Madrid

Monday morning we all woke up and hurried to finish getting all our luggage downstairs. It was bitter sweet leaving our little dorm room. We complained about that room for the two weeks we were living in it because it was hot, the beds were hard and we were surrounded by loudest neighbors. Now that it was time to leave and we were walking out the door Audrey and I kept talking about how we wish we could've had one more night there. We had some of the best times hanging out in those little rooms and some of my most fun memories are in there. On the other hand, by this point of the trip I think we were all starting to get worn out and a change of senery helped renew us enough to get us through a couple more days. Our hotel we stayed at in Madrid was very nice and we had an awesome view from our window. After the long bus ride and getting settled in, me and a few other girls walked to Hard Rock Cafe for dinner and it was so good! The next morning we woke up early to start our long walk to the Thyssen and Prado museums. I think it's really cool that I get to tell people I've been to these famous museums but unfortunately I'm just not an art person. I tried to appriciate what I was looking at but everything starts looking the same to me after awhile. Wednesday was our last full day in Madrid and we had the whole day to do and explore whatever we wanted, so we went shopping! :) I had so much fun just walking around and not really knowing where we were going, or even how to get back exactly, but just looking around and seeing the "culture".

Early Thursday morning we headed off to the airport to start making our way home. I could not believe the trip was over, and the three weeks had passed in such a blink of the eye. It's been a week since I have been home now and I miss the trip so much already. Us girls all got very close and I can't wait until we get together to all hang out again. Despite the ups and downs, I couldn't have asked for a better Spain family.

American School of Valencia & Our last few days in Valencia

I never knew how quickly I would get attached to my future student's but it did not take long for me to fall in love with my 2nd grade kiddos at the American School of Valencia. The students in the class were so excited and came up to Audrey and I the minute we stepped into the room and wanted to know all about us. It was really cool seeing how the class was run and I was surprised at how good their english was, since most of the students only speak spanish in their homes. Even when they could not think of what they were trying to explain to me we ended up playing a game of sharades so I could guess and it always ended up with them laughing at me and my lack of spanish! :P As the week progressed I grew very close to all my girls in the class, which was very unusal since I tend to usually lean more towards the boys. We played hide and seek at recess and they taught me other games they like to play. One day we were able to do an activity with them and had everyone make their own cowboys and the kids absolutely LOVED IT! Another day we had a big assembly in the auditorium and we taught all the students at the school how to line dance. It was funny because they all have this image of all of us being cowgirls in everything we do and in reality we were all just learning the dance ourselves at 11:30 the night before. I had they best week ever with them and I am so happy I was blessed with the opportunity to get to know them.

Saturday was so much fun! We had our DO! Valencia day which was a day packed with so many different things. We started out going to a Hot Springs to swim and the water was so beautiful. The HOT springs was actually a little cold but the water was crystal clear and the view was amazing. We had big cliffs on either side of us and small caves we could swim in. We went down the stream a little ways and found rocks we could climb up and go cliff diving off of! It was crazy and soooo much fun! I think everyone in our goup besides a few girls ended up jumping. After that we ate lunch and hiked up a mountain to a cave. The view up there was so pretty. Next we went to a waterfall which was pretty neat. After we left that our guide took us to this little cafe in a small town were we had Topas( a bunch of little appitizers) and wine. We had so much fun at that little restaurante! To finish up the day we stopped and saw a couple bull runs.

Today has been a pretty chill day. We were able to sleep in for the first time and it felt great! We all went to lunch at this really fancy restaurant and food was amazing. They closed it down so we could have the whole place to ourselves and kept bringing us out dish after dish. Afterwards Audrey and I went to Cafe Bla Bla, this little place we went to on one of first nights in Valencia, for a cup of coffee. It has been a nice relaxing day but it's hard to believe after dinner tonight we are packing to leave Valencia. I am going to miss this city, it was starting to feel like home to us.

Bio Park, Flamingo Dancing & Bike Riding

Friday we had a change of plans and ended up being able to go to the Biopark here in Valencia. It was so cool to go and see all the animals that have been taken out of bad situations and being cared for. They had a ton of different animals too, some I did not even recognize but they were adorable. Later that night we went to this little cafe downtown to watch Flamingo Dancing. That was very different and something I have never seen before, but I had a good time out with everyone.

Saturday we rode bikes and we all were looking forward to that! I haven't been on a bike in years but it was so much fun to get on and ride around Valencia, and it definitely beats walking all the way to the museum. At the museum we went to an Indiana Jones exhibit and it had a set of headphones that we wore while walking around and press what info we wanted to listen to. Next we went upstairs and they had a bunch of interacting things to play with. The coolest part was getting to see chicks hatch from their eggs. We all felt like such little kids all day! ;)

Sunday was a much needed free day. We were able to sleep in a little longer than usual and then a few girls and I went down to the market to shop. After spending a few hours down there we came back to eat a quick lunch then spent the rest of the day at the beach relaxing.

Barcelona & Catamaran

Wednesday was a long day, but totally worth it! We had an early start and took our day trip to Barcelona and saw the Sagrada Familia, which is absolutely amazing. When we first got to Barcelona we had time to go down a street, I'm thinking it was called La Rumba? They had a bunch of stands lining the streets and people everywehre just walking around enjoying the day. After that we made our way to the Sagrada Familia. When everyone walked into the basilica everyone immediately went silent. I really can't even explain how amazing it was, but I do know I plan to make my way back at some point in my life. Listening to all the reasoning on why things were designed the way they were was so interesting.

Yesterday we had our Catamaran cruise at sunset and we all had the best time ever! We had to share our boat with a bunch of boys from France which was kinda cool, talking to them on the other hand was difficult. It was so much fun dancing and singing and having a night to not worry about anything!

Holy Graille, Morella & Getting lost in Valencia ;)

Sunday morning we woke up early to get ready to see the city center in Valencia. Unfortunately right before we were about to leave I was sick and had to stay behind for awhile till I was feeling better. Mrs. Swicegood stayed behind with me to make sure I was okay and then her and I walked around some and stopped to eat while waiting for the others to see the Valencia Cathedral. I felt bad she stayed with me instead of going on with the others, but I really enjoyed spending time with her and listening to all her great stories! Once we met up with the others we started our tour of the Valencia Cathedral and it was absolutely beautiful. I was so bummed earlier in the day because I thought I had missed seeing the Holy Graille but luckily a wedding had been going on in the Cathedral earlier in the day, allowing me to make it on time. :) After the tour we headed back to the dorm and me and few girls decided to go to the beach to watch the sunset. It was extra windy so the sand was blowing really hard, so after laying out for an hour or two, we decided to go to a resturant on the beach for some drinks. We stayed there for about two hours and watched the sun start to go down and then made our way back to the dorm.

Tuesday was our day for Morella! I was really excited about that day because it was our first day trip we were taking. After a two hour bus ride we got to Morella which was the cutest little city I have ever seen! We hiked up to the top of the Castle and looked down on the town and all the surrounding area. We all had a picnic up there on the top of the Castle and took a ton of pictures before starting the extremely long climb down. After we got to the bottom we walked the streets of the town some and looked for some shops but because it was siesta time everything was pretty much closed. We sat down at a little restaurant to get a drink to cool off and rest from walking so much and then met outside a Cathedral. The Church was closed for renovation but they did let us come in and sit down for a few minutes and it was so pretty in there.



Today we were suppose to see the Fine Arts Museum but for some reason we weren't able to so after seeing a Church and Museum we ate lunch and then had some free time. A couple girls and I went on our own to explore some and shop and ended up getting horribly lost without a map. That was a crazy adventure for about an hour and then we finally somehow manage to end up were we were Monday and recognized where we were at. On the way to the dorm we stopped in a couple of places to look around and then caught the metro back home. When we were walking in we passed this little pizza place that smelled amazing so we ended up stopping for a bite to eat. It has been very nice having some down time today, we all have been going non stop since we've been here. Tonight we're going to sleep early so we can wake up bright and early for Barcelona tomorrow!

Paris & Getting to Know Valencia!

I'm in Spain! I feel like I have been looking forward to this trip for so long and I still can't believe we finally made it. The layover in Paris was tough since everyone just wanted to sleep from that never ending plane ride but I think we all enjoyed it. We were all looking forward to seeing the Eiffel Tower and it was amazing! Unfortuanlly there was a two hour wait to get to go up it and we didn't have enough time before our next flight, so we ended up taking a boat ride down the Seine River. I was kind of disappointed we didn't get to go up, but the boat tour ended up being pretty cool and it showed us a lot of history that was actually interesting. After all day seeing Paris I seriously thought I was going to fall asleep while walking. We all looked like zombies walking through the airport to our next flight but thankfully that ride was quick and we managed to claim our luggage and get to our bus within 30minutes. Once we left the airport and started driving around the energy in the bus completely changed. Valencia seems more upbeat and a younger setting then paris did. Today we started out with a scavenger hunt and walked all around the University of Valencia campus. Campus life here seems so much more fun then back home because everyone is outside and nobody is on their phone or computer. We got some cold stares, people seem to not be warming up to us too quickly, but the few people we did talk to were very nice and helpful. After we finished the scavenger hunt we went to the beach for the rest of the afternoon and it definitely puts all Texas beaches to shame! The water was blue and we could see our feet in the water and the sand was so white and clean. I plan to spend many more days out their working on my tan. :)