last weekend in Madrid

Thursday, July 28, 2011 -- Joy Eslava

After our field trip to Avila on Thursday, we all came back to the colegio for siestas and dinner! Cristobal, one of our teachers here on the trip, is from Spain and his cousin owns one of the biggest discos in Madrid, Joy Eslava! His brother, Oscar, was coming into town Thursday so we all thought that would be the perfect time to go to Joy Eslava.

We felt like complete VIP status... Cristobal got us all in for free and with tickets for two free drinks and a free glass of champagne (copa de cava in Spanish)! This was so clutch since the drinks were at a steep price of 11 euros a piece!! This is practically 15 American dollars! This place was so cool! There was a huge dance floor surrounded by sofas to lounge on... and we of course partied the night away! It was by far one of my favorite nights in Madrid since I've been here.

MK, Me, Jamie Lee, and Jack

Joy Eslava

Molly and I with our 'copa de cava'

Abbye and I 

We stayed until the club pretty much kicked us out at 5:30 am. After the disco, Cristobal asked us if we wanted the best breakfast in Madrid and of course we all say yes, desparately wanting the Waffle House "All-Star Special" -- completely wrong. We walk in this place and Cristobal tells us "alright, who all wants churros and chocolate?!" We might as all have said hell no because we were not in the mood for churros and chocolate... we wanted some greasy waffles, scrambled eggs, bacon, and hasbrowns... so American, I know. So we ended up just getting a taxi back to the colegio and getting home around 5:45 am! whew... what a late night!








Friday, July 29, 2011 -- El Kapital
We all slept pretty late on Friday since we had stayed out so late Thursday and had a late lunch and went strait to the pool! Unfortunately, it was a little overcast so we didn't stay out there too long! We all got ready and went down to Pipas for dinner before we went to one of the worlds biggest discos... El Kapital! Dinner was of course delicious and then we were on our way!

Molly and I at the Metro, on our way to El Kapital

Me, Abbye, and Molly (thank you Jack for adding to this picture)

Cristobal worked his magic again and got our cover price reduced... it was still 18 euros though just to get in and only one free drink! The drinks there were even more expensive than at Joy Eslava... they were a whopping 12 euros per drink!

El Kapital is seven floors of awesomeness -- we started at the very top floor which opened up to the outside... there were beds everywhere, where people were just lounging and drinking. We stopped at each floor to at least catch a glimpse of what was going on! The 7th, 5th, 3rd, and 1st floor were by far my favorite though. The fifth floor was much more dancing and spanish style music, and the third floor was the 'hip hop' floor! The bottom floor was by far the best -- there were people dancing everywhere and their were 'dancers' on stage that looked like they had come strait out of the Jersey Shore. Kelsey and I could not get a hold of ourselves we were laughing so hard. We went through all the floor and then went back up to the top floor before we left at 6 am!!!

Kelsey and I with 'Pauly D' 

It was a late and expensive night but so much fun and well worth the money! A friend of mine, Carter, studied in Segovia last summer and told us that we could not leave Spain without going there, and now I understand why. Joy Eslava and El Kapital are by far the coolest bars/clubs/discos I have ever been to in my life.

Saturday, July 30, 2011 -- another relaxing Saturday
We all slept in again pretty late on Saturday -- trying to catch up on sleep from staying up until 6 am the past two nights. Abbye, Kelsey, Jamie Lee, and I got up around two and ran up to Pizza Jarden for lunch and then ran down to Sol to do a little shopping at H&M! By the time we were back we were all pretty exhuasted and wanted to take a siesta before our saturday night plans!

BUTTT Abbye and I got some pretty awesome news when we got back! Abbye called me and asked me to come down to her room because she was skyping her parents and they had a surprise for us! When I walked in, David, Maggie, Mrs. Joni, Mr. Randy were all standing around a birthday cake and a postcard of Las Vegas!!!!!!!! I just about lost it. The two of us were jaw-dropped, crying, and jumping on her bed all at the same time. I would have paid money to have a video of our reactions! Abbye and I have been talking about going to Las Vegas for our 21st birthdays ever since I can remember. But I never in a million years thought it would happen. I had no idea what my parents were planning on doing for my birthday but I would have been happy with a dinner and some wine after the best vacation ever in Spain! Thats just how great my parents are! Maggie and my mom have apparently been planning this trip since before we even left for Spain -- sneaky girls!!!! I am so so so so excited about our trip! We are leaving August 18th and staying for just the weekend but it is going to be the time of our lives! Thank you so much Maggie for planning this whole trip! I cannot wait to be there with you and David, Brince, Jamie and Colby! AND a special thanks to Mom and Dad for everything you do and the best birthday in the entire world! Ya'll are the best and I can't wait to get home to give ya'll a big hug! LOVE YALL TO THE MOON AND BACK!

Soooo, after our exciting news, there was no way I could think about taking a siesta. My heart was racing 90 miles a minute. So we all got ready and went down to Pispas for dinner and our last Saturday there... so sad. Nola and I were pretty exhausted so we didn't stay around for drinks... we came back to the colegio and called it a night!

Sunday, July 31, 2011 -- El Rastro and Pispas
Madrid has a great big market every Sunday that is from 7-3! None of us had been yet so we got up early and went on down El Rastro! We got so much good stuff and for so cheap. I had a lot more gifts to buy for friends and family before Sunday and I bought the rest of my gifts at the market plus a few little things for myself and all for under 40 euros! There is tent after tent after tent with so much stuff. Some of the tents had the same stuff but a lot of it was different! We were there for about three hours and decided it was too hot and time to head out. We all came back and took yet again... another siesta. I am definitely going to have to bring this habit back with me to the US.

Sunday afternoon, we all got ready and headed down to Plaza de Toros for our first bull fight! I was pretty excited to experience this but a little nervous because I had never seen anything like it. Come to find out, it was not bad at all. It was actually really fun. People get really into cheering on the bulls and the matadors. We did not get there until the end of the first fight but stayed for all six of the bulls. It was not super packed at the stadium but it is not the prime season for bullfighting and usually the stadium is packed out. Plaza de Toros is the biggest arena for bullfighting in Spain. I thought seeing the fights may give me a weak stomach but we were all fine. All but one of the matadors had a clean kill, but it is extremely frowned upon if the matador does not have a clean kill.

Plaza de Toros

After our bullfight, we went strait to our last night at Pispas. For those of you who do not know, in Spain, the month of August is vacation for EVERYONE. This place is dead in the month of August. So Yasmin and Alex are going on vacation just like everyone else. They are going to Portugal, France, and Barcelona! I hope they have a great vacation but we sure will miss them this last week in Madrid. Alex and Yasmin have practically become family to us. 

top row (left to right): Alex, Will, John, Oscar, Nick, Jack and Rob
middle row (left to right): Ashley, Yasmin, me, Jamie Lee, Nola and Kelsey
bottom row (left to right): Trey, Rachel, Shon, Abbye, Maggie, and Molly

top row (left to right): Abbye, John, Nola, Jamie Lee, Alex, and Jack
bottom row (left to right): Yasmin, Kelsey, Molly, me, and Maggie

I spent a many of nights at Pispas with them and even my 21st birthday -- they made it so special! We are going to miss them so much... Alex and Yasmin told us to cheer up because "this is not goodbye, this is see you later!" I hope we all get to see them so soon because they really have made this trip a thousand time more special!

This last weekend in Madrid has by far been the best. We saved the best for last for sure. I am so sad to be leaving this place, but its a bittersweet goodbye. I honestly never want to leave this place, I just want my friends and family (and chick-fil-a) to come to me! I will definitely be glad to be in my own bed and have a meal that doesn't consist of ham, bread, and oil & vinegar but I am sure that after a week of being back, I'll be begging to be back again. 

Palacio Real de Madrid and Avila

Wednesday, July 27, 2011 -- tour of the Royal Palace
Wednesday morning we had our usual... two classes before two and then siesta time! In my first class we had another test which went really well again... 92!!! Not the highest grade in the class but still a high grade! After class and siestas, there was an optional field trip to have a guided tour of the Palacio Real de Madrid (Royal Palace of Madrid) and there was no way I could miss out on that! There are over 2000 rooms in the Palace, but we only could fit 25 or so in the two hours we were there! We saw a variety of rooms there like the dressing rooms for the king and queen, the ball room, dining room, tea room, bedrooms of king and queen, etc.... and for just a few people living in the palace at the time, this place was HUGE!

 After the Royal Palace, we went back to the colegio for another siesta and a yummy dinner! I know it sounds ridiculous with all the siestas we are taking but its hard to get through a day on Spanish time without one!

After dinner we all met up at Pispas! I know I've said this before but Yasmin and Alex have really welcomed us there and we feel at home when we go to Pispas... they have been a huge part of making this trip so awesome and I will be so sad to leave them! While we were drinking at Pispas, Yasmin gave me a lesson on how to poor the perfect beer -- in Spain, they leave a little foam at the top of their beers but there is a proper way to get the foam! And it is more difficult than it looks but surprisingly, if you do it the right way it tastes pretty good!

the proper way to poor a beer:
>fill the entire glass up with beer and let all the leftover foam at the top over flow so you have all the new foam
>scrape all the old foam off the top with a straw

it sounds so easy but I wasted about three glasses of foam/beer when I was learning!

Thursday, July 28, 2011 -- Avila Fieldtrip

Thursday morning we were up entirely too early for our last field trip day to Avila! Avila is an ancient mid-evil town that is completely surrounded by a huge Romanesque wall. We ate lunch as soon as we got there at the most famous restaurant in Avila, Las Murallas. They are known best for their steaks and the size of their steaks... and they were huge. Abbye and I split one and still did not eat all of it!

biggeststeakiveeverseen

After lunch, we walked around a little bit before it was time to meet up at the bus! We got to see some great views, and spend time with great people on the field trip so all around it was a pretty good day!

view of Avila

Top row (left to right): Will, Me, Nola, Jamie Lee (aka Sue/Susan), Jack, Maggie and John
Bottom row (left to right): Kelsey, Molly, and Abbye

These people have made this entire trip the absolute best it could be! I will never forget them or the times we spent together this summer! We have quite the group and i am so blessed to have made life long friends this summer!

El Escorial and Segovia

Tuesday, July 26, 2011 -- El Escorial and Segovia
Tuesday was our fieldtrip day, where we visited El Escorial and Segovia! El Escorial is an ancient monastery where the King of Spain once lived. We had a tour of the entire place and it was so cool. All of the kings, queens, princesses, and other royal family are buried throughout the monastery. And they took us to the room where all the Kings and Queens are buried, dating back to the very first King of Spain.

All of the queens are on one side and all the kings are on the other side -- this place was so neat

After visiting El Escorial, we headed towards Segovia! I was so excited to see Segovia since I have had a few friends that have studied there before and I had heard them talk about how awesome it was. We had lunch at this great little cafe called Meson Mayor where we all tried some of Segovia's famous dishes. After lunch, we had more tours of the castles and monastery's... shocking right? whats one more monastery to see on this trip!

Segovia's aquaduct

Beautiful views from Segovia

this is the same castle that inspired Walt Disney's castle at Disney World

Abbye and I 

Obrigada!

So our last optional excursion was to Lisboa, Portugal... and to say the least, it was quite the cultural experience.

Thursday, July 21, 2011-- the 9 hour bus ride

After our field trip Thursday, all 56 of us were off to Portugal! The bus ride was about nine hours and very long although I slept most of the time... We arrived at our hotel, called AS, right around dinner and quickly unpacked and ate. Jamie Lee, Nola, Molly and I were not feeling so hot and were exhuasted so we decided to just call it a night and go on to bed after dinner. But Abbye and Kelsey were on top of their game and decided to explore the city! They found this really cool piano bar in Barrio Alto and had a great time!

Friday, July 22, 2011 -- the day of gypsies and burps
Well Friday was by far one of my most memorable days since I have been in Spain and Portugal... we had ALOT going on. Friday morning we woke up early to have a great tour of Portugal! We rode the bus for part of it and walked for the most of it. We walked from the bottom of the city to the top and saw alot of great stuff! Roberto kept us going and promised us a surprise and the end of the tour.

beautiful view of Portugal

Nola and I on our morning tour

peacocks were everywhere! we were able to get so close and get some awesome pictures

He surprised us with Portugals oldest restaurant, Pastels de Belem, where we had expresso and this delicious pastry desert! YUMMMM!

now don't those look delicious!

After our tour, Roberto pointed us to the best places to eat and shop and we were on our way... this is when it gets exciting.

Jamie Lee, Nola, Molly, Kelsey, Abbye, and I decided to find somewhere close where he pointed us and ate at a very 'touristy' restaurant. As we were waiting on our food we were doing some serious people watching, and people were continuously walking up to our table trying to sell us things like Ray Bans, tiaras, etc... All of the sudden these two strange women walk up to our table trying to sell Jamie Lee bandaids... we couldn't understand a bit of the Portuguese she was saying and kept telling her "no, no, no!" She walked off and we never thought anything of it until all of the sudden a boy (probably about 16 or 17) runs up to our table and saying "PHONE, PHONE, PHONE!"... and of course we thought he was trying to ask to use our phone or sell us one. He didn't know much English but you could tell after a minute he was trying to tell us that those women had our phone! Nola immediately asked Jamie Lee if she had her phone and Jamie Lee said no that it had been right on the table the entire time... right when realized those were 'damn' gypsies who were trying to sell us nothing and stole Jamie Lee's phone! So Kelsey and Jamie Lee start running off with this boy trying to chase the gypsies down and all I can think of is that this is going to be like a scene off of Taken. So I start running after them full speed in the most touristy place in Lisboa... the boy keeps pointing us down these allys and streets when we finally see the gypsies! They were just carrying on their way like nothing happened, even after they saw us running after them. Kelsey ran strait up to them and started screaming "GIVE ME HER PHONE BACK" "GIVE ME HER PHONE"... the gypsies were trying to distract us and ended up lifting their skirts for the entire world to see that they had NOTHING on under there. It was all just a distraction to try and hand the phone off to the other girl when Kelsey caught on and snatched the phone right out of her hand.  All three of us immediately walked away and realized that we had caused quite the scene... men and women were coming out of their shops and restaurants screaming at the gypsies with us. IT WAS INSANE. We all got back to lunch and could not even believe what had just happened.... Kelsey does a much better job of telling this story and I tried to convince her to let me video her telling it so I could post it on here but she was not having it...

After lunch, we walked around a did a little bit of shopping before we were headed back to our hotel to get ready and have dinner at a Fado show! Fado is equivalent to Spain's flamenco dancing but is nothing like it. It was a very intimate dinner and our waiters were the singers. They were amazing. They were all singing in Portuguese so we couldn't understand much of what they were saying but you could almost feel what they were saying by their emotions they had with their singing.

Me, Jamie Lee, and Kelsey at the Fado show

Roberto had told us that if we wanted to go out we should definitely go to a place called Barrio Alto... its a bunch of narrow streets where thousands are tiny bars are tucked into right after the other. So we did what he said and personally... I hated it. There were people everywhere... people trying to sell you stuff left and right. The bars were not bars you went into and sit to have a drink. You just order your drink and take it outside... We all had our nice cameras and not enough hands to hold a drink and have a hand on our bag to make sure we weren't pick-pocketed again. We weren't really feeling it so after about an hour of that we were back to the hotel! We took a taxi back and the taxi rides in Portugal are so much fun -- they fly down the tiniest streets and whip around every corner you can find.

Saturday, July 23, 2011 -- Cascais
Saturday was by far my favorite day of the Portugal excursion! Roberto was taking us to a beach called Cascais about an hour away from Lisboa and it was beautiful. On the way to the beach we stopped at Cabo de Roca, which is the most western point of Europe. It was absolutely beautiful, but freezing! We all had bathing-suits and coverups on and it was no more than 55 degrees and extremely windy. We only stopped there to get a few great pictures but it really was beautiful.

Cabo de Roca

We carried on our way to Cascais and got there right before lunch! After we had all eaten lunch we were on our way to the beach when we saw a shop for Segways. And we all had to do it! It was only 7 euros for 15 minutes and we each just split it up between 7 and 8 minutes a piece! It was hilarious to see all of us scootin around on segways...

Kelsey scootin around on her segway

Nola, Abbye, and I

We finally made it to the beach and had a wonderful, relaxing afternoon. We people watched all afternoon and Kelsey, Molly, Jamie Lee, and I got to even jump off this awesome cliff, which was a first for me! It was pretty difficult trying to climb up a side of a cliff in a bathing suit and no shoes on but we finally made it up there! The water was absolutely freezing -- after I jumped in, I could barely tell if I was even swimming anymore. It was hilarious to watch all of us try and swim back to shore like that.

We all met Roberto back at the bus at 5:30 and were on our way back to Lisboa! We had asked some of the locals at the front desk where the best place for us to all go out was and they told us to definitely go to Urban Beach. A big group of us had planned on going there but it only ended up being about fifteen of us. It was so pretty, this huge building opening right up onto the beach where there were sofas and beds that everyone was hanging out on. The later in the night, the more crowded this place got. When we left around 2 am, there was probably already almost a thousand people in the club and almost 300 waiting outside! We left pretty early when it comes to Spanish and Portuguese time but you could tell this was a pretty popular place for people.

Abbye and I at Urban Beach

Sunday, July 24, 2011 -- another long bus ride
Sunday was another long bus ride back to the colegio. There wasn't too much exciting about it. Lots of driving... lots of stops.

Si Si!

Hola Amigas!!! So sorry its been over a week since my last post but we have been so busy with field trips, tests, shopping, and roadtrips to Portugal!

Tuesday July 19, 2011 -- 'El Pais'
Tuesday morning, my communications class headed on down to Spain's largest newspaper, El Pais. We had a private tour of the entire place and got to see how and where all their newspapers are made which was so cool! El Pais sells over 400,000 copes per day and distributes not only here in Spain but also Latin America and Miami. WOW! They had a really cool 'memorabilia' room called AS where we got to see autographed jerseys from the World Cup last summer!

The rest of Tuesday was our typical... lunch, siesta, dinner, and drinks!

Wednesday July 20, 2011 -- TEST DAY
Wednesday, I had my first test for my communications class, which I knew every answer to! We got our tests back this past Monday and I made the highest grade in the class... 49/50!  See Mom -- there is still some studying involved in this amazing vacation! After our siestas and dinner, a few of us decided to go down to Pispas since we had not been there in almost a week! Alex and Yasmin were glad to see us and we were even more glad to see them! We sure are going to miss them and Pispas when we have to leave!

Thursday July 21, 2011 -- Retiro Park and PORTUGAL BOUND
Thursday morning, our watercolor class decided to meet and the beautiful Retiro Park in Madrid to scope out the scenery for a potential painting! Unfortunately, most of us were going on the Portugal trip and we did not have much time there since we had to be back at the Colegio by 12! These are a few of the shots I did get though!

They have this great big pond in the middle of the park where you can rent little boats for an hour! It look so quiet and peaceful out there!

most of our watercolor class

North of Spain/South of France Excursion

Hola!!! Before I start typing all this up and you start reading, i will warn you... this will be a LONG blog. We have done so much in the past 5 days!

Thursday July 14, 2011-- The Prado and excursion departure
Thursday morning we had a group field trip to one of the worlds most famous museums... The Prado. The Prado holds paintings from the 14th century all the way to the early 19th century. This place was amazing. We were split up into four groups and each group had a guide with them to explain the paintings and artists' background. We saw paintings from the very famous Spanish artist, El Greco. We also saw works from Sorolla, Valazquez, Goya, and Rubens. The tour lasted about 2 hours but I could have spent the whole day there. We only saw about 1/4 of the museum, but the first two tours had to leave early because we were going on the excursion! We had a great tour though... normall The Prado is packed but since we went so early, we were lucky and had very few others visitors with us!

We had to be back at the Colegio and on the bus by noon in order to get on the road for our big trip to the north of Spain! This was one hell of a weekend. We stopped in over six different towns/villages in a matter of four short days. We were on the bus alot but what we did get so see made it so worth it. It was an amazing trip and well worth the money!

We started the trip leaving Madrid and heading to the La Rioja region, which is where most Spanish wine is made. We stopped at this great cafe where we drank wine and made a quick pit stop -- this place had an amazing view.

Such a great view!

Abbye and I in La Rioja

Right across is one of the oldest functioning monestaries left in Europe -- Yuso Monastary. This monestarty holds some of the oldest midevil manuscripts and we were able to see the first text published in Spanish over a thousand years ago. This place was spectacular. I have never seen anything so spectacular and grand but in such a unique way. It is pretty cool to say you've been to the place where the Spanish language originated and saw the original texts!

Yuso

After the monestary we were headed to wine tasting at one of the best wineries in La Rioja, David Moreno. We tasted several kinds of red wines and were able to buy some of our favorites! We had a personal guided tour of the winery, explaining everything you would ever need to know about wineries. After the tour, they served us a delicious feast of stew, salad, and lamb with unlimited wine. Clearly we had a great time! The group even sang me Happy Birthday!!! All the lights went off for about five minutes and no one had any idea what in the heck was going on but they finally turned them all back on and began singing Happy Birthday. It was so great! After a great night already, we were headed to our first hotel stop in Logrono. Our hotel was so fun and comfortable. There are seven of us gals so we decided to split the rooms between three and four -- I was with Abbye and Kelsey which was perfect! One of our favorite teachers on the trip, Christobal, took us out to a bar called Stress... which is exactly what it was. Logrono is not much of a touristy town and we were clearly tourist and they didnt seem to like us unwelcomed visitors. But of course we made the best of it and were back at the hotel by two!

(left to right) Jamie Lee, Maggie, Abbye, Kelsey, Nola, Molly, and me

delcious wine tasting

David Moreno Winery

Abbye, Me, Maggie, Nola, Jamie Lee, Kelsey, Molly, and Jack

HOTEL IN LAGRONA

Friday July 15, 2011-- Pamplona, San Sebastion, Zarauz

We were up and on the road by 10:30 Friday morning and on our way to sightsee some beautiful wineries on our way to Pamplona. All I can say about Pamplona is that it smelled... terribly. The running of the bulls had just ended the day before we were there and there was alot of trash around, but it smelt like a mixture of the Perry Fair animal exhibit and downtown Athens after a gameday. It was gross. I wished we could have gone at a better date because I am sure the city has much more to offer than its horrid smell but thats all I could think about.

us girls in Pamplona

After Pamplona, we were on our way to the most beautiful place I've ever seen -- SAN SEBASTIAN. Words and pictures will never be able to describe how spectacular this place is but i'll try... Roberto had our bus driver take us to the best view of the town on top of a mountain. He had us look the opposite way the entire way up so we wouldn't see a thing until we were at the top. When we got off the bus and turned our heads, I was shocked. I had tears coming down my face it was so pretty. San Sebastion is a very wealthy town where many celebrities and famous people go to vacation or have weekend homes at, and I can see why. In my dream future, I will have a house there so I can spend my summers in the most beautiful place.

San Sebastian

Mom and Dad, I think its time to get a beach house here!

After San Sebastian, we were on our way to the second town we'd be staying in, Zarauz. Zarauz is right outside of San Sebastion and is a very touristy town. We walked up and down the beaches and had a nice dinner at our hotel where they served us soup, salad, and cow cheek. Yes, I did just say cow cheek. A very interesting delicacy. Most people liked it but I had a bad piece I believe and I was not so crazy about it. I really just couldn't get over the thought of what I was eating. It was nothing like what you think a cow cheek would look like. It was very thick and tender, I was expecting something flat and thin...like a flank steak. Negative. Everything else was delicous though, and then we were out on the town with Christobal again! A big group of us went out to a few bars on the boardwalk right on the beach. And as always, we had a great time. 

HOTEL IN ZARAUZ

Saturday July 16th, 2011 -- Saint Jean de Luz, Basque Country, Lekeitio, and Bilbao

We were on the road again by 10:30 and headed to south of France! We only were able to stop in one town but it was very quaint and nice.... Saint Jean de Luz. We were able to walk along the beach again and have beignets! Yummmm! We were only there for about an hour and half but it was a nice stop in France! 

us gals in Saint Jean de Luz

After Saint Jean de Luz we headed towards Lekeitio for lunch. This is one of the best fishing villages in the world! Alot of the tuna we eat in American comes from this place. We ate lunch at one of the cafes right on the beach and had a beautiful view!

Bilbao bound! After lunch headed towards Bilbao. Bilbao is Spains fifth largest city and is said to be a very rich city. Spanairds say that it is their 'stuck up' city. We stayed in a super cool hotel that was right across from the Guggenheim! We had a great dinner in the hotel and drank some delicious red wine in the hotel bar! After a few drinks, Christobal took us out for a night on the town again! This was my favorite night by far! We all had so much fun and danced the night away!

HOTEL IN BILBAO

Sunday July 17, 2011 -- Guggenheim, Human Evolution Museum, Madrid bound!

Sunday was exhuasting! After three days of non-stop travel and half sleeping on a bus, we were all pooped! We were up by 9:45 and headed over to the Guggenheim. There are only three of these in the world, in NYC, Bilbao, and Italy! It was very very interesting but it was pretty hard to walk around for two and a half hours with all of us being so sleepy. But I am glad we went, I have been dying to go to the Guggenheim in New York City but for now, going to the one is Bilbao will have to do!

Guggenheim

After the Guggenheim, we were Madrid bound! And I think everyone was pretty excited about it! We all missed our own beds at the Colegio and the comfort of a city we were familiar with! On the way back we stopped at a Human Evolution Museum in Burgos, Spain. I was in complete zombie mode at this point. We had a hour and half guided tour which was pretty interesting, i think... haha. But it was really cool to see all the old fossils and bones they had found. After the museum we were on our last stretch back to Madrid. We got stuck in traffic so it took us about three and half hours after the museum to get back. But we finally made it back around 10:30! 

This excursion was a chance of a lifetime. Most people make these visits in weekends and we did over six cities in four days! I have another weekend excursion this weekend to Lisbon, Portugal! I am so pumped. We will be in Lisbon the entire weekend so we won't be spending near as much time on the bus or switching hotels! I can't wait to tell ya'll about it! Until then... ADIOS!