my case, I was welcomed by rain... typical for England.
• If you are low on budget, I assume you'll book a hostel. Maybe you should consider not to go for the cheapest one, as I am sure that it won't provide any quality in terms of accommodation.
• Different districts, different people. Camden town is fun to see the market there, but you do not want to spend the night there. In the city centre, you will see a lot of rich people, cars that cost way beyond €100,000 and, of course, many tourists from all over the places.
• However, no matter where you go, you will encounter many coffee shops. Recapping, I think every corner has a Starbucks!

Regarding the pictures you are about to witness, I will just pick some random ones, as we made over 500... would take days to upload all of them ;)

Street artist

London weather ;)

Big Ben by night

London Eye

Food from Chinatown

Yeah, pretty common to see such cars in London, especially by night...

... but also throughout the day

You will DEFINITELY need that!

Calling home ;)

The street artist from above.. I really laughed out loud during his show. Also wanted to upload parts of it but somehow Blogger doesn't want to allow me to upload videos..

Sometimes you just need some time to relax and enjoy the view

An M&M's store

National British Museum... I think we spent there over four hours. Originally we thought to visit four museums but in the end we had only time for two.

Serious relationships and ERASMUS

Continuing the topic of the previous post, we also want to share some thoughts on being in a relationship while going on exchange. Again, this might sound harsh but it is just the things we observed during our stay. It is neither negative nor positive; it is just the way it is.

While being here, we've seen it all. People who are finding new partners and going into a relationship are the rarest thing you will witness during your stay. We guess, it's because of the fact that this is a very loose moment in your life; of course, you will make friends from all over the world but there lies already the problem. It's easy to fall in love here but it is way too difficult to plan something serious. Imagine, you are dating someone and it starts to get serious. But in a few months you are about to leave this country and maybe you'll go back to your home country, maybe you will end up somewhere in the world you don't have a clue about now - and your significant other follows a similar path. In the end, it is common that you will hook up with people from different nationalities, having almost no common ground except for your timely limited stay in this country. The only kind of relationships we can think about that will last are the ones with locals, as at least one of you will know where they will stay the next year(s).

However, most of the time you will encounter people breaking up. We've heard of way too many couples that aren't together anymore. There was one guy, thinking of marrying his girlfriend.. until the point she went also on exchange and broke up with him to gain experience and 'live her life'. Moreover, we think that it is definitely due to the fact that we are currently in a moment of our life, where it is difficult to maintain long-term relationships and even more difficult to have a long-distance relationship.

And then, of course, there are the ones who will stay in their relationships. There will always be some exceptions and they end up being happily together after their Erasmus semester; but most of those ones have also a downside: unfaithfulness. For instance, there is this one girl from another country and her boyfriend is also on exchange in a different Spanish city, not too far from Zaragoza. However, every time we see her in the club, she's with a different guy. Hence, we would just like to prepare you for those circumstances and mention that you should be aware of such things if you plan to keep on going with your relationship. Picking up the example from above, most of the people here just want to enjoy life. Additionally, it is tempting for many people; how big are the chances that your other half will find out? For them, it's about gathering experience, living a good life and being in the moment without thinking too much or about the consequences.

All we can say is whatever you choose for yourself, it will be alright. We are not fond of this unfaithfulness, but we want to prepare you. Life goes on and you are living this life to learn from it.

Out of sight, out of mind....

This is our blog, our story. We can share good experiences, but of course we can also share bad experiences. When you go overseas it is important to have a thick skin, you will be alone, thus you need to be independent and mature enough to deal with the new situation. The beginning is always the hardest, you do not know anyone and your friends and family are miles away. Nowadays, people move several times from place to place. People come and go in your life and don't try to hold on to people who do not want to be in your life. It is essential to move on, not only physically but also with your mind.

While we have been in Spain, we have realised, who good friends are and who we can rely on during times of need. Many people want to know how you are, but only a handful of persons actually care. And from many people you never hear a word again; everyone wanted to visit and come over, but in the end nobody turns up. People are fake, they pretend to be someone they are not. Hence, do not be disappointed in the end if people turn out to be different than you expected and some things change in your life. And you can be sure, there will be changes! We are really tired of fake people and especially of the ones who think they are something better.

You realise you can only rely on yourself and your family; these are the most essential aspects in your life. Your family is always there for you and will support you no matter what. Keep the people close who love you the most and actually care. 

We do not want to be negative, but we just want to speak the truth and what we have experienced over the past months. Remember nobody is ever too busy, if they care they will take the time!

Now, we are approaching the point of time again where we need to leave this "home" and find a new place for us, new apartment, new friends, new surroundings and everything starts from zero again. This is life and it might go on for a while, but we are happy to have each other and our families, as they have been the best!

When you (want to) have visitors....

When you are hundreds kilometres away from the people you are used to be around, it is common that you are becoming homesick and sometimes... you just need to see your beloved ones! ;)

Hence, this post is dedicated to one of the people in my (Dawe's) life who has becoming more and more important to me. Moreover, I want to fill this post with advices for all the students who want to go to Zaragoza to study abroad and just need a little inspiration what they could do when somebody wants to visit them! As I'm a business student, I'm gonna break down this post to give you a clearer overview. First, I will give you all the advices and, at the end, I will describe my personal experience when Sara, a very good friend of mine, was here in Zaragoza.

Preparation: hope, set backs and the final relief

First of all, although it might sound harsh but I'm going to give you the truth, there will be a lot of set backs. Many, many people and friends of you will say to you something like "Yeah, mate, of course I'm gonna visit you!!" but in the end... 'no pasa nada' as the Spaniards like to say. Don't get frustrated! We, Marie and me, know how that feels, especially when you are trying hard to convince them to come. We've been there, we've done that, we've felt the same. Don't let it affect you. Sometimes the time isn't right, sometimes there are money issues, sometimes these are just false friends or friends who have become acquaintances. But never mind, it's alright, that's life!

Nevertheless, at some point of time, somebody will visit you. And this is the point of time you will be happy to see finally someone you love after a long time! I know exactly how I felt: I told everybody and couldn't wait for the time to pass until it would finally happen!

I guess there aren't a lot of things to prepare except for just a few things:

1. First, you will need to search for a flight. I think that Ryan-Air will be the best option if you are on a low budget. Moreover, try to get a flight in the off-season. For instance, during Eastern the prices are around €120 to €140 (let's say Amsterdam <-> Barcelona) but in May you can already book flights from €50, €60!
2. Secondly, the locations. Except for the fact that your friend wants to stay ten hours in Brussels, I would highly recommend to take a direct flight to Barcelona, Girona or Madrid. All these cities have quite a similar distance to Zaragoza.
3. As you want to spend some quality time, you will miss out lectures, seminars and practical classes! Prepare your study groups by announcing it to them. Additionally, you want to already go over the topics you will miss. In my case, I begun studying for the upcoming exams a week before my usual study plan would start.
4. Tell your beloved ones what they will need. Mainly, this will be related to clothes! For instance, I told my friend, Sara, that she will need a lot of shirts, short pants and so on. However, she didn't listen ;) Mostly, because she couldn't believe that we will have 30 degrees celsius in Zaragoza in May. Never mind, we solved this issue by going shopping. 
5. Think about where they will stay. In my case, we have a guest bed in our living room and even an additional free room; therefore, it wasn't a problem.

I prepared some Spanish croquettes...

Yeah, I know, doesn't look very good, but it was my first time lol

Arrival: from BCN/MAD to ZGZ

I am pretty confident that your friends won't come directly to Zaragoza; meaning, now you will need to plan how to get them to your place. There are some options to consider, whereby I will write based on my own experience:

• By bus: The option for everyone who doesn't want to spend too much money. However, from Barcelona/Girona, the bus takes around five to six hours... And, to be honest, I didn't want to leave Sara on her own in a country, where she doesn't speak the language, has no clue where to go, especially considering the fact that she doesn't even come from Europe. However, the bus costs around €20 each way per person.
• By train: The train only takes around two hours but costs around €70. As I wanted to pick Sara up, this would have meant about €200 just to get there, pick her up from the airport and come back.
• By car: As I am quite familiar with rental cars and Hertz, this was the only logical option for me. There are some aspects to consider. First, if you are under 25, you will need to pay a 'young drivers fee', which is around €20 when you rent a car from Hertz and you won't get any car that you want, as some are in a class that is too high for you to use. Following, you can already get cars from €30 per day (if you take e.g. the Fiat 500; as I wanted to get a BMW (in the end, they didn't have it and I went for a Volvo V40...), it's obvious that you will have to pay more). Thirdly, double-check that you have unlimited kilometres included. Fourthly, you will need gas. However, as you will drive around 700km, you can take the offer from Hertz that they will refill the tank (this is profitable for you if you use more than ¾ of the tank). And, finally, don't forget that if your friend is going to Barcelona, you will need to pay fees for using the high way. It's around €35 each way. Recapping, that would be around €30 for the car, €20 for the young drivers fee, €60 for the tank, €70 for using the highways. In total, that's €180 - still cheaper than the train, but way more expensive than the bus. However, as we also wanted to visit a friend who was currently staying in Malgrat de Mar (near Barcelona), this was still the best option.

Not the car I wanted but alright..

When you are using the payable high way, you won't encounter many cars. Oh, and in Spain it's only allowed to go 120kph, which was quite difficult for a German, who is used to have no speed limits ;)

The visit itself

There are lots of things you can do while you have visitors! In my case, Sara stayed only for four days in Zaragoza, resulting in having almost no time to chill. I hope that I also speak from her point of view when I say that those days were filled with lots of activities, fun and joy! Here are some recommendations of what to do:

• Visit the city where your friend will arrive. In my case, we went to Malgrad de Mar, as another friend of mine was there on vacation. Afterwards, we wanted to go straight to Zaragoza but first ended up in Barcelona. We stayed there only for a few hours, but, still, it was fun to show Sara a little bit of the city (even though it was evening/night).
• City tour through Zaragoza
• All the good restaurants and tapas bars! When I think about it, we cooked only once or twice at home and the rest of the time, we went out for having snacks. Juepincho, Montaditos, Sakura, Lizarran and the thousands of other (tapas) bars that Zaragoza has...
• Puerto Venecia. Going shopping is always fun and, especially, the shopping mall in Zaragoza has a lot of things to see, visit and do. Of course, there are some fine dining places as well!
• Parque Grande. The park in Zaragoza is really beautiful and a great place to relax and enjoy the sun.
• And, obviously, the night life! Hit a club, show your friends some Spanish songs, which the people like to dance to.

Malgrat de Mar: sand, beach, good weather, what else do you need?

Typical Spanish botellón, about to hit the club

City tour

Sakura - Japanese buffet

Burger restaurant @ Puerto Venecia

Puerto Venecia

Parque Grande

Saying good-bye

This is definitely the saddest part! Try to spend some final quality time with your friends, get them to the airport and don't forget to be very punctual, as you don't want your friends to miss the flight!

So sad :'(

Going back

Special thanks to Sara

As already mentioned in the beginning, I would like to dedicate this section to this one special person who actually visited me. Special thanks goes to Sara! Thanks a lot for everything (especially for this one thing, you know what haha). I had a really, really wonderful time with you and I hope you had to! Thanks for all the chatting, that we could catch up everything, for all the fun we had and, in general, for the entire time! I wish that we will see each other again, maybe even before you go back to Qatar! We will definitely need to redo this. You were a great guest and, of course, I wish you a lot of success in your life. Thanks :)