five reasons why i love spain and you should too.

I'm in love with Spain. But seriously, she's amazing.

Here are the top 5 reasons why I love her, in no particular order:

1. Traveling. I can take a weekend trip to Portugal, just for fun. Traveling between countries is so convenient. It's such a great way to get to know even more of Europe while I'm here.  

Plaza de Comercio, Lisbon.

Belem, Portugal.

Cascais, Portugal.

Cascais, Portugal.

We rode bikes along this coast. Gorgeous much?

Cabo da Roca, Sintra, Portugal.

Lookout from Cabo da Roca, the most western part of Europe.

2. The architecture is truly amazing. The cathedrals, the buildings, the houses, all of it. These pictures are all from one weekend trip, there's no way I could put up all the photos I have of different buildings!

Catedral de Burgos, Burgos, Spain.

Burgos, Spain.

Designed by Gaudí, now a bank.

Catedral de León, León, Spain.

Second only to Notre Dame with stained glass to wall ratio. At midnight, they lit it up from the inside and the colors of the stained glass shone out.

Castillo de Coca, Coca, Spain.

This castle is now a school. Send me to boarding school here? Please?

3. All the elderly people! They're always out just walking their dogs, sitting on benches talking, walking around the Plaza de Cervantes. It's sad really, because all these people are unemployed due to the economy, but they're just so cute! When I went to the bull fight in Madrid the other night, this man on the metro just talked to me for about five minutes about the bulls and my trip and everything. They're all so cute. And yes, I have creepy pictures of them.

Lisbon, Portugal.

Lisbon, Portugal.

The Bridge of the 25th is in the background.

Cuenca, Spain.

This guy was singing, playing, and drinking at an unreasonably early hour. He was missing teeth and appeared homeless, but he was happy and loving the remaining four strings on that guitar. He let the guys in our group that know how to play use it and just wandered off for a while. He was completely carefree and loving life.

Outside the Catedral de Burgos, Burgos, Spain.

4. Parque del Buen Retiro. This park is amazing! Everyone is always out! Whether it's making out in the grass, smoking some weed, working out, or rowing a boat through the lake, there's always something happening. And I've never seen so many rollerbladers in my life!! They make it look fashionable. Mark my words: rollerblades will be the new hipster form of transportation this summer. I'm calling it right now.

Parque del Buen Retiro, Madrid, Spain.
Monument at the lake.

Parque del Buen Retiro, Madrid, Spain.

Boating on the lake. #whitewasn'tsmart

Parque del Buen Retiro, Madrid, Spain.

For three nights, there were firework shows to celebrate the Fiesta of San Isidro. These shows were amazing. And gave me yet another reason to love this park--as if I needed one. There was music blasting that the fireworks coordinated with, but none of the videos I took want to load for another 5 years at least, so these pictures will have to suffice till then.

5. These may have been in no particular order, but this one is certainly the best: HELADERÍAS. I love them. Oh so much. And really, it's more for the cultural experience that I even go. The guys that work there love me and I get to speak Spanish with them. See? Cultural experience. And we might as well throw in pastelerías also. And Bueno bars and Milka oreo bars. I think I have some sweet tooths (sweet teeth?). As proof of this, I offer the fact that most of the photos of me on Facebook are of me with food, not with anything or anyone else.

Alcalá de Henares, Spain.

This was my first or second day here--the addiction started early.

Cascais, Portugal.

This was at Santini Gelati, supposedly the 3rd best gelato en el mundo. It tasted like a 1st place winner to me.

Cascais, Portugal.

Belem, Portugal.

We had crema de natas literally every night we were there, but were told to go to this place--Pasteis de Belem--and it definitely took the cake (pardon the pun).

Eating rosquillas, you know, to celebrate the fiesta of San Isidro.

Burgos, Spain. And every other Carrefour I've been to.

Heaven will be filled with these delicious chocolates. I'm an addict. And I don't care.

I hope I've given you a taste of the best of Spain (pardon the pun again--I'm still thinking about food...) and a bit of Portugal. I did actually just think of a few more things that should really be on this list though--ahem, street performers--so it may need to be modified un poquito. But until then, hasta luego!! I may or may not be off to eat some gelato... but hey, you only live once, right? 

Cascais, Portugal.

YOLO

abrazos y besos,

kj.

they speak spanish here.

¡Finalmente estoy en Madrid! The plane rides were so long, but I finally arrived and I’ve loved every moment of it! The family I live with is only 5-10 minutes’ walking distance from the school I’ll be attending, so that’s really convenient for me. The food has been a little strange to get used to, but my host family is really nice and they understand that everything is so different than what I’m used to.

When I first arrived on Monday, la abuela picked me up from Plaza de Cervantes, the main plaza in the city; it’s always filled with people, except during siesta of course. Later, I talked with my mom here for a few hours which was a lot of fun.  It was definitely comforting to see that my Spanish is good enough to have a conversation for that long. She said she was impressed with how well I speak, as well as how fast I speak. She’s had exchange students, not just from BYU, for about 15 years so I suppose she must be used to having students in her house. She’s so sweet. I told her that earlier when I was out walking and just exploring this boy talked to me like I was a local. He asked a question about something, and I just said that I didn’t know, etc. and then he asked why I was taking pictures so I explained that I was a tourist and he was totally surprised! My host mom said that I look Spanish enough and that I speak well enough that I could pass for being Spanish—which was definitely exciting. Later I went on a run/walk for a good hour or two just to see the city. I didn’t go into the city, but went to a park and then this walking path that was through this huge field. There were so many dogs! The people here are always out walking, with or without dogs. I had hoped that my family would have a dog, but we don’t have any pets. Not until yesterday, anyway.

We now have a PATO! Which is a duck! Él se llama Lucas, but we don’t actually know if he’s a boy or girl, so he could be Lucía. He’s so adorable, just a little ball of yellow fluff. One of my friends from the study abroad group came over today and was holding him, and then he pooped on her! I felt bad, but it was honestly so funny. Lucas is sitting on my lap right now… so cute.

Yesterday, we all went to orientation for my school—I can’t wait to start classes mañana! But at the same time, I’m pretty sure I could be here for the two months and never actually go to class. We went and saw different places around the city, including Cervantes’ birthplace, but we didn't go in (look at pictures here). Then we wandered around the city for a while, got some helado (¡que delicioso!) and then went and learned a Spanish dance. I got back to my house about 9:30 and they were just sitting down to eat dinner! They eat dinner so late here. It’s not hard to get used to that, but it’s a little strange going to bed almost immediately after dinner.

That should be about everything for now, stay tuned para más!