Spain

This trip was with People to People Student Ambassadors.

Friday, June 27th - Philadelphia to Madrid
Left Philadelphia International Airport around 4 pm on a six hour flight to Paris, France. Once there we had a 3 hour wait until our connecting flight to Madrid.

Saturday, June 28th - Madrid, Spain
I only slept for an hour on the plane so when we arrived in Spain around 10am I knew I would be dead my nightfall. We stopped at our hotel and dropped off our luggage and proceeded to a nice little restuarant. Here I was introduced to the three course meal, and well I have to say I loved it! After lunch we went on a bus tour of Madrid, which I barely remember because I was nodding off around this time. Back at the hotel we figured out how to work our phone cards and got ready for a night in Plaza Mayor. We had free time to wander around the area and try to talk to the locals, which was pretty easy. It's a wonder how far basic language skills will go. This is where I learned to never make fun of people struggling with English in the US. Once you see the other side you completely understand. So after some shopping we went to dinner at a flamenco restaurant. By the end of the show almost all of us were starting to fall asleep on the table. Finally the day ended back at the hotel with me passing out cold.

Sunday, June 29th - Madrid, Spain
After a breakfast in the hotel we went to the Prado Museum and went on a savanger hunt. It was basically a race to see who could locate certain painting the fastest, our team won and we were later rewarded with small swords from our visit to a sword factory in Toledo. After our hunt and a quick lunch we stopped by the Palace and gardens. We had a small amount of free time and a number of us went to a cafe and meet a wonderful lady. She worked at a translator and moved from country to country with her two dogs. She remains one of my heroes. After this we had dinner and returned to the hotel for the night.

Monday, June 30th - Granada, Spain
We woke up and packed to leave Madrid but not before stopping at the Moncloa House for a lecture on Spanish government. We then left for Toledo, which is my favorite place in the world. We visited the cathedral and wandered around the city for a little bit. We also visited a sword factory and had a lecture about that followed by lunch overlooking the olive fields. We then began a long bus ride to Granada.