[Friday, July 12]
- Breakfast with Alfonso, we watched San Fermín
- I gave a presentation speech in class about my weekend in Madrid
- We worked on pronunciation in class
- We went at 11 to Plaza Zocodover to meet our Valencia group: Colby, Alex, Mariah, Olivia, Emily, Sophie, Conner, Zach, and I.
- I got a tomato and queso empanada.
- We then got a bus to Madrid; Colby and I talked about families on the way.
- On the Metro in Madrid, the line we needed was stopped for some reason and it was very crowded and hot, and there was a baby in a stroller right in front of me.
- When we got to the train station we literally had to sprint through security, and down the terminal. We were in coche 29 which was one of the farthest cars from the stairs. We took a photo of everyone finally in their seat as the train started to move. Bones was on the TV so I listened to it in Spanish.
- In the train station we got a map and then walked to the Metro.
- We checked into the Red Nest Hostel, and then went around the corner to Alfonso el Magnánimo. I split a Margarita pizza with Alex.
- We then headed to the beach via metro. It was absolutely gorgeous! The Mediterranean Sea is bath water temperature and the sand is almost creamy. I floated with everyone and just enjoyed the relaxing experience.
-We spilt into two groups at some point and one group swam out farther. And the they split up again because two people wanted to swim to the dock halfway down the beach. I definitely dropped into camp counselor mode and inner panicked but was still a little pissed. After that I wasn't too interested in going too far out to sea and collected sea shells on the beach.
- There was an impressive sand castle right off the board walk.
- We went to the hostel to change out of our wet clothes.
- We wandered into the city and eventually found a chicken place for dinner. I was so hungry I didn't even care about the bones. And for dessert we found a helado shop.
- We then spent the next hour looking for a place to hang out but everywhere was closed.
[Saturday, July 13]
- "Slept in" to 9:30! We then went over to Starbucks a few doors down to wait for the rest of the group. I had a chai tea latte in a ceramic mug- things we don't have back in Lincoln. While we were sitting there, a parade of Mr. Bean cars drove down the street in a parade. It was hilarious to see all of these little cars with dinky honks.
-We then went to a Nike store because we were hoping the rebajas would be helpful in adding to our Nike collections, but they weren't all that great.
- We stopped for cupcakes and I got Dulce con Leche.
- We stopped at El Corte Ingles for food. The grocery store is located in the basement and the upper levels are a department store. We found a water jug that was 6.5 liters and weighed as much as a baby- his name was Joaquin because it was the name on the label. We also got pan, chips, and cookies.
- We finally made it to the beach about 2 or so. We put on sunscreen before heading out to the waves and laying out but we all got really burnt. I took a 30 minute nap at one point so that didn't help the not-getting-sunburnt cause.
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| This is my expression right after getting shocked by a wave... |
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| Our group... minus Colby the photographer |
- At 6:30 we found a restaurant with paella that had a view of the beach and ordered three paellas and sangria. We had lobster, veggie/chicken, and seafood. I tried a couple of the shellfish and the chicken but mostly appreciated the rice and veggie mix.
- At 7:30 (on time for once) we headed back to the hostal for our luggage and then headed to the train station.
- We ended up in the wrong station, but we did have time to change into dry clothes. We got to the correct train station with about 15 minutes to spare. We were in coche 5 this time which was closer to the ticket checking station and security. I had a row to myself and fell asleep with headphones connected to the train's "radio" and was woken up to Hedwig's Theme.
- In Madrid we took the Metro back to the bus station but missed the directo so we had to take the midnight pueblo bus- which stopped at smaller towns on the way to Toledo. By this time I was exhausted. We still had Joaquin the water jug and his name became Joaquin Javier José Juan Jiménez. It was the result of a long day.
- We got back to Toledo at about 2am on Sunday and had been in Valencia for 26 or so hours (not counting travel). When I got back to the casa I had the place to myself and realized how burned I'd gotten at the beach.
[Sunday, July 14]
- I woke up after about 4.5 hours of sleep to go to Candeleda with the group excursion. I got a seat to myself and added an extra 1.5 hours to my sleep bank. I have perfected the sleeping-on-a-bus position so only one small fraction of my body is uncomfortable- it's all in how you brace your legs against the seat in front of you and the wall.
- We stopped at the Cuevas de Águila and toured the caves. It was cold inside and the stalagmites and stalactites were amazing. If you used your imagination you could see toros, people, hands, corn, and a whole lot of different things.
- We then took a small break at a natural pool before lunch. Since we didn't have a whole lot of time we just walked the rocks upstream. I was extremely thankful for my Chacos and their ability to be worn everywhere.
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| This could be a Chaco advertisement right? |
- We then went back to the lagoon to swim and it took a while for me to adjust to the cold water but it did feel good on my sunburn! It was fun just sitting and relaxing in a natural pool of super clear water that was clean and it's anything like the streams in Nebraska.
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| Our Candeleda group- from all over the world! |
- For dinner I had a hamburger, salad with amazing tomatoes, pan, and plain yogurt.
It's crazy to think that in a week I'll be 20 years old and back in Nebraska!
Love you all!
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