And so it ends...

Don’t worry…I’m not going to get all sentimental on you. Just a little blog to wrap things up and thank you all again and again and again for following me along as I taught, trekked through, and took in España, and a little extra Europe, too. Anytime any of you mentioned reading my wordy, dorky blog it meant so much to me! The love I felt and the support I received from all of you while I was gone was amazing and comforting, and I’m so happy to be coming home to all of you. Madrid was an absolutely fabulous experience…but there’s no place like home, and no people like my people.

Anyways, enough mushy stuff! A few notes from this week, (which went by unbelievably fast):

1)    Finally went into the famous Reina Sofia museum. It was great—all modern stuff and saw LOADS of Dali and Picasso. The top floor exhibit was all art developed directly after WWII—it had both European and American pieces mixed together—it was interesting to note the differences in reactions. That same day, went and saw the memorial to those who died during a terrorist attack in the Madrid metro. A really moving memorial because they used the giant hole caused by the bombing as part of the memorial.

2)    I THINK I had five minutes of food poisoning in a Moroccan restaurant. I was by myself, and had just finished a delicious lamb and cous-cous meal, when all of a sudden I went pale, got the cold sweat shivers, and literally felt the room spin. I think I FREAKED the waitress out, who barely spoke English. I was like, “Um…you might have to call the hospital, can you come check on me in a couple of minutes? I think I am going to be sick in the bathroom.” She just goes, “…Okay.” Haha nonetheless, she did bring me water and seemed really alarmed after she got over being weirded out by me. And I was sick for like five minutes, called poor Dad, and then felt 100%! I don’t know WHAT happened. But it didn’t feel good. I think I know what saved me though…or who. My Granny! She told me to eat yogurt every day when staying in foreign country for the good bacteria, (MATT WALTERS!!!). I bet that good yogurt bacteria had a war with that bad lamb bacteria and keeled it!

3)    Went to Alicante Monday-Wednesday. That trip went by REALLY fast, because I didn’t get there until 4:00ish on Monday, and then left at 10:00 A.M. on Wednesday. But I did hike up a nice mountain, checked out and read in a mountain castle, spent a day on the beach, and ate yummy hummus and pizza! So a success, in my book. Also, all this week every city in Spain participates in Holy Week, or Processional Week. I mentioned this awhile ago in my blog about Caceres with Keque: all the people of different Christian churches in each city dress up, (Ginny remembers the freaky costumes), and proceed all over the city with big floats of different stations of the cross, (like Jesus carrying the cross, Jesus crucified, Mary mourning Jesus, etc.) Anyways, saw two of these—they were really cool! Except one of them blocked the gelato shop I wanted to go into so I had to wait an hour for everyone to process by. And then I realized that was prettttttty selfish of me during the Easter season, (sorry Mom). I’m glad I got to see them, though!

4)    I ate 4 pastries in one sitting yesterday as my last hurrah, and guess what? My last one was my FAVORITE!! A chocolate napoliana. Good thing I had never had it before now, or I would have eaten it every day. Not kidding. (You KNEW I had to end on a food note!)

Am I a completely changed, internationally-savvy woman now that I’ve lived in Madrid for 3 months? Mmm…I don’t know about that. But I AM a grateful, happy woman, (even after the most turbulent flight of my life coming home), and I’m ready to open the next life door. J

All my love and thanks to my best people! I will be seeing many of your faces this week—thank GOODNESS! People who like to eat with me and be weird.

Mary Adelle

My beautiful Gomez girls.

I WILL go back to Lisboa one day...

In other words, I loved Lisbon. It is my favorite city I’ve traveled to thus far. Let me attempt to explain why:

So we got there EARLY Saturday morning, (7:30), went to our hostel called the Pensao Royal: one of my reasons why I loved this visit so much. Paula, a rough sort-of lady with a smoky voice and gray roots set off by long, raven-black hair, greeted us with, “you’re early,” and a stern look. I began to panic because it was I who had chosen the hostel for its superb ratings on Hostelbookers…and then she croaked out a laugh, took our suitcases and shooed us away, with café recommendations, until she had our room completely ready. I like a lady who can tease!

We decided just to stay out after a quick breakfast and took the tram with the intention of visiting the Lisbon Palace. Another reason I love Lisbon: tram transportation. The things were built in the early 1900s and they were wonderfully creaky. Lisbon is geographically hilly—like really hilly. So we jolted around on this tram, up-and-down, for a good twenty minutes and I loved every second of it! One really gets to see the city this way.

The palace was great—pretty much like every other European palace, though. Built by the moors. Tall walls for defense. The highest point of the city for the advantage during battle. All the same facts, it was really just seeing the city itself that was amazing. I was telling Andy and mom that the architecture was like a blend of French, Spanish, California, and 1920s American Boardwalk. Sounds funky, but really cool. Crazy colors and gritty graffiti everywhere. Constant hills and stairs so the calves and thighs are always being used! All kinds of palm trees and plants that I’ve never seen before! Man, I just loved it. And the weather is amazing there, even when it’s raining. Apparently it stays 60s/70s and warm breezy pretty much year round.

Anyways, so we visited the palace and then this eerie monastery, not the most famous one, though. It was completely white with blue tiling, and I think we were the only ones visiting because it was stark quiet. The eeriest thing though was that in all of the rooms, there were tombs of the monks! And we walked into one room and there was a shrouded figure bent over one of the tombs and we freaked out because we thought it was a ghost. So scary. But cool!

Then we found a little lunch place. I had the most AMAZING cheese ever—called Portuguese Mountain Cheese with homemade pumpkin jam. I was so happy. Of course the Brits had spaghetti and a hamburger…it amazes me that all of my fellow travelers are so unadventurous with food. Seriously.

We decided to go and officially check-in at the hostel. Our room rocked. High-ceilings with a wall-length windows, glossy wood floors, butterfly and flower stickers all over the walls with different funky wallpaper on each wall. This woman is amazing—all the rooms were quaint like this. She runs the whole place by herself and only sleeps two hours a day! She can’t be healthy, but she obviously loves what she does. We were just settling in for a siesta when we hear a knock on the door, and there stood Paula with a warm pan in her hand, full of home baked pastries…!!?? That doesn’t happen in hotels, which cost twice as much! Amazing. I was already looking forward to see what kind of breakfast this woman would whip up for us…

We got showered and went off to find a restaurant Paola recommended for dinner. We passed so many nice-looking places and then we got to the street where our restaurant was supposed to be located—straight trashy and daunting. Laura was not having it. But we pushed her along just to check it out, and what a pleasant surprise met us on the next corner. A little hole-in-the-wall, authentic Portuguese restaurant with candle-lit tables and a piano crooning in the corner. We went in and I had one of the BEST meals I’ve had in my entire life. So, Portugal is well known for its fish dishes. I told the owner I wanted anything spicy, because Spain doesn’t do spicy and I feel deprived. He brought out this large baked bowl heaping with spiced cod, stewed onions, and saucy potatoes with hard-boiled eggs layered on top. I’m salivating all over my computer typing this—SO GOOD. With a glass of the Portuguese house red wine, and I was in heaven. Now, when the bill came out I cried a little, (not really), but it was well worth it.

We went home fat and happy and slept the night away. I woke early because my bed was closest to the door and I could smell the breakfast Paola was cookin’ up. (Sorry to write two paragraphs in a row about food—but you KNOW that’s a big part of my European experience). The Brits sleep in late so I was just like “PEACE,” and walked outside the room into the loveliest little living room I’ve ever seen—exactly what I want the living/family room in my first apartment to look like. Full of flowers, colors, and little chotchkeys everywhere. And the breakfast spread was set up like a true little tea party—there were cakes everywhere! Lemon cake, coconut cake, Nata Nata cake, chocolate cake, marble cake, etc. Then there were pigs in a blanket, Spanish tortilla, keesh (sp?), cereal, tea, coffee, yogurt, crepes, fruit salad, chicken pot pies—EVERYTHING! She makes all of this stuff before we wake up in the morning. Haha. I stuffed myself while watching MTV, which was playing on a big screen. Forgot how much I miss trash T.V.

Then we had a big day of visiting the famous monastery, a modern art museum, and finally, the beach: CasCais. It was a beautiful beach and the beach town was so “posh,” as Laura and Lucy deemed it. We spent a few hours there and caught a train back to Lisbon, then rested a bit before dinner, which was another great success. We sat outside, this time, and we were seated on a hill with a gorgeous view of the palace and the moon sliver and the stars. I had the house “Fish Rice,” which was basically like a jambalaya with fish—very yummy. Lucy and I tried “Ginginha,” a famous Portuguese liquor. It’s made from soured cherries and was quite nice going down. Learned a Portuguese fact: “Port,” the type of liquor, began in PORTugal.

Again, went back to our cozy beds and again woke up to Paola’s masterpiece breakfast, and then we were off to the airport! Great weekend, great city. I want to see all of Portugal one day.

Other than that, getting ready to head home soon! I am taking one more trip by myself to Alicante, which is on the eastern coast of Spain. Known for its beach, so that’s what I plan to do—lie on the beach all day. The Gomez’s leave for vacation this coming weekend, so I will be home alone over the weekend/my last week. Sad…I am going to miss them so much! I liked having little sisters—that’s the only type of sibling I don’t have. But it will be nice to see my big sister, my little brother, my big brother, my big brother-in-law, and all my sista friends! Anyways, our last lesson is Thursday so I’m planning on buying ice cream and popcorn and watching an American film. Or maybe Veronica Mars, even though they “don’t get it.”

I hope everyone is enjoying the spring so far! So happy I’m coming back for that season. Found a shirt today that says, “Happy Season Starts”—might have to buy it. It’s the funniest thing to walk into Spanish clothing stores and read all of their shirts—they’re all written in English but they usually make no sense or have an extra letter or are in the wrong tense!

Going to a lot of museums this week/weekend, and then I have to say goodbye to Lucy, probably my closest friend here. L She is coming to America, though, for a road trip! So you all will have to meet her.

Okay, that’s all. Thanks for reading about how much of a fat kid I am—I really did write two huge paragraphs about food, haha. Oh well.

Love,

Mary 

 I forgot to mention, I went on a hike at the Natural Park of Penalara with Rachel! Beautiful mountain range near Madrid.

 Me and Paola...she definitely needs some sleep!

 So eclectic!

 Breakfast room...mmm...

 Ginginha shots!

 Some Lisbon city center!

 Laura and I at the best restaurant in the entire world!

 Tomb in the monastery...I'll prob be haunted for posing in front of that.

 Pretty blue tiling.

Tram ride!

The Drink-y Weekends

Buenos Tardes!

A very windy afternoon in Madrid. I hear all you Marylanders are still enjoying blissful weather…it better still be there when I get back in two weeks and three days!! So nuts I only have that much left. As of right now, I am getting excited to return to the States…but I say goodbye to Rachel this week and Lucy next week, so I have a feeling I am going to start feeling sad to go home…

I missed another week of blogging last week, and again, it is due to the fact that not much happened over that weekend, the weekend in the Canary Islands. Mostly just lying on the beach while drinking cocktails. Every minute I was wishing all of you were sitting next to me. Really!

The Canaries were gorgeous—a beach surrounded by mountains, so the best of both worlds. Las Palmas, the beach town we stayed in, was also known for its pine forests, which we unfortunately did not make the trek to see. I love the idea of palm trees and pine trees co-existing, though. We checked into the “blue room” of a very pleasant, conveniently located hostel, and headed straight to the beach. The beach itself was less than 3 kilometers long, (reminded me of Andy’s Grenada beach), and so a few of us decided to take the stroll before settling our beach bums down. Of course we found a beach bar, and of course I bought a margarita…or two. And then maybe followed by a pina coloda. So it was not surprising that when I settled down on the beach, five minutes into my beach nap a tremendous wave attacked me and my bag, ruining my camera. I cried for two minutes and then laughed when Lucy said, “you’re a bloody idiot, you drunky.” That was that. And no, leaving it in a bag of rice for five days did not cure it. So…mom and dad, how about the iphone 5 for my bday??

This was most certainly an European beach…topless women everywhere. And I don’t think one man wasn’t clad in a speedo. The British part of our group rolled their eyes at the giggling Americans.

Headed to the boardwalk for a nice dinner, and then headed straight to bed, all of us a little sun poisoned. The next day was really the same pattern. No sights to report on, just the beach. That evening, we all got a little silly on wine in our hostel and it was really nice. There were six of us all together, and tensions can run really high when traveling, trying to mesh together a plethora of personalities, but that evening we all got along really lovely…until Laura starting throwing up. But all good things must come to an end. It was nice to have a weekend with no itinerary pressures.  And so ends my Canary report!

This past weekend was St. Patrick’s Day, or “Paddy’s Day” as deemed by the good Irish people. Had a wonderful time in Dublin. Again, wish I had all of you there with me. Everyone popped into my mind for various reasons at least once over the weekend.

Rachel and I arrived at noon-thirty and decided to kick it in the airport until the other girls met us—we had to sneak them into our hotel, because we only reserved a room for two, (shh). So we  got our drink on at the airport! Smithwicks and Bulmers Irish cider mmm…

So, our hotel situation turned out to be a mess, involving busted pipes, re-location, but most of all, a waste of precious time! We didn’t actually get to the city until around 5:00! That’s okay, though, for I was able to keep energized late into the night. If it wasn’t for our cab driver, the friendly John Paul, or for a list provided by Rachel’s Irish lover from Seville, we would have been lost as to which pubs to visit. We began on St. George’s Street, and headed towards a big crowd that was surrounding The Dame. There was a huge rugby game playing that evening, England vs. Ireland, so the atmosphere was truly brilliant. On the other side of the street was a stage set up, where a boy of maybe 16 was playing Irish dubstep using a synthesized keyboard and whipping his hair back and forth! So fun. We found a lovely young Irish artist to paint our faces and just started throwing beers back. We traveled to Flannerys and The Bleeding Horse, probably the two best pubs I’ve ever/will ever experience. Huge with wooden floors and walls, multiple drinking rooms, the best drinking music playlists, and plenty of Irish accents to make me constantly smile. We attempted to go to the club Copper’s, which we heard from multiple people was just ridiculous, but the line was absurd and it was raining outside, so we caught a cab home. This guy was not nearly as cheerful as John Paul, but I think we entertained him with our drunken nonsense chatter.

Woke up to some headaches, but nothing unmanageable, and Rachel and I traveled down to the dining room where we were offered a free full english breakfast for all the trouble with the hotels. Would never refuse breakfast! Three bowls of cereal, followed by baked beans, cooked tomato, and toast, (wasn’t craving the ham…). Rachel kept making gagging noises as I ate the beans…that was fun.

We had planned on the free Sandemans Tour, (the same touring service I used in Madrid), but once we got started with it we found our hangovers were truly not in the mood for history. Would have liked to do it another day, though! Why are weekends so short? Instead, we took Ginny’s advice and visited Grafton St. for some shopping. And then strolled all over the city, stopping in shops and pubs as we went along. Found the world’s oldest “Chippery” and had some fantastic fish-n-chips. Ended up at O’Donoghue’s as our last pub spot, where fiddle groups were playing amazing Irish tunes. A cool set-up, as well—we think the pub was a converted horse stable!

A long day but still not nearly enough. MUST go back to see the Irish countryside.

Other than that, life has been steady! Yesterday was St. Joseph’s day, which coincides with their Father’s day. Pretty much all of Madrid was closed. My family prepared a three-course meal in honor of the celebration—empanada, paella, and, of course, ham and potatoes. I was lucky to be included!

Still have a long list of places to visit, but my friend Courtney, (thanks to Julie J ) and I found an amazing breakfast place—really cheap, too! The La Latina and Bilbao areas, where this place is located, are my favorite. Almost like Greenwich Village of NYC—really funky with lots of thrift shops and food places that remind me of Portland, (Hollin!).

This weekend I travel to Lisbon, Portugal with my British women, Laura and Lucy. We found a hostel where the hostess makes fresh cakes and pastries for breakfast every morning—YAY!

Hope everyone is able to enjoy the beautiful weather! And also had a fun Paddy’s day. Was telling Emily that I had a blast, but never any funny stories because no one is weird here like my home people. J Congratulations to my big brother for getting residency at Virginia Tech! We are so proud of him!

Loving and Missing you from Madrid,

Mary

 Las Palmas

 If you like pina coladas...

 Who made this?

 A nice little harbor

 Great sunset

 View from a hotel rooftop!

 Beach bums...

 Love my Luce!

 Random panoramic of Retiro park in Madrid!

 Check THAT out!

 The Paddy's Crowd

 Teenage Irish Dubstepper

 Couldn't choose between beer and cider...when in Ireland!

 Pub #1!

 Cheeky!

 Girls in green

 Jammin'

 The Bleeding Horse view from balcony

 Met Irish friend Kate Sleep!

 River Liffey

 mmm...fish-n'-chips

 Needle! Poppin' the sky.

 River Liffey con sunset

 River Liffey con Mary

 The Fiddler's pub

 Fiddlin' away!

River Liffey...noches.

A little Cadiz, a little Toledo…and LOTSA Amsterdam!

¡HOLA!

I skipped last week because the weekend in Cadiz turned out to be a bit of a bust…at least, not worthy of an entire blog entry. So I thought I’d combine Cadiz with an unexpected day trip to Toledo and the main attraction: Amsterdam.

May have mentioned this, but the Cadiz trip was a bus trip offered through an organization called “EuropeanVibe.” The organizers basically get paid to party with college students on weekend trips and bar crawls. So, early EARLY Friday morning, Kirstin, Laura, (a new Laura), and I get on one of four buses, only to be hit in the face with the smell of cheap vodka and blaring techno music. Uh…what? Turned out Laura, Kirstin and I were the only travelers above the age of 21: fraternity boys and sorority girls who intended to devote their weekend to complete obliteration surrounded us. I almost cried into my copy of Jane Eyre. However, after two of the NINE hours, the crazy youngsters simpered down a bit. The highlight of the trip was having our own hotel room with a humungo complimentary breakfast.

Well okay, okay…so Carnival was pretty cool. After a day at the Cadiz beach, (too cold for sunbathing), which was a very pretty portion of the Atlantic Ocean, we began to get ready for Carnival. We bought some supplies at a local Claire’s and I ended up with green hair clip-ons and a pink boa, (see below). People go CRAZY for this event though, showing up in platform shoes and multi-colored wigs and all kinds of costumes. Just like a huge Halloween party. Also, it’s funny, while we, (in America), all coordinate costumes to somehow compliment each other, (aka SIX PACK FUN PACK), everyone in Spain coordinates by dressing up as the SAME THING. So there will be a group of like 5 Katy Perrys, or 7 “Where’s Waldos?” I was expecting a parade, but we got to the main point of the city and it’s literally just a huge gathering of people in a square in front of the Cadiz cathedral. Haha. But this is where stupid EuropeanVibe got to me…they decided to drop us off at the square at 5:00 P.M., and of course no one in Spain was partying yet! And so we all got good and liquored up, but by 10:00 P.M. I’m starting to lose my stamina, (I know I’m lame), so that come midnight, when everyone is showing up, we all felt so sleepy and unmotivated! Grr. Oh well. So we went home around 1:00 A.M. and then drove the entire day the next day. Really, not a well-planned trip and I wish I would have known but you live you learn!

Did you notice I failed to mention any certain Cadiz foods? Well because I didn’t find any! Another reason I was disappointed with the weekend. Moving on…

Last Thursday, Kristen, Rachel and I decided to do a day trip to Toledo, only 45 minutes outside Madrid. I loved it because it was settled atop a hill. Didn’t learn too much about the history, except that it was one of the first established Spanish cities after some war—so a lot of military history/tourism attractions. We went straight to the Alcazar when we got there, which honestly was a disappointment compared to the other two Alcazars I’ve visited. We found better spots around the mountain with great views. The other main attraction was the marzipan! I tried all kinds of different marzipan treats—some covered in nuts, others in chocolate, and others mixed with fruit. We kind of did a “marzipan crawl” and tried a new one at each little treat shop. Toledo is the El Greco city, and we didn’t have the money to have a look inside his house, but I felt his spirit while walking through the super skinny streets, (which Granny warned me about). Small city so the four hours we spent there was just enough!

This past weekend was my trip to Amsterdam. Originally, I had planned on going to Morocco this weekend, but as the weekend drew closer Amsterdam sounded a little more appealing. I traveled alone because Rachel and Kristen had booked the trip before me, which was a little intimidating only because I had to navigate the Amsterdam train system, (simple), and find my hostel. However, when I got there, I got my phone out to text Rachel and realized I didn’t have service in any country beyond Spain! So silly. So that was a dilemma until I got to my hostel and, thanks to the nice hostel ladies, got in touch with Rachel and Kristen through hostel phone.

Did I mention I stayed on a BOAT while I was there—so flipping cool! It was deemed the “Vita Nova,” and a gruff lady named Monica with a toppling gray bun greeted me as I stepped onto the small ship. She showed me my room: a 2-foot by 6-foot cabin! Really cute and cozy, and from my window I had a view of the Amsterdam harbor. Another wonderful aspect of the Vita Nova was Monica’s mean breakfast spread. I ate four bowls of cereal Sunday morning. She had four different kinds so naturally I had to have them all! Cereal withdrawal, people. It’s a problem.

Thanks to Dad’s friend Sanne, a native of Amsterdam, we had a long list of recommendations for our Amsterdam trip, (thanks again, Sanne!). I met up with Kristen and Rachel Saturday afternoon and right away we went to the “Sex Museum,” (freaky), and then to the famous “Bulldog Coffee Shop” for some coffee…

Then we made the long trek to a famous market. I forget the name of it, but it basically just had good eats and lots of odds and ends to buy. Next door was the “Heineken Experience”: a tour of the Heineken factory. So crazy. Really felt like Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory, except we got beer instead of chocolate at the end! Brittany, thanks to you I felt so knowledgeable because basically they said exactly what you did during your chemistry project. You need to open a brewery. Seriously.

Next, we tried a famous Dutch snack—fries with mayonnaise sauce. It makes me gag a little to think about it but it was realllllllllly good. The mayonnaise was nothing like Hellmann’s. It had a sweet tang to it. Found another coffee shop for some more coffee and then we just wandered around and enjoyed the city. I loved how the water ran right up to the buildings, and the small streets made going out fun.

I fell asleep to the rocking of the Vita Nova boat and woke up to my four bowls of cereal. Haha, what a life! Sunday we found the “I Amsterdam” sign and took pictures around that, and that’s when I realized we were right near the Van Gogh museum. It was a 14-euro entrance fee, which was a little steep and I could tell the other girls weren’t too interested, so we skipped that. L Oh well, next time. We then found another coffee shop for coffee and then tried the famous “stoopwaffel,” kind of like a waffle cookie, which were very yummy. And I got more fries with mayo mmm…

We decided to split for a siesta and meet back up for Chinese food, (Amsterdam’s china town is INSANE—some of the restaurants were four-stories high). The place we went was okay—I got lo mein. Even though it was Kristen’s birthday, we were pretty wiped from the past two days so we decided to call it a night and meet in the morning for the Anne Frank House, which was by far my favorite part of the trip. Both Sanne and Ashton warned that the line for this tourist attraction is usually off-the-wall long, but because we went early on a Monday morning, we walked right in!

The house was truly an eerie experience, but also amazing and very emotional. Quotes from Anne’s diary lined the walls and there were video documentaries in every room interviewing people who were close to the Frank family about the WWII experience.

Maybe I am just plain dumb when it comes to renown history, but I had no idea why the Frank house was located in Amsterdam? I thought it would be in Germany. Probably most of you know this, but the Franks moved to Amsterdam when Anne was 7 and lived there 5 years before they had to go into hiding in Otto Frank’s jam warehouse. There was an interesting exhibit on Edith Frank, the mother, which one really does not learn about in Anne’s diary because Anne and her mother didn’t get along very well. I liked the exhibit, though, because it shared a lot about Edith—how depressed she was when the family moved to Amsterdam—she had no social ties in Amsterdam and became extremely lonely, hating the city.

My two favorite parts of the tour: seeing Anne’s decorated room and the Otto Frank room. Anne decorated her room with random pictures, some of celebrities and some of just things she liked to look at. Couldn’t believe I was standing next to walls that she had lived between. The Otto Frank room was where my breath got caught in my throat—as many of you probably know, he was the only one to survive Auschwitz, I don’t know how, and they had a video interview with him playing. He talks about Anne and how he felt very close to her while she was living, but upon reading her diary, he felt he was discovering a whole new person. He chokes up at the end and says, “I don’t believe parents really know their children.” Lost it. But a really good, true thing for me to see. I’m so glad I did.

Then booked it back to Madrid!

In other news, I live down the street from Marta Sanchez. Look up her song entitled “Get Together.” Catchy.

I have made a list of all the museums/restaurants I need to visit before heading back home. Now that my class is finished, I need things to do during the day! Today I went back to the Prado—am in love with Goya’s “Dark Paintings.” Really liked pieces by Mariano Fortuny, as well. Look them up!

Alicia informed me that her English grade has improved two marks since last semester! Totally and completely her doing, but still made me feel kinda good…

Hope everyone is doing GREAT back in the states or wherever. Missing everybody, a lot. Thanks so much for reading, (I know this was a long 'un)!!

Love,

Mary

 Cadiz coast

 Aren't we cute/clever?

 Sand beneath my toes...

 Check out my blue hair piece!

 See what I mean? No one can compete with one another...

 Muy bonita puesta del sol, no?

 Carnaval ye ye!

 Decked OUT

 All my smcm people...this little gathering remind you of anything?? A wannabe-hallowgreens.

 Toledo. Don't I look tall in all of these pictures? I'm literally the tallest one of the group. I don't like it. I look like a giant.

 Toledo cathedral peeking out from the skinny streets!

 Sorry--out of order--but this was us at midnight! So lame. Game over. Couldn't hang. 

 Toledo landscape again. I want that house to the right of the center. Any roommate takers?

 The new Heineken label is so fetch!

 Kittttyyyyy

 Cloggin' it.

 Oopsie!

 They spelled "brewery" wrong ahahaha

 Vita Nova...in all her noches glory.

 LOVED this. So Mego.

 Misty European city...

 Dad's coffee shop...

 Biomarket! Wish I could bring mom home some authentic Dutch tulips. Stupid customs.

 I yam what I yam.

 "M" for...?!

 My little Vita Nova bunk.

 Come on down to the Bulldog y'all...saw your spirit there, Ashton.

 Mom's coffee shop...

 Straight strollin'

View from my cabin window!