Day 3 into our family vacation and we found ourselves rather unexpectedly at Christmas, or at least I did! Without the usual buildup around Tufts and the house at home, hanging Christmas lights, decorating my room, finding and decorating a Christmas tree, the holiday sprang up out of nowhere. It was more of a passive experience for me here, with my host family doing the decorations (a lovely tree and colorful flashing lights hung in front of the mirror were some highlights), the plaza turning into a market, lights suspended above the streets and a Christmas tree springing up in the plaza. Understanding that most attractions in Spain would be closed for the holiday, we decided to venture out to a different city to see the sights.

We decided to take the high speed train up to Segovia for the day, a town rich in history and tradition. After stopping for a chocolate croissant in Sol, we took the metro to Chamartin and then began our journey at alta velocidad to the ancient aqueduct that awaited us. The train ride was a brief 30 minutes, but provided us with some stunning views of the mountainous countryside, some of the higher peaks covered in snow. Arriving at the station, we were greeted with empty hillsides of snow, with the mountains we had just traveled beneath rising in the background. I feared we were at some random Segovia station far away from the city center, with only countryside and cows to keep us entertained on Christmas. Luckily, a quick bus ride brought us to the city center and soon we were standing beneath the aqueduct with a few hundred other people. But why the crowd? We had stumbled upon one of the greatest kept secrets of not only Segovia, not only Spain, but of the entire world: La Carrera del Pavo.

Every Christmas, for the last 75 years, the fine people of Segovia have gathered for the bicycle race to end all bicycle races, one in which there is no pedaling. But, Will, how do they race without pedals you may ask. A fine question, a fine question indeed. The cyclists mount their bicycles on the street at the top of the aqueduct then race down the hill, gathering as much speed as possible. At the bottom of the hill they make a turn through the center of the crowd, beneath the nearly 2,000 year old aqueduct, and begin making their way up the hill on the opposite side. The cyclist who makes it the farthest up the hill wins. People of all ages, from young whippersnappers to old fogies, participated in the race with a wide range of bicycles including custom-made peddle-less bikes and a E.T. in a basket. There was even an old man with a bicycle made out of wood!

After watching the turkey race and scoring some free hot chocolate, we headed up to the top of the aqueduct for some photos and then ventured into Plaza Mayor. By now it was time for lunch, so we found restaurant (there were more open than we had expected for Christmas day) and settled in for a traditional Segovian meal: cochinillo de Segovia, or suckling pig. While not normally at the top of my list of foods I would enjoy eating for lunch, I had to try it since it is the specialty of the region. It wasn’t bad, although the hoof sticking up from my plate was a little disconcerting. Dessert consisted of another traditional Segovian dish, this time delicious and visually appealing, of which I most unfortunately forgot the name. To complete the Segovian dining experience, we partook in a bottle of red wine from Segovia throughout the meal.

With full stomachs we headed to the cathedral and walked around the spacious interior. Next up was the Alcazar, which we could view from the outside. I had been to both of these sites with the study abroad program earlier in the fall, but it was fun to be back again and be able to share some of what I had learned about them with my parents. It was at this point that my dad realized he had lost his train ticket, so we took the next bus back to the train station in case it would be difficult to resolve the issue. We had some entertainment on the way thanks to some boisterous Americans singing “The Wheels on the Bus” next to us.

Luckily someone had found my dad’s ticket at the station and turned it in, so we were able to relax in peace for the next two hours at the strain station. I slept for a bit at the table (as did the boisterous Americans a table over). The train ride home was dark and uneventful except for my encounters with a certain Italian woman. It all began as we put our bags into the xray machine at the station. She was standing behind me and as I put my bag in the scanner, she threw hers on top of it. I didn’t understand why she had to put hers on top of my bag instead of behind it on the belt, as is the usual procedure in xray machines, but maybe she missed her target or they do it differently in Italy. On the other side of the machine however, our bags fully scanned, she attempts to maneuver ahead of me and recover her bag before mine (at this point hers had slipped off of mine and was behind mine). This resulted in our bags getting tangled, at which point she glared at me and yanked hers until they separated. I thought our strange encounter was over until I happened upon her once more on my search for a vending machine onboard the train. Strolling down the center aisle, I was interrupted by the rearend of a woman backing out of one of the seats. As she turned to face me, I was greeted once more by the glare of my Italian friend. I felt closer to her than ever before.

Back in Madrid, we took a brief siesta and then headed down past Plaza Mayor for some delicious tapas. We found a great little restaurant that served the best croquetas I’ve had in Spain, as well as delicious empanadas, brochetas, y huevos estrellados. We ended with a fantastic tiramisu. The restaurant was a little fancier than your typical tapas bar, but the ambiance wasn’t lost one bit. Our second Christmas meal was as much of a success, if not more so, than our first and we headed back to the hotel as happy as could be. Content and ready to relax before bed, we put on Love Actually (best movie ever for those of you who will be seeing it for the first time in the future) and spent a relaxing Christmas evening in the hotel. While quite different from our traditional Christmas day at home, this was a fantastic one I won’t be forgetting any time soon.

Study abroad has come to an end, and while I’ll continue to post entries I’d started over the last two months but never finished, I’m now onto the next adventure and want to keep up with the blog. My parents came to visit me in Spain yesterday and we’re spending Christmas here, New Year’s in Paris, and then a few days in Vienna. Extremely excited for the trip and want to remember it, so I figure I can write and update when they go to sleep and I feel the urge to be a bit of a night owl.

Yesterday began with my half-asleep self apparently deciding to turn off the silly alarm that was annoyingly trying to wake me up to catch the 7am bus to the airport. When my less than half-asleep realized this after missing a call from a friend at 6:30, he was not very happy. Luckily, we both got ready in time and made it to the bus and airport with plenty of time. The plan was to wait at the airport and meet my parents who would be arriving within a few hours from Boston via London. Basi, one of the amazing guys who worked with the program, drove all the way out to the airport to see everyone off. When everyone flying home went through security, he kept me company for a while as I waited for the flight from London to arrive.

Little did I know that the original flight from Boston had been delayed due to icing and my parents had not been able to make their second flight. I waited expectantly for nearly two hours by the arrival gate. Love Actually forgets to show this part of the airport reunion process. Luckily I was able to check my email when someone left an internet kiosk with time to spare, and discovered that my parents would not be arriving until 10 in the evening, nearly 11 hours after their original time. Dejected, I headed back into Madrid via metro, luggage and all.

Checked into the hotel and checked out of consciousness with an afternoon long siesta. Made up for the lack of sleep from the last week in Spain of final projects, exams and fiesta. Took some pictures around Sol as it was filled with people. Headed back to the airport and met Mom and Dad after another hour delay. Left our bags at the hotel and got some early churros at Chocolatería San Gínés and did some catching up.

Waking up this morning was difficult, but by 12 we made it out of the hotel and into the beautiful Christmas market at Plaza Mayor. While not filled with gifts to buy, the market is truly a Christmas market, containing all the necessities of the traditional Spanish Christmas: pieces for the nativity (belén), ornaments and decorations, Christmas trees and, of course, crazy colorful wigs. After shoving my way into La Mallorquina for three napolitanas de chocoalte, we boarded the MadridVision tourbus for some sightseeing. Fun to see the sights of Madrid as a tourist as I hadn’t done that while living here. We hopped off at the Prado for some art viewing and managed to get in a fair amount before being asked to leave as it was closing early for La Noche Buena. I’d forgotten it was Christmas Eve!

For lunch I introduced my parents to the kebap, the delicious persian dish seen throughout Spain. We then completed the bus tour and explored the Mercado de San Miguel, a very cool indoor market near Plaza Mayor. The Market was in full swing with tourists and families wandering about, eating, drinking and being merry. Some stalls were closed, but the rest made up for it, selling seafood, chocolate, wine and all sorts of foods. Taking a long cut back to the hotel, we wandered through Opera and the area around Sol.

After a brief siesta we decided to get some tapas for dinner. We didn’t realize how empty the streets would be for Christmas Eve and soon found ourselves at an abandoned La Latina metro stop not knowing what direction to go in. Clearly the best plan of action was to follow the Italian family that left the metro station before us. Our guides led us to a beautifully lit church but then decided to head down a side street behind the church and so, fearing they might sneakily lead us into a mass somewhere, we abandoned them and continued down the main road. Soon we reached a destination quite far from the one intended and ended up with another scenic long cut by the Palacio Real and up Calle Mayor.

With still no open restaurants in sight we headed back to Sol where I asked a pleasant city worker where there might be a fine dining establishment open for us. Hoy? Es Noche Vieja! Apparently there were none. But if there’s anything I’ve learned from studying in Spain, you can always count on the chinos to save you. Rephrasing my question, I asked for restaurantes asiáticos and he was able to send us in the correct direction. Mom saw some signs which we followed and we soon found a restaurant. A brief wait and we had a table. The host reminded us how lucky we were saying that every restaurant in the city was closed, except the chinos. The food was delicious and we made headed back home full of tasty food and Christmas spirit. Had a quick photo shoot (see below) then headed in for the night. Currently my plan is working as my parents are asleep and I am finishing up the first blog post while listening to some Christmas tunes. Tomorrow the plan is to head to Segovia and see what we can find to do on Christmas day. Merry Christmas everyone! Feliz Navidad!

I had one of my scariest experiences here two weekends ago. I opened Chrome to check the weather and saw that the forecast for the entire week was chilly and rainy. I was thoroughly depressed until I realized that my weather widget was still set to Medford, MA and that this horrific forecast wasn’t going to affect me here. Thank God. The weather has simply been incredible over the last month and a half. We arrived in the throes of a dying summer with temperatures in the upper 20’s, low 30’s (80-90 ºF). These days were a little painful at first, but within the first two weeks the temperature dropped to a comfortable mid 20’s range with bright sun greeting us nearly every day. There have been a few days of rain here, but for the most part the weather has been kinder than I could’ve hoped. Now in ides of October (November by the time of uploading!), we’re heading into autumn and in the last two weeks there has been a noticeable drop in temperatures and a familiar briskness in the air. The days are still warm, while the nights descend into the teens.

At home in New England this change in season brings with it some pretty fantastic things. As the temperatures drop and the winds begin to blow, the bushy green trees begin to blush in the crisp fall air, turning from the verdant green of summer to vibrant reds, yellows, and oranges of autumn. Apples grow ripe in the orchards waiting to be picked and enjoyed immediately or in a myriad of delicious dishes like apple pie, apple cider, and apple cider doughnuts. Clearly I’m a little nostalgic.

While I miss the seasonal customs I’ve had throughout my life, autumn in Spain brings its own set of customs, celebrations, and fiestas. In Alcalá the beginning of October is marked by the Semana Cervantina, a weeklong festival honoring Miguel de Cervantes, the famous Spanish author born here. While there are events throughout the entire week, the main event is the Mercado de el Quixote. My host-mother had told me about this amazing festival back in September and we made sure to come back from Barcelona on Sunday, leaving Monday completely free to explore the market. On my walk to the taxi to the airport early Friday morning I saw the merchants setting up beneath the tents and banner of the medieval fair and couldn’t wait to be back in Alcalá to take part.

On the walk home from the train station on Sunday I took the chance to make my way down Calle Mayor and explore the market a bit. The streets were lined with tented shop stands attended by vendors in Renaissance and Middle Ages era clothing and completely filled with people. On my way home I passed crepe shops, cheese vendors, bakers, artisans and everything in-between. A little tired from the trip to Barcelona and overwhelmed by the amount of people, I headed home and returned to tackle the market after a good night’s sleep.

The mercado is one of the coolest experiences I’ve had here in Spain. During the festival, Alcalá de Henares becomes the center of Spain. People from all over the country, and the world, descend upon the city to see this annual festival. A little over to month into the semester and I was now at home in a city of tourists. The streets were filled with people so that one could barely move through the crowd. Walking in the wrong direction on Calle Mayor felt like trying to swim up river. There were stands for food, from warm crepes, to tea, to chocolate and pastries, and even pickles. Some areas had street-side restaurants and bars , where people would order drinks and have dinner or some tapas. We even found a little stall to take chupitos out of cuernos!

The majority of the venders were selling different types of crafts and art. I came out of the market with some Christmas gifts for my family and a quill pen for myself! I can see why the market lasts all weekend, as the two days I had wasn’t nearly enough to take in everything I would’ve liked. Street markets are very typical in Spain, with one occuring in Alcalá every Monday and many more in Madrid throughout the week, but few are presented with such flair and pomp as the Mercado de el Quixote. While standing in line for a chocolate crepe, I heard the sound of a marching band in the distance. Soon they were upon us and we were presented with the spectacle of a brigade of trumpets and flag throwers performing in traditional costumes. They marched around the plaza and down Calle Mayor, doing so throughout the day. Other small groups of what I assumed to be of a less official nature also filled the streets with music and dance.

In addition to the merchants and musicians, a few artisans settled in the plaza for the weekend to exhibit their craft. A blacksmith had set up shop and was demonstrating how to create things out of iron, while sculptors were creating a kiln. Across the plaza glass blowers were creating beautiful glass horses and a cooper was making barrels. People filled the plaza, moving from demonstration to stration, enjoying seeing these masters of their crafts.

The Semana Cervantina was a great local fiesta that made me appreciate being in Alcalá even more. I wouldn’t be able to find this local experience in a bigger city or another smaller city without the same rich cultural history of Alcalá. Wading through the masses of people I saw friends that I’d met here and ran into one of the program directors hanging out with his friends at a mojito bar. Great end to such a full weekend!

Saturday was essentially the day of Gaudi. After purchasing some breakfast at the Mercado, we hopped on the subway and headed to Parque Güell, Gaudi’s famous park built into the hillside at the edge of Barcelona. The metro station left us with more than a short walk to the park, but on the way we were able to catch part of a bocce game being played in a local park by some ancianos enjoying the beautiful Saturday morning.

We reached the park and were immediately immersed in both the incredible architecture and the hundreds of other visitors. Parque Güell was originally conceived as a housing development by Count Eusebi Güell, but when the houses didn’t sell it was converted into a public park. Judging by the number of people visiting the park while we were there, it’s was definitely a good choice to keep it around!

The entrance to the park is dominated by a white marble staircase and beautiful tile mosaics. We spent hours walking throughout the park, listening to the street musicians, and enjoying the breath-taking panorama of Barcelona. With all the walking and the warm weather, we were all pretty hot. With the beach only a short metro ride a way, most of the group headed to the shore to tomar el sol and cool off in the Mediterranean. I made the tough choice to stick Gaudi and headed to Casa Batlló with Emma and Anna.

The house was absolutely incredible. Living there must have been quite the experience. The entire building flows, from the oval windows to the rounded doors there seemed to be no typically constructed piece of the house. The very first glimpse of the house once you emerge from the metro lets you know that what you will see inside is a design found nowhere else. The balconies that adorn the façade of the house look like masks of bone, looming above in a haunting yet beautiful way. We entered the house and were greeted with floors of curved surfaces and beautiful tile mosaics. Gaudi must have had such an interesting view of the world!

After the tour we headed to the Sagrada Familía, the enormous cathedral designed by Gaudi. We refueled with a quick lunch beneath the Gaudi designed streetlights and headed to the cathedral for some photos. The building breaks all established norms of a Cathedral, looming above the Barcelona skyline as a eyesore to some and a marker of the brilliance of Gaudi to others. Still under construction, the building is a constant subject of debate for the people of Barcelona. Unfortunately the building closed at 6 and we reached the entrance at 5:55. Undeterred we took the metro to meet up with the beachgoers at the Museo Nacional, located in the beautiful Palau Nacional that was built for the World’s Fair in 1929. A short walk from the Plaça Espanya, the Palau Nacional provides a beautiful view of the Venetian Towers and the city of Barcelona from the base of Montjuïc. Unfortunately we ran into timing issues again, but this time we were allowed to enter the building and go through a security check before being told the museum was closing in 10 minutes. I like to think that we have just finally adapted to the Spanish sense of time.

Defeated by both the Sagrada Familía and the Museo Nacional, we headed back to the hostel to prepare for the evening. After a brief siesta we got ready for our big night out in Barcelona. We headed down to the beach to take part in some of the local Paella, some of the best in Spain. We walked for a bit and came upon a street full of different paella restaurants and picked one at random. We chose wisely in our ignorance and had one of the most delicious meals I’ve eaten in Spain. Needless to say there was nothing left in the dish. After the Paella we headed to the metro stop near Razzmatazz, one of the larger clubs in Barcelona. Leaving the metro we found ourselves in a disconcerting area with dark, warehouse-like buildings and filled with people of the goth and punk persuasions. I wasn’t sure what I had gotten us into! We finally found the club, however, with the help of some kind locals and went to a nearby bar to have some drinks in first. A unique local place, the bar was neither empty nor filled with a younger Spanish crowd that would dance and sing to the songs being played. Ready for the night, we headed back to Razzmatazz and danced the next few hours away, making our way to each of the five salas and ultimately meeting up with the other group of program students visiting Barcelona for the weekend.

Morning came much too quickly with a ringing telephone and a pounding on the door. It was 10:55 and we were supposed to be out of the room at 11:00. Joder. Still in a post-fiesta/still-asleep haze we packed everything up, located the key, and checked out with the exasperated hotel employees. After a night on the town what else is there to do but head to a museum first thing the next day? Clearly nothing, so we bought some breakfast and hopped on the metro to see the Picasso museum before our flight home. We had to wait in line a while for the museum, but it was definitely worth it. The museum houses many of the pieces we’ve studied in art history and it was an amazing experience to see them in the real world. When I was a child I only knew of Picasso’s cubist period and thought of him as some fluke who managed to convince the world that his childish drawings were incredible modern art. Naturally I realized how wrong this assumption was as I grew older, but if there had been any doubt left in my mind it would have been evicted after visiting the museum. Picasso’s journey from child prodigy to world famous artist was traced chronologically, following his changes in periods and styles. Amazing to see how such a prolific and talented artist continued to reinvent his art while maintaining his artistic identity. Incredible visit with which to end our visit to Barcelona.

A fast-paced, hectic and incredible weekend, Barcelona left us all exhausted and glad to be back home in “quiet” Alcalá. So glad to have seen the city and visited the architecture of Gaudi and the art of Picasso while taking part in local cuisine and markets. The quick weekend in Barcelona helped me appreciate how much there is to see everywhere in the world. Three days in any city is never enough, particularly in a city as rich in culture and history as Barcelona. I look forward to revisiting it some time, maybe at which point the Sagrada Familia will finally be finished!

This past weekend I had the opportunity to travel to Barcelona for a few days with some of my friends from the program. I had a great time and the weekend was full of experiences, most were fantastic, some of a less awesome nature, but I came away with tons of memories, stories, and the desire to go back whenever I get the chance to see even more. The Tufts/Skidmore program provides each of us with 200€ for traveling within Spain, which covered our flights and hotel, leaving us free to indulge a little when it came to our cultural culinary experiences. I am lucky enough to not have classes on Friday, so I booked an early morning flight so I would be able to make the most of the short vacation.

Time continues to fly as we enter October and our schedules fill up with classes, cultural activities, and trips. While the amount of school work I have here is much less than what I would be currently dealing with at Tufts, I feel just as busy. This busy, however, is not one of project deadlines and midterm exams (although those do exist), but one of being able to fit everything in. Luckily for me, the study abroad program does an incredible job of helping with this in countless ways.

Two weeks ago, we visited El Escorial, a palace for the Spanish Kings and the eternal home of the Spanish monarchs. A relatively short train ride from Alcalá brought us to the town and after a short hike up to the castle, we found ourselves facing a beautiful 16th century palace on the edge of a mountainside. The weather was incredibly beautiful, a warm sunny day in the mountains of Spain!

We met up with our tour guide, a pleasant old man who was a little racist, but not in a malevolent way, and headed into the library. A long hall lined with bookshelves and an incredible ceiling painted by a student of Michelangelo, the library is home to books and records dating back more than 1500 years. There are over 40,000 books, originally donated by Philip II. The books were written on parchment and are kept in bookshelves, with the pages facing outward to allow for airflow. I couldn’t believe that these books had lasted hundreds of years without hermetically sealed vaults, but a few books open on display proved that it was possible. If only I could’ve sat down and read them!

After our thorough tour of the single-roomed library, we headed into the interior of the building and visited the various rooms of the palace where the royal family lived and passed their time. The large, open rooms afforded stunning views of the beautiful gardens through the time-worn glass windows. While the decorations left in the living areas of the palace were relatively basic in nature, the Pantheon of the Kings, the final resting place for nearly all of Spain’s monarchs, is a beautifully decorated marble vault located beneath the chapel.

The walls of the Pantheon of the Kings are made of Toledo marble and covered with golden ornamental designs. Before our trip, I talked to my host mother about El Escorial and she told me how incredible it is to stand in the burial chamber, surrounded by all the kings of her country, the leaders who oversaw Spain’s journey to the present. I understood what she was saying, but I couldn’t imagine feeling that way coming from a country with presidents, not kings. Standing in the chamber myself, I realized how wrong I was. I stood surrounded by history, not by a particular form of government. These marble caskets held men and women who changed the course of history, decisions that form part of the infinite series of choices that had led me to be there in that moment.

Poetic musings aside, the tomb was beautiful and generally pretty cool. Also buried in El Escorial are the princes of Spain and Don Juan de Austria, who is apparently the original Don Juan. After visiting the tombs we headed into the gardens and then into the town for lunch. The town is built on the hill and has some plazas with beautiful views of the country side.

I can’t believe I’ve already spent over a month in Spain. Time has flown by, and while it seems as if I’ve just only arrived, Spain is already feeling like home. With classes starting on the 20th, I have finally been able to establish a relatively stable schedule for the week, which has helped to make living here feel less like an extended vacation and more like a semester abroad.

While we are certainly here to study, the Tufts in Madrid program has provided us with so many incredible opportunities to visit museums, see plays, and experience the culture of Spain. Even as I write this I am on the train to see Rock the Ballet, a dance and music extravaganza in Madrid! Every museum we visit, every Spanish play or movie, and any cultural activities are all reimbursed by the program, which makes taking advantage of these opportunities that much easier.The morning after we returned from Segovia I woke up early to travel into Madrid as it was the last day of the temporary exhibit Turner y los Maestros at the Prado. As a photographer, I have always loved taking landscape pictures. There is infinite beauty in the world around us, but at the every day level it can be so hard to find the time to stop and appreciate our surroundings. How often do we actually observe instead of simply looking? For me, Turner’s paintings paintings force us to do just that. One cannot look upon his enormous painting of Venice or his startling sunsets without feeling an appreciation for beauty in the natural world. The exhibit was particularly interesting as it followed Turner’s career in trying to make a name for himself. Showing Turner’s art alongside masters like Manet and Rembrandt, the exhibit displayed various views of the same beautiful world, charting Turner’s progress as he carved his own place in the history of painting. On the walk to the Atocha train station after my visit to the Prado I came across the ending to the Vuelta de España, essentially Spain’s equivalent to the Tour de France. I had never seen a bicycle race like this up close before, and it was pretty amazing to see so many bikers fly past.

With the start of program classes on the 20th, our roulette wheel of scheduled activities finally began to slow down. We were provided an extensive list of classes at the University of Alcalá and reviews by previous students, but ultimately it was up to us to find the classes that interested us. I had already decided to take the art history, gramática, and sketching classes offered by the study abroad program, but this left one more University class for me to find. As an Engineering Psychology major at Tufts, I found myself in the unique position of not being able to take any classes towards my area of study. This left me open to take any class that interested me. There were too many, but fortunately enough only a couple that fit into my schedule. I visited a Spanish literature class and, while the professor was kind and I knew some of the Spanish students in the class, the workload was a little high for a guy not majoring in Spanish. Luckily for me, Sergio, one of the professors working with the program, teaches a physical theater class at the University. Art history, gramática, sketching, and physical theater. What an awesome schedule!Dibujo (sketching) has definitely been one of my favorite classes so far. Drawing is certainly not a skill that comes naturally to me, but it is something that I really enjoy doing. For class, we meet at a location in Alcalá or Madrid, like the Plaza de Cervantes, and simply sketch for two hours. Nothing makes you notice the detail of the architecture in the town or the intricacies of a trees form than studying it for hours, drawing it, redrawing it, and constantly evaluating your work.

Not only have I been lucky enough to explore my artistic side, I’ve been able to take Salsa lessons thanks to the program’s stipend for extracurricular activities. I’m currently taking three classes a week and having a blast. While difficult, especially for someone rhythmically challenged like myself, these three hours of dance class help me unwind, get some exercise, and have a blast learning something new. These lessons, combined with my physical theater class, where we run, jump and fall theatrically, will hopefully help me improve my own self awareness and control.One of the best parts of settling in here is getting to know the Spaniards and being able to meet them for dinner or to go out at night. These relationships not only make it easier to adapt to living here, but make one feel welcome and at home. The University of Alcalá is hosts an ERASMUS program for European students who want to study in Spain, so at night the streets, bars, and discoteccas are filled with students from the world over. Some of the intercambios who participate in the Tufts program are also ERASMUS intercambios, so I’ve been lucky enough to meet friends from countries like Germany, France, Latvia and more! My intecambio amigo Diego was even nice enough to invite us over to his house near Madrid after our visit to the Thyssen-Bornemisza museum in Madrid, to celebrate Kayley’s 21st birthday American style, since 21 isn’t as big of a deal here. In Spain many people live at home well into their 20’s, so it’s not typical to regularly have people over to hang out or party. It was a great change of pace to be able to all hang out together, eat pizza, and play games. The house was awesome, the typical post-graduation bachelor pad everyone dreams of, with an incredible view of Madrid in its entirety. I was able to sit on the balcony and watch the enormous full moon rise on the horizon.

The weekend didn’t end with the birthday fiesta, however! Saturday night we ventured a town over to Torrejon, to visit Parque Europa, a sprawling park filled with replicas of Europe’s most famous monuments, statues, and landmarks. We sat by the Trevi Fountain, walked past castles of northern Europe, and posed for a picture in front of the EIffel Tower. The night ended with some delicious tapas and a live concert in ManáManá, one of the discobars in town.To cap off a weekend of birthday celebrations, museum visits, and European landmarks, Yoli, a Spanish student working with the program, organized a trip to el campo to go horseback riding. The bus ride was pretty short, about 40 minutes, but in that short amount of time we were transported from urban Alcalá to rural fields and farms at the top of a large mesa. The ranch was pretty large with multiple stables and we spent a few hours exploring, meeting the horses and the resident basset hound, and taking in the cold country air. A riding competition was scheduled for the day and we were able to watch it from beginning to end. With the long morning turning into afternoon, we sat down to delicious meal of eggs, french fries, and chicken, a standard meal in the Spanish diet. We were finally ready to montar los caballos.

I had taken a few horseback riding lessons with my mom when I was a lot younger, which I mentioned to the instructor, so she assigned me to Blackey who apparently has a kicking issue. At that point I wished I had just kept my mouth shut. I had nothing to worry about though as Blackey was great and we got along famously. After a few turns around the corral we headed out to the trail. A narrow path that wound through fields, yards, and orchards, the trail took us up and down the hills and valleys around the ranch. The view of the surrounding countryside was stunning. The sun was beginning its decent and everything was bathed in a golden light. Such a beautiful end to another amazing week in Spain.