Quick Updates

I don´t even know where I left off the last time I wrote, so I´m going to do the best I can.

So after the weekend of Rikka in Segovia and Madrid I think we had a pretty relaxed week and that following weekend had a group trip to Cordoba and Sevilla. In theory, I like group trips, but I don´t think I would recommend Sevilla to anyone who doesn´t love religious art and touristy food. Cordoba was pretty neat- The Mezquita and Alcazar there are wonderful and we had delicious "batidos" (smoothie/milkshakes) in a tea shop before playing in the gardens of the Alcazar one day. We found kittens and took tons of pictures in the gardens before we realized that the building was closing. The very nice guard woman let us run through everything (picture about 7 americans who also happen to be carleton students running through the towers of a building so that they can see everything... i think the woman thought we were locos) before the experience of the "men" eating "rabo de toro" which is exactly what it translates to: bull´s tail. It seems to have quite a bit of fat for a tail, but the girls I was with only ate tortilla and gazpacho. much better.

Sevilla, as I said, was full of religious art and tourist attractions along with a bit too much time as a group, but the good news is that our hotel (4 stars!) had a pool on the roof. That pretty much completed every day.

After that weekend we had another week of classes and I was going to go to Pais Vasco with some friends but by one day before our scheduled departure when we still hadn´t made plans, we decided to do a 2 day trip to Salamanca, much closer and apparently something to see. The best part was that it´s not in the desert and there are trees that change color! Almost like maine but with less color. Saw the cathedral, teh university, and a wonderful art deco museum that was the highlight for everyone. It was VERY cold though, and the bus ride home took forever, I think because us driver was too nice and agreed to let people off in random hotels along the highway..

This past weekend we had a trip with the whole group (thank goodness the last whole group trip... i almost didn´t make it) to Barcelona. WHAT AN AMAZING CITY. the temperature is always nice (around 65-70) and they have a beach. oh and the olympics were there in 92 so that was basically the only thing I needed to see there because that´s my thing. We also so a bunch of Gaudi architecture (look him up if you´re not sure who he is... it´s pretty crazy) and spent a good amount of time there, but not enough in my opinion.

I will try to write more soon. We only have 1 week from today left and I have to write our final paper before leaving for Lisbon, Paris, and Dublin and before I return to Maine the 27th. I´ll try to write more soon. Love to you all!