This last weekend we ventured to Madrid and Toledo. We staying in a hotel in Madrid and bused into Toledo on Saturday to tour the city. I must say I liked some parts of Madrid but overall I wasn't that impressed. Toledo however was outstanding and I didn't want to leave. Toledo is such a beautiful city with a lot of history. So our first day, Friday, we left Bilbao in the early morning and drove 5 hours to Madrid. When we arrived we went to the old town and toured there. We got to see the royal palace and the plaza del sol. The next day we went to Toledo and drove along the outskirts of the town which is kind of up on the side of the mountains and looked down at the city. Then we went into a blacksmith-like shop where they made swords and other kinds of specialized crafts like making jewelry and putting strands of gold into them. It was a very cool shop. Then we did a walking tour which led us to a small little shop where they made fresh Marzapan (absolutely delicious) then onto the Cathedral. That night at the Cathedral the Queen of Spain was going to be attending a concert so there was a lot of security but we still got to go through and look at everything. After enjoying time in Toledo we headed back to Madrid and had free time. Our last day we stayed in Madrid and went to the prado museum which is one of the top museums in Europe! I have to say though I'm not a fan of older style art I really enjoyed the Prado. They had Goya, Valasquez, and some Picassos. One interesting thing that happened after going through the Prado was that we went outside and there was a protest happening! It was cool and scary to watch at the same time. There were police and security everywhere and the protesters were chanting and singing with their signs. The one bad thing about this trip was the first two and a half hours on the bus back to Bilbao. Why? Because the air conditioning wasn't working. Thankfully when we stopped for a quick break the driver was able to fix the air conditioning and it made all the difference. I'm really glad I got to experience a bit more of Spain. Though it's not a large country with classes and things it's difficult to make time to travel and really experience everything. Plus being able to drive to Madrid was awesome because the scenery is stunning! Can't wait for our next excursion which is to France!
As i walked home from class i thought that it was probably gonna rain and sure enough its raining!!! Today i went to the mall and to get there I went through the park an discovered swans and peacocks... It was quite the discovery lol!!! Today is so beautiful! So I went to the park to study with a friend. The people are nice but the best part is their pets. The dogs r perfectly behaved and are super adorable!!! They jump into the fountains and get wet and dogs arent on leashes but they dont run off and they stay with their owners. Its so nice!!! Today walking back from I had a happy thought about the Spanish culture. It was after class and everybody was outside in the park with their children, friends, bfs/gfs, or family and the weather was beautiful and the children were playing together in the grass and on the pathway and it was so carefree. It was absolutely beautiful and I can't describe how it felt but it wasn't anything I've ever really seen in the United States. I think here people like to go out and to hang out and relax instead of going to their home or friends homes. It's so nice to see everyone out and about and just enjoy life and this gorgeous city.
So today was the start of classes for the semester! It's exciting to finally have a schedule to go on. I had one class this morning and I have two more this afternoon. So that's not fun but my schedule as a hole is quite nice, just Mondays are long and tiresome but that's okay! Before class this morning I went to peruse the bookstore and found a planner for the year and it's completely and totally awesome! It has a hedgehog on it! Also after class I came home for lunch and my host mom made home made croquettes! They are delicious and I'm going to eventually learn how to make them. Moving on, this first week has been great and I'm looking forward to the rest of the semester!
It is raining for the first time this semester in Bilbao! For those of you who have read my last blog or know that I was in Alicante you know that it never rained there. So this is kind of a big deal lol. I'm so excited that it is raining! It will make everything look greener and hopefully it will cool off outside too.
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