Granadaaa

Well I didn't leave for Granada until Friday morning but going back to Wednesday.. (the start of my weekend) everyone met at a bar called Cien Montadios (sp?) anyway it means 100 Sandwiches. So we went there and had 1 euro drinks/tapas and then headed over to Orange Cafe - where I somehow managed to show up with no I.D. AGAIN! but I got in this time :) we went dancing there until about 6 am! Then Thursday, Kira and I tried to not make it a late night since we had to get up at 7:30 the next morning and decided to go to an Irish pub called Finigins with some friends from school and their Rugby team. (Ended up staying til like 3, but it was fun nonetheless) Friday morning, we went on the 6 hour bus ride to Granada - a city in the South of Spain. We arrived at 2:30 to the 5 star hotel and it was realllly nice! We spent the day just exploring the city, and getting food/drinks. That night we went to a Flamenco show (spanish dance) and it was AWESOME! I loved it! Afterwards a few of the girls stumbled upon a cute little club and had a really good time. The next day our group went to La Alhambra: a palace and fortress home of the Moorish rulers of Granada known for having the most famous Islamic architecture in the country. It was absolutely stunning. The history of the castle was that every room had stories enscribed on the walls, and that it took over a century to finish. The most important aspect was water, so there were gorgeous fountains/pools everywhere! That night, some of the girls went to a pizza place for dinner, then bar hopped for drinks, and finally ended up at the same club as the night before - great time - again.. lol. Sunday we toured the city with a guide, and heard the history of the buildings and such. We went to a beautiful cathedral, and a famous church that is now a museum. Then, we had some more free time for shopping before heading back on the bus for another 6 hour ride home. We arrived back in Madrid at like 8, and I was exhausted! Overall, Granada was awesome, but I am definitely happier to live in MADRID :)


This Wednesday Kira and I leave for DUBLIN, IRELAND and I am sooo exciiiiiteddd!

The best Valentine's Day (Week) for someone who is Single

I feel like anyone actually reading this is either bored hearing about every minute of my day, or extremely jealous :) Anyway...school's going well so far, I changed my schedule and I couldn't be happier. I used to have Mon.-Thurs. class at 8:30 and then not again til 1 everyday! But nowww I have class on Mon. and Wed. 8:30-2 and then on Tues. and Thurs. only one class at 1 yay! Soo my Valentine's Week was absolutely ridiculous! Wednesday my friends and I planned on going to Orange Cafe...and after waiting in line for an hour, I got carded and had no I.D. on me (the drinking age in Spain is 18 and I'm the only one who couldn't get in the bar. Perfect.) Soo we ended up going to Leche de Pantera (Milk bar) where it looks like a cave on the inside, and the drinks come pouring from the ceiling!! Disgusting as it sounds, 7 girls shared a massive fishbowl filled with like 10 different kinds of liquor, milk, cream, sugar, and cinnamon...and it was really good! Oh and I even got a free t-shirt because we finished the bowl :) Thursday my ISA group went to El Prado, a incredibly large and famous museum - it was so overwhelming, but I learned a lot about the paintings (which is a good thing considering I am taking an art class). At night, everyone met at Kira and my residencia for drinks before heading out to Joy! As usual, it was so much fun, tons of people, and danced until 6 am! Friday Kira and I became true Madridians! We went with some guys from Madrid to ¨Botellion¨ which is hundreds of college students drinking alcohol in the streets...to sum it up. Saturday was one of my French housemate's birthday, and we cooked the boys an American breakfast (pancakes and bacon - both of which they had never eaten before. And no, I did not eat the pancakes lol). Gabriel, the one whose birthday it was, gave Kira and I roses for Valentine's day HOW CUTE! Then Kira and I went to Retiro Park - kind of like Central Park in NYC but bigger and much more beautiful. It was a GORGEOUS day (65 degrees and sunny) we just walked around and took in the atmosphere...as corny as it sounds, it was really nice! That night, the Frenchies and Argentinians had a bunch of friends over our Residencia - we drank, danced, and planned to go out to a club - but, before we knew it, it was like after 3 am so we just went to a bar, ate, and then went to bed. Sunday was a day to recooperate, do homework, and hang out. I decided to go for a walk by myself (don't worry Mom, it was during the day, and I know how to ¨be safe¨) and I ended up accidently finding a fantastic church, and going to mass for the second week in a row. In all, everything is going great so far.. I absolutely love it here, and being single on Valentine's Day isn't so bad after all.. when you are in Spain atleast ;)

Upcoming plans: Wednesday 1 euro tapas/drinks with the girls, and Friday the ISA group is leaving super early to go to Granada for the weekend (so excited)

Getting into Routine

SO! Thus far I've pretty much started feeling like I am getting into a routine here in Madrid. Of course everyday is filled with sightseeing and nightlife, so I'll start updating you with what I've been up to. In Sol, (I live in the heart of Madrid- sort of like Times Square in NYC), the best place to go on Thursday nights is a discoteca (club) called JOY. It has 3 floors/5 bars and TONS of college kids. My housemate, new Romanian friend and I all went onThursday and made friends with some guys that were born and raised in Madrid. On Friday, Kira (my housemate) and I did some shopping in Sol, and at night we went to the strip of Irish bars right near our Residencia (O'Reilleys, O'Connels, and Dubliners) which also had an INSANE amount of people in every bar. Saturday our ISA group took a bus trip to El Toledo, a city in Spain known for its beautiful cathedrals. It was seriously the most amazing place I have ever seen in my life. The view of the city was breathtaking! We toured the entire city visiting 4 different famous monuments, and learned the history of each one. Each story about the architecture of the buildings, or beliefs about certain paintings were so fascinating! When our bus arrived back in Madrid, Kira and I decided to wonder lol...we found the Temple of Debod (which is like a park with an amazing monument (you'll have to see it in my pictures that I'll put up soon) and then at night we went to a bar called El Tigre (SO MUCH FUN!) We drank mojitos and ate tapas, and met people from Brazil and Barcelona. Sunday, I went to El Rostro, an outdoor flea market with TONS of people. I bought a scarf and a shirt :) very cute. At night, we decided to go to La Iglesia (Church) which was an experience, the cathedrals here are really beautiful. After we went to a bar to watch the soccer (futbol) game with our French housemates. So Monday I started classes, which seem really easy. The only issue is that I have 8:30 class Mon-Thurs and everyone knows how I feel about waking up in the morning. : / But, I'm done by 1:30 everyday and I'm off on Friday's! woo! I'm sorry this was so much updating, but I've been doing so many new and exciting things I didn't want to leave anything out!


Upcoming events: Valentine's Day Week lol: Wednesday at Orange Cafe (Ladies night: free entrance and free drinks all night)! Thursday at JOY for Shannon's 22nd birthday! Saturday partying with one of our French housemates for his birthday!

Upcoming weekend trips: Granada, London, and Barcelona ( to see KIMMY =D <3)

Ahhh Madrid!

So this post is going to be MUCH happier than the last one :) Since I have arrived in Madrid, things have been going much better now. It is truly one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. Everytime I step outside, I seem to be more and more amazed- and I find myself learning so much even though it's only been 3 days! I FINALLY RECIEVED MY LUGGAGE! THANK GOD! Anyways as you know, most of the people I live with are from France and speak little English, so they have been making me try my best to talk only in Spanish whenever we have a conversation! Pretttttyy funny :) My friend Maxime says "Que?" (What?) everytime I start speaking in English...even though I know he understands me! Haha anyways, yesterday I went to my universidad and took my placement test to see what level of Spanish I would be put in (Intermediate woo!) and picked my classes for the semester. I start classes on Monday so we'll see how that goes. Last night we went to a few little bars around the Plaza Mayor for sangria and cervasas, and then around midnight we went to a discotecha (club) called Joy with 3 floors and 5 bars, and I've never seeen so many people in one place in my life! We also met some guys that were born and raised in Madrid that were a lot of fun! We didn't leave the club til 4 a.m. and the Madridians thought it was SO EARLY lol...by the time I went to bed it was around 4:30 so I was awake for almost 24 hours!!! Thus far, I've gone food shopping and even cooked my own dinner (and it was good, too) so I feel like everything is going really well. Tomorrow the ISA group is taking a bus trip to Toledo, which is a city in Spain known for its beautiful cathedrals, and I'm pretty excited. I guess that is all for now. Miss everyone back home already!!! <3


P.S. Wickford girls: Madrid does celebrate Valentine's Day :( muy triste!

Travel Frustration

So right now I am sitting in the London airport with currently NO flight to Madrid… I’m sure you’re wondering why or how this could happen…so I’ll tell you.

I got to the Philadelphia airport at 4 p.m. on Feb. 2 to find out that my flight from PA to London was canceled due to a blizzard in London (the first time it snowed in London in like 20 years). So, they booked me on the 10 p.m. flight (that’s 6 HOURS later by the way). The only good news thus far is that I don’t have jet lag, even though I only got 4 hours of sleep sitting up. Although the plane landed in London at 9:30 a.m. on Feb. 3 (it is only 4:30 a.m. in the US), it took almost 2 hours to get off the plane because of “disruptions from the weather.” (Mind you there is only about 2 inches of snow on the ground). Of course now I’m really nervous that I’m going to miss my 12:50 p.m. flight after another 20 minute bus ride between the terminal I was in, and the terminal I needed to be at. (It was now 11:45 a.m. when I got to the correct terminal) ONLY TO FIND OUT THAT MY FLIGHT WAS AGAIN CANCELED! The next departing flight to Madrid with British Airways was 7:50 at night, SO they booked me a 3:00 flight with Iberia at the EXTREME devastation that my bags may not be in Madrid when I get there. Then, I went to check-in with Iberia and what else could go wrong you ask? They CANNOT check me in because the plane hasn’t even left Madrid yet, and there’s a possibility that the flight could also be canceled. That takes me to now…where I sit in the London airport to wait until a plane departs from Madrid, so then they can check me in. The best part is, there will be someone waiting for me in the Madrid airport to take me to my housing, and I have no way to contact them to let them know that I haven’t even left London yet. Now when I get to Madrid, I have to figure out how to take a taxi with a Spanish speaking driver, and I don’t even know where I live. This would happen to me.
^wrote this in the airport when I needed to vent. The only good things that came from this ordeal was a 28 year old billionaire from Chicago who kept me company in the airport for 2 hours, and then getting on a Spanish speaking flight and they sang happy birthday in espanol for a little girl! so cute!

Now, I got off my plane at like 9 p.m. and had to take a $70 taxi to get to my residencia. Immediately greeted by my housemates (1 American, 3 French, 1 Venezulan?, and one from Mexico) Needless to say, I have to learn Spanish soon! Sooo then me and Kira (the American) went to a bar and ate tapas and drank LOTS of sangria, so I could forget about London possibly losing my luggage. So far, through the anger/frustration…Madrid is like a dream and I'm SO happy I'm finally here! (I'll be even happier when I receieve my suitcases!)