Adios, February

On the last day of February, I thought it was probably about time to update on what I've done in the past, albeit short, month. Besides the daily routine of trekking to class at the wee hours of 10 am and visiting the local, small Holiday Gym with half of Madrid, I have been able to experience some pretty incredible cities with some pretty fun people. So now, I'll tell you about my trips to Cuenca, Alcalá de Henares, Salamanca, and Copenhagen.
The first of these adventures, Cuenca, actually took place in January. Yeah, shows how long it's been since I updated. Cuenca is a little city in between Madrid and Valencia. So in attempts to see all of Spain possible, Miguel, Kathrin, Vicki, Becca, and I set off to the land of the Casas Colgadas... and hills. While the weather left a lot to be desired, the city itself was a great place. There are many old cathedrals, great views down into the canyon from the side of the cliff that the city is built upon, and the hanging houses that, well, hang off of the aforementioned cliff. While only there for an afternoon, we were still able to experience it all. The hanging houses (casas colgadas in español) were a little less impressive than what I was expecting, but cool nonetheless. And it is definitely a place that I would like to go back to for a hike when it's nicer out if I get a chance.

A picture of the group on the other side of the canyon, with the hanging houses in the back.
Me on the edge of the cliff with the canyon and other side of the city in the background (click on the picture to see the full thing. for some reason this website doesn't center my pictures on the people). This reminds me of the book Winters in Madrid by C.J. Sansom, which has a British prisoner in the Spanish Civil War escape from his internment camp to Cuenca. Good book. I recommend it.

My next adventure was one that I made on my own, on a nice Sunday afternoon in late January, to Alcalá de Henares. This city has a massive university system where many Madrileños trek out to for school, but is most important (to me, at least) for being the birthplace of Miguel de Cervantes, author of the literary classic Don Quijote (or Quixote, as many English-speakers have come to interpret it). While there, I saw Cervantes' birth house, posed with a picture of Don Quijote and Sancho Panza in front of Cervantes' house, ate some Burger King (of course), and saw some other historic Alcalá sites. On a peaceful Sunday afternoon walking down the Calle Mayor in Alcalá along with college students walking their dogs and young families with their kids on tricycles, I thought to myself that this could be a city for me to settle down in. If only Cervantes' house was for sale...

Me outside of Cervantes' house with Don Quijote and Sanco Panza. Why is my hand awkwardly on Don Quijote's knee?
A cool art exhibit in Alcalá, displaying recreations of ancient Greek and Roman sculptures painted as they would have been in their prime.

The next city that we ventured to was Salamanca, a trip that actually took place during February. Salamanca, a city in western Spain in between Madrid and Portugal, is known for being the home to one of the oldest universities n Europe (in age of the institution, not the students, who are all/mostly actually university-aged). Again with the same group from Cuenca, we spent the night here in a nice, cheap apartment and visited all of this tiny city. We saw the amazing old and new cathedrals, both of which were awesome to go inside of. We saw the university, complete with the famous door that has a mysterious frog sculpted onto a skeleton head. I also got the chance to see my friend Britni, an awesome person from Alma in Michigan who I met while studying in Quito 2 years ago. She's now studying in Salamanca for 3 months, and we were fortunately able to meet up for a coffee. Plus, I found out she's going to be in Barcelona next weekend with her mom, the same weekend I'll be there running the marathon! Small world, eh? This historic city is known for its nightlife, which we experienced in a nice little bar that we later came to find out was Irish (although filled with Spaniards, so it was okay). Needless to say, I had a nice nap on the bus ride back to Madrid on Sunday night.

An awesome view of the lit-up cathedrals at night from the old Roman bridge.
Salamanca's famous Plaza Mayor at night.

My latest adventure was probably also my biggest one: to Copenhagen, Denmark with my great friends Dustin and Bethany Hughes. I met the Hughes' (who are living outside of Berlin, where Bethany is working as a Fulbright much like myself, but not in as cool a place. yes, you might recognize them from earlier appearances in the Rome entry). While the city was freezing cold and somewhat snowy, it was a great place. We had some great waffles, toured the Carlsberg Brewery Centre, saw the famous Little Mermaid statue, walked down the longest pedestrian street in the world, and of course made 2 trips to McDonald's. It was good to catch up with my friends, especially in a new place.

Dustin and Bethany posing with the elephant outside of the Carlsberg Brewery.
Bethany and I posing with the Little Mermaid statue. If you can't tell, it was so cold the water was frozen behind the statue.

Well, that brings us to the present. Other smaller events included 2 20-mile runs in marathon preparation, Carnaval celebrations, and preparation for this week's Model United Nations conference that my students will compete in. Oh, and even a little snow here in Madrid.

Outside of my school in the Madrid snow. The next day, I think it hit 55˚F. Oh, Spanish weather.

In the coming week, I'll be extremely busy with the conference, my dad's visit from Thursday to Tuesday, and the Barcelona marathon next Sunday! It'll be pretty awesome!

And in closing, my reaction to my first Snicker's ever eaten. I told Bethany that I do NOT enjoy the mixture of peanuts and chocolates, but it took this for her to believe me.