Head over heels

Is it possible to fall legitimately in love with a place? More specifically, a city? Because I have no other way to describe how much I enjoyed touring Toledo, Spain.

Toledo, Spain

I mean come on, look at that view!!! Toledo has a unique mix of three cultures: Christian, Jewish, and Muslim. One of the main reasons I loved this city so much was all the religious history attached to it. Toledo actually used to be the capital of Spain before Madrid. After taking these amazing pictures, we hopped back on the bus and drove right into the center of the Old Quarter to begin our walking tour.

Someday, I will go back

Our walking tour of Toledo was wonderfully interesting (and we had an attractive tour guide, which doesn't exactly hurt)

some of my favorites

When we were done touring the Old Quarter, we bussed over to the hotel where I decided on yet another siesta! After a bit of downtime, we had another (much longer) ISA-led meeting about housing and classes in Valencia. This meeting started getting me nervous about meeting my host mom and about how difficult my classes will be. 

Famished from our long meeting, a big group of us decided to walk across the bridge into the newer part of town for dinner. It was great to chat and laugh and get to know the other Valencia students better :)

Operation: Explore Madrid

After a restful first night of sleep in Europe, we woke up early, had breakfast (my favorite meal of the day, as you can see below), and headed to the center of Madrid for a morning walking tour.

Mmmmmmmmmm

It's necessary to mention that sidewalks are extremely different in Spain... Cobblestones. Everywhere. Don't get me wrong, they are definitely beautiful. But let me tell you, they are feet-killers! Anyway, after a solid 30 minute hike, we arrived at Plaza Mayor where our tour guide met us.

Plaza Mayor

I took SO many pictures along the tour, and captioned as many as I could on Facebook, so check out my descriptions there! After a long morning of walking, we stopped for a quick break, and then headed across the street from our hotel to El Museo del Prado. At this point I was already pretty burned out from translating Spanish is my brain and walking my feet off on the cobblestones, so the museum was a struggle for me.

Valencia group outside Museo del Prado

However, I did get to see a couple great paintings that I remember studying in my previous Spanish courses (pretty cool)! I even took a contraband photo before the museum lady scolded me!

My post-museum zombie self could barely function, so after a quick lunch out on a terrace, one of my roommates and I decided to really embrace Spanish culture and take a siesta! Let me just say, BEST. IDEA. EVER. We woke up refreshed, and ready to do some shopping! After grabbing a map from the front desk (which I'm glad to say we did not even need!), we made our way back towards Plaza Mayor and each found a couple cute items! We also decided to have dinner at Plaza Mayor which was transformed into a bunch of cute little dinner cafés as dusk was falling.

panorama of Plaza Mayor at dinner time

We were careful to make our way back to the hotel after dark and pack up everything to leave for Toledo the following morning!

Successful arrival in Madrid!

HELLO FROM SPAIN!!!!

In case you couldn't tell from the caps, I'm just a tad excited about being in Europe!

Though I ran into some flight difficulties, I made it to Madrid safe and sound (though quite jet-lagged). I received my first dose of culture shock upon arrival at the Madrid-Barajas airport. I had to read and speak in Spanish for the first time in over 6 months. Since my flight landed at the crack of dawn, there weren't many other people in the airport to ask for help; I was on my own. I went straight through customs (first passport stamp-CHECK), and headed to the baggage claim.

International Terminal at Chicago-O'Hare

 Since my flight landed at Terminal 4, I had to make my way across the parking structure and find the transit that would take me to Terminal 1 where the ISA directors were meeting us. Loaded with my luggage and pure grit from no sleep on the plane, I made it to the correct terminal with a half hour to spare. After wandering around aimlessly for a few minutes, I creepily spotted a couple other people with ISA luggage tags, and introduced myself. We traded flight horror stories and asked each other about where we're from/what we're studying, etc.

Modern architecture of the Madrid airport

After a short bus ride to the center of Madrid, we stowed our bags at the hotel and went out to explore the city! Our first stop was a cute little café to drink in some local flavor. "La Libre" was a cutie little hole-in-the-wall place that felt very welcoming. We didn't venture too far into the city, but it was nice to walk around in the fresh air with new friends!

Once we arrived back at the hotel, I decided to relax for a little while before our orientation meeting that evening. Jet-lagged and over-heated, it was definitely hard to focus, but we talked a lot about Health and Safety stuff that I'd already read through (nerd alert). Post-meeting a bunch of us decided to find a local restaurant to have dinner. I stuck to the basics and just ordered patatas con salsas (potatoes with sauces). Since we ate dinner so late, by the time we got back to the hotel it was time to call it a night!

I slept like a rock my first night in Europe, even though our hotel room was overly warm (we weren't smart enough to figure out the air-conditioning properly). I'm blaming it on jet-lag! ;)

T-minus 2 days!!!

Well friends, the time has finally come! I officially leave for Europe in only two days! Everyone keeps asking how excited I am, and telling me what a wonderful experience I'm going to have. I can't wait!! Though I have been feeling some anxiety these past few days while making final preparations, I know that once I step off that plane in Madrid, it will all be worth it!

The past week I've spent the majority of my evenings packing and re-packing my bags- I get so indecisive! I've always been the one that overpacks for any emergency that might pop up, but this time around I'm taking a high-maintenance-minimalist approach! This means that while I don't pack more the the absolute basics, I allow myself to take things that I know I won't be able to find/buy while in Europe. Since the weather will be so warm while I'm abroad, I've packed mainly dresses and skirts to wear. Thankfully, all of my clothing fits into the top compartment of my carry-on suitcase, so my duffle bag is chalk full of gluten free food and full-sized toiletries to use while living in Spain. After that I will just use the little travel size containers while in France and Italy.

Though I took all the food out of boxes, you get the general idea!

Now to talk about communication!! I will be taking my newly upgraded iPhone 4S abroad with me. However, I have decided not to buy an international calling/texting plan or a data plan. This means that my phone will be in airplane mode, and will not receive text/calls while abroad. Please don't think I'm ignoring you! The good news is that anyone with a smartphone can download the free app called Viber, which allows free international calls/texts when using WiFi. Otherwise, I am also bringing my laptop with me, and will have regular access to email and Facebook. Of course, I will also be updating my blog as often as possible with all my adventures, so stay tuned! The parts of Europe that I will be visiting are 7 hours ahead of Central time, so I'll have to keep that in mind.

As for mail, I posted a while ago about how to reach me via mail while in Valencia (June 27-July 31), but I want to make sure everyone knows, so here it is again! Anything anyone would like to mail to me (please do!) must be sent through the ISA office. The address is as follows:

Maggie Bryant

Pasaje Doctor Bartual Moret No 6, oficina Ñ

46010 Valencia, Spain 

Directly from the handbook: "It is best to send packages, especially ones of importance, via courier services such as FedEx or UPS to avoid lost parcels. Keep descriptions simple and easy-to-understand such as, 'used clothing, value $25', and avoid complex descriptions such as, 'leather jacket, value $250'. Goods sent from outside the European Union will be subject to a customs tax, as set by Spain and European law. The local delivery agent customs representatives may also charge a handling fee in addition to the customs tax. Tax can be charged for any item of value, but in general most packages with a declared value of under $50 arrive untaxed."

Though I love keeping up electronically with everyone, it would be fun to receive some paper mail, or even a little care package as well! *hint, hint* ;)

Next time I post, it will be from Spain, so ádios friends!

Celebrating with friends

I can't believe it's already here! I leave for Europe in 2 days! Wednesday morning I say goodbye to the good old U.S of A.

This past weekend I spent time with some of my best friends! Shelby and Judy drove from Brookings to attend a fun going away/faux birthday celebration for me and Shanna. (I'll be in Europe for Shanna's birthday, and we couldn't miss celebrating at least a little bit!)

 Me, Judy, Shanna, and Shelby outside Granite City

Quality chat time at Coffea with some of my favorite people

After a wonderful dinner at Granite City, we commandeered a table at Coffea and talked the night away. I'm so blessed with wonderful friends! :)

Information Overload- in the best way possible!

My final packets have been made available on my student portal through ISA!!!!!

With less than 2 weeks until I leave U.S. soil, I was getting anxious to know my housing assignment along with the details of our Madrid/Toledo excursions. Upon arrival in Madrid, ISA will pick all the program participants up from the airport during two time windows, and take us to a hotel to rest/freshen up for our evening tour of the city. We'll have a meeting our first evening to help with culture shock, and then it's off to bed because the next day is chalk full of touring! After a busy day in Madrid, the next morning we will depart for Toledo, an old city to the south. The following morning we leave for Valencia to meet our host families!!

Speaking of which, another item included in my final packet was the housing assignment list. ISA provides us with the addresses of all the participants so we can find our way to each other's homes while staying in Valencia. I've already looked up my home; 10 minutes from the University of Valencia, and 15 minutes to the beach!!!!

With my host family I'll share a room with another student from the U.S. who is also part of the Valencia program. I'm so looking forward to meeting new people, both from the U.S. and natives of Spain!

Along with all this exciting information, ISA also provided a final departure list of things we need to have on our person when arriving in Madrid. Most of this is paperwork and information, but I sure do love a good checklist :) 

Looking at the flight list, there isn't anyone from the ISA program on my flights, so I'll have to wait until I arrive in Madrid to meet any of my fellow students... Oh well! I can try and focus on sleeping so I'm not entirely jet-lagged when I arrive in Europe. On that note, I think most everything I need has either been purchased, or is on it's way (neck pillow, eye mask, adapter, etc.) Preparing for this trip has almost been as exciting as dreaming about all the wonderful places I'm about to visit!