Adios Salamanca, Ciao Italia!

Well, so much has happened since my last post, that I'm not exactly sure where to start...so we'll start with my weekend trip to Madrid. After spending two days there, the only (single) word that I can think of to completely describe this city is alive. Yes, all of the things I got to see and experience were beautiful, especially in a country like Spain that is still enjoying its democracy (since the death of Franco in 1975) to its fullest, including taking a city-wide vote on what color to paint the Plaza Mayor. What do you think of the result?

And maybe it was due to the fact that it was Valentine's Day weekend, but everywhere I went, there were people out just enjoying the day, the weather, and each other's company in general. (This was much easier to witness and be a part of after I figured out the metro system and where my hotel was.) Saturday was pretty much filled with a pleasant walk through the city guided by the one and only Rick Steves - well, his book anyway. In between all of the famous monuments, plazas, and historical sights, I also saw a lot of, er, interesting people. On every other corner I found someone with an accordian, an interesting talent, or people like this guy:

And after a relaxing night at the hotel, Sunday was dedicated to museums - places that had discounts or even free entry on Sunday, a free bag check so I didn't have to carry my bag all day, and shelter on a cloudy and somewhat colder day. How perfect. I was impressed with the Reina Sofia (modern art), but decided that the Prado is more my style. I only gave myself two hours for each, but ended up leaving the Reina Sofia a half hour early, and was glad that I did. You could spend two days in the Prado without seeing everything, so I can't fully express how little two hours seemed once I got inside... I spent my last few hours walking down one of the main streets of the city, Gran Via, before having a picnic lunch in one of the larger plazas. What a lovely end to a lovely weekend.

The last week of my stay in Salamanca was rather bittersweet. I was so excited to go to Rome, but at the same time so sad to leave the friends I had made in Spain. However, we topped of my last week with oh so many fun things, including a paella (traditional Spanish dish with rice, seafood, and meat) for 20 people. It was served in three of these huge pans and was delicious.

Yes, the bill was 260€, but when you consider the number of people in our group, that's not too bad. And we demolished all three of them, so we got our money's worth. The next day (Friday), I got the result from my final exam - and I did quite well. Apparently, all of my professors loved me enough to let me pass. That night was the last night out with everyone, so we spent some time wandering around the city before we went out dancing (literally) all night long. There's nothing quite like getting back to the house at 7:00 and getting up at 9:00 to catch a bus. Here is where I'd like to say never again, but I can't actually promise that...so I'll just say here's to Salamanca and my friends there, who I miss so much already!

And yes, I have been in Rome since Saturday. I am living in a community of Italian students who are here to study at one of the many universities across the city. What I didn't fully understand before I came was that it was founded and is run by a branch of the Vatican, so having the Cardinal in charge of the place over for dinner is apparently no big deal. My roommate is very sweet, as are all of the girls who live in the building (there is a separate building for the boys), and some of them are also a little crazy. For example, I may have just spent 10 minutes riding in the elevator with three of the girls singing the (American) National Anthem. We have a very old woman running our side of the residence (we all call her Professoressa) and she has already decided that I am "la più bella", but I've pretty much decided that's only because I'm the only blonde in the building. No joke. I have had some time to wander around the city and eat some gelato, but most of this week has been filled with all sorts of paperwork for school, for the city of Rome, and Italy in general. Because of this, I'm looking forward to the chance to actually have free time after classes start!

It's not the best picture of me, but after walking around for hours, we happened to enter the Vatican just as Mass was starting. So of course, we went to mass, then waited until after dark to take our pictures. Not a bad decision, right?

So, until next time...or a dopo