Spain Video

My best friend Courtney is spending a semester abroad in Spain this Spring, and not gonna lie, but I'm a little bit jealous right now ;) 

I'm excited for her and glad that she's enjoying her adventures and I can't wait to hear all about them.

It reminded me though that I haven't posted my video yet of my footage and experiences in preparing for, going to and returning from Spain. Here is the link to the video: I LOVE SPAIN!

A Very Spanish Reunion

A few weeks ago I went over to Leigh's apartment to eat the Spanish tortilla with Leigh and Annika. It was a great reunion and Leigh is a boss at making the tortilla. 

She spoiled Annika and I with salad and homemade dressing as well. Thanks Leigh, you're the best! But at this lunch/dinner we all had the great idea of throwing a Spain reunion for our study abroad group. We set the date, got the goods and it was a party!

My main contribution was choco boms. They were a group favorite from the vending machine at our university in Spain. I recreated them by dipping famous amos cookies in melted chocolate chips and then keeping them in the fridge because they were always served cold. Then I found the label on line, so I printed it out for extra decoration. They were a hit and now I have a TON of famous amos cookies (thanks to costco) that I can make a lot of choco boms with :)

Some of the partiers in action. We made churros and chocolate and it was pretty similar to the good ol' spanish days.

The hosts: 

It was great to see people from the group again, reminisce and catch up. I'm glad that we could get together again. Yay for Spain, study abroads and friends!

When You're Missing Spain...

...do as the Spaniards would do and make a tortilla. A couple weeks ago I ate another delicious Spanish Tortilla with Leigh and Annika and then the next day I helped Jessie to make one for her reunion and we ate one for lunch again. Delicious as always.

Luisa would be so proud!

On Friday, Leigh and I decided to turn back to our Spanish roots and attempt to make the Spanish tortilla. It turned out SO well!! We were very proud and decided that our Spanish mothers would be proud of us as well. The Spanish tortilla is made up of potatoes, onion and egg. So it's pretty simple other than the flipping parts. Leigh used her super awesome flipping skills to flip the tortilla on to a plate, slip it back into the pan and then flip it out again. The tortilla actually looked and tasted pretty much like the ones we ate back in Spain. I would have to say that Leigh and I rocked it.

Thanks for the recipe and teaching me how to cook the Spanish tortilla Luisa! As we would always say in Spain, "¡mmmm es muy rica!"

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!

What an Experience!

It's hard for me to believe that this experience in Spain is coming to an end. Last week it seemed like this was my life and how it would stay forever, but I'm leaving on Friday. What?! How does time play these tricks on us. At times it seems like forever and at others it is like the blink of an eye. This week I've been feeling sentimental and I know there are so many things that I'm going to miss about Spain, Alcalá, Madrid and the people that I've met. Luckily we pretty much all go to the same school at BYU, but it won't ever be the same as seeing each other every single day and pretty much only each other.

I'm going to miss Luisa. Not just for her amazing cooking, but also for her amazing personality and ability to care for the people around her. She really treats us as her daughters. I feel so blessed to have met her and experience her kindness, learn from her, talk with her and laugh with her. I love that we will have this bond and memory forever and that I could communicate with her in Spanish. That's something else I'm going to miss. Spanish. It is a really cool experience to communicate with people in a language that is not your own and to grow into the language. I'm so thankful for that experience. 

I'll miss my daily routine and walks through Alcalá. For instance, seeing the bright yellow wall with Don Quixote on it every day when I walk to school. I finally took a picture with it today. I'll miss the feeling that everyday is a new adventure with something different to see or try. But I'll try to keep that feeling in my life when I get back. Everyday really can be a new adventure. (sorry if I'm getting too cheesy here (: )

This experience has been amazing and I am so thankful for it. I don't think it's possible for me to fully express it. But thank you Spain for being so welcoming and enriching. 

Gracias por todo.

Granada

I have to catch up on the last trip before leaving on the next! So on Friday, of last week we were in Granada. We got to our hotel and a bunch of us went to an Italian restaurant for lunch. The Margherita Pizza was delicious. Then we drove to La Alhambra, which is a beautiful palace that has even more pretty grounds/gardens. When we got out of the bus it was super cold and rainy, but we tried to not let that get us down. Luckily it eventually stopped raining, so we could actually see the things around us. It was a blessing.

This building was cool, because it was built in a similar style as the Colosseum.

Kiersten and I trying to keep dry:

Awesome tiles were everywhere!

Here's Annika and I inside a courtyard of the Palace:

Brian and I working on our modeling...and Kiersten...

Lexy and I with an incredible view of the city behind us. How gorgeous is that? 

Annika, Me, Marcela, Jessie, Jeannette and Michelle loving the gorgeous grounds of the palace. The white building in the background was the summer home or something like that. I wouldn't mind staying there :)

Unfortunately my camera died while we were there, but I could occasionally grab a quick shot. But the gardens were definitely my favorite part because everything was super pretty after the rain. It was ideal.

After we got back to our hotel, it was dark and rainy, so we decided to mostly stay in for the night. But first, Leigh wanted to get some food so I obliged to go with her...of course I had to get a napolitana de chocolate since we went to a pastelería and it was only one euro and it was a goal of mine to eat one on every trip. I think I was successful, except I didn't eat one in Toledo...but I think I've definitely made up for it ;) Speaking of delicious pastries, I'm headed off to Paris tomorrow early in the morning, so I'll be eating some more deliciousness when I get there!!!!! Hopefully some chocolate croissants and crepes will be in my future ;)

p.s. WELCOME HOME HERMANA LIVINGSTON!!!!!!!!!

9 more days!

Sevilla

We had such a great day in Sevilla. It's on my list of favorite cities because it is so beautiful. First of all, the hotel that we stayed at was one of the best that we've had on our trips and the breakfast they offered was fantastic. That helped to start off the day well. We started our tour at 9:00 and had a tour of the Alcazar Palace, which is super gorgeous and has incredible gardens, then we toured the Cathedral. Here's Leigh and I in front of the Cathedral in Sevilla: It's probably one of my favorite Cathedrals we've seen.

The floors are always way cool in Spain.

In the gardens of the Alcazar

The Cathedral: And we got to climb to the top of the tower, which offered some pretty sweet views of the city.

Me at the top...it was super windy up there.

Then we had free time for the rest of the day, so Kiersten, Leigh, Carolina and I went to find us some Kebabs. We were successful and they were sooooo delicious. We took them to go and ate in a park. It was the ideal lunch.

Then we wandered the city and stumbled upon this beauty. A candy store that was playing happy music from the 50's. We all bought some candy to snack on and it was super yummy.

We were told that we had to see las setas (?) so we found them at the Plaza Mayor. They are the sweet ceiling that you seen in this picture. They are made out of wood and it covers this plaza. Pretty sweet.

This was my reaction to it because I thought it was so cool.

Then we eventually found La Plaza de España, which is also super pretty. There is a park attached to the plaza so we sat there for a little while chatting and enjoying the day.

We ate more of our candy. Kiersten and I both got these elephants to eat, so we had to take a picture acting like an elephant of course. 

Then later that night we all met back at the hotel to take our bus to see a FLAMENCO SHOW!!!! It was awesome to say the least. The show lasted for two hours and different dancers, singers or guitarists would go on stage for about 15 minutes each. It's just such a cool art form because it includes so many different things and is pretty much mad up on the spot. They all just follow each other. Definitely a highlight of the trip.

Also their outfits are cool too.

After the show some of us ventured out into the rain to get churros and chocolate. We weren't exactly sure where the restaurant was so we wandered for a little while, but we found one and it was delicious as always. Overall the day in Sevilla was great!

Córdoba

We finally arrived in Córdoba at about 2:00...it was a long bus ride because we left at 8:00 that morning and only stopped once on the way there. I was happy to get out of the bus, especially when I got off to see this view...How gorgeous is that? Córdoba used to be the capital of Al-Andalus, which is what the Musulmanes called Spain when they were in control. That's why it has some arabic vibes. So pretty!

This is the Mezquita that has actually been turned into a Cathedral. They just built a cathedral right in the middle of it, but kept the columns from the mezquita. It's pretty cool. I love the columns with the red and white stripes because they remind me of candy canes :)

This street was super pretty because it was decorated with flowers and you can see the tower from the Mezquita in the background if you look hard.

During our free time, Kiersten and I got some frozen yogurt and wandered the streets.

Most pictures of Kiersten and I are of us eating...it's the best.

It was fun to literally get lost in Córdoba with Kiersten. We just wandered around the cute streets and took pictures and luckily found the tower so we could get back to the bus.

Here I am in the Patio de Naranjas or Patio of Oranges. I wouldn't mind having a Patio full of orange trees at some point in my life :) The oranges are actually all yellow and they only use them to make marmalade, but still gorgeous.

This is one of my favorite pictures: 

I just love the rooftops and it was a pretty gray day :)

Pretending to drink the non-potable water:

It was a great day in Córdoba. Then we got back on the bus to drive the rest of the way to Sevilla. Luckily I had uploaded the movie "Hook" onto my iphone, so Kiersten and I were entertained for the rest of the ride :)