Me te gusta, Toledo.

I'm not gonna say I liked Toledo better than Madrid, but it DEFINITELY had some awesome aspects.  I loved the old city feel (some buildings were built as early as the 13th century!) and the shopping was way better than Madrid.  When I say shopping, I'm generally referring to street vendors and artisans, because that's mainly what I'm aiming to buy while in Spain.  The food was alright, but not to die for.  I tried Gazpacho (a cold tomatoe soup thing) and I have to say, wasn't a fan.  We also didn't find any good sweets, but the views made up for that.  Take a look for yourself...

This cathedral was built to be the tomb of King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella, but before they died they decided they liked Granada better.  Nevertheless, the church and adjacent monastery was incredibly gorgeous.  Another fun fact, there are over 14 "nuneries" in Toledo!  That's a lot for this little town.  

Everything was HANDcarved out of limestone.  Pretty crazy when you think about it.

The courtyard between the cathedral and the monastery

The above picture is from the Old Jewish synagogue, built in the 13th century.  In the next few hundred years this poor building was torched, and its worshipers forced out of Spain.  The old synagogue was turned into a church sometime between 1700 and 1900 (forgive my poor memory, this tour was mostly in Spanish) and is now a national monument and no type of worship facility.

I died.  I also bought a handmade leather purse for 25 euros (Around $34)

Ah, Toledo.  I'm thinking one day just wasn't enough.

Spain Spain Spain!

I arrived in Madrid Thursday morning, finally, and we stayed in Madrid until yesterday morning.  We spent yesterday touring Toledo, a gorgeous historic city about an hour south of Spain, and this morning we take a 7 hour bus ride to our final destination, Málaga!  However, our bus is broken down and we will be waiting for another half hour or so.  Andddd since I may or may not have wifi tonight I'm trying to make the most of it now.  

A little from Madrid

Most beautiful botanical garden I've ever seen.  This makes UT's gardens look like NOTHING

The palace!

Sangria... yumm

The culture is so wonderful.  This could just be because this is my first time experiencing Europe, but everything just feels so sophisticated!  Everyone always looks put together, and T-shirts are very rare.  It's kind of an understated elegance type of thing.  

The food is pretty good; Madrid is known for their ham and their fried calamari, which is surprisingly good on a baguette.  Even better than the taste of the food is the schedule though!  Breakfast is a little later than the states, generally around 9, and they serve lots of bread, meats and cheeses- typically a lunch thing for us.  Lunch isn't until around 2:30, and dinner is very late- not until after 9:30.  Meals are more social here, lasting longer than Americans are used to.  Also surprising, EVERYONE drinks, but nobody gets drunk.  Public intoxication is extremely frowned upon and considered socially unacceptable.  Being able to drink without the pressure of getting drunk... Can you say AWESOME??

As far as the shopping goes, I didn't really find anything in Madrid.  The one exception has been friendship bracelets though- leather, string, beaded, they're all here and they're all cheap.  Toledo has been much better for shopping, but I'll get into that in my next post.  

OK, I'm trying to keep this short, but I'll do a post on some history stuff later- it's surprisingly interesting!

Here we go!

I was never nervous one bit.  Considering my nature, I really wasn't surprised.
And then, as I was walking through the terminal at McGee Tyson (our local airport,) it all hit me.
I'm going across the world, to a foreign country to live in a city that doesn't speak English.
I'm going alone.  And I'm leaving everyone I love and a almost all of my possessions behind.

While I am so incredibly excited to begin this journey that I've been blessed with, it's kind of just now hitting me.  At this point I'm used to people asking if I'm scared or telling me how brave or crazy I was, but it's only now that I'm realizing why.

I admit, I shed a few (little) tears when saying goodbye today.  I'm going to miss so many people and things so terribly much.  And, admittedly, I'm scared.  But only for now, hopefully ;)

At this moment I am sitting in the Washington DC airport, waiting to board my flight to Madrid (and also attempting to eavesdrop on the Spanish woman sitting across from me,) and really thinking about everything I'm about to do, see, and experience.

I can't begin to put into words how grateful I am for the support of my family, and of course Greg.  Without them I simply would not have the means or the courage to make this journey.

To everyone reading this, thank you for your support, your friendship, and your interest in my little trip.  As corny as that sounds, I really appreciate it!

So get ready for pictures and updates.

Next stop, Spain.

Also on my agenda

This place.

To visit this girl.

Fun Trip?  No doubt. 



A lesson learned

Booking my flight to Paris was one of the highlights of my to-do list.  Today I did an online search for a particular cheap airfare company and found out that they had a one way flight from Paris-Malaga for NINE EUROS.  That's like 12 bucks.  Aka, dirt cheap.  I was so excited that I hurriedly booked the flight.  Only to later realize that just because an airport calls itself "Paris" does not mean that it is actually in Paris.

The airport I booked a flight into is actually 70 miles away.  I about died of sadness... and a little embarrassment.  Lucky this is apparently something that happens to people often, so there is a shuttle to and from Paris.

So recap:

I have to ride a bus for almost two hours.
And then my flight leaves almost Paris at 10:30 PM.
And arrives in Malaga just before midnight.

Break out the cute shoes.  It's gonna be an exciting night.

15 DAYS

and my lack of Spanish studying is starting to concern me.  Tonight Greg's studying for an immunology test tonight, I believe I will turn it into a study party.  Complete with some yummy foods and constant interruptions.  Greg, if you're reading, I have just invited myself over tonight.  Prepare yourself for wayyy too much chocolate and Spanish love phrases.  

oh yes. 

Just picked the dates for Paris!!