Countdown

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Kate

Obviously it's now September and we left Madrid a good few months ago, but due to a combination of lack of the internet at home, being busy teaching and general laziness, we didn't update it. Many apologies, better late than never as you say...


The last couple of weeks were spent doing two main things: winding down at work and making the most of our last days in Spain. At my academy the students all had exams to find out whether they learnt anything at all this year (i.e. whether they have listened to a word I said!). I am happy to say that the big majority passed! Kris's students took their Cambridge Proficiency exam that he has been preparing them for so his lessons dwindled.

The rest of the time we tried to cram as much into our last days as possible. We explored different areas of Madrid and saw a lot of friends. One of the best things about living in Madrid was that Kate and Greg live there. It's cool meeting new people, but it's been really great having old friends already in a place. They have gone out of their way to help us settle in and assist us with Spanish. They have also been great company for many a weekend drink, meal and/or both. We will miss meeting for lunch at 4, or dinner at 10!

You will be pleased to hear that the sun finally came out. It went from raining and 21 degrees, to a whopping 35-38 degrees with blue skies. About time too. It was a tiny bit sweaty, but we were happy that the weather finally arrived. At least we had had 2 weeks of it.

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Photos

Plaza del Torros- Las Ventas
The Madrid bull ring, the largest in Spain and a beautiful building

Our leaving picnic!
with Kate and Greg

A statue of a man apparantly being mauled by a bull
nice

The entrance to the plaza del torros
there was a London market going on inside, sponsored by Beefeater gin. Apparantly there were stalls from Camden and Covent Garden, men dressed as beefeaters and fish and chips. We were going to go in but the queue was over an hour long. And we are going to be in London next week so the novelty isn't that great!!

Plaza del Torros
the building is quite Moorish looking

Finally having a calamari sandwhich in the Plaza Mayor
we were told it was a 'must do' before we left, so we had one on our last day. It was calamari in a sandwich, exactly what you would expect.

On our last weekend we went for cocktails in a art deco place
mmmm.

Playing with mirrors
in the art deco bar

Kate at our picnic just before we left
just as the weather got nice!

It's really money for old rope
paint yourself in mud and sit stll for 12 hours.
Is this an option at career day?