2 More Trips Booked

This week I booked two more trips, one to Barcelona in the end of February and another to London in the middle of March. Each trip, including rooming and board, is less than $150 Euro and I am staying in both places for at least 3 nights. It is incredible how cheap traveling is here! Some websites that I have been using to find low-cost travel are edreams.com, skyscanner.com, ryanair.com, and easyjet.com. There are a ton of resources online for student travel, and hopefully I will have the rest of my trips booked within the next week--I'll keep you all updated!

Beer and Burger King

The Madrileños love their alcohol, so much that it is even served at the fast food chains such as McDonalds and Burger King. Yesterday a group of my friends and I went to the local Burger King to take our token "tourist" photos with our burgers and beer. Unfortunately, after consuming a value meal and beer I was up all night sick from the food... last time I'll be eating fast food abroad that's for sure.

Booked my first of many trips...

I booked my first of what I hope will be many trips while I am over here in Europe. We have a break coming up from January 28th until February 4th, so a group of my friends and I booked a flight to Lisbon, Portugal for 3 nights we are planning on going on a wine train through the country and taking a couple of free city tours--the guides work off tips. From Portugal we are flying to Edinburgh, Scotland for three more nights and then on the way back to Madrid from Scotland, we are stopping in Dublin on a 9 hour layover and are hoping to take a tour of the Guinness factory. In all with airfare and lodging, the trip will cost under $200! Flights are ridiculously cheap here, and I hope to take full advantage of this luxury and explore whenever possible.

It is warmer here now (in the high 40's) and the more and more I walk around city, the more I am impressed with it. I have met a good group of people and am very blessed. Love you all and hope all is well in the States!

It's Snowing in Madrid

I woke up this morning to find that there was over 5 inches of snow outside covering Madrid. Madrileños (people from Madrid) were out running around everywhere and acting like little kids. according to my teachers, snow never sticks in Madrid, so being able to be here while this is happening is awesome. For the first 3 weeks that I am here, I am enrolled in an intensive Spanish class 4 hours a day 5 days a week, and then in February my classes begin--I am taking International Business, International Marketing, Advanced Spanish, and Spanish Cinema, and my program doesn't offer classes on Friday so that everyone can travel on the weekends. It is amazing how beautiful Madrid is, I have yet to see a single piece of trash on the ground for three reasons 1. There are street cleaners on nearly everycorner picking up anything and everything on the ground 2. Every Madrileño takes such great pride in this city that no one dares to disrespect their city by littering 3. There is a trash can attached to every light pole. Another amazing thing that I learned today about Madrid is that everyone who works full time, is guarenteed by the government at least 1 month of paid vacation per year. This translates into roughly 1 vacation day per 11 work days-- maybe my Dad should move his practice here ehh? Anyways, I am attaching some pictures that I took today in el Parque Retiro of the snow so I hope you all enjoy. The first picture of what looks like an angel is actually one of the only sculptures of the devil in the entire world, it is called "The Fallen Angel." Miss you all and hope you are doing well.

First Week in Madrid

I arrived in Madrid 3 days ago, but do not have internet at my apartamento until the 8th. After only being here for 3 days, I have already fallen in love with this gorgeous city. It is incredible to be able to look at a sculpture in el Parque Retiro (2 blocks from where I live) or a building in Sol and know that it is older than my home country. My apartamento is a 15 min walk through the park to the CEA Global Campus and the Parque Retiro is one of the most beautiful places that I have ever seen. I am living with a guy named Oliver from Miami, and a couple named Kyle and Shannon that are here together from Minnesota. I have my own room that is approximately 7ft by 12 feet (big for Madrid standards) and our apartamento has a kitchen, 1 bathroom, and a living room. See the pics below. I will be posting again tomorrow with an update on my explorations today, and am looking forward to hearing from all my family and friends. I miss and love you all.