10 Day Trip to Spain

Well, I am finally back in Vienna after my 10 day break and travels to Spain!  A group of four of us left last Friday afternoon on a flight to Barcelona.  We spent the first weekend in Barcelona, the weekdays in Madrid, and the second weekend in Barcelona again.  We learned through trial and error that it wasn't the best idea to book round trip tickets to Barcelona. . . but it all ended up working out!

When we first arrived in Barcelona, we traveled to our hostel to find that it was not exactly up to par (or even sanitary for that matter).  We stayed the night there because we had already made our reservations, but switched to a new hostel (which was MUCH cleaner!!!) first thing in the morning.  There are about 30 people from Santa Clara studying in Barcelona, so we were able to meet up with them to hang out the first night.

While we were in Barcelona, my friend Meg (studying in Vienna with me) and my friend Alex (friend from SCU) all took the bus tour around the city.  It was very touristy, but a great way to be able to see the city because you can get off at each stop and get back on whenever/wherever you choose.  We were able to see great views of the city, and my favorite stop was the Olympic stadium.

{Overlooking Barcelona-- w/Alex Habbas} 

{Barcelona Olympic Stadium}

Our first day in Madrid, we stumbled upon a small lake inside a park where people had rented boats and were enjoying themselves on the water.  It was around dusk and was completely picturesque! Meg and I spent an hour or so just sitting on the steps, enjoying the nice weather watching the boats row by.

{Lago de El Retiro-- Madrid}

While in Madrid, we also visited the Museo Nacional del Prado and the Museo Reina Sofia (Modern Art Museum).  It was really fun to see artwork that I have studied in various classes -- some even from Spanish class in high school! My friend Meg is an Art History major, so she was able to give us the inside scoop on some of the famous artwork.  

We spent the rest of our time in Madrid exploring the city, trying out Tapas, and getting to know the different parks, palaces, and museums.  

{Me, Tonya, and Meg outside the Royal Palace of Madrid}

Our last weekend was a very relaxing one, spent in Barcelona.  We spent the entire day on Saturday sitting on the beach.  I came back very sunburned (no surprise to my dad, I'm sure), but relaxed and ready for school nonetheless.  

Overall it was a great vacation! I am starting semester classes today and need to get back into German mode from Spanish mode!

Adios for now! . . . I mean Auf Wiedersehen!!