Santiago de Compostela :)

This past weekend, I went to Santiago de Compostela, Galicia with my Spanish sister, Alicia, to visit her family. We started off with a bit of a rough start...we missed our plane on Friday :( Luckily, we were able to make the next one on Saturday afternoon. I went out to dinner with her and her family on Saturday night. Galicia is especially famous for their seafood because they are on the sea. However, I am a vegetarian so I had some grilled vegetables, home-made french fries, and a delicious Galician crepe for dessert!

I met most of her friends and Alicia showed me the nightlife of Santiago. It was so fun! The next day, we walked around the city. It is the third biggest pilgrimage city in Europe. The famous month long walking trip from southern France to Santiago is referred to as, "el camino de Santiago." There is a gorgeous, huge cathedral in the old part of the city. We walked all around the old streets in the "parte vieja" of the city, taking lots of pictures of course! The new part of Santiago is very modern looking, with a large park in the center. BEAUTIFUL! :)

On our last night, we made tortilla de patata, a famous Spanish dish of egg and potato. Alicia´s friends all came over for dinner, all of them were so nice! Although the tortilla ended up looking misshaped, it was delicious! I had a great time with Alicia in her home city and getting to know her family!

Wrapping up the semester

There are only about 2 and a half weeks in this semester! I honestly cannot believe it went by so fast! This is actually my last week of classes. I am going to Santiago de Compostela, Galicia this weekend. It is a medieval looking town in the northwest of Spain, right above Portugal. The Spanish girl who lived with my family in the United States last year is from Galicia, so we are going to visit her family and city tomorrow! I have been to Galicia once before, but I just went to all the famous tourist spots. It should be nice going around with some of the locals! :)

Next week, I have one paper due and the rest of the week to study for my finals! I am excited to go home for the summer, but I am sure going to miss Madrid. It is just starting to get warm here, I love it. But before we all leave, the school is having a farewell dinner. Last semester, there was also a nice dinner. However, this dinner includes a dance and is a very big, fancy event!

Horseback riding!

This past weekend, Suffolk organized a group to go horseback riding. I enjoy riding horses, and two of my best friends here were going, so I decided to go on the trip as well. We all met at one of the bus stations, and then took a bus for an hour to get to one of the small towns outside of Madrid. It was a great day to go horseback riding- sunny, but not too hot. Everyone else must have thought it was a good day to enjoy the fresh air, because many families were having picnics around the area.

18 of us went on the day trip, so we split into two groups to ride. Some people were expert riders, some intermediate, and then a few who had never ridden a horse before. My horse´s name was Ali, and she was pretty good. She was calm, besides the fact that she did not want to stay in line behind the others. :) It was a great day, and I think all of us had a great time on the activity.

Spring Break- las Islas Canarias

This spring break, I went to the Canary Islands - the island Gran Canaria. They are located to the south west of Spain. My friends and I rented an apartment, at one time there were 11 of us staying there! We went to the pool everyday, and the beach about 4 days. It was absolutely gorgeous! It is a very common vacation destination for Europe, so there were a lot of British, German, and nothern European tourists. It was sure a change from Madrid, but perfect for spring break! The weather was hot enough to wear your bathing suit to the beach, but not too hot to be suffering, it was perfect.

We went parasailing, banana boat riding, spent a day on a "pirate ship," and had an amazing time! While the islands have the beautiful beaches, they also have giant sand dunes. I have never seen so much sand! I am very tempted to go back to the islands for my spring break next year!