There's no place like Minnesota
Well, I've made it back! Almost. I'm currently typing from the Minneapolis airport. I had a 6am flight to Amsterdam from Madrid, so I had to take the Metro at 1:30am last night in order to make it. I actually stayed up until 6am, so I might not have much problem getting back to Eastern Standard Time!
This past week has been wonderful. I'm thankful to have had the past two weeks to kind of sit back and appreciate Spain for what it is. We've done less, but appreciated more. I've done a lot of walking to my favorite park and sitting and reading. I've revisited my favorite areas to people watch. We laid in the sun for two hours too many by the fountains, and got ice cream for lunch. It's our last week, we can do what we went!
On Thursday, I FINALLY got my first taste of decent paella at Mercado San Miguel. It did not disappoint. Erica and I shared the seafood option, and she thought it tasted better than what she had in Valencia (known for paella)!
Yesterday was our final day of classes. It was bittersweet, because I've grown to love the professors who had such immense patience with our little ten-person class the entire six weeks. Things got tough, but they held up their end the entire time and kept some tired, lazy students motivated! We spent our first class at the Mur cafe with Iara, and I had my second-ever coffee in Spain! The conversations you have over coffee are my favorites-they're where you learn the most about people.
Class #2 we watched a movie with Eva, and had a good time and some sad goodbyes. We took our final test (woof.) and headed to La Pomarada for our final class meal. We had a bunch of different tapas: tortilla espanola, queso (actual cheese, not the dip), jamon (ham), verduras (veggies), and we STUFFED ourselves. And then Dr Gutierrez came out with the BIGGEST PLATTER OF PAELLA for the group..We made it through maybe a third of it, we were so full. And THEN we got dessert. It was great. Following the meal, Jenna and Erica and I found a new park on the river and discovered a little zip line! It was nice to relax and sweat and see the cute architecture and sweat around the city without a schedule on our last day.
That night, we celebrated Allison's 22nd birthday. Allison and Scarlet both also had morning flights, but unlike me, they decided to lug their luggage around the 103 degree city all evening. We walked 20 minutes to Bryce's Airbnb, up four flights of stairs, and back to the Metro with these two bags that weighed nearly 40 lbs each. (WOOF.)
My flights thankfully have gone very smoothly. I had a two hour flight from Madrid to Amsterdam, just enough layover to find my second gate and board, and then a lengthy 9 hours to Minneapolis. I got a little sore and restless, but we got a good meal of chicken and veggies with dessert and snacks about every hour. As in ice cream, almonds, orange juice, cinnamon rolls, and more. All I've done today is watched Beauty in the Beast and Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children (that one in Spanish!) and read and sat and ate, so can't complain.
I'm boarding in about 30 minutes for Indy airport for my dad to pick me up at around 7pm. I can't even express how excited I am to see him and all my friends and family back home. I love Madrid and Spain with all my heart; I'd stay forever if I could take my loved ones along! That's all I have for now- thanks for following along with my blog if you've been paying any attention!
~la buena vida~
Leslie :)
