AHHH

Down to the last few hours in Europe! I can't believe it!

Poland was... interesting? I'm not really sure how I feel about it, though I didn't get to see too much.

I am very glad to be back in Madrid though. My hotel is very nice and I have one of like 10 private balconies/patios in the whole place so thats fun! My luggage was initially lost coming back but it was just delivered this morning! Thank goodness!

Today I am going to spend my last day watching some futbol matches (Argentina-Germany, and Spain- Paraguay!!), shopping, and going out with a few friends who are here!

I plan on staying up ALL night so that I will be nice and sleepy for the plane ride. I am getting picked up from my hotel at 6 am to go to the airport so it should be no problem!

CANT WAIT TO BE BACK IN THE STATES!!

Sittin' in Barajas

Well here I am in the Madrid airport waitin' to go to my gate.

I have about 30 minutes to kill so I shelled out 5 euros to get internet service. Worth it? Probably not but I don't really care at this point. Another 5 euros ain't nothin'.

Yesterday was my last day in Madrid with the group and I did NOTHING.

We stayed out til the sun came up on Sunday so I slept in until 3 pm, woke up for lunch, and went back to sleep from 5-7 pm. I was so pooped! I spent the evening packing and I watched a movie.

The rest of the group went to a bull fight but I just couldn't handle that. I feel like I missed out a little bit because I didn't get to say a collective good bye to people. But about 6 of us went out to our local bar that we go to a lot and it was the people I like most, so that was a nice little last outing together. Here we are!

Easily the coolest people/ only people I hung out with on the trip! <33

Next update will be from Helsinki or Poland! Exciting!

BUSY BUSY BUSY!

Well here is Tuesday wrapping up. I have Wednesday (an art museum), Thursday (group lunch), Friday (Spain futbol game), and Saturday (final exams) and I AM DONE!

I am going to be so worn out from going to school everyday but I can't wait for it to be over and to start the next leg of my journey.

I am going to enjoy the next few days in Madrid by relaxing at the park and doing my studying there, the weather is finally nice!

But Monday I leave for Poland! I'll be there until the 1st, then I'll come back to Madrid to relax and rejuvenate until July 4th!!

Dreary Day ):

Well here I am in BEAUTIFUL Santander Spain. Its on the very northern coast and is one of the best cities we've visited. When you drive in, its beautiful green mountains and then all of a sudden you're on the beach!

Our hotel is right on the beach, BUT all day today it was completely overcast, extremely windy and 60 degrees outside. Not exactly beach weather so I spent the day uploading photos and catching up with friends on the internet.

I did happen to head out for about an hour today and take a few photos of the beach. I'm definitely coming back here one day though, I can't imagine how fabulous it would be when its warm and sunny!

Barcelona!

Yikes 10 days since an update!

I am terrible!

But I got into Barcelona around 1 am Thursday!

Friday was rainy

and gross but I just shopped excessively for like 6 hours. Then we found a schwanky place on the beach where between 7 of us we spent 230 euros! 9 euro Cosmos add up fast. The restaurant turned into a club at midnight and was everything I ever imagined a club in Barcelona to beeeee.

Saturday was BEAUTIFUL. I woke up at noon and went to straight to the beach. The beach is highlight number two. I hung by myself for a while and then met up with some Baylor people for the rest of the day. I spent about 5-6 hours on the beach and didnt want to leave!

For dinner we all met at an Irish pub to watch the USA- England game. It was great because the England fans were doing all the typical drunken English chants and it was super fun. I CANT WAIT TO WATCH SPAINS FIRST GAME IN DOWNTOWN MADRID AND GET CRAZYYYY.

After the game we hit up this otherrrr schwanky beach place where we canoodled our way into a sofa. This was not any normal sofa. This is like a cabana sofa for 8 people that over looks the whole place. We ordered 3 pitchers of champagne Sangria (which is the best drink I've ever had, it better be for 25 euros a pitcher!!!) and just people watched from our fancy sofa/cabana/hut/heaven.

This place also turned into a club so we all stayed and danced together.

Super fun! Can't wait to go back!

So BUSY!

Yikes, keeping up with this is harder than I thought!

I have been so busy with class, traveling, and just boppin' around Madrid!

Our first outing was Sunday the 30th. We went just about an hour outside of Madrid to a city called El Escorial where Phillip the 2nd's summer palace is still standing. Then we drove from there to Segovia where there is a Roman aqueduct still standing and a giant castle that holds the tombs of all the Kings and Queens of Spain!

We had class Monday, not very exciting. After class though one of my classes went as a group to the Archaeological Museum of Madrid which was pretty neat, but also very small.

Tuesday was our next outing: Toledo! Its about an hour and a half from Madrid and BEAUTIFUL. So hot but so pretty. We visited the cathedral there which was breath taking and then were given free range to wander around for about 3 hours. I enjoyed some fresh sangria and people watching in the shade for most of that. The city is hard to navigate because EVERYTHING. IS. UP. HILL. I don't know how they did it.

The past two days we have just had classes and our group has been trying out different bars in Madrid each night and its been really fun! I should head to bed because tomorrow morning at 8 am we are heading on a 4 day trip to the South of Spain! We are going to Cordoba, Sevilla, and Granada. Maybe internet access, maybe not! I'll try to keep this updated better!!!

Una ciudad bellisima

So far so good in Madrid!

We have about 15 class days over the course of the next month, and every other

day we are travelling to different cities across the country.

We've been out exploring Madrid the past few days, and last night we had a VERY VERY VERY late night out at different bars in the central part of the city. It was very fun and I talked to so many different people, and all in Spanish with nooo problem!

Here are a few pictures!

The National Library

La Plaza Mayor

Heineken! My favorite beer that is too expensive and rare in the US is cheap and a plenty here!

In the morning, we are taking a day trip to the towns of El Escorial and Segovia. I don't really know whats there, maybe some ancient ruins? We'll see!