eurotrip! valencia style

I could not have asked for a better present than to have my dad, brother and sister spend a week with me in Spain.  We spent 2 days in Madrid, 2 in Barcelona, and the last 2 in my city of Valencia.  I used my Spain travel guide book as a reference and surprised my entire family and even myself at how much we were able to accomplish without our usual itinerary that plans out our vacations down to the minute.  I was happy to be able to allow my dad to finally relax for once, but gained a huge appreciation for all the work he put into planning out our previous trips.  Just coordinating the train schedules and location of hotels was a lot of work. (not too much, don't worry-- luckily my older hermana/Spanish sister works at a travel agency, so she helped a ton).

On another note, being reunited with my family and catching up with them showed me how much I've grown up while I've been here.  We all grew a little closer and hopped over the normal hurdles of the pressure that traveling and lack of sleep puts on a family.  But I wouldn't have had it any other way.  The week flew by way too fast, and the cities are starting to blend together a bit, but we'll always have the pictures to bring us back.


Here we are on our first evening in Madrid (dad and I just dragged Al and Steve out of bed-- they were really jet lagged from the flight over).  I brought them to a local bar where we had some wine, Steve beer cerveza, as he would for every meal that he could, and we sampled the famous Spanish cheese, Iberian ham, salchicha, and some patatas bravas (a popular tapa- small amount of food)

The next morning we headed down into the Madrid Metro to make it to the Reina Sofia Museum to see Guernica, one of Picasso's most famous paintings.  I was able to appreciate a lot of the Spanish art so much more after learning about Spanish history and the Spanish Civil War, Franco, etc. for the past couple of weeks.  Needless to say we spent a couple of hours in that museum.

Ally and I as we ate some paella and tapas on Las Ramblas, the famous streets of Barcelona that are lined with shops and tourist attractions.

While walking down Las Ramblas, we stumbled across a side street which held the mercado, market of Barcelona.  We're at the entrance, in front of some juicy animal legs (this is veryyy typical in Spain, even the supermarkets AKA Kroger, Busch's etc. have walls of hanging limbs).  So enticing, how can you resist?  (I definitely can, my semester here has actually led me farther away from meat =P )

Row after row of fruit stands, vegetables, meats, teas, nuts, candy, chocolate, everything you can think of that would be sold in a market, times 10

oh, and how could I forget-- peppers and spices!

one of our many options for our yearly xmas card.  you get a sneak peek

Stopped at a café on our surprisingly steep hike up to the Parc Güell in Barcelona.  (Many of Antoni Gaudí's works are in this park, so many mosaic structures it's mesmerizing!!)  Al dad and I needed some more caffeine, while Steve opted for cerveza

Us in front of Gaudí's famous mosaic lizard in the middle of the park.

 Steve and dad in front of the Catalan Art & History Museum, they're sitting on the edge of the (out-of-season) Magic Fountain

We spent our first night in Valencia at my Spanish familia's house for dinner.  It was a night filled with translations, laughter, and smiles that lasted until midnight.

After spending the following morning in school and giving a presentation in my business class, I scooped up my fam from their hotel and took them down the road to the City of Arts and Sciences (pictured below)

Another one of the many options for our xmas card.  It looks like the background is fake, but it's real.  Definitely a surreal place to walk through, though.

My padre and I on the boardwalk in front of the Valencian beach.  We later stumbled into a cheap little restaurant further down the boardwalk to grab some lunch which consisted of a few tapas, a salad, swordfish, sangria, and..... you guessed it- cerveza 

Here we are walking down Calle de la Paz - Peace Street, (the wealthiest street in Valencia) heading towards the Cathedral and the old historic center of Valencia

Later that night we had some amazing authentic Valencian Paella which was later accompanied by the most amazing flamenco show I've ever seen.  The dancers, singer, and guitarrista were so passionate and intense that they left an impression on all of us.  Their rhythm and syncopation were so amazing that I'm seriously considering returning with a large group of my friends before we all leave for the semester (in less than 3 weeks!!!)

Valencia. is. beautiful.

These pastel-colored apartments caught my eye as my familia and I stepped out of the mercado central in Valencia (The Valencian central market is the largest fresh selection market in Europe!)

 I <3 my siblings  =D

I began to miss my family as soon as I dropped them off at the train station, but am so extremely thankful to have been able to spend the week with them

So this was my procrastination from studying for my exam in the morning.  

But one more thing-  I'm going to meet with a 30 year-old woman that I'm going to tutor in English tomorrow for the first time.  One of my favorite professors set me up with her because she said we'd be a great match and thought we would both benefit from the interaction.  I'm pretty excited, and will be heading there a couple hours after my translation internship tomorrow after my classes.

take care everyone,

ciao!