Whoops, I have been bad about updating! Nothing too interesting had been happening which finally means I have settled into my routine. Every Tuesday I have community service (I speak English with students at a language school), we usually have a ruta of Toledo or a Spanish movie to watch during the week and we have intercambios. So there was really nothing out of the ordinary to report until now!
Last Friday we visited two palaces in Aranjuez and Escorial. Both were beautiful but it was a long day. We met at 9:00 in the morning and drove to both locations (all in all about 2 hours away from Toledo). The first palace in Aranjuez was exactly what I thought a palace would look like. Extravagant rooms (and a lot of them) decorated with many paintings and a lot of gold. I did find the decorations a bit tacky though, but who am I to judge the decorations of the king's summer palace! We then drove to Escorial (in the mountains so it was foggy and beautiful) and had a pretty fantastic lunch. The palace in Escorial was not as elaborate as Aranjuez but it had amazing tombs on the bottom floor and huge marble rooms. The gardens at each palace were breath taking! We returned home that night and I had a pretty normal weekend of watching TV on surfthechannel.com, spending time with friends and finishing homework.
This past weekend some of the group and I went to Barcelona! It was absolutely amazing, I love it there. We took an overnight bus on Thursday so we arrived at our hostel at 7:30 in the morning on Friday. Though we were technically not supposed to check in until "midday" (as the man at the counter kept saying) he let us move into our 14 person room. The room reminded me of an orphanage. Each bed had it's own walls and a curtain for privacy which was nice in the end. Though some people snored and I didn't have a blanket, I passed out. Overnight driving does not offer the best sleeping conditions...
We took a brief nap and woke up and got ready around noon. We ate a quick lunch and walked around Barcelona to the ocean, through the streets and eventually to a mall on the water. Theresa, Liz and I shopped for a bit and continued to walk around Barcelona until that night. We got chinese food (sooo good!) and hung out in our hostel with three Austrailian girls we met who were so much fun. After dinner we went to a bar for Liz's birthday and got home pretty late.
Saturday morning Thresea took a bus tour with Christina, so Liz and I walked around with Bridget and Isabel in the Gothic Center, Las Ramblas and around some old cathedrals. Since I had been to Barcelona before I wasn't too disappointed that we didn't see the major sites and it was nice to walk around the city and enjoy it like I hadn't had the chance before.
Liz and I finally found the last two Twilight books in English and since we were pretty tired from our days of walking around, we went to dinner and came back and read for a bit and watched Twilight on Bridget's iPod. Sunday morning we woke up bright and early and took our bus back to Madrid and then to Toledo!
I didn't get home until about 10:30 p.m. and had to work on homework, blech. It wasn't too much but I stayed up really late and I'm tired today. Right now I'm about to finish up my Literature homework and finish more of our online class, AVE. We have a ruta of Toledo this week and I'll finally get to spend another weekend in Toledo. It's so much more releaxing and less expensive than traveling. Plus I continue to love Toledo more and more! I don't have any more trips planned until the second weekend in March when I'm going to Rome with Shannon and Liz. And then my mom is coming to visit for about 11 days over Spring Break and we're planning on traveling to London and Paris (plus Madrid and Toledo). I can't wait!
I'm starting to get e-mails about the second session I'll be in Toledo which is making me more excited about Spain in Spring. I need to start choosing classes and packing up my winter clothes. It really does get warmer and warmer as the days go by. I need to finish homework now so hasta luego!
Last Friday we visited two palaces in Aranjuez and Escorial. Both were beautiful but it was a long day. We met at 9:00 in the morning and drove to both locations (all in all about 2 hours away from Toledo). The first palace in Aranjuez was exactly what I thought a palace would look like. Extravagant rooms (and a lot of them) decorated with many paintings and a lot of gold. I did find the decorations a bit tacky though, but who am I to judge the decorations of the king's summer palace! We then drove to Escorial (in the mountains so it was foggy and beautiful) and had a pretty fantastic lunch. The palace in Escorial was not as elaborate as Aranjuez but it had amazing tombs on the bottom floor and huge marble rooms. The gardens at each palace were breath taking! We returned home that night and I had a pretty normal weekend of watching TV on surfthechannel.com, spending time with friends and finishing homework.
This past weekend some of the group and I went to Barcelona! It was absolutely amazing, I love it there. We took an overnight bus on Thursday so we arrived at our hostel at 7:30 in the morning on Friday. Though we were technically not supposed to check in until "midday" (as the man at the counter kept saying) he let us move into our 14 person room. The room reminded me of an orphanage. Each bed had it's own walls and a curtain for privacy which was nice in the end. Though some people snored and I didn't have a blanket, I passed out. Overnight driving does not offer the best sleeping conditions...
We took a brief nap and woke up and got ready around noon. We ate a quick lunch and walked around Barcelona to the ocean, through the streets and eventually to a mall on the water. Theresa, Liz and I shopped for a bit and continued to walk around Barcelona until that night. We got chinese food (sooo good!) and hung out in our hostel with three Austrailian girls we met who were so much fun. After dinner we went to a bar for Liz's birthday and got home pretty late.
Saturday morning Thresea took a bus tour with Christina, so Liz and I walked around with Bridget and Isabel in the Gothic Center, Las Ramblas and around some old cathedrals. Since I had been to Barcelona before I wasn't too disappointed that we didn't see the major sites and it was nice to walk around the city and enjoy it like I hadn't had the chance before.
Liz and I finally found the last two Twilight books in English and since we were pretty tired from our days of walking around, we went to dinner and came back and read for a bit and watched Twilight on Bridget's iPod. Sunday morning we woke up bright and early and took our bus back to Madrid and then to Toledo!
I didn't get home until about 10:30 p.m. and had to work on homework, blech. It wasn't too much but I stayed up really late and I'm tired today. Right now I'm about to finish up my Literature homework and finish more of our online class, AVE. We have a ruta of Toledo this week and I'll finally get to spend another weekend in Toledo. It's so much more releaxing and less expensive than traveling. Plus I continue to love Toledo more and more! I don't have any more trips planned until the second weekend in March when I'm going to Rome with Shannon and Liz. And then my mom is coming to visit for about 11 days over Spring Break and we're planning on traveling to London and Paris (plus Madrid and Toledo). I can't wait!
I'm starting to get e-mails about the second session I'll be in Toledo which is making me more excited about Spain in Spring. I need to start choosing classes and packing up my winter clothes. It really does get warmer and warmer as the days go by. I need to finish homework now so hasta luego!
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