Weekend trip: Dénia

We knew that we had some days off the last week... but then we realised it was longer than expected! Hence, Dawe went off to a weekend trip to Dénia, where his aunt has a little finca. However, she wasn't in Spain at this moment, so he asked a friend if he would be so kind to let him sleep at his place to enjoy some time-off. As he didn't want to go all by himself, a friend accompanied him.

Dawe has been several times in Dénia but mostly with his family and never on his own. From Zaragoza, it's a four-hours trip and even longer with train or bus but he and his friend found a nice, comfortable possibility: Blabla Car!

On Wednesday, we were picked up in Zaragoza by a nice guy called Fernando and he drove us all the way down to Dénia! Arriving at his friend's place, we found the first surprises:

You can easily tell that his friend is working in the gastronomy ;)

A gramophone; orignal piece from 1941

As it was already late, we had a drink and chitchatted some hours and went straight to bed, recovering from the long journey and preparing for the upcoming time!

The next day, we were astonished by the beautiful view. His friend lives close to the Montgó, a mountain that separates Dénia and Xàbia; therefore, it is possible to have a look over the entire city of Dénia! Afterwards, we checked out the city, the beach and Dénia in general. However, it took us about 45 minutes to walk to the city centre!! And this was only the time to go downhill! In the evening, we had a barbecue to round off the day.

View over Dénia

Yes, that's all on his property...

Of course, a pool..

After waking up, this is what you'll see

The streets of Dénia

Our looooong way down

Summarising the Spanish lifestyle ;)

Some cliffs when you walk along the beach 

Preparing the table

The BBQ chef!

On Saturday, we went to an 'insider' place! A restaurant in the middle of nowhere! It's set high in the Sierra Bernia mountains. The owners inherited the place from their grandparents and kept it almost like it was! Despite the free house wine, which is cultivated by the family, you will get a five-course menu - but you cannot chose! You'll get what the chef decides.

By the way, the entire premise has no electricity! They cook in a 400-years old kitchen, boil water over a fire and produce the wine according to ancient traditions. The most modern device is an old radio, playing some music while you eat. Not many people know the place but it's always crowded. In September, you can see how the grapes are being harvested and then traditionally treaded by foot! However, due to our 'connections', we were able to reserve a table! The entire scenery will take you back in time to the 17th century. You can say it's a farmhouse, filled with antiques and relics. It really gives you the feeling that you are visiting a museum. When dining, you will sit at ancient oak tables, using antique plates, cutlery and wine glasses. But we know that pictures speak more than thousands words...

Some folks from Norway and the Netherlands ;)

First appetizer

Second appetizer

Salad

Main dish (Dawe forgot to take a picture of the soup :P)

Dessert (yes, it was actually a six-course menu ;))

Some of the vineyard

On Sunday, we drove back home - again with Blabla Car - in order to be ready for next week's upcoming classes, exams and other responsibilities! It was definitely a very nice trip and Dawe was very pleased to meet up with his friend, which he hasn't seen for almost a year! Thank you for the amazing hospitality and this extraordinary weekend!

LIFE GOAL!

In order to study in a "peaceful" environment far away from our roommates, we occasionally sit in one of our favorite café's/ tapas bar "Lizarran". We tend to sit in the same corner, where two tables are connected in order to have more space for our laptops, study material, drinks and food. When we study we tend to go on a Monday as all tapas are only 1€ and that is a very convincing reason to study at this location. 

We have observed several times that a very cute, old couple also comes on Monday's to join us directly at the table next to us at around 6.30pm. They are in their 80s and absolutely adorable. The man takes excellent care of his wife, she sits down and he goes and orders two beer and four tapas for them. They sit almost in silence next to us and it seems like they simply enjoy their "date" away from home. They almost look like they dress up for this occasion and we wonder where they go afterwards...When they leave, he helps her to get up, (into a jacket if she has one), he pays and they leave the café. In total they might only stay 30 to 45 minutes, but they seem like they enjoy themselves a lot. 

We think they represent one of our life goals, to be this old, still go out and enjoy life as much as possible. Also, to find a person that you can share the most valuable but also simple moments with that make life so special. We hope to see them again and maybe one day engage in a conversation with them, but if not, it doesn't matter, just their presence makes our day a little better. 

secret photo taken....

Weekend Activity: Zaragoza Tattoo Convention

The same weekend when our friends left, there was also the 7th tattoo convention of Zaragoza! We decided to go in order to do something else for a change. Marie's roommate also wanted to join, thus we left together for the Expo halls in Zaragoza, which are quite far outside of the city center.

We spent an entire day there and had lots of fun. Definitely, there were some strange people but all of them were friendly and the artists came from all over the world: Spain, Portugal, Argentina, France, Italy, you name it! There was music playing (the DJ's were really really good!), a 'freak show', catering, stands with merchandise, even a barber was present! We took some photos of our favorite sketches, but of course you can't take photos of everything as its the work of the artists. 

It was definitely fun and really cool to see something special besides all the architectural visits that we are usually doing! We are looking forward for some more events like this as there is always something happening or to do in Zaragoza....

The last two weeks... of two of our special friends ;(

The two weeks after the holidays were quite intense. Marie and Dawe spent almost every free minute searching and applying for suitable internship positions, trying to study for the upcoming exams and spending as much time as possible with two of Marie's flatmates, who, unfortunately, are leaving us!!

Of course, this meant that we tried to squish all important activities, such as our applications and the time to study, during daytime in order to be ready to do some fun activities in the evening... Yes, the days were long, the nights even longer and finding time to sleep and relax was rare!

Focused ;)

Study hard!

Fortunately, we were quite successful with our time planning (THANK YOU IBMS for all the deadlines in those three years! :D) and found time to socialise!

Cooking and having dinner together :) 

We have to mention that besides having a lot of fun with the people here, those two weeks were definitely sad, as we realised that we made really good friends. Although we love all of the people we met, the two Belgian girls who left us were really special! In general, we found the people to be very, very friendly, open-hearted and always down to have a great time! Erasmus is definitely a good way to socialise. We have no clue how many people we 'added' to our network but it's definitely a lot... and there are still some more months to come! ;)

Part of the gang

However, we also managed to find some time for ourselves to reflect the past days and weeks and to prepare for the coming ones. You don't have to be surprised that this manifested in EATING! ;)

€10 - all-you-can-eat in a Japanese restaurant!

Calamaris Brava from a calamaris bar

We also want to appreciate Zaragoza for its weather. It's FINALLY getting really hot in here, the wind is fading away and we can enjoy the sunny weather!

Up to 25 degrees in the coming days.. gradually increasing!

As already described, the atmosphere was turning more cloudy and saddish as we approached the the final days of our friends... So we came up with the idea to throw a last party for them.

Theme night: pyjama party!

One of those special Belgium girls!! We already miss you!!

We learned that the Belgian culture is somewhat similar to the German one, or to be more precise, a mix between German and Dutch. It was fun to learn about their culture and to broaden our horizons! Moreover, it was always fun to refresh our Dutch with them and although they use some different words, it was usually possible for us to follow their conversations! Hence, due to the previously mentioned aspects, we really love the Belgian people!!

Zumo de naranja ;)

The next day it was time to say goodbye to our beloved friends. It was pretty emotional, as all the girls were crying :'(

Special thanks in this post goes out to Lorie!!! It will be difficult to find another person that is so out-going, open-minded, enthusiastic and loaded with positive energy!

When everyday life kicks in...

So, we haven't written anything for almost 3 weeks now, and I guess the only excuse is that we finally arrived at the point where life has become a routine... After our last post, we had another short week of class before our long and very relaxing Easter holidays started. YAY! We used the days before the holidays to go and have some tapas at our favourite place "Lizarran". On Thursday, Erasmus had organised a pirate & sailor party, where everybody had to dress up. Marie's flat was like always forced to find some costumes for the night.. Dawe was invited at a friend's place but eventually we've met at the party - as usual ;)

the crew

During the holidays, many students returned home, but we stayed in Zaragoza in order to enjoy the nice weather and spend some time on our internship & thesis application. At Marie's flat "only" 9 people were at home, so they used the chance and cooked for the first time all together. We started with Lasagne, continued with Paella and ended with Pasta. In Dawe's flat, usually one of his flatmates was present, but it was a nice setting to go out with some other friends, whom he usually meets only at special occasions!

Lasagne night (Marie's face = PRICELESS)

Paella on the terrace

Italian food night *.*

Marie's flatmates finally finished the outside terrace, which now has a nice corner to chill during day and night. By the way, we had to carry these pallets through the entire city... you can have a guess who ended up carrying the biggest and heaviest pallet... Dawe :D

Now it also has pillows on the wood :)

We had a lot of fun and very sunny days, we took the time to explore the city and spend some afternoons in the big park, which is just behind the Campus San Francisco, close to where Dawe lives.

One must say, the city is really beautiful and we enjoy spending time here. There is always something to see, a new place to explore and definitely a good tapas bar around the next corner. So, if you have decided to come to Zaragoza for exchange you certainly made the right decision!

As it was Semana Santa, we also saw some rather strange things happen in Spain, but they told us it has been tradition for thousands of years. People in long costumes walk throughout the streets, with drums and candles and you can't see their faces (they have a close resemblance with the Ku klux klan.. Dawe was definitely afraid that he'll be chased but there was nothing to worry about)....

Uff... pretty scary, huh?

They look very scary when they pass, and its even more intense with the drums. They walk throughout the city every day during Semana Santa and different churches have a different color of robes. Apparently for them Eastern is even more important than Christmas, thus they are taking the entire week very seriously and there are lot of different celebrations and traditions. 

Overall, the holidays were great and we had a good time; now it's back to study and the next exams are due in two weeks. Fortunately, we both passed our very first exams, which we are very pleased about (and to be honest, we weren't even that bad haha). In the big park, there are many cafés located, one of them is a big terrace on a grass area. It's amazing in the evening as it is filled with sun until it goes down, young and old people sit together and music is playing in the background. This was a great way to end the holidays...

Study week :(

On Monday the 16th of March we had our first exam in Statistics (in Spanish) and we hope it went quite well after all the studying. Unfortunately, we did not have so much time to relax, as the next exam for Microeconomics was announced for Thursday 19th of March. So, Monday we did individual studying at home but on Tuesday we wanted to go back to our favorite study café, where we already spend a couple of hours the week before. As it turned it out, it was closed on Tuesday, thus we had to choose another location. After checking out many bars (unfortunately, most of the bars here are really 'dark' - not the best study atmosphere!), we finally went to "Lizarran", which is also a popular Tapas bar in the region, and Tuesdays all tapas cost only €1!! What a great coincidence!! So, while studying we had some nice snacks and every couple of minutes new tapas come out of the kitchen.  The waiter yells throughout the restaurant and comes to your table and offers them to you, very difficult to say no....

@Lizarran

You pay at the end of your stay, whereby the waiter counts the 'sticks' on your plate

The next day we went back to our usual café, where we got greeted by the same waitress, who makes sure we have enough food and drinks while we study (the people here are really lovely and always open for some chit-chat). She even told us to go upstairs, where it is more quiet and immediately provided Marie with some homemade cheesecake. After another long study session and some Calamaris, we felt ready for the next day.

The following day we had some visitors from Barcelona, one of Marie's friends from ITM at Stenden. She currently studies in Barcelona (the girl who was so kind to take us out for dinner when we visited BCN) and came to Zaragoza with her boyfriend. So, after showing them the city center and a short trip to Marie's place, we headed to Puerto Venecia for some shopping. We spend another 1½ hours in the Nike Factory Store, where all of us bought new shoes...We were starving afterwards so we went over to the side of shopping center where all the restaurants are located and we chose for some Taco Bell. Best decision, as it was a welcomed change from the usual McDonalds or Burger King fast food. Additionally, we both have never been there; it was definitely a nice experience!

Happiness on their faces... we love capitalism! ;)

That face!! <3

Dawe's collection (so far...) :)

We had a great day with them and were really sad that they had to leave the same night, but they promised to come back in April, so we are looking forward to that :) Hopefully, the weather also's gonna be more pleasing!

*nom nom nom*

On Friday, there was a huge party (San Pepe) thrown by the engineers of our university. Marie didn't want to come, but a friend of Dawe already reserved (and bought) a ticket for him; hence, there was no choice but to go. However, she went clubbing that day - well deserved after more than a week of non-stop studying!!

Dawe met his friends around 6pm but many other people (mostly students) had been there already from the early morning on. It is to say that it was really crazy, or to put it in another way: insane!! No clue how many people attended but Dawe's guess is "a couple of thousand"... He was told that this party started as a familiar gathering of only the engineers fraction but became more and more famous and successful over the last years.

To give you a small impression...

Many people even disguised and dressed up. One of Dawe's flatmates went in traditional Chinese clothing!

Cool, huh?

Unfortunately, at some point of time, it started raining as hell. However, all party people were very, very friendly, so it was possible to just ask 'hey can I stand under your umbrella?' and they would let you. A very easy way to start some small talk. After a couple of hours, we went inside. They built up huge tents, DJs were playing, you could eat paella and other snacks, just amazing.

Dutch weather... ;)

Soaking wet...

After losing all of his friends, he made new ones and met people from all over the world, England, Dominican Republic, locals from Zaragoza, some Dutch people, you name it. Fortunately, Dawe found his neighbours who live one floor under him; without them he wouldn't probably have known how to get home. Somehow, the entire flat of Dawe met downstairs and, in the end, his Italian chef made pasta for the whole group.

The next day, both of us spent time in our apartments, watching movies and recovering from the past days. As you can see on the picture, many Spaniards eat chips with a spicy salsa... you have to adapt to the new culture ;)

Walking Dead... the new season is incredible!

However, in the evening Marie's flat forced us to go out with them (they are so convincing!!), as the 'bosses' of her flat didn't have to work at the club that night. Although we didn't stay too long but it was definitely fun!

Approved!

Let's see how the next week will look like! Only 1 week until semana santa - easter holidays...