A Weekend in Spain!

Morgan and I with Dani the nanny! (Stolen from Morgan's blog)

What a weekend! I took the bus from Cork to Dublin on Wednesday and stayed over night in a hostel. I had to wake up early in order to make it to my 7:30 flight to Madrid to go see Morgan! Once in Madrid I was immediately required to shake the rust off of my already broken Spanish in order to make it through customs.  After navigating my way through the airport I made my way to the metro station and boarded the metro towards the bus station. Once on the bus I quickly realized that the bus had assigned seats and I was sitting in the wrong one and was gently made aware of this by the kind lady shouting at me in Spanish. The strange thing was that the bus was half empty but everyone was crammed together in the front in their “assigned seats” yet the plane ride on the discount airline I flew to Spain did not have assigned seats at all.

It was so great to finally get to see her after talking over the computer (when they worked) for about 2 months! She met me outside the bus station and we were off touring the city and showing me where she lives and what she does! She was a fantastic tour guide for my weekend!

Morgan with the castle behind her.
What a cutie right?

Unfortunately I didn't get many of us together
because I only brought my camera out twice

Spain was absolutely amazing. Segovia is the city that Morgan is studying in and where I spent the weekend and it is unbelievably gorgeous. It is full of old buildings and lots of history. There is a large aqueduct that the Romans built that runs right through the center of the city and was in use until the 80’s. Just walking around the city is breathtaking. There are great old churches and a castle that inspired the castle at Disney world!

The Aqueduct

A really cool church in a city square called the Plaza Mayor

On Friday we walked around the city and Morgan showed me around her school which is a great old building located in a beautiful area of the city (not that there were any particularly bad looking areas). We then met up with the group and toured an old church right by the hostel that I was staying in. The tour guide told all about the church and its designs and I was impressed with the fact that I understood almost everything she was saying. I really wish I knew more Spanish and think I will have to keep learning because I really enjoy speaking it.

Morgan’s host family couldn’t have been nicer. They encouraged me to speak only Spanish and were very patient with what I was able to say.  Morgan's two little brothers are so cute and really fun little guys. When I first met the youngest one he looked like he was going to come over to me and say hi but instead, with a big grin on his face, he wound up and hit me right between the legs! What a nice introduction right? I had a few meals in their house and the Spanish food I had was phenomenal! They just kept bringing out more and more food! It occurs to me that I have said little to nothing about the food in Ireland and that is mainly because it is really nothing to write home about… quite literally I guess. If I were eating like they do in Spain there would be much more to describe but I fear that frozen pizzas and sandwiches with the occasional pork chop thrown in are not quite as thrilling to read or to write about.

One of the things I really loved about Spain, apart from the food, was the general culture and way of life. Everyday they have a siesta in the middle of the day from 2 until 4 or 5 at which point they go home and have a large lunch and relax during the middle of the day. After the siesta they go back to school or work until around dinner which is eaten around 9. The nightlife does not even begin to get going until around 11pm and people stay out until 6 or 7 in the morning!  Even when adults go out they stay out this late; Morgan’s host dad went out with his friends and got back at 7 in the morning. Another great thing is tapas. It is where you order a drink and get a free small plate of food with it. I couldn't believe how cheap it all was compared to the prices in Ireland and I am very jealous that Morgan gets to do that all the time!

On Sunday I begrudgingly had to leave and Morgan and I took the bus back into Madrid to spend the afternoon in the city before my 6:30pm flight back to Dublin. Madrid is also a beautiful city! We went to get sushi for lunch in downtown Madrid because I have been dying for some since I have been here and Morgan gets it all the time! After lunch we walked around this massive park right in the middle of the city called Retrio park. It had a big lake and a bunch of old statues and was bustling with activity and the sounds of people playing music. It was also mostly sunny and about 60 degrees which was a great improvement from the weather I have been experiencing thus far.

Arches in Madrid

Large statue at the lake in the Retrio Park

It was a fantastic weekend and its safe to say I have fallen in love with Spain. Everything about it and the weekend in general was just so great! It was so great to see the way Morgan was living and now I can picture where she is and what she is up to on a daily basis. It was so great to get to see her but so hard to leave. It is also nice to see that she is doing well and has a host family and group that are both really awesome and I am excited because we are going to get to travel together in April!

In a cave on our walk! (also stolen from Morgan's blog)