Farewell Madrid

Hola amigos!

I am now on my flight home to Chicago from New Jersey (I wrote this on the plane ride home). The flight from Madrid to Newark was not bad at all, I watched 3 movies, some Friends and took a mini nap. It is hard to believe that I have been away from home for over 4 months. Although Spain was the best experience of my life, I am more than ready to be home. I have travelled to all the places and done all the things that a few months ago I had never dreamed would possible. I am so grateful to have had this opportunity. I have made so many new friends, learned new things, experienced a unique culture and visited the beautiful cities of Europe. Here is a quick reflection on the past 4 months.

Favorite trip: Lisbon and Italy

Favorite thing: Learning to surf

Favorite place in Madrid: Retiro park

What I will miss

·      Maria, the most amazing host mom in the entire world

·      My awesome roomies

·      Being able to travel to a ton of different places easily and relatively cheaply

·      Seeing the culture in these old European cities

·      Speaking Spanish (only a little though- I missed English a lot)

·      The easiness of the metro

·      The amazing view we had from our apartment

·      The ability to walk most places

·      My new friends

·      All of the parks in Madrid, especially Retiro

·      The cool architecture

·      The abundance of things to do

·      Real Madrid games

·      Free things

·      Sol

·      Paella

·      Sangria

·      Siesta time (let’s be real I did this before I came to Spain)

·      The laid backness

What I won’t miss

·      The amount of people that smoke

·      My shaky bed

·      Having to pay for water

·      Not having free refills

·      The schedule (with store hours and eating hours)

·      The lack of diversity in the food

·      The judgmental stares

·      Fear of pick pocketers

·      How expensive food is

·      The 35+ minute commute to school

·      How small SLU Madrid was

·      Street signs on buildings that make it impossible to see

·      The horrible feeling after you spend a ton of money planning a trip

What I’m looking forward to

·      Seeing my family and friends

·      Eating so many different types of food

·      Playing with my puppies

·      Road tripping down to STL

·      REAL DIET COKE

·      Having a car

·      My own bed

·      All the things that you can do in America that you can’t do in Spain

This has been the most amazing experience of my life. I have learned so much about myself and life in general. I am so thankful to have had such an amazing opportunity. I honestly think everyone should get a chance to study abroad because it teaches you about other cultures other than the US. Although I am very proud to be American, I think we grow up in this little “America bubble” and going to other countries allows us to learn about other cultures and gain new experiences. Thank you to everyone who has been involved in my study abroad experience, you have made it truly phenomenal. And thank you all for reading this blog, I thoroughly hope you have enjoyed it. I’m considering making a new blog just to write about my experiences at school if anyone would be interested in that, but I’m sure it will be infinitely less exciting. I might do an adjusting back post, but this may be the last one for this blog. Thanks again, and long live Espana. 

Love,

Ashley

Going out with a bang.. literally

Hello all!

I wrote this on the plane yesterday. So yesterday was my last day in Madrid. And it was one of the best days I have had during this whole time. The morning was the only downer, because it took me over an hour to mail a painting home that I had bought and there was a lot of trouble. On the way there though, a cute little old man who reminded me of a family friends stopped me. I thought he was going to ask for directions and I was nervous because I had no idea where I was (I know how to get to places but I do not know any street names) but he was actually super sweet. He told me that I was so beautiful and that he had a godson who was looking for a girlfriend and asked me if I had a boyfriend. I was flattered but I told him I lived in the states and was only studying in Madrid. He told me thank you, that I was so beautiful and to have a nice day. This brought a smile to my face and gave a good start to my day.

After that I stopped at a local bakery to get a treat from there before heading out for the day. I then took the metro to Banco de Espana stop, and walked to the Prado, passing important Spanish monuments along the way. I had to rush quickly through the Prado because I also wanted to do a run through of the botanical gardens before meeting Megan in Sol.  They were both nice though. As I was walking back to Sol, I saw a little stand with a beautiful scarf, so I stopped to buy that. I don’t really like scarves but I will learn to like them.

Pastry

Park

the Prado

Botanical gardens

I met Megan in Sol to do some very last minute tourist shopping. We got that done quickly but it was so nice and sunny out that we decided to just walk around. We met a nice group of old people from Maine who we talked to for a bit. The “leader” of the group was this nice man who was so funny. We then parted ways with them and headed to Mercado de San Miguel, which is this big glass building, which is a market full of fresh food. We got some delicious smoothies and meandered slowly back to Maria’s. We hung out there until dinnertime, which was bittersweet.

Mercado de San Miguel

Inside

Smoothies

cool coffee

river

Me and Meg

Dinner was so yummy, we had some great food and we talked to Maria for a long time. After dinner, the four of us went and sat out on our balcony. I wish I could bottle that moment up and hold on to that feeling. It was so peaceful and serene watch the sunset and staring out over the river and seeing the palace and the cathedral.

Later we went to Sol to meet up with some friends for our last night in Madrid. The four of us met up with Audrey, Taylor, Emily, Julie, and three other girls who we had just recently met. It was an interesting experience waiting for everyone because Atletico de Madrid had just won a championship game, so everyone was going wild. Someone set off a firework literally 10 feet behind us and it was scary (going out with a bang right?). But we went to the little bar that us four roomies went to on our first night out together to bring it back full circle. It was nice to enjoy a glass of sangria with some friends before heading back to the States. After that, we headed home and went to bed since we had to get up early to leave for our flight. And that was my wonderful last day in Madrid. Farewell post to come when I get back from Saint Louis.

Friends

Love, 

Ash 

Almost Over

Hello everybody!

Wow. It's almost time to go home. I have 2 days until I am on a plane back to the states. I am really happy to be going home but at the same time I am kind of sad to be leaving. It's hard to believe I have been here for 4 months! Before I head back home, I thought I'd give a quick update for the last couple of weeks.

After we got back from Amsterdam it was the last full week of school. So this school year basically flew by (I think it helped only having a total of 4 classes and having a 4 day week). I am now officially done with all of my finals as of a few hours ago. It's crazy. But since I have been back here is what I have been up to besides studying and taking exams.

I went and took a tour of the bullfighting ring with my roomies and my friend Taylor. I knew there was no way I could go to an actual bullfight due to the cruel nature so I decided to just see the ring instead. It was really interesting and informative but it kind of sucked because they put a tarp over the sand due to the weather. After that we met up with Maureen, Hannah and Becca for some yummy Mexican food! We found this place that is basically the equivalent of chipotle. I got a chicken quesadilla and some chips and guac and it was wonderful. I was very content. Sadly I had to go study for a little bit so I headed back home. However, we met up again with Taylor that night and hit the town. We had a really fun night walking around Sol and going to different bars and clubs. We went to this really nice one called Coco but we also encountered some awkward people/place. Overall it was a fun night though.

Las Ventas

Statue

Bull fighting ring

Inside

Down below

A bull

Spanish chipotle

Taylor at Coco

Saturday I pretty much stayed in and studied but Megan alta and I went for some churros and chocolate. They were really yummy. Sunday we went to el rastro where I bought some gifts and somethings for myself. Then it was back to studying for 4 days straight. I had 2 exams on Thursday and a take home test due Friday. Once I was done with those I was pretty much home free (I had my theatre final today but that wasn't too difficult).

Chocolate and Churros

Last Saturday I met up with Audrey, Taylor, Julie, Anna and Elizabeth to try some Indian food. Although I wasn't a big fan of it, at least I tried it and it was an interesting experience. After that, Taylor, Audrey, Julie and I walked around Sol in search of souvenirs and presents. It was a pretty successful trip. We also got some delicious gelato. After that though, I headed off back toward home. I walked back by the palace and through some of the gardens since it was nice out and I had nothing better to do. I popped in to the nearby mall to do some shopping but I didn't really find anything. I did get a ring though that I really like (go figure). Then I headed back along the river to Maria's. On Saturday night, we took her out to dinner to show her our appreciation for everything she has done for us. She brought us to a little restaurant that one of her friends owns. It was really nice and we got to know her a lot better. She was so nice to buy us each a bracelet. They are beautiful. It was a great evening for everyone.

Indian restaurant

Samosas- did like these

Food

The bear in sol

Anna, Taylor, Me, Elizabeth, Audrey, Julie

Taylor and Julie dancing

Pretty palace

Gardens

Me and Meg at dinner

Steph and Meg

Us and Maria

Maria is the best host mom ever!

I'm going to miss this view

Sunday I got up bright and early to head to el rastro one last time. I got some last minute gifts that I needed and then just walked around looking at the different stands. Some of them had some interesting things. About 11 it started to get really crowded so I headed back. Then I came back and took a really long siesta and just hung out because it was rainy outside.

Yesterday (Monday) was one of the best days that I have had in Madrid. I got up and just bummed around a little bit in the morning. Then I went and bought a painting for my new apartment next year (get excited Kels). When I got back, Megan alta and I set out to just go explore for a little bit but it turned out to be quite the adventure. We first walked to the mall near us to look for something that Megan wanted. After not finding it there, we headed to sol in hopes of finding it. We looked in a lot of the shops and also bought the last of our presents for people. I wanted to find a pair of shoes but no such luck. We continued walking toward Retiro park in hopes of finding Megan's rucksack that she wanted. As we were walking, we walked past a table of classic books in English. Both being avid readers, we had to stop. Turns out they were only 3 euro so we had to get one. I got Tender is the Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald. I have not read it before but I loved the Great Gatsby so I am looking forward to it. We passed a lot of important places (the Prado museum, Neptune fountain, the oldest building in Madrid which is a church) and then we ended up at Retiro.

Books

Neptune fountain

Church

At Retiro we sat under a tree and had a little picnic before adventuring some more. We walked through a large portion of Retiro (it's huge) that we hadn't seen before, with rose gardens, secret areas and we made a little duckling friend named Martin. After walking around Retiro for over an hour we decided to walk back. We walked back through Sol trying to find Megan a rucksack. Unfortunately we could not find her a rucksack but in the process of looking we stumbled upon a Mexican restaurant. So we decided to go in for a snack. We got some chips and quac and a drink to accompany it. The guacamole was the best I have ever tasted in my life. We were both very happy campers and also had a nice heart to heart. Then we meandered back to Maria's to relax a bit for dinner. It was a great day ended by me being a super packer. I am basically done packing, just need to readjust a few things.

"Brain" trees

Me and Megan picnicking

Rose garden

Pretty flowers

Fountain

I like this color

Secret garden

Peacock

Fountain

Martin!

Fountain

Mexican restaurant 

Chips and Guac!

And like I said earlier I had my theatre final today. I think it went well but you never really know. Tomorrow I plan on going to the Prado and the Botanical gardens, going around Sol and just running around Madrid and taking it all in before I leave. I just hope to enjoy my last day here before getting on a plane Thursday morning. That's all for now.

Love,
Ashley