Perfection in Spain

It's seriously ridiculous that I can't keep up with this darn thing...hehe!

SO on the 26th of February I took a train (all by myself!) down to Winchester, England-which is a bit south of London. I met a friend (actually we met for the first time that day...we arranged this trip over facebook...it sounds sketchy I know-but I promise it isn't. We are roommates together next year in a house, and she has been in England studying abroad for the whole year so I was never able to meet her), Katlyn who is going to school there. She picked me up at the train station and brought me back to the University of Winchester (another program through Eau Claire actually)! We went out to dinner with some more of my Eau Claire friends, which was so exciting because it was my first time being with people I actually know in a long while!

Hannah, me, Katlyn and Laura in Winchester, England

I stayed the night in Katlyn's dorm room, and we left in the morning bright and early to catch the train to London Stansted Airport. The ride was a few hours long, and the flight was two. We got to the Valladolid airport, and didn't really have a plan on how to get into town. We had heard their was a shuttle, but we weren't positive....and we spoke English, so it was tricky, but we found a bus that took us into town (basically just following the other tourists). Waiting for the bus was very pleasant...considering the sun was gracing us with its' touch. I haven't felt that much sun in awhile....it was great. The bus ride was about 20 minutes, as we pulled up to the stall, there were two little girlies sitting on a bus staring at the bus in anticipation. I waved with all my might, and then jumped off the bus to be greeted by Sheila and Erin! It was wonderful to see them and the hugs were wonderful:)

Erin andSheila waiting in anticipation at the bus staion in Valladolid

Our home for the weekend

After our reunion, the girls found our way from the bus station to our hostel that they had reserved for us. They weren't exactly sure where it was, but we got there easy enough! That's one thing that I was very much impressed with, my friends are just soaking in the culture so well! They speak amazing Spanish (despite what they say...), they walk everywhere, and seem to always know where they are going! They're great...! The hostel was really nice! It was only 15 euro a night, which isn't bad at all for what we got! The location was great, we got a private two bed room. We had to share the bathroom in a hallway, but it was a nice new bathroom, and there was only 1 or 2 other people there, so we basically had it to ourselves. After we were settled in, they took us to their favorite coffee shop and we had Cafe con Leche. Which was wonderful! I had to stop myself from getting another...from there my friend Elise met us and we hugged lots too. We also met some other Eau Clairers in the same program. After some caffeine and chatting, we stopped over to the oldest library in Spain (that's all I have to say about that;)). Next, Erin took me, Katlyn and Elise over to her host family's casa to meet them. Her 'mom' was wonderful! She was so cute, and catered to our lack of speaking ability. I tried to sneak in a few responses here and there...but it was hard to jump into the language again! After that visit we went to a supermercado so Katlyn and I could get some food for the next day. We also bought some boxed red wine and Coca Cola, which mixed together makes a very popular 'spanish' drink called Calimocho. Around 9:30 we finally headed to get some dinner (they eat extremely late in Spain, everyone does, even the kids! It's crazy, but so interesting! I love culture...:)). They took us to a Chinese restaurant that served three courses, glass of wine, and dessert for only 8 Euros...a very good deal! It was pretty good food too. After dinner we made our way to the hostel where a few of us just chatted and drank some calimochos. It was so much fun, and I loved being able to spend time with them. The walls were pretty thin in the hostel, so we weren't surprised when an angry Spanish man pounded on the door and told us to be quiet after we started playing music. We felt bad...and turned it down.

At El Toledo, the coffee shop

Our chinese dinner

Elise and I on our way back to the hostel after dinner

Me, Elise, Erin, Sheila skipping down the streets of Valladolid

Group shot at the hostel

Erin, me and Sheila

On Saturday, Katlyn and I were lucky enough to be able to come on the programs field trip to Salamanca, Spain. How lucky are we! The bus ride there was about 2 hours. The day consisted of a few tours of different buildings (all in Spanish...but even if it was in English I can't guarantee I would have been listening...hehe). Overall it was a good day, we took lots of fun photos and explored pretty buildings. There were all these random groups of very drunk, very dressed up (in costumes of different kinds) men and we made a game of taking pictures with them, which was very entertaining. I had noticed there were MANY more attractive men in Spain when compared to England, so that was mildly depressing. And they had a large obsession with blonde hair, whenever I walked down the street 'Rubia' was chanted a few times. We were very tired and took naps on the way back. That night, we were blessed enough to be invited to Elise and Katie Beesons host family's for dinner! They were a very cute elderly couple who was so kind to invite us (apparently it isn't common to invited guests over in Spain). We were served traditional tortillas de espana, which were SO good! This time I could actually have parts of conversation in Spanish! It was so fun to get back into it, and I think they enjoyed watching me struggle:) After dinner we met people in la Plaza Mayor (just the center of the city). From there we went to a Cache (?) bar, which has large portions for a small price. We had calimochos and amazing fries there. It was a very good night, AND it was Erin's birthday! So I was very happy to be able to experience that with her...

A university in Salamanca. It is said that if you can spot the skull with a frog on it's head you will have good luck...it took me awhile to find it...until one of the professors explained it (of course sheila had to translate the explanation for me as well...)

We found a wedding photo shoot! How cute!

Streets of Salamanca

Another Cathedral!

I spy an astronaut!

The Cathedral was very beautiful on the inside too

Photo number one with random drunk men dressed up as a bull and his fighters

One of them fell over, so we ALL fell over..

Random Drunk men group #2: dressed as supermen...and one in a wedding dress? weird.

Out for Erin's birthday!

On Sunday the girls came to pick us up from the Hostel in the morning. We went out for some breakfast and some last time spent together. We said our goodbyes and then hoped on a train to the airport.

On the way home from the airplain...I have such an obsession with the window views...:)

It was an amazing weekend, and I have so much appreciation for the girls hosting us! I am so blessed to have had the opportunity to visit them! I had all these elaborate plans to visit all of my friends studying abroad, but once I came I realized ta ht wasn't a realistic expectation. So I am very lucky that I was able to go to Spain! I still can't even believe it worked out as perfectly as it did...ahhhh so great;)

Love to all!