Helloooo! 

So, it’s been awhile. I haven’t had the opportunity to make a blog post recently because my computer broke and I wasn’t able to use it for awhile. So, I’m gonna try to catch you guys up on what I have been up to. Because I haven’t posted in awhile, this post won’t have any pictures, but you can see them all on my facebook!

A little over a month ago, I went on a day trip to Segovia with my friends Julia and Rachel. After arriving at the train station, we took a cab to the Roman Aqueduct. It’s original purpose was to bring in water to the city. Now, it’s just kinda there and something that looks really cool. Actually, it is one of the best preserved elevated aqueducts! We then walked to the cathedral and then did a little tour. With it’s beautiful gothic architecture, it was amazing inside and out. After the cathedral, we went to the Alcazar, which means its a Spanish palace of moorish origin. There are many Alcazars around Spain because it is where the royal family would stay when visiting different cities. We decided that paying the extra 2 euros would be worth the view at the top of the castle, and we were right! We had a view of most of the town and could even see the cathedral. The 152 steps were kinda rough, but the view was totally worth it! Overall, the day trip to Segovia was super fun and very interesting!

The next weekend I actually stayed in Madrid and had a very relaxing weekend. It was nice to relax, and catch up with family and friends from home. I think I facetimed different people almost all day long. I realized I couldn’t stay in my room the whole weekend though, so I decided to explore Madrid a little bit more. I ended up going the Prado with some friends, which is an art museum in Madrid. The artwork was super interesting, and it was a pretty good day learning more about the history of Spain. During the week in my flamenco class, we had a super fun day of trying on different flamenco outfits. We had a little photoshoot, and it was so fun! After that, my friend Julia and I went to a cute coffee shop called Monkee Koffee and hung out there for a little bit and did some studying! As a snack, I bought a “bowl of fruit” and it was honestly so good. They mixed the fruit with honey and some other stuff that makes it a pretty popular snack that students get while studying here.

The weekend after that I went to Córdoba with Jackie! It was the weekend of our fall break, so we decided a short two day trip would be perfect. Afterall, we still had midterms that we needed to study for. Córdoba is a super cute town about a 4 hour bus ride away from Madrid! It is full of flowers and narrow cobblestone streets, and I loved it. The only problem about this trip was that Jackie literally almost missed the bus. I was standing in between the door, so the driver wouldn’t leave without her. I thought I was going to have to go by myself, but thankfully she made it! When we arrived, we walked around the town a little bit. It’s a pretty small town, and the main things to see is the cathedral and the alcazar. We did those the second day we were there, so the first day we had a pretty chill day of getting to know Córdoba. Of course, Jackie wanted to go to cien montaditos. I don’t know if I talked about it yet, but it is literally the best place ever. They have the best tinto de verano and it is only 1.5 euros. So, we went to cien and had some tinto and then we ate at The Good Burger. (I know, we are in Spain, and we are eating at an American restaurant? I guess we just miss America lol). We ended up eating there because it was kinda difficult to find gluten free places in Córdoba. We were only there for two days though, so it wasn’t too bad.

So, our second day in Córdoba we did all the touristy stuff. First, we went to the Alcazar. The best thing about it was probably the garden. It was so pretty! Jackie and I enjoyed looking at all the flowers and taking a million pictures. The next thing we did was go to the Mosque that was turned into a Cathedral. It had a mix of Christian and Islamic characteristics that made it super interesting to see. After that, we were starving so we found a place to get lunch. It took so long, and the service was super bad. We ended up getting our food over an hour after we ordered. We did know we were in Spain though, so it was kinda expected. For those who don’t know, bad service is typical in Spain. Don’t expect to have a quick lunch anywhere in Spain. We’ve definitely gotten used to it. Overall, I loved how cute of a town Córdoba was and it was a perfect trip for two days.

My next blog post will be about my weekends in San Sebastian and Rome! You’ll hopefully be hearing from me soon! Hasta luego!

Hello again,

It has now been a little over three weeks into my study abroad experience in Madrid, and everything is going great! I haven’t been keeping up with my blog because I have been busy with school and traveling, so I apologize that this is late!

About a week and a half ago I went on a day trip to Salamanca with SLU, and it was so much fun. Salamanca is a city in Spain that is filled with cobblestone roads and amazing architecture, making it a beautiful city. The trip was super fun, and it was amazing to learn all about the history. We had the opportunity to climb to the top of the University of Salamanca building, and look over the whole town. The view was so pretty, and totally worth the 3 euros it cost. My friends and I had no choice but to take a million pictures. I swear we were up there for like an hour. On the front of the building, there is a frog etched into it, and there’s a belief that if the students find the frog, then they will pass all of their classes. Our tour guide actually showed us the frog, and told us that we will pass all of our classes! So that was good to hear! When my friends and I came across the plaza mayor, we saw there was a spin class being held right in the middle of it! It was so fun to see, and they actually played Livin’ on a Prayer! They said to sing along, and we were probably the only ones. We looked very American and totally stood out, but it was totally worth it! We also saw a wedding being held, which was super beautiful. Like imagine getting married in Salamanca! They were taking pictures in front of an amazing building, and singing some spanish song and looked like they were having the time of their life! Overall, it was a pretty cool day trip!

Some of my classes are getting a little more difficult, so I’ve been checking out different coffee shops that are perfect for enjoying some coffee and to get some studying done. One coffee shop I found is called La bicicleta cafe, and I am totally obsessed with it! It is super cute on the inside, and has the best “cafe con leche”. One of the employees there speaks english, and these two girls were ordering their coffees and weren’t sure how to pronounce it, so the employee was telling them that “Spaniards are shameless”. My friend Alex and I overheard and he said again that it is good to be shameless and “not give a shit”. We were laughing, but honestly it is really good advice! His accent and the way he said it made it funnier than it was, but being shameless and just living life is a really good thing! The employees are super fun there, so I’ve already gone there a couple times to get some homework done! My classes are definitely easier than at Loyola, but there’s still work and studying to do. My host mom thinks since I’m not taking any nursing classes that I’m on a “four month vacation”. I thought that was really funny because even though I don’t have as much work to do and will be traveling around a lot, I definitely still need to focus on school! Considering that I am in fact “studying” abroad, and not just spending 4 months in Spain!

As you guys probably know, I was living alone with just my host mom, but I actually have a roommate now! Her name is Jasmine and she’s super nice and we get along great! I was excited to hear that I was getting a roommate because I live kinda far from my friends, so I thought it would be nice to have one in my house! We have already gone to starbucks together, and hopefully a trip or two. Who knows! That’s the beauty of studying abroad because you become friends with someone and then typically go on trips together! No one really cares! All people want is just someone to travel with and make memories with. One of my favorite things about studying abroad so far is that mostly everyone is so open to making friends and travel plans together!

Anyway, last weekend I went on my first trip to Mallorca! Mallorca is a beautiful island off of Spain, and the perfect location for a super fun and relaxing getaway! It was a short two days, but just the right amount of time because at the end of the trip I was totally exhausted. Alex and I woke up at 4am in order to make our flight, so we were tired from the start. There was also a totally embarrassing moment where I fell in the airport and a lot of people saw. It was really funny, and I just got right back up, but waking up at 4am will do that to ya! Alex and I thought about the employee at the cafe and laughed about how I should be shameless about it. I’m not even going to describe how I fell, but let’s just say it had to do with one of those moving walkway things! Anyway, after we arrived, we first walked around Palma de Mallorca, and enjoyed seeing the cute shops and street performers. Then, we made our way to the Cathedral de Santa Maria, which was probably the prettiest building I have ever seen! Eventually we made it to our airbnb, and enjoyed some snacks while sitting on the terrace that had a beautiful view of the ocean! The next day, we stayed at the beach for about 6 hours, and then made our way back to the airport. It was very short, but super nice to be able to just relax on the beach! We found some really cute cafes and had some really good food too! Definitely a good trip, which makes me super excited for all of my future travels!

Alright that’s it for now guys!

¡Hasta luego!