Along with my last blog update, there has been a lot of other things I’ve been able to do as well outside of the work I’ve been doing. One of the most exciting moments being my sister coming into town to visit before she started her study abroad program in Paris this semester through Belmont!
When my sister came, I was able to show her around the city and take her to many places she wanted to visit as well. For example, the day that she arrived, we walked through the Prado Museum and Retiro Park after she took a needed break from a relatively long flight. There, we saw as much as we could of the beautiful artworks as well as the more notable ones. Then, we walked all the way to one side of the park that had the roaming peacocks since she had been wanting to see them for a while. After some much needed sleep the next day having done a good amount of walking all through her jet-lag, we continued on our exploration throughout the area. This included a day trip to Toledo, a beautiful town about an hour south of Madrid where the town was built around castle ruins. The town including Madrid that weekend was incredibly hot with the heatwave going on that we were trying our best to hide in the shade as best as we could all day. However, the heat wasn’t going to ruin her weekend and the remaining days were filled with showing her around Sol, Gran Vía, Fuencarral, and El Rastro as each are very well known locations nearby one other. Of course there are many other places as well, but these were the places that stood out to her. Overall, her visit to Madrid for the first time went smoothly, and I’m super grateful to have been able to be with her when she did.
The next activity I was able to do over the following weekend was take a weekend trip to Marbella down south again by the beach! Here, the weather was amazing and the seafood was incredibly fresh. During August, many people escape to the beaches because of the heat, and Marbella showed exactly just that. Here, I was able to enjoy some time off again and enjoy the heat away from Madrid’s concrete oven-like heat for a few days. Gratefully, the weekend passed by smoothly, and I was able to get back to Madrid right as the heatwave was predicted to pass. Now, Madrid has cooled down an immense amount, and the summer is coming to an end. With September just around the corner, and a few days left in my trip, it’s been an impacting experience filled with joys of learning. There’s so much I’ll be taking home with me from here, and we’ll see what these last couple days have in store for me 🙂
Another blog and photo dump coming soon! Keeping up with this blog has been a blast, and I can’t wait to show you all what more beautiful things I’ve been able to see!