Lizzy and I woke up early Friday morning to eat breakfast and then jump on the metro to head to el aeropuerto and go to Paris! We took Ryanair and it was an easy flight but they have a very strange habit of playing a bugle when you land. And after la cancion, everyone CLAPS because we made it! I was dying laughing but then wondering at the same time why we needed celebrar a successful landing. After getting lost for a little bit in between the cab and our hotel, Lizzy and I finally found Elizabeth, Claire, Charlotte, Meredith, and Amy on the street! I was so happy I screamed and abandoned my bag for hugs from some of mis amigas mejores.
After getting settled into our rooms, the eight of us (the Nantes' girls' friend Emma joined us for the weekend!) headed out to find un restaurante for dinner. After deciding to split up, Charlotte, Claire, Elizabeth, Emma, and I found a great little Italian restaurant where we enjoyed pizza and pasta! (I know we should have been going for the French food, but we couldn't resist!) After a delicious dinner, we wandered around trying to find a bar. We ended up at a random pub where we ended up laughing the night away and making some new friends! We first met Miki and Ed, a British couple celebrating Miki’s cumpleanos by spending the fin de semana in Paris. They were absolutely hilarious, telling us stories and giving us nicknames that had us crying we were laughing so hard. (Lo siento, but some of them aren’t blog appropriate).
Our new Scottish bagpipe friends - they were in town for the rugby tournament!
Ed & Miki
We all woke up bright and early on Saturday morning so we’d have time to take in los sitios! Since we all had different places we wanted to see, we split up and Elizabeth, Claire, Charlotte, and I headed out to start our day touring the city! Suerte for us, Elizabeth could read the metro map and planned out how to hit all the high spots – Notre Dame, Arc de Triumphe, and La Tour Eiffel! Here are pictures from our incredible day!
After exploring the city, we stopped for a much needed snack at Le Bosquet and of course HAD to have some “frite,” aka French fries or patatas fritas en Espanol and a glass of wine. Our group met the rest of the girls back at the hotel and then headed to one of the coolest dinners I’ve ever had at Le Refuge des Fondues that Alex Conner recommended. It is a hole-in-the-wall fondue restaurant where you climb over the table to get to the other side and then are just served food until your food! It is also famous for serving wine from una botella de bebe – definitely something we weren’t used to! After two hours of delicious food and great company, we knew exactly where we needed to go – the sparkling Eiffel Tower! Being the delinquents us Wofford girls are, we decided to sit on the fenced off grass and talk in front of the tower for horas and just enjoy being together. Needless to say, it is a night we will NEVER forget!
(The picture program for my blog is messing up but here are some!)
Just making sure his Eiffel Tower is the same as the real one...
Champs de Elysee
Sacre Coeur
La Tour Eiffel from the top of the Arc de Triumphe
Notre Dame
Botellas de bebe de vino!
Las chicas at the fondue restaurant!
(Elizabeth, Claire, Lizzy, Meredith, Emma/ Amy, Charlotte)
After a tearful goodbye on Sunday, we all went our separate ways. Lizzy and I made it back to Madrid just in time to unpack, eat, and then head out to watch the super bowl at a bar called Public House that had the game! It was definitely una experienca differente from watching it at home but it was a fun way to get a little taste of home in Spain!
When our second week of classes started on Monday, we realized we’d already been here un mes! It’s amazing how quickly el tiempo is passing, especially since we are all starting to fall in love with Madrid! Rather than boring yall with stories from class, here are some random things I’ve forgotten to include so far!
Restaurants: Cristina makes us breakfast and dinner every day so we are responsible for lunch. Two of my FAVORITE lunch places so far are Top Ten and Cien Montaditos. Top Ten is right by our house and has a great lunch menu that includes a sandwich, bebida, and even chips and guac for only five euros! It reminds me of a little Panera with more of a coffee house atmosphere.
Cien Montaditos is a famous chain in Spain that is very addicting because there are over 100 (cien) tipos de montaditos (little sandwiches) that are only a euro or two each! (Except on Wednesdays when toda comida is one euro!)
Gimnasio: Lizzy and I decided to try out our first Spanish workout class – la clase de abdominals and it was great! The instructor is very entertaining and a bit like a boot camp instructor but it’s impossible not to laugh when he is teasing you in Spanish and dancing salsa while we do crunches.
Viajes: I feel so lucky to be able to travel so often here – it is the chance of a lifetime! Here are a couple of trips I’m taking in the next few weeks:
- Bilbao with IES this weekend!
- Barcelona to visit Charlotte and McCauley the last weekend of Febrero!
- Ibiza – the Cancun of Spain (it’ll be interesting) the last weekend in April!
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