Prague was probably one of the more random places I decided to visit in Europe, but it was hands-down one of the most beautiful places that I’ve been to. I had heard from a lot of people that Prague is considered one of the most gorgeous cities in Europe, and I had a friend who wanted to go so we booked our semi-overpriced tickets for a long weekend.

Woke up early to catch one of my two flights for the day, and I even got breakfast served by the company. It was only a 2 hour flight, so it was a nice surprise. On my second flight they greeted me with a chocolate bar, I could already tell it was going to be a good weekend.

We pulled up at our hostel, which was conveniently located right by the national theater by the river that splits the city. Our staff was amazing, and we decided to take a stroll through the city and down the river that night in order to explore our surroundings. There we saw the dancing house and the palace in the distance. Amazing!

The next morning our friend got there and we took a free tour with our hostel to a tower that had a great view of the city, we game down and had some mulled wine then ended the night with a pub crawl. Definitely an interesting trip,  Prague is a great city to go out in!

Next morning we woke up early and grumpy and took a walking tour. The tour took us all through the city and ended and started in Old Town Square. I’m not sure if I’ve seen a plaza that’s quite as interesting. It’s all based an ancient clock tower.

Our last trip was to the palace for a night tour. Our hostel guide was amazing and we got to see the palace empty, and see the view of the city on the river with all the lights. It was a great trip, and I would definitely loooveee to go back to Prague. I understand why so many people rave about it now, and wish I could see it in the summer!

Location: Prague, Czech Republic

Spain is known for its red wine, something that I know me and my friends took advantage of while we were in Alcal�. There’s nothing quite as perfect as some good tapas with a little bit of red wine on the side.

We took a bus from Alcala at about 8 am (a little too early for me), and were off to Le�n! The scenery on the way was gorgeous, rows and rows of grape vines and farms all over. Our first stop was a winery called Bodega de Yllera. We have all learned to love wine while being in Spain, and were definitely more than a little excited to visit Yllera. We were promised some tapas at the end, and nothing attracts young students quite as much as food and alcohol.

There were two parts of the tour. There was the main, modern, factory which was where their wine is made currently, and also the historic winery. We started off in the modern facility, and got to see the whole process that goes into making their wine.  In the wine cellar there were thousands of barrels of wine, just chilling you know, aging.

At the end of the first tour we got to sample a few different types of wine with cheese, how very European! It was delicious, and of course there was some chorizo, or pork sausage, for us to snack on as well. Then we hopped on our bus to get the tour of the historic winery.

It was actually pretty kitschy but I liked it! They taught us a little greek mythology lesson about Ariadne being trapped in a labyrinth and then proceeded to take us through the winery’s underground tunnels. The tunnel was filled with old bottles of wine and painting depicting different parts of the story, and at the end we all bought some wine to take home to our host families. It was a great trip!

Location: Leon, Spain

As an American, when it comes to international news, I am some-what stuck in the U.S. bubble. Actually, in general, I never know what’s going on in the world. However Spain opened my eyes a little. My host dad and I would watch the international news almost every night and I learned a lot about current news, but also a lot about Spain, its economic crisis, and its culture.

One of the events that I leaned about was M-11, a terrorist attack in Madrid done by Al-Queda on March 11 using the Renfe Trains that connect Madrid to the cities on the outskirts. Alcala de Henares is one of these trains, and this line was actually the line used to transport 3 bombs into Madrid’s main station, Atocha.

Most of the people in Alcala know someone who was on one of the trains that day. It seems that terrorism isn’t just a problem in the United States. After 9-11, Spain and the U.K. stood behind the United States’ decision to fight terrorism, but what exactly have we done to help Spain? I’m not saying that I know everything about this, but it’s definitely something to think about.

Location: Madrid, Spain

“Whatever can go wrong, will go wrong”. I never truly understood this statement until my parents trip over to Spain. I think pretty much everything got mixed up on their way over here. Everything was set, their flight wasn’t canceled from the General Strike in Spain and they were on their way to the airport. Unfortunately everything did not go as smoothly as we wanted.

                I woke up early for classes and checked my facebook, only to see that my mom posted that they missed their flight to Spain and that they would be arriving later. Turns out a storm our of Baltimore delayed their arrival in Philly. Then they got a flight that would get them to Madrid on the 29^th at 4 pm. I say the 29^th, because instead of March the 29^th, US Air booked my parents for a flight on April the 29^th. Because of this my parents stayed a night in London, and waited until late the next day to fly into Madrid. They arrived about 36 hours later than they originally planned, and all of our bags were lost somewhere in Germany. My parents hadn’t even stopped or taken a flight through Germany!

                I was so relieved when they got here, but it wasn’t over yet!! On our way to Granada my dad accidentally drove into the exit right before the exit to our hotel, turns out it was actually a runaway truck lane…so a giant pit of rocks. We were completely stuck. I tried calling the police, our hotel, the rental service; but no luck! My phone was dying and I was nearly hysterical by the time I got a hold of the local Avis, they sent a tow truck and we were saved!! Needless to say, it was good practice for my Spanish.

                We were greeted at the hotel by 2 of our 3 bags, and 1 that was most definitely not ours. We did end up getting our 3^rd bag when we got to Denia, 3 days later. Gotta love Iberia! Since then everything has been great…hopefully I’m not jinxing myself…

Location: Granada, Spain

Location: Munich, Germany

Since I’ve not gotten the hang of my home city Alcal�, I figured it was about time that I explored a few other cities that are outside of Madrid. First stop, Toledo!

                My host family loves Toledo, and they recommended that I go right off the bat. My host family has had 15 other students, in only five years, and all of them made a trip to Toledo. With  a little help from my host parents in regards to traveling, I was set to go. Now I only needed companions!

                A lot of people were interested in going, it’s so close and we had all heard rumors of its beauty. After some logistical struggles, 5 of us were definitely going to go. Saturday rolls around, and 3 of us meet at the bus stop. Communication over here is at times a problem, for me, facebook has never been more valuable than it is here. We head out after waiting for a little, ready to get started on out adventure to the previous capital of Spain!

                We decide to go for one of the fast trains out of Madrid, known as Renfe AVE. I was thoroughly impressed with the train, public transportation here is amazing. I certainly don’t miss the days of Blue Loop around PSU! Within a half hour we are in Toledo, as we rode past the ancient city, it was hard to deny that we had made the right decision by making this trip.

                Toledo is a city made up of 3 very distinct districts, the Christian, Jewish and Muslim all within one city. We had a little trouble navigating the winding streets, but each turn held a new cathedral, monastery or museum.

                The tourist center in town was incredibly helpful, and he even spoke to us in Spanish, and I understood it!! The guide probably circled 10 or so sites, so we knew it was going to be a busy day! Most of the sites required a small fee for entry, but it is definitely worth it. We toured the Monastery of San Juan de los Reyes, which was breathtaking. The garden was so peaceful, and even had clementines growing on the trees. I am constantly amazed by the architecture here, it’s so beautiful, but also so grand. I still cannot comprehend how such giant buildings could be constructed without the help of machines.

                After the Monastery, we wondered some more and ended at the Church of the Jesuits. Here most of the sites that I see are Cathedrals, and you would think I would get tired of it. This church proved me wrong. It was so open and the mural in the front was gorgeous! After checking out most of the church, we happened upon a door that led to the roof of the church! From there you could see the entire city of Toledo, definitely the highlight of the trip.

                After all of out walking and sighseeing, we wanted a little break. We found a bar and tasted the local brew and some amazing cheese. Toledo is known primarily for 3 things. Swords, Manchego cheese and marzipan. We got all three! Well my friend Danny bought a dagger, and then we all bought cheese and marzipan for our families. So delicious! I hope that I can return to Toledo in the future, and I absolutely recommend it to anyone who comes to Madrid!

Location: Toledo, Spain

Location: Plaza De Cervantes, Alcala de Henares, Spain

I’m here!!!! Okay, maybe that’s a little bit delayed, but this has been one of the most busy weeks of my life! I don’t even know where to start.

When I left the United States was definitely more nervous than excited for Spain. I was going to a country where I barely knew the language, and studying outside the biggest city in the country. Above all I was worried about communicating with my host family, and making sure I didn’t offend them on any level. In this past week all those worries have been resolved, well at least most of them.

The flight over was altogether good; but unfortunately I didn’t get any sleep on the flight. By the time I got to Spain I was pretty much running on empty. Luckily I met some girls who were also studying in the area, and we all sat together and chatted about our expectations and excitement for the semester ahead. I met my CIEE program in the airport after a few hours and then we took a bus to our hotel in Alcala.

In orientation we learned about the expectations of our program, our home-stay and the university itself. We were required to only speak Spanish, which for most of us was incredibly difficult. I have a very basic vocabulary in Spanish, so most of our conversations included exaggerated gestures and emotions so that we could understand each other. Spanglish would probably be a more proper term for what we spoke. My program only has 11 people, so we all got to know each other pretty well in the first few days.

On the last morning of Orientation, we all dragged ourselves our of bed and packed up so that we could leave with our host-families. I think my excitement about meeting my host-family helped me past jet lag. I met my host mom Ana in the lobby, and she immediately set me at ease. I could tell already that we would get along perfectly.

Ana and I went home, and it’s way more than I could have asked for. I was expecting a small room, no heat and a bathroom that I would share with the family. Much to my surprise, Ana took me to my room, or more appropriately floor. I have the whole top floor to myself with a bathroom, and a terrace! Definitely makes the dorms at PSU look pretty shabby!

Well I don’t want to write the longest blog entry ever, but in the next few days I’ll write more about Alcala and Madrid!

Oh and one last thing; one of the weirdest coincidences I’ve seen! Looks like wherever I go, Penn State follows me; even on the plane to Madrid :).

Location: Alcala de Henares, Spain