So I went to Granada thinking “wow
this is GREAT I get to miss winter and I won’t have to deal with snow”. Now, I
do go to Ithaca so, over the years, I have accepted snow as a part of life.
Yeah yeah yeah I get it, snow soooo pretty to watch fall. But I am not so
pretty to watch fall and snow makes everything so slippery that my downward
tumbles are inevitable. Regardless, I was sure that I had run away to a land
far far away where snow only existed on the mountaintops in the distance. But,
as luck would have it, the day I left for Madrid, Granada was under a blanket
of snow (I told you the travel gods hate me). I am actually just blowing
everything way out of proportion, our bus was delayed for an hour or so and we
waited out the “snowstorm of the decade” in a cute little café.
By the time we (I went with a group of 11 people from my program because we didn’t have classes Thursday or Friday) got to Madrid we were a little tired so after we checked into our hostel, which was, by the way a little dirty and I’d really rather not think too much about it, we went to the Reina Sofia to leisurely stroll around. I am convinced that after two hours in the museum I saw absolutely nothing. No, that’s a lie, I saw Guernica, which is by Pablo Picasso, and pretty cool, but other than that I spent most of the time trying to figure out why the layout was so confusing. I am, as I have said repeatedly, really good at wandering around lost and confused.
As to not have a repeat performance
of getting lost in the museum, I decided to take a guided walking tour of the
city the next morning, and that was pretty amazing. Although I saw a lot of
famous/historic/once in a lifetime things, the best thing that I did was go to
check out the gardens at the Prado later that night. As the sun was setting, we
explored the gardens and it was like I was in Alice in Wonderland. I was so
relaxed and happy and I feel like even though I had seen so many “have to see
things” that morning, it was more life changing to just walk around and absorb
everything that night.
The next day, we headed off to
Toledo and I fell in love right away. It is a charming and quaint extremely old and historic. Our
hostel was beautiful and there was a rooftop view that was like a little slice
of heaven. We saw the cathedral (they started the construction in 1227!), but
then a group of us spent the afternoon wandering around. We found this quiet area on the outskirts of the city and spent hours just talking about life
and love and the pursuit of happiness. But really. We did. And it was great.
Then I had a bacon hamburger and fries and mint chocolate chip ice cream and my
life was complete.
I think the most important thing that I have learned this
weekend, and in my past month in general, is that life is really not about sight
seeing and taking a ton of pictures in front of really old things. Although I have taken far too many pictures, I am learning that life is not about running around to check things off a list. It is not about where you take the picture, but who you take it with. And that leads me to the most exciting thing that has happened to me in the last week: my mom is coming to ITALY with me!! I burst into tears when she said she was thinking about visiting
me, and I get teary just thinking about how excited I am to see her. I am
absolutely not homesick here. I am in love with Granada, but I have realized
how important my family and friends are, because at the end of the day, they
are what makes my life so great. So I am so grateful for all of you guys, for
the friends I have made here, you guys are making this the best time of my
life, and my friends and family at home, who have given me the confidence to be
here, I miss you guys!
Fun facts about my life:
-I have apparently been eating rabbit meat pretty
consistently since I have been here, and just realized it.
-I tried pig liver and squid with ink, both interesting and probably a one time thing
-I witnessed, at 6 on a Sunday afternoon, an old lady walk
into a café, take a shot of alcohol, and causally walk out. I want to be her
one day.
-My host dad just taught me how to clean a fish and popped out the eyeballs as he was talking to me. I will never be the same.
-Out of all my friends, I am the only one too short to take
cool wall pictures and have the cuts to prove it.
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