Caught in Eindhoven Airport

I should be writing this post in Barcelona, but my flight was cancelled due to the snow so now I'm writing the post from Eindhoven's airport. It snowed a lot during the whole afternoon so it wasn't possible to get the plane to Barcelona and when we had to return home there weren't no taxis or buses due to the bad conditions so we had to spend the whole night in the airport. At least I've wifi! Tomorrow at 9.10 our new flight is suposed to take off, hope we can do it!
Hauria d'estar escribint aquest post desde Barcelona, pero el meu vol s'ha cancel·lat degut a la neu així que ara estic escribint desde l'aeroport d'Eindhoven. Ha estat nevant durant tota la tarda així que encara impossible agafa l'avió cap a Barcelona i quan havíem de tornar a casa ja no hi havien taxis o busos que ens poguessin portar degut a les males condicions així que hem hagut de fer nit a l'aeroport. Com a mínim tinc wifi!! Demà a les 9.10 el nou vol hauria de sortir, espero que així sigui!

Zalig Kerstfeest en een Gelukkig Nieuwjaar!!

Today is my last day in Eindhoven before returning to Barcelona for the Christmas holidays. I have my flight at 19.35 and hope there won't be no problems with the snow as yesterday it snowed a lot. Here you have a photo with the view from my window:

All I want to say to the Erasmus people is:

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Feliz Navidad y Próspero Año Nuevo!

Bon Nadal i Feliç Any Nou!

Fröhliche Weihnachten und ein gluckliches Neues Jahr!
Buon Natale e Felice Anno Nuovo!
Joyeux Noël et bonne année!
Boas Festas e um feliz Ano Novo!
Wesolych Swiat Bozego Narodzenia i Szczęśliwego Nowego Roku!
Veselé Vánoce a šťastný nový rok!
Glaedelig Jul!
Gabon zoriontsuak eta Urte Berri On!
Hyvää Joulua or Hauskaa Joulua!
Kellemes Karácsonyi Ünnepeket és Boldog Új Évet!
Prieci'gus Ziemsve'tkus un Laimi'gu Jauno Gadu!
God Jul og Godt Nyttår!

Hope to see you all on 2011 and continue having fun in Eindhoven!

EDIT: it's snowing again!! :(

Budapest day 3

And here we have our last day in Budapest. It started really early, we got up at 8 am, as we were meeting in the Oktogon at 9:15, but only Vicky, Raquel and Rocio appeared as the others were still preparing everything. When we were near the Opera I realized that I had forgotten my bag with everything for the rems in the McDonalds, where Dani and Adrian had a coffee. I went there and luckily they had found my bag and were keeping it. I went then to the Parlament and when I was arriving there I received the call of all the other guys from the hostel, who were in the Parlament. I arrived and saw that we couldn't enter as there was an official meeting with the Polish government. When the others arrived (the ones that had left the firsts) we decided to go to the sculptures of the Jewish shoes which are there to remember all the Jews that died during the II World War. After that we went to have a coffee and Adrian and me decided to find somewhere to eat for lunch. It was freezing outside and really windy and we walked a lot until we found a place which was interesting and the price was really good. We booked a table and then went to meet all the other guys. Some of them had to take money from the ATM and then we went to the Margarita Island but it wasn't really impressive. We crossed the bridge to see the Parlament from the other side of the river and found a really nice restaurant (all you can eat and drink for 11€). The food was really good and you could have water, cola, beer, wine, champagne, coffee (as much as you wanted). We stayed there for 2 hours and had lot of fun and after that took the metro (and we had to pay there) to go to the terms. The terms Szechenyi where really nice and also costed 11€. We took our swimsuits and went to the swimming pools (the outside ones) which are at 37.5 degrees whereas outside it was freezing (by freezing I mean temperatures below 0). Then we went to the inside pools, the hottest one was at 40 degrees and the coldest one at 16. We entered also into the saunas (from 50 to 90 degrees I think) and when they closed at 19.00 we went again to the outside swimming pools. We stayed there until nine more or less, and while we were in the swimming pool it started snowing. It was wonderful, but went we went out of the swimming pool we found that our towels were completely frozen (they seemed to be like cardboard). After some of the guys took a trolley to go near home and went to the McDonald's to have something quick for dinner (a menu and 2 normal burguers costs like 6€ or less) and then went to Marina's house to prepare the suitcases and have something to drink. At 12 we went to a pub called Morrison's 1 to celebrate Dani's birthday. It started really boring, everyone sitting in a table (as we were really relaxed from the terms) but finally the party started with some nice music (not like in Eindhoven that sometimes the music is not so good...). We stayed there until 3:15 am as we had booked the taxis to go to the airport at 4:00 and we had to go to our house. We took our suitcases and finally got into the taxi. It was snowing a lot but the taxi-driver didn't have any problem for driving. The trip costed more or less 15€. At 6:00 we took our plane and when I sat I slept for the whole flight. We arrived to Eindhoven with 40 minutes delay, due to the snow in Budapest and really, really tired but very happy to have done this amazing trip!

I aquí tenim al nostre últim dia a Budapest. Tot va començar molt d'hora, ens aixequem a les 8 am, ja que ens haviem de trobar al Oktogon a les 9:15, però només Vicky, Raquel i Rocío van aparèixer perquè els altres encara estaven preparant tot. Quan estàvem a prop de l'Òpera em vaig adonar que havia oblidat la bossa amb tot el necessari per a les termes al McDonalds, on Dani i Adrián havien pres un cafè. Vaig anar allà i per sort havien trobat la meva bossa i la guardaven. Vaig anar llavors al Parlament i quan estava arribant allà vaig rebre la trucada de tots els altres nois de l'alberg, que estaven al Parlament. Vaig arribar i vaig veure que no podíem entrar perquè hi havia una reunió oficial amb el govern polonès. Quan van arribar els altres (els que havien sortit els primers) vam decidir anar a les escultures de les sabates jueves que són allà per recordar a tots els jueus que van morir durant la Segona Guerra Mundial. Després d'això vam anar a prendre un cafè i Adrian i jo vam decidir buscar un lloc per dinar.Feia molt de fred fora i vent i caminem molt fins que trobem un lloc que era interessant i el preu va ser molt bo. Hem reservat una taula i després va ser a la trobada de tots els altres nois.Alguns d'ells van haver de treure diners del caixer automàtic i després ens vam anar a la Illa de Margarita, però no va ser gaire maco. Creuem el pont per veure el Parlament des de l'altre costat del riu i ens troben un restaurant molt bo (tot el que puguis menjar i beure per 11 €). El menjar era molt bo i podies beure aigua, cola, cervesa, vi, xampany, cafè (tant com volguessis). Ens vam quedar allà durant 2 hores i ens ho vam passar molt bé i després vam prendre el metro (vam haver de pagar) per anar a les termes. Les termes Szechenyi eren molt boniques i també van costar 11 €. Ens posem els nostres banyadors i anem a les piscines (les externes) que estan a 37,5 graus, mentre que fora d'ellafeia molt fred (per molt fred em refereixo a temperatures inferiors a 0). Després vam anar a les piscines a l'interior, la més calenta estava a40 graus i la més freda a 16.Entrem també ala sauna (de 50 a 90 graus crec) i quan a les 19.00 hores van tancar, ens vam anar de nou a la piscina exterior. Ens vam quedar allà fins més o menys les nou, i mentre estàvem a la piscina va començar a nevar. Va ser meravellós, però va ser sortir de la piscina i trobar que les nostres tovalloles estaven completament congelat (que semblava com cartró). Després alguns dels nois vam prendre un trolleybus per anar a casa  i vam anar al McDonald's per menjar alguna cosa ràpida per sopar (menú i dues hamburgueses normals com 6 € més o menys) i després vam anarr a la casa de Marina per preparar les maletes i  beure una mica. A les 12 vam anar a un pub anomenat Morrison's 1 per celebrar l'aniversari de Dani. Va començar molt avorrit, tothom assegut en una taula (perquè estavem molt releaxats de les termes), però finalment la festa va començar amb bona música (no com a Eindhoven, que de vegades la música no és gaire bo ...). Ens vam quedar allí fins les 03:15 ja que s'havia reservat els taxis per anar a l'aeroport a les 4:00 i vam haver d'anar a casa nostra. Prenem les nostres maletes i, finalment, ens vam ficar al taxi. Nevava molt, però el taxista no va tenir cap problema per a la conducció. El viatge va costar més o menys 15 (menys de 4 per persona)€. A les 6:00 prenem l'avió i quan em vaig asseure em vaig dormir tot el vol. Arribem a Eindhoven amb 40 minuts de retard, a causa de la neu a Budapest i en realitat, molt cansats però molt contents d'haver fet aquest viatge increïble!

Budapest day 2

After sleeping for 4 hours we got up, because we had to meet with the group at 11.15. When we arrived all the girls were waiting for us but none of the boys appeared as they wanted to rest. We went to Sant Isztvan's Basilica again, took some photos from the Chain Bridge (without snow). Afterwards we went to the Christmas Fair and had a look there and also decided to eat something there (I had a kind of sausage and then something really typical called Kürtöskalács). Then, we decided to go to the Synagogue (the biggest one in Europe and the 2nd all over the world) but when we arrived they were already closing (at 3.30 pm) so we decided to go to the Citadel. We crossed a bridge and walked up a mountain until we arrived to the Citadel. There we could see all the city and make some of the most beautiful photos of the trip. We had to run and take some bus (for free, as the drivers don't sell tickets). We went then to the Opera, to the premiere of Ascanio in Alba (W.A. Mozart), as we had bought the tickets in the morning for 600 forints (a little more than 2 €). We stayed there only the first act as it was quite boring and then we went to have something for dinner. After dinner we were really tired of walking all the day so we decided to go to the hostel and have some beers. Finally at 2:00 am we went to sleep.
Després de dormir durant 4 hores ens llevem, perquè havíem quedatamb el grup a les 11.15. Quan vam arribar totes les noies estaven esperant -nos, però cap dels nois va aparèixer perquè volien descansar. Vam anar a la Basílica de Sant Isztvan de nou, va fer algunes fotos des del Pont de les Cadenes (sense neu). Després vam anar a la Fira de Nadal i vam estar per allà i també vam decidir menjar alguna cosa allà (jo tenia una espècie de salsitxa i després una cosa anomenada Kürtöskalács molt típica). Llavors, vam decidir anar a la sinagoga (la més gran d'Europa i la segona a tot el món), però quan vam arribar ja estaven tancant (a les 3.30 hores) així que vam decidir anar a la Ciutadella. Creuem un pont i es va dirigir a una muntanya fins arribar a la Ciutadella. Allà vam poder veure tota la ciutat i fer algunes de les millors fotos del viatge. Vam haver de córrer i prendre l'autobús (de forma gratuïta, ja que els conductors no veníen entrades). Vam anar després a l'Òpera, per a l'estrena d'Ascanio a Alba (WA Mozart), ja que haviem comprat els bitllets del matí per 600 florins (una mica més de 2 €). Ens vam quedar allà només el primer acte, ja que era bastant avorrit i després ens vam anar a prendre alguna cosa per sopar. Després de sopar estavem molt cansats de caminar tot el dia així que vam decidir anar a l'alberg i prendre unes cerveses. Finalment a les 2:00 vam anar a dormir.

Budapest day 1

Today I arrived from the trip to Budapest where we have been for 3 days and had lot of fun in the Hungarian capital.
I got up at 6:00 am on the Saturday the 11th, after sleeping 5 hours (we went to play poker on Friday's night). I went to Adrian's and Manolo's house and we took together a taxi (there was no bus for us so early in the morning). We met with all the other people in the airport (Rocío, Raquel, Darío, Dani, Hani, Victor, Kiko, Carmen, Burçin, Deniz, Jakub, Vicky, Jana, Sandra, Felipe and Jaime). After 2 hours flight we finally arrived to Hungary. We took the train (bought a single ticket for 350 forints, 277 forints=1€ ) and went to the Nyugaty station, in Budapest. In the station we divided our group. Some guys went to the hostel, whereas Dani, Manolo, Adrian and me went to Marina's house (Dani's friend) who is doing his Erasmus there. We stayed there for a while and then went to the Oktogon where we had to meet with all the other people but they weren't there and we couldn't contact them so we decided to go to the St. Isztvan Basilica to meet Hani (but he was already with the other group). As they told us that they were having lunch we decided to eat something and wait them. We finished before them, and didn't know when would they finish so we decided to visit the city. We entered into the Basilica where we saw the Holy hand from the Saint and then went through Chain Bridge. It was snowing a lot in that moment but we decided to visit St. Matias church, the Fisherman's Bastion and the Castle. After that we went to the Christmas fair. After that we bought something for the breakfast and drink and met the other group for having dinner in a Kebab. After that we went to their hostel to have a drinkig and we played some drinking games. Then we went to the Morrison's 2, a big club and finally we went sleeping at 6.15 am, 24 hours non-stop without sleeping, but they were worthy. We were really tired the whole travel, walking 12 km and partying until so late (yes, in Spain that's early but in Eindhoven, I usually arrive home at 4.30 so for me that was great!). The photos from the first day:

Avui he arribat del viatge a Budapest, on hem estat durant 3 dies i on ens ho hem passat molt bé.
Em vaig aixecar a les 6:00 del matí de dissabte 11, després de dormir 5 hores (vam anar a jugar al pòquer divendres nit).Vaig anar a casa d'Adrian i Manolo i prenem junts un taxi (no hi ha autobusos per a nosaltres tan d'hora al matí). Ens vam reunir amb totes les altres persones a l'aeroport (Rocío, Raquel, Darío, Dani, Hani, Víctor, Kiko, Carmen, Burcin, Deniz, Jakub, Vicky, Jana, Sandra, Felip i Jaume). Després de 2 hores de vol per fi arribem a Hongria. Prenem el tren (comprar un únic bitllet de 350 florins, 277 florins = 1 €) i vam anar a l'estació de Nyugaty, a Budapest. A l'estació ens dividim . Alguns nois van anar a l'alberg, mentre que Dani, Manolo, Adrián i jo vam anar a casa de Marina (amiga de Dani) que està fent el seu Erasmus allà.Ens vam quedar allà una estona i després vam anar a la Oktogon on havíem de trobar-nos amb totes les altres persones, però no hi eren i no vam poder contactar amb ells pel que vam decidir anar a la Basílica de Sant Isztvan per trobar en Hani ( però ell ja estava amb l'altre grup). Com ens van dir que ells estaven dinant, vam decidir menjar alguna cosa i esperar-los. Acabem abans que ells, i no sabien quan anaven a acabar així que vam decidir visitar la ciutat. Vam entrar a la Basílica on vam veure la mà sagrada del sant i després vam passar pel Pont de les Cadenes. Nevava molt en aquest moment, però vam decidir visitar l'església de Sant Maties, el Bastió dels Pescadors i el Castell. Després d'això vam anar a la fira de Nadal. Després comprem alguna cosa per l'esmorzar i begudes i ens vam reunir amb l'altre grup per sopar en un Kebab. Després d'això vam anar al seu alberg per beure i juguem alguns jocs de beure. Després vam anar a la discoteca Morrison 2 i finalment ens vam anar adormir a les 6.15 am, 24 hores sense parar, sense dormir, però van estar molt bé. Estàvem molt cansats de tot el viatge, la caminada de 12 km i festa fins tan tard (sí, a Espanya això és aviat, però a Eindhoven, en general arriben a casa a les 4.30 així que per a mi va ser genial!). Les fotos des del primer dia:

Bike problems

This last week I've had some problems with my bike. Firstly, a week ago I punctured my wheel. On thursday I changed the wheel and it was finally working. But last monday I was in a hurry so in a street where there are never cars I skipped the red light as two dutch guys did before me. The consequence: the police stopped us and we got a fine of 60€. And now one problem that we are facing the vast majority of the Erasmus, riding the bike with ice. As I said last week it snowed, but on monday it rained.  This left a mixture of water and snow in the streets that with the cold temperatures has become ice. Now you should go only in the bike path,  if you want to go throught an street that had snow, now it's nearly impossible as you cannot controle your bike so sometimes you have to go walking with your bike.
Aquesta última setmana he tingut alguns problemes amb la bici. Primerament, la setmana passada vaig punxar la bici. El dijous vaig canviar la roda i ja funcionava. Però el dilluns passat tenia pressa i en un carrer on no passa cap cotxe em vaig saltar el semàfor en vermell com van fer dos holandesos davant meu. La conseqüència: ens para la policia i multa de 60€. I ara un problem al que ens hem d'enfrontar la gran majoria d'erasmus, anar en bici amb el gel. Com ja vaig dir la setmana passada va nevar però el dilluns va ploure. Això va deixar una barreja d'aigua i neu als carrers que amb les temperatures tan fredes s'ha convertit en gel. Ara has d'anar pel carril bici i si vols anar pels carrers que no havien netejat i que hi havia neu, ara es quasi impossible ja que no pots controlar la bici així que a vegades has d'anar caminant amb la bici

Marta in Eindhoven

This bridge holidays in Spain has come my cousin Marta to visit me. She arrived on Friday and we visited the white (it had snowed the previous day) Eindhoven and in the night we went to the Red Bull Nachtcollege (that I explained you in the previous post).
Aquest pont a Espanya ha vingut la meva cosina Marta a visitar-me. Va arribar el divendres i vam visitar la blanca (havia nevat els dies abans) Eindhoven i per la nit vam anar a la Red Bull Nachtcollege (que us vaig explicar en l'anterior post)

On Saturday, we were really tired but we went to the open-market and in the evening we went to Victor's house to have a chat, but finally we decided to go the Stratum (yes... like always in Sgt. Pepper's) and we ended the party at 4. The next day we got up really early because we wanted to go to Rotterdam, Leiden and finally Amsterdam. In Rotterdam, we visited the Euromast, the famous and really big port and the Erasmus bridge.  After the short visit we went to Leiden, a universitary city but also a really nice city (lik the little dutch cities with the channels and the cosy houses, it was great!!). Finally we went to Amsterdam, and before going to sleep we went to the Dam square, a Cristhmas fair, a coffeeshop, Warmoestraat and the red light district.
El dissabte, estavem molt cansats però vam anar al mercadillo i a la nit vam anar a casa en Victor a xerrar una estona pero finalment vam acabar al Stratum (si... com sempre al Sgt.Pepper's) i vam acabar a les 4. El diumenge ens vam aixecar molt aviat perquè voliem anar a Rotterdam, Leiden i Amsterdam. A Rotterdam, vam visitar l'Euromast, el famós i gran port i el pont Erasmus. Després d'aquesta ràpida visita vam anar a Leiden, ciutat universitaria però també una bonica ciutat (com les petites ciutats holandeses amb els canals i les casetes, va estar molt bé!). Finalment vam anar a Amsterdam i abans d'anar a dormir vam anar a la plaça Dam, una fira de Nadal, un coffeeshop, el Warmoestraat o carrer de la condonería i el Barrio Rojo.

Rotterdam

Leiden

Amsterdam

Today, after having a great breakfast we visited the Bloemenmarkt, the Anne Frank huis, the biggest park in Amsterdam Vogel park, the Van Gogh Museum and Rijksmuseum and we finally went to do some shopping before returning to Eindhoven. Even the cold weather and today's fog, it was really nice.
Avui, després d'un bon esmorzar hem visitat el mercat de les flors, la casa d'Anna Frank, el parc més gran d'Amsterdam el Vogel park, el museu Van gogh, el Rijksmuseum i finalment hem anat a fer unes compres abans de tornar cap a Eindhoven. Tot i el fred i la boira d'avui ha estat molt bé.