Dérive
Taylor Gonzalez
First 10 Days Abroad
I know this has taken a while since I've already been abroad for about three weeks. But better late than never, right?! Luckily, Alexis (one of my roommates) and I were able to fly into Madrid together. However, the connecting flight from London to Madrid was INSANE. We were stuck on the tarmac waiting for takeoff for over 4 hours, so needless to say, that experience was very interesting. After all of that craziness, we arrived at our home stay. Our house mom is the best person ever, but we were only able to spend 2 days in Madrid before the Travel Seminar.
This post is mostly about the travel seminar and I was able to get/take pictures using Alexis' phone since mine was stolen in Valencia (shoutout to Alexis). Also, sorry that this took so long since I'm sure my family has been waiting for an update on my travels.
I decided to also add links to all of the pictures just in case anyone was curious about visiting or just want to know more information about the places that I visited!
First day in Madrid: We had to meet up with our school for a tour of Madrid at 8am. The tour lasted until 2pm and we were also taken on a "tapas tour" which was really cool but a very exhaustive day.
1st stop (Cordoba): We were able to stop in Cordoba which is home to La Mezquita. La Mezquita is an ancient mosque/catholic church and shows the influence of both cultures and is absolutely amazing.
2nd Stop (Sevilla): The best part of Sevilla might have been the hotel that we stayed in. The view from the hotel was incredible and was also where Alexis took the photo of me, featured below.
3rd Stop (Granada): LA ALHAMBRA. Look it up if you've never heard of it. It is definitely the most beautiful place that I've ever seen. I'm a little bummed that I don't have any of the pictures that I took there, but even the pictures wouldn't do it justice. I also did some olive tasting in my travel seminar class (yes, we still had classes) which was a cool experience.
4th Stop (Valencia): Forever known as the place where my phone was stolen lol. Valencian paella was really good (and rabbit isn't as bad tasting as I thought it would be). Valencia was also the first time that I swam in the Mediterranean and the water was unbelievable.
5th Stop (Barcelona): This was my second time in Barcelona, but this time I stayed in a part of the city that I hadn't previously been too. I was also able to see the inside of La Sagrada Familia and it was unreal. My favorite class was in Barcelona and it was about cava and chocolate. I went on my first wine (cava)/chocolate tasting tours, all while earning some credits for school.