A few weeks ago, I traveled to Madrid with 2 of my IES friends (both named Katie). We had a wonderful time exploring the city and saw a TON of sites. Just to name a few:
El Prado museum & Reina Sofia museum (both of which I really enjoyed because I got to see LIVE many of the works that I've learned about in my Art History class here), the Plaza Mayor (which doesn't live up to Salamanca's Plaza Mayor, of course), protests, many street performers, homeless people, an evening run through Parque del Buen Retiro and more. Our hostel was awesome and we actually met some new friends there...in fact, one of the girls who is from Germany but studying in Madrid is coming to visit us in Salamanca this weekend!
Sunday morning was quite special...my family arrived in Madrid-yes my mom, my dad, and 3 siblings! We greeted each other, running towards each other in the streets of Madrid, Spain, straight out of a movie. I spent the whole day with them & I was so proud of them all for pushing through their extreme tiredness due to their long flight, lack of sleep & jet lag. Just spending time together was all that mattered to me...I didn't care where we were or what we were doing (even though the fact that we were in Madrid made it 100x even cooler and more exciting!). Unfortunately I had to leave Sunday night to head back to Salamanca to go to class the next day while the fam stayed in Madrid to do more sight-seeing for a few days.
Tuesday afternoon, they arrived in Salamanca!!! I could finally show them all around MY new city and show them everything that they have been hearing me talk about so much for the past 3 months. I absolutely loved having them in town. Not only did they get to meet my adoptive city but also tons of my new friends! My Christian group, En Vivo, was holding an international dinner Tuesday night where everyone was to bring a plate typical of their home country. We made apple crisp, and even if it was a bit of a challenge to find all the ingredients...it was absolutely delicious and (I would say) worth the troubles. I got to show them the very cool En Vivo "house" where I have all my events & got to introduce them to many of my new friends from En Vivo who come from all over the world. Wednesday was another full day, kicked off with a run with Dad & the kids along the beautiful river.
Wednesday evening was definitely one of the highlights for me. My Spanish family invited my US family to come over to the apartment to "tomar chocolate" or to have hot chocolate together. We got there, of course with Spanish greetings of 2 besos (kisses), and the table was set just for 6 (it is a very small space & I don't think they usual entertain for a large group). Teresa served us all a nice big cup of hot chocolate. You should know that it is essentially a chocolate bar melted with a bit of milk and has a consistency more like pudding. It is super rich & super delicious - of course, it was served with churros, which is a typical Spanish treat of dipping the churros in the hot chocolate. Teresa was quite the chatterbox & I wasn't able to exactly translate everything she said because there was never a moment to do so with so much chatting going on. Luckily, Linnea was sitting on the other end of the table & she was able to translate in a low whisper every once in a while. It was so neat to see my family interact with my "adoptive" family even through the language barrier.
Thursday morning the six of us took off for Barcelona. It was a bit of a different Thanksgiving than we usually have, considering we spent most of it traveling in just about every mode of transportation: bus, plane, train, metro, foot. We didn't actually get to our apartment until late afternoon, but we learned to make the most of our circumstances and simply enjoy each others' company. We had a super special dinner that night with typical Spanish food rather than a turkey dinner, but it was totally fine because we were making new memories and celebrating our blessings together.
Barcelona is a huge city...lucky for us, Fat Tire Bike Tours exists! We did a tour in Berlin a few years back with the same company which is in London & Paris as well (Kylie has now done all four!). We did a 4 hour bike tour of the city on Friday...what a great way to see the city! We not only got to ride through tiny windy cobblestone streets, but also 2x2 with traffic. We saw SO many great sights, but some of my favorites were the Sagrada Familia (which I had learned all about in my art history class), the cathedral and of course the Mediterranean Sea! It was a beautiful sunny day & absolutely perfect. Lots of exploring for the rest of the day & Saturday, including a cute Christmas market set up right outside the cathedral with all sorts of goodies. We flew back to Madrid, where we spent the night. SO many laughs the entire week, but here is one I feel called to share. Most of the other apartments of the family's trip in Spain had separate rooms or at least a little space between the beds. Regardless of the fact that this place was called "High Tech Hotel," the set-up wasn't exactly so high-tech. Here is an illustration...
I could go on and on and on talking about the time spent with my dear family here in Spain, but this will have to suffice for now. Time to make the most of my time that remains!
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