My good friend Danielle (who I visited in London last month) came out to visit us in Madrid last weekend with her roommate Bri! We had such a great weekend consisting of strolls in the beautiful Parque del Retiro, tapas y vino, and clubbing. Rachael and I took Danielle, Bri, and a good friend from our program, Christa Lee, to the Mercado de San Miguel, one of my favorite spots that we have found thus far in Madrid. It is this gorgeous buliding with glass walls on all four sides and is filled with fresh fruit, flowers, fish, meat, cheeses, breads, wines, sweets, and much 
more. It is classy, delicious, and is the best for tapas. I quickly came to realize that tapas are the best thing about Spain, hands down. I love the concept of eating a bunch of small hors d'oeuvres because you can get such a great variety at a decent price. MMMM so tasty and suprisingly filling, Not to mention how cultural I feel when I eat out! We also ran into this amazing place called El Museo del Jamon (aka. the ham museum). Ham is literally all over the walls, it is hilarious yet semi-disturbing. The ham is great though! It's the cheapest place for tapas and drinks so far and it is well worth a visit at least once a week :)I have also now seen the gorgeous Plaza Mayor which is 100% more beautiful than it looks in photos. There are street performances who are more weird than even San Francisco. There are so many cute restaurants and little stores for locals and plenty of souvenir shops for us tourists to visit. My goal is to get some postcards sent out and maybe even buy a Real Madrid jersey soon (and hopefully get a game soon to watch mi primo Iker Casillas tear it up in goal!)
This past weekend, Rachael and I decided to get off our lazy butts and explore the city more because we always find ourselves in all the same places. So on Friday, we were able to use our newly purchased February Metro passes and we made our way across town. We eventually found ourselves i
n Oriente Plaza which is a large plaza located in the front yard of the Royal Palace. The sun was setting so we had a beautiful view of the enormous palace as well as La catedral de Santa María La Real de La Almudena, more commonly known in english as the Almudena Cathedral. Entrance was free (YES!) and we were able to walk around and take some great pictures of this old gothic church, still in use today.
n Oriente Plaza which is a large plaza located in the front yard of the Royal Palace. The sun was setting so we had a beautiful view of the enormous palace as well as La catedral de Santa María La Real de La Almudena, more commonly known in english as the Almudena Cathedral. Entrance was free (YES!) and we were able to walk around and take some great pictures of this old gothic church, still in use today. On Saturday, Rachael and I decided it was time to get out of Madrid so we took a 3o minute train ride to the old city of Toledo. It was breathtaking!! The city is much smaller than Madrid with hills and a river running through it. The streets were all cobble stone and incredibly narrow, it was amazing how people could drive on them! With all the little shops and cafes, it was all too cute to handle. The Alcazar, literally a GIANT palace, stood on the highest hill in town and could be spotted from almsot anywhere. The main Cathedral was beautiful of course which pretty much confirmed my theory that only huge, extravagent churches are allowed to exist here in Espana. They are by far my favorite buildings to visit not only because they take my breath away every single time, but also how old and sacred they still are to the Spanish people today. 
And last but not least, this weekend I was lucky enough to celebrate two birthdays of friends here in Madrid. Thursday night, Christa Lee turned 23! Wanting to shake things up a bit, she decided she wanted a fake bachelorette party instead of the same old birthday bash. She yelled "Me voy a casar!!!" all night long and it was hilarious that people actually beleived us. We celebrated with an amazing sushi dinner and got home around 6am. The spaniards are nocturnal I think. I did all over again Saturday night for my best friend Megan's 21st birthday! We celebrated Mexican style with great nachos, margaritas and thank god only one tequila shot, yuck!! It was a pretty successful (late) night, none the less. And finally Superbowl Sunday. The game didn't start till midnight here and with class at 9am I called it a night around 2. I was very excited to learn the next morning that the Saints came out victorious!!!
And last but not least, this weekend I was lucky enough to celebrate two birthdays of friends here in Madrid. Thursday night, Christa Lee turned 23! Wanting to shake things up a bit, she decided she wanted a fake bachelorette party instead of the same old birthday bash. She yelled "Me voy a casar!!!" all night long and it was hilarious that people actually beleived us. We celebrated with an amazing sushi dinner and got home around 6am. The spaniards are nocturnal I think. I did all over again Saturday night for my best friend Megan's 21st birthday! We celebrated Mexican style with great nachos, margaritas and thank god only one tequila shot, yuck!! It was a pretty successful (late) night, none the less. And finally Superbowl Sunday. The game didn't start till midnight here and with class at 9am I called it a night around 2. I was very excited to learn the next morning that the Saints came out victorious!!!
Well thats long enough for now, this weekend I'm off to Geneva, Switzerland so pray that I don't freeze my toes off!! And by the way, today is my half birthday!!! 6 months until I turn 21 woohooo!!!
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