The End

Hey People,

Today is officially my last day in Madrid. I still can't quite believe that, it feels like I just got here. I am excited to go home and see my friends and my family and my dog and most importantly eat a ton of good food, but at the same time I really don't want to leave. This has been one of the best experiences of my life and the idea that it's ending is killing me. The second I left America I was homesick and the first week I was here I hated it and just wanted to go home. Since then so much has changed and believe it or not I wasn't homesick once after that. I loved Madrid a lot more than I thought I would and the worst part about leaving is the idea that I can't just go back and visit- it's kind of far away. I'm going to miss so many things about this place- my favorite restaurants, going for walks in Retiro, being able to travel so easily. I'm also going to miss some of the people I met here- I made some really good friends. In my last week I have finished all my classes, papers, and finals and wandered around Madrid doing all the things that I hadn't done yet. I finished my Christmas shopping and I packed all my stuff. I've even said most of my goodbyes at a farewell dinner last night. I'm sitting in my empty room right now crying and already missing Madrid. But it's ok, I have no regrets and I know that someday I'll come back again. Hopefully my next and final blog post once I'm home will be slightly happier than this one haha sorry about that. But for now hasta luego Madrid, it's been absolutely wonderful.

Giant Christmas Tree

Dinner at the oldest restaurant in the world

Christmas Market

Love,
Sam

Sevilla and so much other stuff

Hey people,

Sorry it's been so long since I've written but now I finally have time. Last week was officially the worst week ever. It started off with a cooking workshop that I almost single-handedly destroyed and was asked to watch and not touch anything. Then I had to write 3 papers, do 2 projects, and study for a test after finding out that the laundry lady lost my favorite pair of jeans. The week ended spectacularly with me getting so sick I felt like I was dying and I had to cancel my trip to Belfast.

Me observing other people cook

Things have improved since then and this last weekend I went on my last trip with API to Sevilla. We took the fast train (it was going 280 km/hr!!) which was super cool and so much faster than the bus. While I spent most of the weekend doing homework I did get to see some of the sights including the Guadalquivir river, the old Jewish quarter, the alcazar (royal palace) and the cathedral. In the cathedral I even walked to the top of the bell tower (35 stories thank God it was ramps) and it had the most amazing view. I also got to see a flamenco show, which was pretty awesome.

Flamenco

Alcazar

Inside the Alcazar

Tomb of Christopher Columbus

Sevilla from above

Me at the river

This week I had my last class on Monday and my friend Liza and her friend Hannah came to visit. It was so great having Liza here and showing the two of them all the sights and eating so much good food. We also got to go to the Terra Cotta army exhibit that I've been wanting to see for a while now which was pretty cool. Although it showed just how much of a history nerd I am when I realized that I had already seen the documentary they were showing a while ago on my own haha.

Liza and a Terra Cotta warrior

Thanksgiving

I almost forgot, but before Sevilla it was Thanksgiving!!! API threw us a dinner with all the food and decorated with Thanksgiving things. The food was fine but I really miss all the food I would have gotten at home. I was super lucky though and got to Skype with my whole family when I got back to my room. I can't wait to see everyone in person at Christmas. The best part of Thanksgiving this year though was the fact that I have so much to be thankful for right now. This study abroad experience has been so amazing and I can't believe it's almost over, coming home is going to be so bitter sweet. I still have a bunch of stuff planned for before I leave though so I'll write again soon!

Love,
Sam

It's Time for Africa

Hey people,

I just got back from Morocco how insanely cool is that? First I had another six hour bus trip at 1 AM followed by me sitting in Starbucks for six hours. Then the discover excursions people finally came and we were off on another bus, then a ferry, then another bus until we finally got to our hotel in Tetuan. We had traditional Moroccan food the whole trip, which was not as bad or weird as I thought it would be but it was all surprisingly sweet. The next morning we were up and on the bus again to the city of Chefcaouen- the blue city.

you can see Morocco from Spain

It was really all blue and full of lots of shops, people harassing you to buy things and cats (so many cats). We went on a tour and then hiked all the way up a mountain, which was unexpected but still fun. Then we had way too much free time to shop in a not very big area and I almost forgot to mention that it was really, really cold. It would probably not have been so cold had we not thought we were going to the dessert and dressed accordingly. Anyway shopping there was definitely a new experience, everyone spoke Arabic, French, English and Spanish and usually a combination of all four when trying to communicate. They also accept all forms of currency- you can even pay with two at once if you figure out the conversion. Bartering did not go too successfully because everything was so cheap to begin with that I kept forgetting it could have been even cheaper. That night we saw some traditional performers at dinner and Discover Excursions hosted us a sangria party and then we all went to bed- sooo tired.

Me and Meaghan

So much blue!

some dye

View from the top of the mountain

The next day we headed to another city, Tangiers, to ride camels and see the cave of Hercules. This city was really different- we only drove through it but you could still see it- around 80% of the population lives in poverty and after driving through their section for a long time we drove by the kings palace right next to it. I feel like most of the places I go to are not like that so it was really bizarre and sad seeing it. Any way, camel riding was fun but also scary- they're way taller than you'd think. The cave of Hercules (where he supposedly held up the sky) was pretty cool and it has a natural cave opening that is an exact outline of Africa in reverse- weird. Our final city was Assilah, right on the beach and where all the Europeans vacation in the summer. We did some last minute shopping before making the long journey back home again.

Lighthouse- Spain's in the distance

Me on a camel!!

my new friend

Cave of Hercules

Assilah

Morocco was definitely not what I expected it to be although I can't really explain what I thought it would be. Maybe I thought it would seem more African than it was because I usually associate Arabic with the middle east even though I know it's in Africa too. It was also the most different place I've ever been to- probably because I've only been to Europe and America so far. It was such an amazing experience and it was definitely worth the insane amount of traveling I did to get there.

Love,
Sam

Yay Friends!!!

Hey people,

Sorry it's been a while again but I literally have so much work to do since the semester's almost over
:( But this past weekend was awesome because I got to see Caroline, Peter and Lexi!!! Before that though I also went to El Escorial on Friday morning. El Escorial is a monastery and also was previously the summer palace when it was built in the 16th/17th century. I saw the library, which is the second most important Christian library after the Vatican and has lots of original manuscripts- the oldest from the 5th century. I also saw the royal crypt which was incredibly cool and also really gross but I won't talk about that here haha. That was about it before I headed back to Madrid and to the airport to pick up Peter and Caroline.

El Escorial

The first night we went to El Tigre at like 1 AM and then to Dubliners of course. The next day was packed with all the Madrid things I could think of- Sol, Plaza Mayor, the royal Palace, and Retiro park. It was also a holiday (patron saint of Madrid?) so there were tons of people everywhere. The best thing though was renting a row boat in Retiro and we didn't even crash. Then we headed back to the airport to get Lexi and eat dinner at Tierra and basically just hang out. Unfortunately Lexi had to leave after only a couple of hours but I am so glad we all got to be together it was so fun and I missed everyone so much.

Peter and Caroline rowing

Everyone together again :)

Templo de Debod

Our last day we went to the Egyptian Temple of Debod and did some shopping before Caroline and Peter needed to leave too. It was a great weekend before having to go back to all my work, which is unfortunately what I have to do right now too. I will write again after this weekend because I'm going to Morocco so I'll definitely have some great stories to tell.

Love,
Sam

Gooooool!!!!

Hey people,

Sorry I haven't written in a while but nothing much has been going on here besides homework and laziness. Last week I did get to do something super awesome though- I went to a fútbol game!! It was Real Madrid vs. Sevilla. I know that Spanish people are crazy about soccer but you can't fully understand until you go to an actual game. They were screaming and chanting and singing the entire game- one guy even brought a drum to encourage his section. There was only one fight that I noticed but I thought for sure the one lady rooting for Sevilla in our section was going to die (she didn't).

Me in the front row!!

Then there was the actual game itself- me and Meaghan were sitting in the front row because the ticket guy clearly loved us. I had a jersey with a random new British player on it because clearly I know nothing about soccer and the store was out of Ronaldo shirts so the saleswoman was like "hey this guy's British" although I don't know how she knew that would work. Anyway my new favorite player, Bale, ended up scoring the first 2 goals (spelt gool in Spanish apparently, my title is not just a stupid spelling mistake). At the end of the game we won 7-3 and it was, according to everyone I talked to, the most exciting game of the season. I completely agree and add that it was the most exciting sporting event that I have ever been to yay fútbol!!!

Actiony shot

Celebrating after a goal

Next weekend things will pick back up when Peter and Caroline and maybe even Lexi come visit me!!!

Love,
Sam

 

 

Passport to Paris

Hey people,

First off, yes I am continuing my theme of naming posts after Mary Kate and Ashley movies but this one I think actually makes sense in a weird way. That would be the fact that I didn't show my passport to anyone coming or going from Spain or France- weird. Also sad because now I have no stamp. Sorry back to the point now- I went to Paris this weekend!!!!

We left Friday morning and got to our hotel by lunch time. This hotel was the worst I've ever stayed in ever but that's ok because it was Paris. I went to a café with a few friends and got a sandwich on delicious bread and an éclair that weirdly had ice cream in the middle. Then all of API trekked over to the Louvre for a tour. It was so huge that I feel like we didn't even see half of what was in there but we did see the Mona Lisa, the Venus de Milo and a cool sphinx from Egypt.

The Tuileries

The Louvre

Mona Lisa

My friends and I ventured off on our own to find dinner and then to see the Eiffel tower at night. I think the coolest part was when it started sparkling, which it does every hour for 5 minutes. Then of course we got lost and didn't make it back to the hotel until 1 AM.

Sparkly Eiffel Tower

Saturday morning began with a 3 hour bus tour of the city that had two stops. One to see a great view of the Eiffel tower and the other to see the Invalides military hospital where Napoleon's tomb is.

Me and the Eiffel Tower!

Invalides

We ended the tour at Notre Dame, which is definitely one of the most beautiful cathedrals I've ever been to.

Notre Dame

After that we started to follow my insanely packed schedule, needless to say we didn't get to do everything but we did a lot and were exhausted by the end of the day. First we went to the lock bridge, then the Luxembourg Gardens, and finally the Arc de Triomphe. At this point we were too hungry to continue and went to find dinner.

Lock bridge

Luxembourg Gardens

It's actually fall!!

 

 

Arc de Triomphe

We ate at a café with a view of the Eiffel tower and I got French onion soup because it's just too funny that they only call it onion soup there. We ended the day by going up to the second floor of the Eiffel tower (the top floor was closed because of the wind) and the view was incredible. We didn't stay for long because it had started to get really cold and pretty late too.

Paris :)

On our last day we had the whole morning to ourselves so we went to the Musee de Orsay and saw lots of Van Gogh's and Monet's, unfortunately no pics sorry. We walked along the Seine on the way back to the hotel and finally left for the airport. The last thing I did before leaving France was to grab some macaroons for the flight- so delicious.

The Seine

Yay macaroons!

While in Paris I couldn't help but compare it to Madrid and was pretty surprised by what I thought about both cities. First of all I did love Paris, don't get me wrong it was amazing, but it is also very big, spread out, confusing and expensive. It definitely made me miss Madrid where everything you need is all in one spot and you can get tapas for like 2 Euros. The Paris metro is also pretty gross, while Madrid's is the cleanest I've ever seen. Another problem I ran into was the language barrier. People in Paris speak French- shocking I know- but the weird part was that even though most people spoke English it seemed to make more sense to try to speak in Spanish to me because I knew that I was in a foreign country. This tends to cause problems because no one speaks Spanish there. That definitely messed with my head. Another problem that I know I will unfortunately have with all cities in the future is the fact that things close. Madrid is the only place where everything is open literally all night long. My last observation is definitely in favor of Paris and that is the people. I've always heard how horrible French people are to Americans but I felt so welcome there, everyone I met was friendly and polite which was a pleasant surprise after Madrid. The people here are actually awful- I have not met a single person here who is friendly, likes Americans, or is not completely rude. Sorry that was a lot of info but I just have too many thoughts in my head :)

The ballet store <3 so many pointe shoes

Paris was amazing but I am sad that I didn't get to do nearly enough of what I wanted. That can be a good thing though because now I have a mile long list of all the things I want to do next time I go.

Love,
Sam

Segovia and Santander

Hey people,

So this post is about last weekend when I was traveling around to different cities in Spain. On Friday I went on a history field trip to Segovia with 3 other girls from Suffolk, our professor, and a lot of other kids from his class from University of San Diego. I can happily say he likes us better because they're all crazy and he spent the whole day with us :) The first thing we saw when we got there was the aqueduct which was amazing. It's still so in tact and also really looks like it could fall down any second I have no idea how it's still standing. After that we went to the cathedral and had lunch. Our last stop was the Alcazar (castle) where I climbed 152 stairs to get to the top, laid down on the ground for 10 minutes (I'm apparently very out of shape and I hate stairs), and then got to appreciate the amazing view. After that we headed back to Madrid.

The Aqueduct

The Cathedral

Plaza Mayor

Me, Jordan, and Kira where Isabella was crowned Queen

El Alcazar

The view

The next day API (my study abroad program) took us to Santander for the weekend. Santander is the capitol of Cantabria in the north of Spain. After a 6 hour bus ride we arrived and I was pleasantly surprised to find the weather was beautiful, which was great because we were right next to the beach. After getting a quick lunch and stopping for ice cream we went to see the royal summer palace and is currently being used as a summer school. After we saw exact replicas of the Nina, Pinta, and Santa Maria- so tiny haha. Then we walked to the city center and just wandered around for a while. To end the night me and a few friends got a pizza and a bottle of wine and chilled on the beach for a few hours.

Ice cream and the beach- perfect day

Palace

The boats

The next day we headed to Las Cuevas de Altamira, which are these amazing caves with some of the oldest and most detailed cave paintings ever found. Unfortunately you can't go in the real caves so we only saw a replica- which you can't take pictures of weirdly. Then we went to this awesome small medieval town called Santillana del Mar. We got lunch and walked around and I found a torture museum that made me so excited until I realized we had to leave and I couldn't go in :( Then we left for another 6 hour bus ride home.

It looked so awesome!!

That's it for that weekend but this weekend I'm going to Paris ahhhhhhh I can't wait I'm sooooo excited!!!!!

Love,
Sam