home sweet madrid

after a much needed five day weekend i am happy to report that i made it back to madrid in one piece. break felt long but also so short because i was filling each day with a ton of activities. the six hour bus ride to sevilla wasn't terrible (on the way there at least) because it was in the middle of the night. the only terrible part was waiting in the bus station for hours because we couldn't check into our hostel until around 11. which actually ended up being 1. at least i had my gehls by my side.

after wandering the streets for 45 mins, we found our hostel and dropped our diva suitcases there before exploring a little bit. one thing that is so rare compared to madrid is that in seville, you walk everywhere. i thought i walked a lot in madrid but then i remembered i take the metro everywhere before i walk. we wandered for a little but then found the cathedral (standard in every spanish town) and alcazar. i loved alcazar because so much of castle was outside and it was beauutiful weather. just 78 and sunny the entire weekend. on halloween. no big deal. also, alcazar, as well as almost all the things we saw this weekend, have insane detail and the architecture is influenced so much by arabs that it's very different from anything i've ever seen. after chilling in a castle all afternoon, we found the BEST place for lunch. i'm salivating just thinking about all the food we ordered. we always try to ball on a budget in madrid, meaning we eat one euro sandwiches as much as possible for meals outside the homestay, so eating at real restaurants all weekend was a treat. friday night i didn't want to drink myself into a coma because we were leaving for the day to granada at 6am so me, shannon, katherine and alexa went to a super authentic flamenco show! and by authentic i mean we were the only americans there and people thought we were lost. it was amazing. and i'm also a huge nerd when it comes to dancing/musical performances. it was such a different atmosphere then our typical friday night, considering we weren't grinding on a dance floor or chasing shots with yogurt....that was only one time. sevilla is known for their flamenco and i'm so glad i got to experience a little bit of it.

alcazar.

flamenco bartenders.

on saturday, me, shannon, alexa, and katherine, spent the day in granada, only about a 3 and a half hour bus ride from sevilla. everyone on our program had been raving about it so we figured we had to go. the biggest deal in granada is the alhambra and of course, we didn't make a reservation. who knew betches needed reservations? so after somehow finding a cab next to the bus station located in the ghetto and waiting in line for a solid 45 mins to get in, we didn't make the morning cut and were ticketed for 5 oclock. obviously we put our time to good use. by eating a lot and shopping a lot. this weekend i bought gifts for everyone and their mother. sevilla/granada have such a different shopping scene than madrid. much more hole in the wall places and amazing ceramic shops. after being divas and spending too many euros, we finally trecked back to the alhambra, and quickly realized it was worth the wait. this place was 1. enormous and 2. beautiful. like i said, there is a huge arabic influence on all the major sights in the south of spain, and the attention to detail is mind blowing. like it actually blows my mind. we had such a photoshoot and i know i will always remember walking through it with my jaw dropped the entire time. 

so detailed.

shitty weather right?

okay so i realized at this rate, buy the end of this weekend post i will have written a novel. imma break it up into two days for ya. i'm also a grandma and i'm falling asleep at 11pm. 

random thoughts blowing my mind: 

• i have to register for spring semester at nova tomorrow. 
• my parents are coming so soon! 
• i'm gonna be packing for paris this time next week. 
• i got an A on my spanish midterm the semester when my grades don't count. of course.
• i haven't eaten cottage cheese in two months. 
• i only have six more weeks here....