Home Sweet Home...Gijón Version

Hi everyone, I'm back!! I know it's been an incredibly long time since I've written anything, and I'm sure most of you forgot that I even had a blog! Lets just skip over all of my excuses and just say, I'm glad to be back. Also, I forgot how hard it is to keep something like this going. I've been gone so long that I'm not even sure how to begin! But let's begin with the most recent. 

This year I moved to a different city, this time on the northern coast- right on the beach! It's called Gijón, and it's in the region of Asturias. This map shows the region, not the city. (source)

Lessons Learned in Barcelona....

In Spain, Easter is quite the party. At my school, I had a two full week vacation! I spent the first part of my vacation relaxing in Logroño and then I headed out for the first leg of my vacation...in Barcelona! I've never been to Barcelona but we only had a couple of days to visit. (After that we headed out to Rome, Florence, Pisa, and Venice.) I'm going to have to go back sometime because it's such a big city and there's so much to see. But, we did see a lot for how long we were there. I also learned some very important lessons.

Pamplona...Much more than corridas de toros

A couple of weekends ago, a few girlfriends and I went to visit Pamplona for the day. I have been wanting to visit for a while, and while I've driven through a couple of times, I've never had the chance to actually wander around in the city and see the sights. We started off the day getting "breakfast" and drinking coffees, of course.

Got caught in the running of the bulls!

(Quick, someone take the picture before we get in trouble for being on the statue!)

Nacimiento Del Rio Urederra- The Birth of the Urederra River

Today, a big group of friends and I all went on a hike by the river Urederra. It's about an hour and a half drive from where we live, in the neighboring province. My friends went back in October, but I wasn't able to go that day, so I'm so glad that I finally got the chance to go! It is about a 5 mile hike round trip, following the river up to the place where it is "born" or where it comes out of the mountain. This hike is full of breath taking waterfalls and crystal clear blue water - I think pictures may describe it better....

Partilho a tentação com quem mais gosto- Portugal!

Partilho a tentação com quem mais gosto- this is from a sugar packet...sometimes you find great tid-bits on sugar! This one says, "I'll share temptation with those I like the most."

Felices Fiestas Part 1: Madrid

Puerta del Sol- everyone together now!

Since I found out that I was accepted into this program to live in Spain for a while, my family has been really excited to come out and visit me...and they finally made it! I know I'm a little late on the uptake, but this is part of our journey, starting on Christmas. The three of them flew into Madrid on Christmas day, so I took the bus down to meet them. We rented a piso for a couple of days and from there we discovered Museo del Jamon, the Puerta del Sol, the Palacio Real, Parque Retiro, Plaza de Torros, and way too many museums!