While most of my classes finished 3 weeks ago, my linguistics class through the University of Sevilla continued for another two weeks, and last Thursday was our final exam. 3 hours of essay writing was pretty darn gross, but I survived, and can now officially say that I have finished my junior year and my Spanish major!!!!! HOLY COW.
To celebrate the end of exams, I went to Madrid for the weekend. It was my first solo trip during my time abroad, and I was definitely a bit nervous to hit up such a big city by myself, but it was a blast! I made it to all the touristy sights I wanted to see, and met a lot of fun people along the way. Here are some of the highlights:
El Escorial:
The Escorial is a 16th century palace, built during the reign of King Felipe II of Spain. El Escorial is about an hour train ride outside of Madrid, but it is definitely worth the trek, especially in the spring when the gardens are in full bloom.
Palacio Real:
The Royal Palace of Madrid was built during the 18th century, and is still used by the royal family today for state ceremonies. El Palacio Real is Madrid's equivalent of Versailles. Every single room in that palace is ridiculously luxurious, decorated with things like porcelain paneled walls, jewel encrusted furniture, and pillows made with hummingbird feathers. The gardens behind the palace are also quite pretty.
Parque de Retiro:
The weather was absolutely gorgeous when I was in Madrid, so I spent a lot of my time just walking around and enjoying the sights. Parque de Retiro was probably my favorite place I visited in Madrid. The gardens were in bloom, and everyone was out sunbathing and walking around.
Museo del Prado and the Reina Sofia:
These two museums are filled with the works of AMAZING artists such as Velázquez, Goya, Murillo, Dalí, and Picasso. Both are definitely worth the trip, even if you have to wait in line. For students both are free any day of the week, so there is no excuse to miss them!
And there you have my Madrid highlights. I'm now back in Sevilla, and I am currently freaking out because I only have ONE WEEK left with my host family. Seriously guys, where has the time gone? I plan to spend this week taking lots of walks around my favorite haunts, eating lots of my host mom's amazing cooking, and taking an obscene amount of photos. If I have time before the end of the week, hopefully I will make a post of the things and places I will miss the most.
Next week, I will be off to Belgium to spend a week with my aunt and uncle. Then a week later, I will go to Barcelona where I will reunite with my parents and sisters! It will be so great to see them and get a chance to travel around Spain with them. It's kind of odd because while I look forward to their arrival, it also means that it is the end of my time abroad, which is something my mind can still not quite grasp.
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