Blogs from Toledo, Castile-La Mancha, Spain, Europe - page 9

The first trip that I took outside of Madrid was to Toledo, about an hour bus ride from Madrid. I went with my school, and got a nice tour of Toledo. It is a very picturesque city, with a lot of different cultures to explore. In Toledo, there is evidence of Muslims, Christians and Jews. It is one of the only cities in the world where these three religions can live peacefully. I got to see churches, mosques and synagogues that used elements from the three religions and made them very unique. Toledo is also the city where El Greco, a very famous Spanish artist, spent most of his life. I really enjoy El Greco's work because of the way that he depicts the human body, so I was very excited to see one of his ... read more

So we spent the day in Madrid today…(Friday) So Exciting. It’s an absolutely beautiful city with so much history... I think that’s the one thing that really seems to get me here-all the history around me. It’s something we lack big-time in the United States. Even the bit of history you can find is only usually a few hundred years old.. Here, it goes on forever! (Well, almost) As a group, we toured Palacio Real. It was amazing. It is the official residence of the monarchs, but it isn’t used for that anymore. The last time a king lived there was I believe in the 1930’s. (Spain does still have a king btw, but he is just a symbol. He doesn’t make political decisions. I am learning a bunch in my history class! Spain has a ... read more

After our trip to Rome we only had two weeks of the course left. I couldn't believe how quickly the time had flown by. The following weeks were a whirlwind of emotions, and possibly the hardest of all of the course for me. I was looking forward to going to Frederike's in Germany for my break, but was very sad about everyone leaving. Only 7 of us all together stayed for the whole year. I was excited for my friends to get to see there familys, friends, and boyfriends and for them going home for the holidays, but at the same time I wanted them all to stop talking about it because it made me so sad. But we made it through the end of the course, finishing final papers and tests and filling out evaluations. ... read more

Hey guys Today was the first day where I was able to choose everything I did! The first day that nothing was planned for me. Before I talk about today though, last night… A few of us went to a bar just outside of our school. I guess it’s the bar the students hang out at. Something to note- about 90% of the students at the school are girls.. For this reason there were a few Spaniard guys hanging at the bar with the bartender. They were goofy. I didn’t talk to them, but they were definitely willing to buy drinks for the girls there! I just hung out with a friend and had my first legal glass of alcohol! I had wine. Was good, and cheap compared to the US. 2 euro for a glass… ... read more

Well, these past three days have been absolutely crazy. Let’s go back to Tueday. My flight left Minneapolis around 2pm. Arrived in Chicago after a very short flight, and practically ran with the 2 other girls on the flight with me to our next terminal (about 6 minutes to the next terminal by train.) We get to the ticket gate (we had to switch airlines, therefore get a new boarding pass) and the lady behind the desk became frantic “I need to get you to your flight!” Making US even more frantic! The 7 hour flight to London was interesting The Plane we were on was bigger than any I have seen in a movie! There with two floors. We were on the bottom.. in row 53… the very last row on the plane next to ... read more