Toledo/Madrid!

Wow, this week is a crazy one! As was this last weekend. We had a 2 day week, then left for Toledo at 6:00 am with the school on Thursday. On the way to Toledo, we got to see the castle and windmills that Don Quixote supposedly fought. In Toledo, the first day we got to see the cathedral with some of Greco's most famous paintings. Toledo is a beautiuful city! No huge, modern buildings, castles, ruins...and it wasn't just like old buildings spread here and there, it was a huge city of them! I felt like I was going back in time. It was beautiful. That night our school put us up in a 4 star hotel, so that was really nice. The next morning we went to a monestary, and had time to shop/sightsee in the city. In the evening, a group of 11 of us caught a 20 minute train to Madrid, the capital of Spain. The city was soooo beautiful! In a different kind of way. It was like the NYC of Span. Big buildings, and city life. It was so fun to be there, but I'm thankful to live in Sevilla. It just feels more Spanish I guess, haha. Madrid was an adventure...I did not have a return ticket home, and we had not found a place to stay. So we took our backpacks and found a hostel, which was such a blessing! It was very nice (for a hostel), and cheap...and near the heart of the city. A couple of the guys and I then hiked across the city to buy return tickets home, and ended up getting some of the last few. The next morning we started a full day of sightseeing. My friend Enrique has a friend from the US who has been living in Madrid for a few years, so she showed us around. We saw the palace, cathedral, an Egyptian temple, and went to the Prado and El Museo de Reina Sofia. Those museums are comparable to the Louvre and had masterpieces by Valasquez, Greco, Goya, Picasso, and more. Finally, that night, we caught a bus leaving at 10:00pm and arriving in Sevilla at 4:00 am. I slept a lot on the bus, but it was a long night. But so worth it! I had such a fun, adventurous weekend with great people. This week I have 4 tests (2 Thursday, 2 Friday), each worth 20% of my grade. I had a 50 minute group presentation today too, and a paper to write. So it will be a busy week.