First: I'm done with finals! My last test was Renaissance Art History with my favorite teacher, Curra, and I did pretty well. After the test I met up with Laura and Ryan (fellow members of "El helado es la vida") for ice cream at Burger King. We had a nice chat, then I headed over to TIGFridays for happy hour to meet up with some friends. Mo and I headed home after, changed, then met the gang at a nearby bar and we started a Loooooooooooong night of festivities. It was also strange because in Sol there was this "fake New [View Full Entry]

---

---

This weekend was a long one due to the Feast of the Immaculate Conception (note: this was when MARY was conceived without original sin, NOT when Jesus was conceived by Mary. FYI). Christine and I decided to do a short trip to Sevilla and Granada and return this Saturday so we could study for our finals. On Wednesday night I went to our local watering hole Maloney's to say hi to everyone and indulge in one game of beer pong. I left at 12, slept until 5am, then left to meet Christine at a Taxi stand near our apartments. Even though [View Full Entry]

---

---

This was my first weekend in Madrid in three weeks straight, so I got some much needed rest. On Friday, Teal and I took a day trip to El Escorial, a palace/church/monastery/library thing that King Philip II built. We had learned about it in Art History class so it made the trip a little more interesting. Then we took a bus another 20 minutes up to the Valley of the Fallen, a monument for the people who were killed in the Spanish Civil War. Franco himself is buried there (the dictator that ruled Spain after the war until his death). Teal [View Full Entry]

---

---

Remember how I said Geneva was really cold? Well, that was child's play compared to our experience in Prague, Czech Republic. The HIGH 30 degrees both days we were there and the sun set at FOUR THIRTY in the afternoon so it was a pretty cold experience. I got to see snow though, which was pretty, and the cold was completely worth it. I left my apartment Friday morning at 4:15 am and took a taxi to the airport (I usually never take a taxi to the airport because it only cost a dollar to take the metro there, but the [View Full Entry]

---

---

This weekend was a trip to Geneva with Cheryl and Sarah (although Teal was supposed to come, she had an allergic reaction to some medication she was taking and sadly couldn't make it). It was pretty cold, but the city was beautiful with fall trees, and very easy to navigate. Me and the girls arrived at about two PM to the airport, got some Francs out of the bank (70 Euro is 100 Francs... and 1 dollar is 1.12 Francs, a much better exchange rate then dollar to Euro, which is currently at 1 Euro = 1.47... kill me now) and [View Full Entry]

---

---

This weekend was a four day weekend (due to All Souls Day here in Madrid) so me, Teal, and Christine headed over to Dublin and Galway, Ireland for our holiday. We arrived in Dublin Thursday night and, since Teal was feeling sick, got a quick dinner and went to bed so we could start bright and early the next day. In Dublin we checked out St. Patrick's Cathedral, Christ's Church, St. Stephen's Green (a gorgeous park, especially with the fall leaves), and this really cool museum that I don't remember the name of that was free and had extremely old religious [View Full Entry]

---

---

Kasey, my best friend since seventh grade, is studying abroad in Perusia, Italy, and she came to visit me in Madrid on her fall break. She arrived about three hours after I got home from the airport from Amsterdam. I took her out to get some tapas but since it was Sunday night we had a hard time finding anything open, but managed to get a little grub then went to bed pretty early, since we were both tired from traveling. Monday I took her to Sol, Retiro Park, The Royal Palace, the Egyptian temples, and then left her to her [View Full Entry]

---

---

Last weekend was a wild weekend in Amsterdam, which may be my favorite English speaking country ever. It started out a little chaotic, because I'm an idiot and booked my flight for NOVEMBER 19th instead of OCTOBER. I figured this out the day before I left, and I was supposed to leave at 7am. I almost just gave up but then decided, you know what, I want to go to Amsterdam! So I called the airline, spoke horrendous Spanish until they found an English speaker, and changed both my to and from flights without any extra payments! I arrived later then [View Full Entry]

---

---

This weekend was amazing... I added another continent to my list of travels! On Thursday night me and my friends Josh, Justin, and Ariana took the night bus to Gibraltar, a small city that is owned by the United Kingdom. We arrived at the bus station at 6am, and walked across the border through customs into the city. We grabbed some breakfast, checked out the city a bit, and then climbed The Rock. Well, we took a cable car half way up, then headed to the top to see the views. The crazy thing is that there are TONS of wild [View Full Entry]

---

---

This weekend turned out to be one of my favorite ones here in Madrid, even though there was one small setback. Thursday after school Laura left for London/Dublin and I had the apartment sort of to myself... Or so I thought. My senora's three grandkids came and slept over for two nights and, if you know me, you understand that I can't even speak to little kids in ENGLISH much less SPANISH. They were cute enough; a boy (about 8), a girl (6), and a younger boy (5 or so). The little girl was feisty, and when we were at dinner [View Full Entry]

---

---