Oh, how I adore everything...: Spain

After my trip to Morocco, my time abroad flew by. My very good friend, Erica, came to visit on her spring break for a week. During her week in Madrid, we were able to do so much together. I showed her some of my favorite places, but we also did new things and tried new restaurants. Our favorite was La Musa, which we ate there twice! Our time together reassured me how blessed I am to have amazing people in my life who will fly across the ocean to see me. It also made me incredibly excited for future travels with all my loved ones and the adventures we will embark on. It was hard to see her go because I felt so at home with her with me, someone I could have amazing conversations with. Our week together flew by and before I knew it (2 weeks after) it was my spring break!

On my spring break I visited the Spanish city, Seville, then headed to Portugal for the remainder of the trip. I absolutely loved Portugal, it was incredibly relaxed, beautiful, and flooding with history. I would definitely love to come back here. After I returned from spring break, I stayed in Madrid up until my mom came to visit me. Again, I am so lucky that she was able to come visit me and so happy she came. I showed her around Madrid, she met my home stay mom. Oh that is another bittersweet moment leaving my home stay mom was really hard...I cried. She was a really special woman and although she would frustrate me at times, I realized everything she did for me was with genuine care and love. Although she may not know a lot about my life, I learned a lot about hers, and those are stories I want to never forget. Anyways, afterwards my mom and I spent one day in the medieval city of Avila, and finally left to spend a couple days in Barcelona. I could not have asked for a better travel buddy than my mom. We did some serious exploring and walking around, that once we made it in Barcelona we took a 4 hour nap. Oops. I mean it was our vacation! We were relaxing. Finally, I headed home back to California, marking the official end to my 19 weeks abroad.

I have been home exactly a week now and time really does fly when you are having fun. I have been trying to find the best ways to simply describe and summarize my time abroad. I realize that my answers will always vary to anyone I talk to because I learned a lot about my surroundings, others, and most importantly, things about myself while abroad. Obviously I wont explain this in boring detail to everyone I talk to but I made memories I will cherish for a lifetime (especially being with my mom and Erica), I met my home stay mom, I made a wonderful friend who I know I will see again sometime soon, and I learned that I am not done exploring this world. I am incredibly thankful I was able to embark on this once in a lifetime journey and as much as I wish it would not end, I am happy to be home with my family and friends to make new memories and have new adventures. Now, time to document my summer...

xoxo

I have been really excited to post these pictures. Five weekends ago (omg time flies) was one of the most beautiful weeks in Madrid. I enjoyed the sun everyday, which made me miss California more. However, I am slowly becoming more in love with Madrid and by the end of my semester I know I will be terribly sad to leave. Every corner is more beautiful than the last corner. The people, the buildings, the trees, and even the dogs are just so beautiful to me. Then you add a little sunshine and it becomes a perfect day. I absolutely adore it and I really hope this means the sun is here to stay.

I went to Parque del Retiro two days in a row and I am so happy I did. I explored some parts of the park I had not had a chance to visit yet. There were so many people, I do not think one piece of Retiro was not covered by a family, a couple, friends enjoying a picnic or dogs playing fetch. It seems as if all of Madrid was at Retiro that weekend. I then explored some small adorable streets off of Paseo del Prado, right next to Retiro, only to realize I had been there before. I would have continued to explore except my feet could no longer withstand the pain so I had to head home...after I treated myself to a milk tea with boba of course. Those two days I decided not to bring my camera and I am really happy I did not, but I captured some great images of Madrid on my iPhone. The quality may not be the best because my phone is old for technology standards...I have only had it for two years, but whatever. Please listen to the song by Lykke Li, which I have played on repeat while writing this post, and the last couple of weeks. Let's fall in love with Madrid together.

♫♪ Lykke Li-I Follow Rivers (Magician Remix) ♫♪