Christmas Day in Madrid with friends and a live Christmas tree.
After Germany, I spent some time in Madrid for Christmas. We had a really nice time, and good weather--I went for a Christmas run in the park in the sun! Jake and Madeline arrived to entertain me a few days after Christmas. I took them to the main sites in Madrid--the palace, the beautiful art museums, Retiro park, templo del bod, the Real Madrid stadium, the rastro (sunday market)...the list goes on. We ate tapas, we ate churros, we lived a Spanish life. we also spent 3 beautiful days in Barcelona--we had such good weather there, we actually spent time at the beach! We saw a lot of Gaudi's amazing work, including the sagrada familia, enjoyed Barcelona's street of street performers, La Rambla, and celebrated 2010 by eating 12 grapes each while the clock chimed midnight. I didnt get through all 12 of mine fast enough (the seeds got in the way) but Jake and Madeline did. 12 months of good luck for them in 2010! My favorite day we spent in Barcelona was at Parc Guell, a park designed by Gaudi. It is a long, steep climb to reach the park, but you are rewarded with a view of the entire city and the beach. We sat on Gaudi's tiled benches listening to music and people watching. It was pretty perfect.
After Jake and Madeline left, Spain celebrated "Three King's Day" on January 6. This is the day the wisemen reach Jesus, and the Spanish celebrate this day with a parade and more presents. I saw the parade, and the next day, a friend and I took a bus to Bilbao, in the north of Spain. It was beautiful up there. The grass was so green, the mountains were so amazing, and you could see the ocean from the top. We did a little hiking in the cold, and took a day trip to San Sebastian, a beautiful coastal town about an hour from Bilbao. It was nice to see a new part of Spain.
That brings me to today, which is my first day back to work! There is a lot of snow (about an inch) on the ground--the whole city is covered! So actually a lot of people don't have class or work. I do, however, and that's good with me! This snow is nothing compared to home, i'm sure!
Time for class!
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