I don't know if I've said this before, but I love travelling. And I haven't travelled much for the moment, so I'd like to have the chance to do it more times. Well, it relies on the way you look it...I have travelled a lot of times to the same place, Majorca, since my father is from there and I have gone, at least, once a year in last years, and when I was smaller, I used to go twice a year. But I mean, I'd like to visit much more places than what I've visited.
Apart from places like Barcelona, the Pyrynees, Madrid, Miranda de Ebro, Majorca, Eivissa, and several places in the Valencian Country, I've also visited Scotland and the south of France.
And next summer I want to do it. A madness. Well, yes, I've got in my head the idea of a trip. It would be something like...:
Take a plane from Valencia to London. Stay there for 2-3 days. Then catch a train or fly to Glasgow -yes I know I've been there twice, but did I mention I miss it?-. Well, stop. Relax in Glasgow...and if possible, go to a Celtic match. Ah, obviously I'd have to travel in august if I want to see a match! After Glasgow, it'd be nice to catch a train to Inverness, in the north of Scotland, and stay there for a couple of days. I've heard it's a nice town, and furthermore it has Loch Ness! I want to do some monster-spotting, hehe. Afterwards, I'd like to go down and visit Edinburgh better. I was there in my first time in Glasgow, but only for half a day, so I didn't see much.
At this point, there would be two options: one, fly home because I'm not rich and someday money would be over...but if I still had some, I could still visit another city in England, Manchester maybe, or something like that, who knows...
Well, I've been looking at plane and trains and hotel fares and if I don't make the reservations too late, I could get all this at a reasonable and affordable price, and what's more, in Glasgow I have bed and food for free...but well, there's still time, maybe I change my mind, or maybe not...but I want to go somewhere next summer!
PS: Suggestions about what to visit/do in London are welcome!
Tuesday, 29 December 2009
Monday, 28 December 2009
Carcassonna
Carcassonna (Carcassonne in French) is a small town in Languedoc, the south of France. It has around 48,000 inhabitants and it's the capital of the Aude prefecture. Aude is also the name of the river that crosses the town.
It is specially famous for its fortified city (la Cité Médievale in French) which is by far the most remarkable tourist point of the town. The fortified city is an old part of the town surrounded by towers and walls, and its most important part is the Castle of the city, which was built in the 12th century. Inside the cité there's also plenty of souvenirs shops, restaurants, and The School Museum, a building which was actually a real school where people can see what was it like in old times.
Carcassonna has also other interesting places to visit, like the Midi channel, where you can take a ride in boat and enjoy the landscape, or have a walk in its quiet streets.
I've been in Carcassona three times. The first one was in Eastern 2004, in a travel organised by three schools of my town, because we had started learning French that year. Apart from the things I have already said, we also visited Tolouse, the capital city of Languedoc, although we couldn't see much of it as we were there only for half a day, and Narbonne, a beautiful town with several Roman remains. Three years later I came back, this time with the high school's French students and teachers for some five days. We visited more or less the same things, changing Tolouse by some little villages in the Carcassonna although I had a better time since I spoke better French so I could understand the tourist guide's explanations better and I also knew the teachers and the rest of students better. Finally, I was there also last year with my family. We made a three days trip to Andorra and in one of them my father drove to Carcassonna, since I had told them it was a nice place and they had never been to France before. I have to say this time was funny for me because only I spoke French, and it was me who had to be translate or speak in the shops or restaurants all the time!
I think Carcassonna is a really beautiful and calm town, nice to visit and to make tourist, but in my opinion, I think I wouldn't like to live there since I noticed a lack of social life in the mean of bars, pubs, fun for young people...and maybe I would get a bit bored in that way.
It is specially famous for its fortified city (la Cité Médievale in French) which is by far the most remarkable tourist point of the town. The fortified city is an old part of the town surrounded by towers and walls, and its most important part is the Castle of the city, which was built in the 12th century. Inside the cité there's also plenty of souvenirs shops, restaurants, and The School Museum, a building which was actually a real school where people can see what was it like in old times.
Carcassonna has also other interesting places to visit, like the Midi channel, where you can take a ride in boat and enjoy the landscape, or have a walk in its quiet streets.
I've been in Carcassona three times. The first one was in Eastern 2004, in a travel organised by three schools of my town, because we had started learning French that year. Apart from the things I have already said, we also visited Tolouse, the capital city of Languedoc, although we couldn't see much of it as we were there only for half a day, and Narbonne, a beautiful town with several Roman remains. Three years later I came back, this time with the high school's French students and teachers for some five days. We visited more or less the same things, changing Tolouse by some little villages in the Carcassonna although I had a better time since I spoke better French so I could understand the tourist guide's explanations better and I also knew the teachers and the rest of students better. Finally, I was there also last year with my family. We made a three days trip to Andorra and in one of them my father drove to Carcassonna, since I had told them it was a nice place and they had never been to France before. I have to say this time was funny for me because only I spoke French, and it was me who had to be translate or speak in the shops or restaurants all the time!
I think Carcassonna is a really beautiful and calm town, nice to visit and to make tourist, but in my opinion, I think I wouldn't like to live there since I noticed a lack of social life in the mean of bars, pubs, fun for young people...and maybe I would get a bit bored in that way.
Sunday, 27 December 2009
Awrite pal!
I remember a pair of months ago in class there was an advice about not going to Glasgow to practise English...Well, it's the only English-speaking place I've been to!...in case it is English-speaking. * lol *
I should go back to 2004 to tell you about this better. That year, Vila-real CF played UEFA Cup, and in quarter finals of this competition, we met Celtic Glasgow. Lots of Celtic fans came to Vila-real for the match, and although their team lost, they were very friendly with Vila-real fans, and despite we were mixed in the stands, there wasn't any problem. Since then, most Vila-real fans like Celtic, and some Celtic fans like Vila-real as well.
A couple of months later, I started talking with a young Celtic fan on the Internet. He told me he had been here for the match, and he liked the way things went between both team's fans. So we went on talking, and finally, nearly two years later, he came to Vila-real for some days and stayed at my home. Then I was invited to go to Glasgow whenever I wanted, so in summer 2007 I decided to go there for a week.
I have to say I had a great time there. My friend and all his family, who didn't know me at all, were extremely nice to me. I visited some beautiful and interesting places like Edinburgh, Stirling Castle, some museums in Glasgow, Celtic Park, etc. I was offered a room, lunch and dinner everyday, and if my friend and me were not at home and we had to eat somewhere, he always wanted to pay it for me!
I was also shocked there about several things: cars driving on the left, distances in miles and not in kilometres, people saying “excuse me” when for example you walk against them and it was your fault, eight degrees in summer, people walking while raining as if nothing happened, etc.
There were also some things that were a bit difficult for me. For instance, at my friend's, they didn't have any water to drink! Haha,well obviously they had the water from the tap, but I mean they were a little shocked when I said I wanted to drink water while having dinner! And also, dinner at six o'clock, quite greasy food...Although I also liked some of the things I ate there, like sausage rolls and Indian food, hard to find here.
And of course...the “language”. Before going, my friend Eddie had told me about Glaswegian, but I thought he was being too dramatic...but when I arrived there, I saw he was right. I had reasons to worry. I had already heard him talking when he was here, and it was really difficult for me at first. Eventually he saw he had to make an effort and speak more “standard” English to me if we wanted to communicate well. So you can guess that I had serious problems to understand his friends, his parents...each time I met somebody new, Eddie or I had to explain that it was my first time there and that I didn't understand Glaswegian. It was a funny situation: at home, people spoke Glaswegian between them -so I didn't understand anything- but “normal” English to me. But I learnt a few words, like “awrite” for hello and some “grammatical” things about Glaswegian, like “yous” instead of you in plural.
Finally, I was sad to leave Glasgow, since I had had such a good time and liked very much the way people treated me there.
But I came back. It was last year, in December. Vila-real had drawn Celtic again, this time in Champions League, and I had no doubt, I had to see that match in Celtic Park. This time I went with another boy from Vila-real, who had only talked to Eddie a few times, but he was also welcome to stay there. What's more, this time, as we were two and there wasn't place enough at Eddie's house, we stayed at his grandfather's, who didn't know us at all. When we arrived there our first night -we only stayed two nights as it wasn't holiday time-, he made us drink a little glass of Scottish whiskey...I know that was very kind, but hell, I hate whiskey!! In addition, our second night, when we arrived there he had already gone to bed, and he had left a pile of cider and beer cans for us to drink. It was really fun, that.
I also enjoyed going to the pubs and sit there and drink for a time, watching Eddie drinking beer after beer while I had only drank a glass of whatever but sure not beer, I don't like it!
About the match, it really didn't matter much, as Vila-real was already qualified for next round and Celtic was unfortunately already out, so the score was useless, because Celtic won 2-0.
Another important thing from this 2nd trip was the cold...Holy shit, I hadn't been anywhere where it was so cold!! The maximum temperatures were about 0 degrees, so you can guess. Streets were all frozen, and there was even a frozen lake...But I still loved it. I prefer the cold than the disgusting hot we have here in summer.
Uff! I think I have written way too much. Well, what more can I say, sometimes I miss Glasgow. Maybe it's nothing special as a city, but it's special for me, I have enjoyed it, and I like the people I know from there -be sure that there are also...hmm...I'll say...worse people-. I want to go back soon for a longer time and to visit other important places in Scotland.
So yes, I've been to Glasgow.
I should go back to 2004 to tell you about this better. That year, Vila-real CF played UEFA Cup, and in quarter finals of this competition, we met Celtic Glasgow. Lots of Celtic fans came to Vila-real for the match, and although their team lost, they were very friendly with Vila-real fans, and despite we were mixed in the stands, there wasn't any problem. Since then, most Vila-real fans like Celtic, and some Celtic fans like Vila-real as well.
A couple of months later, I started talking with a young Celtic fan on the Internet. He told me he had been here for the match, and he liked the way things went between both team's fans. So we went on talking, and finally, nearly two years later, he came to Vila-real for some days and stayed at my home. Then I was invited to go to Glasgow whenever I wanted, so in summer 2007 I decided to go there for a week.
I have to say I had a great time there. My friend and all his family, who didn't know me at all, were extremely nice to me. I visited some beautiful and interesting places like Edinburgh, Stirling Castle, some museums in Glasgow, Celtic Park, etc. I was offered a room, lunch and dinner everyday, and if my friend and me were not at home and we had to eat somewhere, he always wanted to pay it for me!
I was also shocked there about several things: cars driving on the left, distances in miles and not in kilometres, people saying “excuse me” when for example you walk against them and it was your fault, eight degrees in summer, people walking while raining as if nothing happened, etc.
There were also some things that were a bit difficult for me. For instance, at my friend's, they didn't have any water to drink! Haha,well obviously they had the water from the tap, but I mean they were a little shocked when I said I wanted to drink water while having dinner! And also, dinner at six o'clock, quite greasy food...Although I also liked some of the things I ate there, like sausage rolls and Indian food, hard to find here.
And of course...the “language”. Before going, my friend Eddie had told me about Glaswegian, but I thought he was being too dramatic...but when I arrived there, I saw he was right. I had reasons to worry. I had already heard him talking when he was here, and it was really difficult for me at first. Eventually he saw he had to make an effort and speak more “standard” English to me if we wanted to communicate well. So you can guess that I had serious problems to understand his friends, his parents...each time I met somebody new, Eddie or I had to explain that it was my first time there and that I didn't understand Glaswegian. It was a funny situation: at home, people spoke Glaswegian between them -so I didn't understand anything- but “normal” English to me. But I learnt a few words, like “awrite” for hello and some “grammatical” things about Glaswegian, like “yous” instead of you in plural.
Finally, I was sad to leave Glasgow, since I had had such a good time and liked very much the way people treated me there.
But I came back. It was last year, in December. Vila-real had drawn Celtic again, this time in Champions League, and I had no doubt, I had to see that match in Celtic Park. This time I went with another boy from Vila-real, who had only talked to Eddie a few times, but he was also welcome to stay there. What's more, this time, as we were two and there wasn't place enough at Eddie's house, we stayed at his grandfather's, who didn't know us at all. When we arrived there our first night -we only stayed two nights as it wasn't holiday time-, he made us drink a little glass of Scottish whiskey...I know that was very kind, but hell, I hate whiskey!! In addition, our second night, when we arrived there he had already gone to bed, and he had left a pile of cider and beer cans for us to drink. It was really fun, that.
I also enjoyed going to the pubs and sit there and drink for a time, watching Eddie drinking beer after beer while I had only drank a glass of whatever but sure not beer, I don't like it!
About the match, it really didn't matter much, as Vila-real was already qualified for next round and Celtic was unfortunately already out, so the score was useless, because Celtic won 2-0.
Another important thing from this 2nd trip was the cold...Holy shit, I hadn't been anywhere where it was so cold!! The maximum temperatures were about 0 degrees, so you can guess. Streets were all frozen, and there was even a frozen lake...But I still loved it. I prefer the cold than the disgusting hot we have here in summer.
Uff! I think I have written way too much. Well, what more can I say, sometimes I miss Glasgow. Maybe it's nothing special as a city, but it's special for me, I have enjoyed it, and I like the people I know from there -be sure that there are also...hmm...I'll say...worse people-. I want to go back soon for a longer time and to visit other important places in Scotland.
So yes, I've been to Glasgow.
Thursday, 24 December 2009
Three months later
It's Christmas time...so it's already three months since the university year started. At first, I have to admit that I found it difficult to adapt myself to the university, since everything was new for me.
First of all, I had always gone to school or high school in my town, and it was usually very close to my home. In fact, to get to the high school where I had gone the last five years I only had to cross two streets. Now this has changed a lot...First, I have to go from my home to the train station. That takes about 7-8 minutes. I catch the train from Vila-real to Castelló (special thanks to Renfe for being late most times), about 10 minutes more. Then, when I arrive in Castelló, I take the tramway or I walk to the university if I have time enough. I know it's not that much, but it makes a big difference compared with my old ways to school.
The timetable was also strange...it was different each day! At school, it was more or less the same every day...Now at uni, on Mondays classes started at 8 in the morning until 3 o'clock, and on Wednesdays I only had a class, from 15 to 17...this was going to make me go mad. Luckily, in the 2nd semester it'll be more “normal”.
Obviously, university lessons weren't the same as school lessons...A class with 100 students? I had never seen this before! Now at Uni, I had less everyday-homework, but more long works...
And finally, the people...I didn't know anybody at all! The first week was maybe a bit hard, but I was lucky and I started talking to some people and knowing them...today, I have good relationships with a nice group of students, so this went better than what I thought.
In conclusion, I'd say I'm quite happy at uni now, I like this grade and for the moment it's going well...I hope it goes on like this (or better)!
First of all, I had always gone to school or high school in my town, and it was usually very close to my home. In fact, to get to the high school where I had gone the last five years I only had to cross two streets. Now this has changed a lot...First, I have to go from my home to the train station. That takes about 7-8 minutes. I catch the train from Vila-real to Castelló (special thanks to Renfe for being late most times), about 10 minutes more. Then, when I arrive in Castelló, I take the tramway or I walk to the university if I have time enough. I know it's not that much, but it makes a big difference compared with my old ways to school.
The timetable was also strange...it was different each day! At school, it was more or less the same every day...Now at uni, on Mondays classes started at 8 in the morning until 3 o'clock, and on Wednesdays I only had a class, from 15 to 17...this was going to make me go mad. Luckily, in the 2nd semester it'll be more “normal”.
Obviously, university lessons weren't the same as school lessons...A class with 100 students? I had never seen this before! Now at Uni, I had less everyday-homework, but more long works...
And finally, the people...I didn't know anybody at all! The first week was maybe a bit hard, but I was lucky and I started talking to some people and knowing them...today, I have good relationships with a nice group of students, so this went better than what I thought.
In conclusion, I'd say I'm quite happy at uni now, I like this grade and for the moment it's going well...I hope it goes on like this (or better)!
Wednesday, 23 December 2009
Holidays?
What? No, I haven't gone crazy...I still remember the blog is alive! Pfff, yes, I know I shouldn't have stopped posting...but finally, and as I supposed, I became really lazy about this...and well! These holidays I'll have to...
Option A: write daily posts here...
or Option B: write 3 or 4 very very long posts!
I think I prefer option A, but I also promised in my first entries that I would update this regularly and I didn't, so I'm not going to promise anything else about the blog...
And it's not just the blog, because I also have more homework to do...I have to watch films in English, make a “powerpoint” for informatics, read the Spanish book, make German homework, translate a text in English into Catalan...and of course, study for the German, English and New Technologies exams in January...I had lots of good intentions for this semester...but finally I've been lazy again!
In addition, I still have to buy some Christmas presents for my family...for most of them I already know what to buy, but...what about my father? Uff, I have been thinking about it for days and I don't have a clue...any ideas, please?
I got at least some good news, a very good mark on the Bryson book exam...And I think the Linguistics exam yesterday went well...Well, I hope it went well!
So all these are the reasons of the title of this entry...Holidays?? Will I be able to enjoy them? One thing is sure...I'll sleep lots more than during the semester!
Happy holidays and...I'll write soon
Option A: write daily posts here...
or Option B: write 3 or 4 very very long posts!
I think I prefer option A, but I also promised in my first entries that I would update this regularly and I didn't, so I'm not going to promise anything else about the blog...
And it's not just the blog, because I also have more homework to do...I have to watch films in English, make a “powerpoint” for informatics, read the Spanish book, make German homework, translate a text in English into Catalan...and of course, study for the German, English and New Technologies exams in January...I had lots of good intentions for this semester...but finally I've been lazy again!
In addition, I still have to buy some Christmas presents for my family...for most of them I already know what to buy, but...what about my father? Uff, I have been thinking about it for days and I don't have a clue...any ideas, please?
I got at least some good news, a very good mark on the Bryson book exam...And I think the Linguistics exam yesterday went well...Well, I hope it went well!
So all these are the reasons of the title of this entry...Holidays?? Will I be able to enjoy them? One thing is sure...I'll sleep lots more than during the semester!
Happy holidays and...I'll write soon
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