I'm Home!

I'm now home after spending almost three months living in Spain. It's crazy how it almost feels like I didn't actually go, but I did and it was such a blast! Here's a review of the past week...

Kiersten and I went to our usual market for our last napolitanas together while finishing up our final school assignment. So great.

This was my last lunch made by the wonderful Luisa: Rice with tomato sauce and an egg with a HUGE piece of salmon. I had to ask her to share it with me because it was so large. But it was a great meal, as always. 

After our graduation ceremony on Thursday from Alcalingua, Leigh and I decided to venture off to Madrid for one final time. We bought napolitanas for our families to bring home on the airplane to share the goodness. Madrid was great as always and we took one last stroll through the Plaza Mayor and by the Palace and by Sol. It was a great farewell to Madrid.

Then on Friday, Luisa helped me with my luggage to the train station where I met some other students who were on the same flight back to the United States. Thanks again for everything Luisa! 

After over 9 hours of flying, I was welcomed home by my wonderful family and I got to see Jessie for the first time in 18 months. It was fantastic to see them all and especially her!

Then we decided to indulge in the napolitanas I brought for them to try. They all enjoyed them although it was definitely a sugar rush. I'm glad that they made it through all of the security and customs I had to go through in the airports.

The next day, Emmy made us delicious Dutch Baby Pancakes for breakfast. It really is great to be home!

Yummmm

So this post will probably explain why my pants feel a little bit tighter now than when I arrived :) But Monday and Tuesday have been holidays which means no school!! Woohoo! On Monday morning some of us went to Sol in Madrid for the sole purpose of eating these delicious napolitanas de chocolate. So worth it in my opinion. You can see that Mark really wanted to eat some of mine, they're that good.

Then we just wandered around and went shopping and such. I've been keeping my eyes out for some leather boots while I've been here and the stars aligned yesterday for me to get me some boots. They are made of real leather and I'm almost positive that they were made in Spain as well, so that's great. Also they weren't that expensive...27 euros for leather boots? Yeah, I'll take that. I'm excited. I sported them today and they are very comfortable. This picture makes them look black and brown, but they really are dark brown and brown. 

Then today, we went back to Madrid in the morning to hit up El Rastro Mercado again because lots of the group hadn't gone yet. It definitely was not as cool today as it was on Sunday, but it's still fun to shop at. After walking around the market for a couple hours, Leigh and I decided that we wanted another napolitana de chocolate from Sol, so we went and got one. Yet again so delicious and so worth it. That's something I'm definitely going to miss when I leave. Eating so many delicious napolitanas de chocolate :)

Madrid por la tarde

Friday afternoon I went to Madrid with some friends from the group to see some things that I still had on my list that I wanted to visit. Here is me with another view of the Palacio. These are some gardens that are on the side of the palace. I remember visiting them with Jessie.

Leigh and I were trying to walk to El Parque del Oeste, but we actually ended up at Casa de Campo, which was something that we wanted to see, so it all worked out in the end. But here I am on the bridge leading to Casa de Campo, which is another huge park in Madrid.

We figured out how to get to Parque del Oeste and you have to walk up a bunch of steps because it is on a hill that looks out over the city. Also there is El Templo de Debod, which was a gift from the Egyptians, in the middle of the park. It is really pretty and here are Leigh and I at the Temple.

Jeannette, Me, and Leigh with the view of the Palace and Cathedral behind us:

Then we went to La Rodilla, which is a restaurant that Luisa and Leigh's host mom had recommended. I ate the turkey and apple sandwich, which was good.

Then we hit up the delicious pastry shop that they have in Sol. Unfortunately they were out of chocolate croissants, but I got one that they called "glass" and it was really delicious. Not quite up to chocolate status but still one of the best that I've eaten. I will definitely be returning before leaving to get a chocolate one.

We decided to check out La Plaza Mayor and lo and behold we found this gem. Una Feria de Jamón. A ham fair. The Spaniards sure love their ham. This huge tent was filled with different vendors of ham and you could buy a plate to eat with some wine. We didn't buy anything, but I enjoyed seeing so many Spaniards enjoying their favorite delicacy.

Leigh and I in the feria, so excited about jamón!

Then we went to the stake center that is right next to the Temple in Madrid for a stake Halloween dance. The Temple looked beautiful all lit up at night!

Leigh, Jeannette and I dressed up as cats for the dance and we had a great time dancing the night away with the group. It was kind of funny because whenever they played an American song we would all go crazy dancing and everyone else would just watch us, then when they played a Spanish song, everyone else would start to dance and we would attempt to dance slash just watch them dance. It was great fun.

gatos en la estación del tren:

Palacio Real y Churros

On Wednesday after school, we visited El Palacio Real and had a tour inside. Let me just say that it is super gorgeous. No one lives in the Palace anymore, but you could throw some serious parties in there. The rooms are all really ornate and beautiful. Very cool to see.

Here's Abby, Brian, Me, Leigh, Nick and Michelle being excited to visit the Palace:

Me in front of the cathedral that is just opposite of the palace:

The Palace:

Annika and I in front of Casa de Campo, which is some beautiful gardens/a forest next to the Palace:

After the tour, some of us decided to go get some chocolate and churros because we were a little chilly and we knew these would warm us right up :) Delicious as always.

The group outside of Chocolatería San Ginés:

Another fun day and I got to check some more things off of my list!

Barcos y El Rey León

I'm watching the news with Luisa while updating the blog tonight. First of all, let me tell you what happened today. So I woke up at 7:30 to take a shower today before class. After getting out, there was some water on the ground and I didn't really think about it. I cleaned it up and continued to get ready for the day. Then when Lexy got out of the shower, there was water out into the hallway...we didn't know what to do. So we woke up Luisa and were telling her that there is water everywhere. And guess what?! Her floor was covered with water! It was out of control! We were cleaning up water for a while before going to school and her neighbor came to tell us that the water had come through the ceiling of their apartment. How horrible! Luckily another super nice neighbor came and helped us clean up the water. It turns out that the drain was broken in the shower so the water was just staying under the shower and came back up and filled the bathroom, Luisa's room and some of the hallway. It was a super stressful morning and definitely not what I was expecting when I woke up today. But luckily everything has worked out fine and it has been fixed. I'm glad that it wasn't any worse than what happened.

But yesterday, was a super GREAT day! After school and lunch, Lexy and I went to El Parque de Retiro to rent a boat to take out on the lake. It was some of the best 45 minutes. We had some trouble at first getting out of the dock, but we got out and had a great time rowing around and basking in the beauty.

The weather ended up being perfect because there was a nice breeze, but the sun kept us warm.

The ultimate relaxation...

Then the day just kept getting better because we went to see El Rey León in Spanish!!!

Right before we stopped by La Plaza de España, which happens to be one of the first places I went to in Spain with Jessie two years ago. It brought back great memories for me :) There was a market where we got some freshly made roasted sun flower seeds. Super delicious.

I got to sit by Leigh and Carolina for El Rey León. Every time I see this play, I am still just amazed by the costumes and talent of the performers. I loved it in Spanish, although some songs were better in English and some better in Spanish. So much fun overall!

Here are the roasted sunflower seeds. They were a great snack during intermission of the play ;)

The Theatre

Thursday night we went to the Theatre to see a play by Lope de Vega, "El Perro del Hortelano." It was actually super enjoyable and funny and I pretty much understood everything that was going on. Then Lexy and I stopped by La Plaza Mayor to check it out at night, before going to catch our bus back home. It was pretty with the lights, but surprisingly it wasn't as lit up as the one in Salamanca. Still good though.

Then we got some gelato...I got coconut :) and we ate it on the metro to catch our bus back home. Luckily we made the last bus. Overall, a great evening.

Ohhhh Let's Go Fly a Kite!

On Tuesday some of us went to see some Roman ruins right here in Alcala. I discovered that they are super close to my house here, which is kind of cool. But I would definitely have to say that these in no way compare to the ruins in Rome. But it was kind of a funny story because we walked through this fence and dirt field to get to the ruins because we couldn't see the entrance and once we got in, there was a group of archeologists and they were like "hola...how did you get in here" but all in Spanish and we told them that we walked through the open gate and then they told us that we were not supposed to be there and that there was a different entrance. I still snapped a quick picture though :)

Then on Wednesday, Leigh, Me, Michelle, Marcella and Jessie went to the Thyssen Museum which was AWESOME! I really liked it despite having to hurry through the end pieces because the museum was closing. There were works by Degas, Picasso, Manet, Monet, Miro, Caravaggio, Rubens and much more. It was great to see, yet again, some amazing art. It's always inspiring and makes me want to paint afterward.

So worth the 5.50 Euros!

Then we went to El Parque de Retiro because it is right next to all of the museums and it was BEAUTIFUL! The weather has finally cooled down so I got to sport my jacket for the first time...it felt great not to be hot in October finally! And look at the fall leaves! It reminds me of Virginia and is so beautiful! I love the fall. It is the perfect weather to sing "Let's Go Fly a Kite" from Mary Poppins.

Leigh, Me and Michelle:

We went to this rose garden that is inside of the park and it was beautiful as well and smelled great.

It got dark really fast while we were in there

Then we went to see Puerta de Alcala at night because we hear that's when it looks the best. It did look beautiful and it kind of makes me think of the Arc d'Triumph, which I am so excited to see when we go to Paris!

It was a great night with great friends!