Life on Mar's

The Real Madrid Stadium  

This past weekend we stayed in Madrid to recover from the wild spending and no-sleep weekend in London and Dublin...it was much needed. On Wednesday night, my friend Caroline Kwan and some other girls studying abroad in France came to Madrid for a visit! We went out with them Wednesday and Thursday night to show them a good time--Madrid discoteca style. Thursday night was supposed to be a Michael Jackson themed night at a night club called Joy...however, I didn't see a single Michael Jackson impersonator, nor did I hear a Michael Jackson song..I got over it. We did still have a lot of fun though, making friends with some Italians and some French people as we watched everyone on the dancefloor. It was a late night to say the least!

Kwan and me at Joy

Friends reunited!

On Friday I woke up, went for a run, and tried to get ahead on some homework for the weekend (good joke). I really just ended up watching half a season of Friday Night Lights and laying in bed. Around 3 in the afternoon or so, a bunch of us went out to lunch at a tapas bar/restaurant called El Tigre. This place is CRAZY. You go there, and order any drink (we opted for the 6 euro liter of beer and mojitos) and they bring you mountainous plates of free food--I kid you not! At first, we inhaled all the patatas bravas, croquetas, paella, sandwiches, etc...but as soon as we realized that they kept bringing you free plates of food, we got a little overwhelmed and had to slow down. I'm still baffled at how this place ever makes any money, but the drinks were good, the food was great, and we spent about 2 and a half hours there just hanging out.

Who knew my zoom worked so well!

Between plates of food, one of our friends suggested that we go get some piercings that we had been talking about for a while..so, like any responsible college student would while in a foreign country, we went to the tattoo parlor to get another piercing..I had absolutely no intention of doing so until I discovered that the total price for everything was only 10 euro--and since I hadn't paid for lunch I figured, what a steal!  I pierced the upper part of my rook/cartalidge for you ear piercing aficionados..and I like it! Just a little sore still..

The stadium was absolutely packed

Now that we were feeling like rebels without a cause, we headed back to Mar's (that's our host mom's name--hence life on Mar's...) and actually tried to do some homework, again with little success. That night Mar cooked us dinner and we decided against going out in order to actually get some sleep. Saturday I woke up and went for a run, and then Maggie and I packed lunches, grabbed a blanket, and went to Retiro for a productive picnic to get some homework done. After picnicking at Retiro for a while, it got a bit chilly so we went to the next best place, starbucks, to work on some homework. Saturday night was pretty uneventful and ended with me in my bed alone crying to an episode of season three of Friday Night Lights, which, though that may sound lame, was just what I wanted to do..so nice and relaxing!

Maggie, Hillary, and I at the game!

Sunday was a lazy day, I finished up some homework, went for a walk around the park, and just hung out. Sunday night, however, we went to a Real Madrid fútbol game! It was so much fun, and though our seats were pretty high up, we could see the entire field from a good angle and it was perfect. I forgot how much I missed watching soccer! I was amazed at how packed the stadium got--there was not an empty seat, and they weren't even playing a very good team. They ended up beating Española 5-0, and Ronaldo even scored the first goal. The game was a lot of fun, and an absolute madhouse full of rowdy soccer fans--it's probably for the best that the first game I attended was not against Barcelona or something, as the opposing team's fan section was surrounded by security the entire game, I can only imagine what a Madrid-Barcelona game is like!

He scored a goal for me..

shut-out

All in all it was a good weekend in Madrid--I must admit, Madrid is still my favorite city and I am glad that I am here for my study abroad experience!

This week has consisted of me really trying to get ahead on school work, because I know that come Friday, that won't be happening anymore. EJ is coming to visit on Friday for his spring break and will be here for about 10 days. I'm not sure if I'm more excited to see him or my camelbak that he's bringing me...(hehe, just kidding). Either way, I have been counting down the days for a while and am really excited for him to get here to show him around Madrid and to be able to actually have a conversation instead of emailing sporadically! I just have to get through one test and a paper before he gets here--too bad my ability to focus is dwindling!

2 days can't go by fast enough!

Love,
Rachel

P.S. good news from America: yesterday I received an email from the leasing company in St. Louis and Maggie, Sarah, and I officially have an apartment for next year! 3 bedrooms, one bath, a kitchen with an island and a pretty big living space--not to mention an 11th floor view and a pool on top of our building. Though we didn't get into the exact building we wanted, this building is literally right next door to the preferred one and is a lot cheaper than we had expected--hooray! Now all I need is an internship...

irish accents > _______

A phrase my dad can live by

Time for winter break part two! On Saturday morning we flew to Dublin, Ireland for another two days full of pubs and a trip through the countryside to Galway and the Cliffs of Moher. When we arrived in Dublin, my friends and I locked up our luggage again since we couldn't check into the hostel until later that afternoon. Though we were feeling a bit scummy (I think it had been 4 days since I had last showered--give or take another day or two for traveling, going out, and sleeping in airports), we went on another free walking tour around the city of Dublin. On all of my trips so far, I've learned that free walking tours from the hostels are definitely the best way to see the new city. Since they are usually directed to poor college students in hostels, the tour guides are always pretty funny and have a lot of good stories to go along with the tours. The Dublin tour was less involved than the London tour because Dublin is a city that's more about the experience of making new friends and having casual beers at pubs than looking at castles and palaces--which I loved!

Temple bar was the name of the pub district in Ireland as well as
this particular pub where we joined the Mexican-themed bachelor party

After the walking tour, we finally headed back to the hostel for my first shower in what seemed like forever (HALLELUJAH)! Feeling like a brand new lady, my friends and I walked to the Guinness factory for a tour where we learned how they make Guinness, proper tasting/pouring techniques, looked at advertising over the years, and even got a free pint at the top of the factory in a circular bar with 360 degree views of the city of Dublin! After the Guinness tour, a few of us went back to change and grab some dinner and a few pints before going out. Though I actually enjoyed the Guinness--you can only drink so many loaves of bread in one day, so I decided to sample some other Irish beers. My personal favorite was called a Carlsburg--nom nom nom. 

3 pints and a cosmo--we're in Ireland, come on now, Hillary.

At the Guinness factory!

That evening the larger group split up so everyone could do what they wanted to. Kate, Maggie, Teresa, and I just walked to the pub districts and walked in a random place that looked fun. There were two guys playing live music covers of popular songs (my personal favorite being a Whitney Houston tribute medley) and they were great. Teresa instantly fell in love, so we stayed there for a while to listen to them--the Irish folk fell in love with her and her fire-y red hair too. Then all of a sudden we happened to find ourselves in the middle of a bachelor party! Maggie was asked to be a date to the wedding, but needless to say she graciously declined. After the first pub, we went over to the famous Temple Bar to meet up with the rest of the group. Before finding our friends, however, we of course found another bachelor party to hang out with; this time, the groom was dressed in a Mexican poncho and riding a stuffed donkey in honor of his destination wedding to Central America to marry his Guatemalan bride! We had a great time, but were sure to head off to bed early for our super early wake up call (only after one of our friends put on an Irish dancing show on stage for the entire bar--who knew she had such skill!)

Kate and I out on the town in Dublin!

The happy groom-to-be

Our favorite song was a Whitney Houston cover medley  

The next morning, Maggie, Kate, and I woke up nice and early to go on a bus tour across the entire country to the western coast of Ireland to see the cliffs of moher, the burren national park, and the province of Galway, along with some medieval castles along the way. Our tour was led by a very nice Irishman who had the most soothing voice I have ever heard, complete with the sexy Irish accent (it was advertised as that on the brochure for the tour). We visited about 5 different Irish villages around the countryside; it was all so beautiful, including the drive in between the different sites. We decided that since we had been so sleep deprived the past few days, the all day tour was what we'd like to call a "scenic nap" that was just what the doctor ordered for a misty and overcast Sunday. My favorite part of the tour was visiting the Cliffs of Moher. As soon as we arrived, the fog rolled in and we unfortunately couldn't see a thing--a little disappointed, we went inside to look around the museum and check out the gift shop. Just as we were about to go outside to get back on the bus, the fog magically cleared and we were able to see the cliffs! I think what made it even better was being able to appreciate the difference between the white blanket of nothingness and the breathtaking views off the edge of the cliffs. We ran up to the top, hopped over the "danger do not cross" fence and snapped a few pictures before running back to our wonderful Irishman. 

Thanks to the luck of the Irish, we got to see it!

Notice the castle at the top of the cliff

The cliffs of Moher!

That's a long way down...

After getting back to the hostel that evening, I went on a hunt to find a church to go to--and found an evening mass. I was a bit confused by the signs, however, and ended up going to mass in Polish (go figure, the one weekend I was in an English speaking country). The rest of that evening we posted up in the common room of the hostel to wait for our taxi at 4 am to the airport for yet another 6:30 am flight back to Madrid. We had a nice time in the common room taking cat naps on the couches and watching Pretty Woman (one of the few movies they had in the hostel for public use). After my flight back to Madrid on Monday morning, I didn't have much time to rest and immediately went for a run, finished up some homework, went to class, and had to spend the rest of the evening working on an accounting project (fact: I do actually do homework here). 

A quaint little Irish harbor

The rest of the week was rough to say the least, so we decided to take this weekend to recover a little bit and spend some quality time in Madrid and catch up on some sleep. But, I do still have a lot to look forward this weekend--the weather should be great!

Till next time,

Rachel

London calling!

A view of the London Eye

Hooray for English! As much as I've loved being in Spain and working on my Spanish every day, I must say that it was a bit of a relief last weekend when we were able to get around, figure out public transportation, and order from bars/restaurants in English. We left late Wednesday night to go sleep at the airport for our 6:30 am flight. While this sounds a bit crazy, we were surprised to find tons of locals and foreigners alike taking the late metro Wednesday night to sleep at the airport! It wasn't exactly the Ritz, but definitely worth the more than 30 euro I saved by not taking a cab. 

We hopped on our flight Thursday morning and arrived in London around 10:30 in the morning. Since it was cheaper to fly into Stansend than Heathrow, we had to take a bus for about an hour or two to get into the city. Once we arrived to the city of London, we managed to find our way to the hostel and stored our luggage until we could check in later in the afternoon. My roommates and I started exploring and stumbled upon a place called the Borough Market--one of the oldest outdoor markets in London that had lots of food and drinks to try! We quickly found ourselves a pub called The Globe and got ourselves a pint. Come to think of it, I'm not really sure there was a time during this trip (both in London and Dublin) where I wasn't currently drinking a pint, had just finished a pint, or was looking for a pub in which to find said pint. I'd also like to add that I didn't mind!

Big Ben and a British cab!

Since we completely lucked out with the weather in London (it was in the mid 60's and sunny both days), we walked around Kensington Palace and the gardens surrounding this more "casual" palace where Will and Kate lived for the afternoon. I also visited Notting Hill, Big Ben, the London eye, and walked along the river as the sun was setting. We stopped in a cafe for some dinner and then headed back to the hostel to get ready for our first night out. Though the night life in Madrid is fun and all, the night life in London and Dublin is definitely more my style. We made friends with a Canadian in our hostel and went to a few pubs and had a great time. The only complaint is the British pound. The exchange rate for the pound right now is TERRIBLE. My wallet cried a little bit every time I had to buy something new...thank goodness I was only there for two days.

An artist painting the famous Tower Bridge

The next morning, I woke up early feeling a bit overwhelmed by all the sights I wanted to see, with only one day to see everything. So, my friends and I loaded up on the free breakfast at the hostel as to avoid having to buy lunch (very smart I must say) and set off to Harrod's, the famous everything store in London. Harrod's reminded me a bit of Marshall Field's in Chicago--something you just HAVE to see where the building and the experience is better than actually shopping. We saw the famous Egyptian themed escalators, the Princess Diana shrine, and the famous chocolate/sweets shop that made my mouth water. However, like many of the very high fashion and designer clothes--some of the food didn't even have a price visible, which I'm assuming means I can't afford it.

Classic tourist picture in London...

We then left Harrod's and walked through Hyde Park to the Wellington Arch to meet a free walking tour that I had read about at the hostel. A fun, quirky tour guide took us on a 3-hour free walking tour of all the major sights of London and had a lot of interesting facts/fun stories to go along with it. Outside of St. James' palace, we are completely convinced that we saw Prince Harry in his British guard/military uniform talking to some of the other guards--even our tour guide and the "super serious" guards were full of excitement! He was just walking around the corner in front of us with a hat and uniform on--obviously under the radar. After the tour was over, Kate, Maggie, and I went to a famous British pub for fish n' chips and..yep you guessed it..another pint. (Good thing it was Friday!)

We returned back to the hostel to meet up with the rest of our group of friends and when they weren't there at the proper meeting time, we decided to pop over next door to sample some local ales. We spent a few hours in this hole-in-the-wall pub, gazing at handsome British businessmen and chatting with some locals. The British people were all very interested in talking about politics with us. Just about everyone that we met instantly wanted to ask about the presidential election when they found out that we were Americans. They love Obama--many people just refer to him as "the main man"...I must admit I had no idea who they were talking about when they asked me if I was hoping the main man would stick around after this year. Later that night, we just hung out in the "chill room" of the hostel to wait for our 3:00 am departure time to catch another bus to the airport for another 6:30 am flight to Dublin.

We had fun with the guards,
but I wish they would have been wearing the fuzzy hats!

I loved London, and while I wish that I could have stayed there longer--I don't think my bank account could've handled it! Besides, I was very excited to get over to Ireland and meet Gerard Butler or pretend I was in a scene from P.S. I Love You as soon as possible!

Westminster Abbey was one of the most beautiful churches
I've ever seen...I wouldn't mind getting married there!

Rachel

A picture is worth a thousand words...

Kate and I on the first night

For those of you who have ever been to Mardi Gras in St. Louis or in New Orleans, I'm sure you know how crazy it can be! And it is to these people that I say--you ain't seen nothing yet. Carnaval the pre-lenten celebration in Europe that reminded me of a mixture between Mardi Gras and Halloween...on steroids. It was an absolutely wild weekend, but also an extremely fun time that I will NEVER forget...at least we have the pictures to remind us!

We left early on Friday morning--and after a long 8 hour bus ride, complete with a power hour to finish it off, we arrived in Cadiz. 5 friends and I stayed in an apartment/hotel room with two stories, a kitchen, and a patio overlooking a pretty little pond with fountains and palm trees--we were all so excited and definitely felt like we were on a Mexico or Florida spring break trip! After doing some grocery shopping for the essentials (peanut butter, bread, apples, and more alcohol) we just hung out and then went to a club later that night for free as part of the package deal for the weekend. This "club" was really just in a mall...and while it was less than what we expected, we were glad to have a bit of a casual night to prepare ourselves for the shenanigans ahead.

My roommates ready for some cocktails and sun!

Saturday morning I woke up and went for a run while my friends were sleeping, and returned around 11 to a drink in a plastic cup with a neon straw and my name on it! It was so nice out, so we all walked to the pool area of the resort and soaked up the sun. Anybody walking by would obviously know we were foreigners seeing as how the locals were in hoodies and pants--oh well, I don't care who you are, 65 and sunny is 65 and sunny.

Devin takes a tumble

The view from our hotel room patio...
not too shabby

Around 2 in the afternoon we went back to our room to turn up some music, get all ready in our tu-tu's, wigs, masks, boas, etc. and start the party! Amidst all of our festivities, one of our friends fell into the previously mentioned pretty little pond near our patio, wig, mask, costume and all. But like a trooper, she just shook it off and carried on with her day of acting a fool like the rest of us. Now that we're back, everyone continues to remember this moment as the highlight of the trip--I think that the pictures and memories of that even alone are worth the 140 euro I spent on the entire weekend for transportation, lodging, food, and the party! After that, we got on the bus to Cadiz and were dropped off literally into a sea of thousands and thousands of people, old and young, cross dressers, groups in costumes, drunk people of all ages, and just an all around wild party. It was overwhelming, but also one of the most fun times I've had--not to mention some of the best people watching in the world!

I don't know this person..
but applaud his self-confidence!

A large group of us went to the beach (it was physically impossible to stick together with everyone, but don't worry Dad...the buddy system was in full force!) and had a great time playing in the water and just running around having a good time. After watching the sun set, we went back to the city streets that were just covered with masses of people for parades, fireworks, music, and even a little play that we stumbled upon in a plaza complete with operatic singing. Half of the fun of Carnaval alone is the wide variety and creativity of the costumes of all the different groups. It's also really fun to see people from all over Spain, Europe, and the entire world come together for such a big and crazy festival. We talked to people from all over--and to be frank, I don't think I ever stopped laughing at something.

On the beach! So excited!

Somehow, we managed to make it back to the buses and the hotel with all of our friends alive and intact. I know that my roommates and I have spent so much time since we got back laughing about everything that happened and looking back at some of the pictures that are not only full of color, but also absolutely embarrassing for some, and hysterical for others.

I've been thinking of starting a postcard line...
beaches and tu-tu's

I know this was the trip that my parents were the most worried about--and probably for good reason! I did, however, survive, and had a great time doing it! I am putting up some pictures to attempt to explain the weekend..for those of you that still have questions--you're not the only one...but we've discovered that after a trip like this, some things are just better left unsaid.

Cheers to that!
Rachel

Part of our group of friends on the beach

Eusktxaolzikera, whaaaat?

On the beach in San Sebastian

We're not in Kansas any more folks, well at least not in Madrid anymore! After my family and I spent the week touring around Madrid, they left me to go to France while I had to tough it out at school for the week with a few tests. Luckily, I managed to survive and hopped on a flight Thursday evening to meet them in San Sebastian (a Basque town along the northern coast of Spain). I was a little nervous, not only to fly by myself, but mostly because I had not heard from my family since they had left Madrid...in a rental car...to drive across Spain and into France...three days earlier...so needless to say I was a bit antsy--I obviously didn't know that they would not have wifi access prior to leaving. 

My new friend, who after he insulted my map,
helped us find our way back to the hotel!

Everything with my flight and their trip worked out fine, and I met my parents at the San Sebastian airport. Upon my arrival, I learned that my parents had survived the past few days traveling from city to city and country to country without a GPS! It was painfully apparent how frazzled they were, especially since we discovered that all of the street signs were written in Euskara (and sometimes Spanish...) in all the cities and highways. For some of my less than cultured readers, hehe, Euskara is the name of the Basque language which, as you can see per the title of this blog is impossible to read and has a lot of strange letters all jumbled up in it. Unlike Spanish, French, Italian, and even English, it has absolutely no roots in Latin and is completely different. 

The site of the running of
the bulls in Pamplona!

We finally found the hotel and I was reunited with the whole family, just as sick as when they left (poor Nana, she was quite the trooper, let me tell you), but happy to all be together again! We ventured out to the old town of San Sebastian, which was much different than I expected for some wine (a very very VERY common theme for the rest of the weekend). The city was huge and the area of our hotel right on the beach at the Bay of Biscay reminded me a bit of a boardwalk town on the beach in Florida or California...we could only imagine how crazy it must be during high season in the summer. The next morning, we feasted on the breakfast buffet at the hotel while serenaded by the Americanized radio station in the background playing nothing else but the song "Beep" by the Pussycat Dolls--circa 2006 and very reminiscent of my junior high dances. Then we headed off to Pamplona to go visit the town that is the site of the annual running of the bulls festival in July. We got a little lost along the way (who are we kidding...we got lost everywhere along the way), but luckily we always found our way to our destination...I think the trick was mixing a little bit of luck, Rick Steves' infamous book, our less than helpful tourist maps, and some friendly construction workers along the side of the road.

Silly Momma...

Pamplona was a lovely little city! We visited the fort, walked the same path as the running of the bulls,  visited yet another cathedral, and saw the famous bullring--the third largest in the world. The town is surprisingly small for it's worldwide reputation, but many of the locals told us that it's a pretty quaint and quiet place to visit throughout the rest of the year with exception of the running of the bulls festival. The pictures look insane--though I have conquered a major fear jumping out of a plane and all, I don't think I'm quite ready to run from an angry bull...I'm more of a distance girl than a sprinter.

Matador & Bull...some things never change (;

We stayed in Pamplona until early afternoon on Friday when we returned to San Sebastian for a traditional Basque lunch at about 3 or 4 in the afternoon. The bread was hot and soft, the wine was dark and dry, and the cheese was hard and flavorful--a dangerously delicious combination. (My mom and I quickly decided that we could get used to this diet...but I don't think I could afford the new wardrobe I'd have to purchase to accommodate my all-carb regimen). For lunch, we all tried something new: brown crab, quail, lamb chops, even a baby pig...hoof and all! The food was awesome, and I don't think I've ever been so full! We spent the rest of the day just enjoying each other and watching the sunset on the beach.

Outside the Guggenheim in Bilbao

Saturday morning we woke up and drove to Bilbao, Spain (pronunciation is still under debate) for the last full day of our tour around the Basque country. When we got there we found our hotel, and headed over to the Guggenheim, the very famous contemporary art museum in Bilbao, not only for it's famous works inside the museum, but almost for it's architecture alone. This building was amazing in and out...possibly my favorite part of the entire weekend. In general, Bilbao was very different than any city I have seen in Spain thus far, it was so interesting to see the balance between the traditional buildings and the very unique contemporary architecture. I loved it!

The Guggenheim--so artsy...literally!

After the Guggenheim, we headed back to the hotel. Some napped, some read, and others (well, Mom and me) drank wine. We walked around to a couple bars/restaurants sampling lots of different wines and having some much needed catch-up time...for those of you that don't know, I'm a pretty big momma's girl and missed our hang out time dearly! Then, Sarah and my Dad found us in route to another pub and joined us to make it a family affair. We had so much fun ordering drinks and watching the rowdy Spaniards at 6 in the evening...they were loud and drunk and having a great time! It was too funny. I think Sarah also enjoyed the fact that nobody asked how old she was whenever she got something to drink--lucky for her, she passes the "tall enough to see over the bar" age requirement.

Sunday morning we woke up very early for the 4 hour drive back to Madrid (allowing us at least an hour or two for "wandering" time...I found it necessary to remind my family in their stress that not all who wander are lost! even if we were...) The ride was "cozy" in our tiny little car with all five of us and suitcases, but we made the best of it with some catchphrase and me breaking out into random show tunes--I was going for the traditional road trip feel, even if it was under appreciated. 

Me and two of my favorite ladies in Retiro

When we finally made it back to Madrid, the weather was so nice, so I insisted that we go visit el Parque Retiro, one of the most famous sights to see in Madrid. We walked around the park, watched the street performers, got some lunch and yet another bottle of wine, and visited the glass palace and the peacock garden. When it started to get chilly we went back to the hotel for a siesta before mass at the Cathedral next to El Palacio Real.

After mass, we went out for dinner one last time, and finished up a movie on my tiny little computer screen in the hotel before bed. I woke up early on Monday morning to go say goodbye to the family, who had a flight out early that afternoon. I miss them already, and I hope they had as great of a time as I did! Though it is so different traveling with family compared to traveling with friends, I am so blessed that they were able to come and see me during this trip of a lifetime. I can't wait to see them all again in May!

Love, Rachel

My happy little visitors waving goodbye!

This is no time for jet-lag...

The ladies outside El Mercado de San Miguel

The whole gang's back together again!! On the Friday after my birthday my family came! After waiting at the airport for...a few hours or so for their delayed flight, the wary travelers finally made it to Madrid all excited and ready...for a nap. I quickly informed them, however, that there would be no time for napping--we had a whole city to see in only a few days! My parents, Sarah, Nana and I then made the long trek through the interchanges of the metro/subway system back to our stop: Opera. Needless to say that after lugging their luggage through the subways, they opted for the slightly more expensive but wildly more convenient airport shuttle service for their return trip.

Our tour guide..
and her furry coat

Once everyone got changed and settled in, and I delivered my carry-on suitcase full of the essentials like gum, cookies, peanut butter, and almonds, we set out for a walk around my neighborhood. The walk quickly turned into stopping for a drink and some tapas (as most walks do around here) at el mercado de san miguel. It was so nice to be reunited with everyone once again! We grabbed some dinner late (when in Spain...) and I tucked all my sleepy little world travelers into bed.

Saturday morning we woke up bright and early for a trip to Avila and Segovia. Our tour guide wore this big fuzzy fur coat that, while I had first made fun of it, it was clear to see that this lady knew what she was doing--it was FREEZING. For those of you who haven't been paying attention to the news...most of Europe has been dealing with unseasonably cold temperatures which has caused excessive snow and freezing weather in many uncharacteristic places at this time of year--namely Spain.

This one's for my mom:
she loved the view from the Plaza Mayor in Avila

Despite the cold, Avila was beautiful, as was Segovia. This was my second trip to Segovia, but the weather was much better than the first time. The fog had cleared so we could actually see the breathtaking vistas from the fortress that we could only imagine before. I loved it!

Entrance to the old town of Avila

After our day trip to Avila and Segovia, we got back to Madrid and decided that it was time for a Spanish tradition: a drinks and tapas bar crawl! What fun, let me tell you. I took them to all the hot spots I knew of (various bars/restaurants where you can get a beer for a euro...they may not have been clean, but at least I was saving them money) and we had a great time. In one of the bars, after Mom and Nana had definitely entered their happy place, they insisted that the beautifully handsome spanish waiter take a picture with Sarah (...ironic how that one didn't make it on facebook). We then cleaned up shop with a few pitchers, or jarras, of wine and sangria..and then took about 6 pitchers home with us too! Every college student needs an authentic spanish pitcher from Madrid for their apartment..

Momma and me at El Alcazar, Segovia!

Just two gals having a ball at happy hour

Saturday was a very long day, so we all got some sleep to get ready for an early start on Sunday morning for the world-famous outdoor market. El Rastro happens in Madrid every Sunday and is a market close to the Plaza Mayor full of street vendors selling things from sunglasses to t-shirts to purses to scarves to army gas masks to extension cords--they have just about anything you could imagine! El rastro is famous not only for it's bargaining and variety of products, but also for its pick pocketers. I'm sure you can ask my Dad, but let's just say that people were getting fresh with his back pocket if you catch my drift...luckily the "all-knowing" Rick Steves guide to Madrid (the book--rather, bible in the eyes of my family--that was always in hand giving us advice about just about everything we needed to know for the entire country of Spain) had forewarned him about this, so we were sure to keep our money in a more secure place; the Campbell's are obviously much smarter than your average tourists.

El rastro

 After El Rastro we took the metro (without the luggage this time) to El Reina Sofia, the contemporary art museum. After just a little bit of culture, we headed back to Opera and had some lunch and went for a siesta. Sunday evening we tried to make it to mass at the Cathedral...but apparently they had changed mass times without updating their website, so we only caught from the "holy, holy, holy" on...some could say that the amount of churches and cathedrals we'd visited the past few days would make up for that, but thanks to Mr. Bill and his nifty iphone we went back to the hotel for our own mini liturgy of the word..complete with a sung responsorial psalm (nice pipes, faja). Unlike the rest of my vacationing family, I had school the next day, so I headed back to Mar's (as in the host mom, not the planet) to work on some homework that I had been shamelessly neglecting all weekend.

Monday morning I met my family for a trip to the palacio real, the royal palace right next to my apartment. I had not yet visited the inside of the palace (it costs money), so I was very excited to go while my family was here! The palace was absolutely beautiful on the inside..too bad we couldn't take pictures. I guess you'll just have to come visit me if you want to see it! (if you do visit, please bring snacks).

The rest of the day I went to class and then we went to dinner that night at a local Argentinian steak house (before you judge, this place was GOOD) for the last meal before the rest of the clan hopped in the rental car off to France. Only a few days stand in my way between a quick flight to San Sebastian to meet them in the Basque country!

Until then,
Rachel

A view of the Cathedral from the courtyard of El Palacio Real!

¡feliz cumpleaños a mi!

Well...I made it to 20. I know you were all on the edge of your seats waiting for a birthday post to ensure that I did, in fact, make it out of those "angry teenager" years according to my parents...but in true procrastinator fashion, I have let my blogs slip. For that, I send you all my sincerest apologies from Europe. Shockingly I've actually been pretty busy with school recently...who knew that study abroad actually meant studying.

Since you last heard from me I had just returned from my trip to Interlaken, Switzerland, which is still one of the major highlights of my time here so far. I can't believe more than a month has already gone by--there's so much I want to do and see still, and I can't wait for the next few months! I just don't want them to fly by too fast...but I'm afraid that's inevitable, time flies when you're having fun. Now that I think about it, that's kind of how it feels to be 20 now. It's weird to say "I'm in my 20's" because I still feel like a senior in high school sometimes...but I'm supposed to be mature. What's that all about?!

My birthday was a very nice day in Madrid, I started with a great run through my favorite park as I do every day I can while I'm not traveling--I promise, getting my daily run in is in the best interest for everyone I come in contact with, I'm much more pleasant that way. Then, I met up with my friends for some lunch at the infamous Golden Cock...a few pitchers of Sangria later, I had to mosey my way over to class--yuck. However, it's refreshing how a nice early afternoon buzz can make you much more willing to participate in class!

After my classes my roommates and I headed home and then popped over next door to a tapas bar called Cien Mondatitos. Every Wednesday they have 1 euro pints of cerveza...no complaints from this girl!

We kept the birthday fun rolling that night, even despite the rain, to club orange for a europeanvibe party. Since it was my birthday, I got a free bottle of champagne and a couple round of shots for my friends and me. I even wore a dress (yes, shocking, I know) after all my friends reminded me that as the birthday girl I should try to dress up.

Unfortunately, I had to take my carriage home before it turned into a pumpkin and get some rest before class Thursday morning. I had a great birthday and am thankful for all the messages and cards I received both from Madrid and from home!


I love you all!