My First Visitor from Home!

Courtney traveled ALL the way over to Spain for a week to visit me :)

Last Friday, Brendan and I made our way to Madrid to meet up with one of my best friends from home, Courtney!! The both of us were so excited because she is the first visitor we have had here! We decided to take advantage of our weekend by touring a little bit of Madrid, as well as taking a day trip to Segovia (only a 1/2 hour train ride from Madrid). Besides some really cold and rainy weather, we had a such a great time! Courtney has never been to Spain before, so it was fun getting to show her around and helping her get to know more about Spanish culture (and even the language, because she studied French in high school) Courtney learned some key Spanish phrases quick, such as "Hace frío"- It's cold. and "Una más"- One more (beer) :) ha ha! Here are some of our pictures from the weekend below:

Me and Court- Finally reunited after 6 months!!! :)

I got Courtney to try one of Spanish people's more favorite tapas- Grilled Octopus!

Tapas tasting at the Mercado de San Miguel in Madrid (near the Plaza Mayor)

We enjoyed sangría and Spanish guitar music and singing at a small "locals bar" called El Mesón de las Guitarras

We toured the inside of the Palacio Real (Royal Palace)

La Catedral

One of my favorite parts of the weekend was just being able to relax and catch up with each other. We ended up getting an actual private apartment at our hostel and were able to make dinners on our own.

La Plaza Mayor of Madrid

We woke up early on Sunday morning to check out El Rastro (Madrid's famous Sunday Market)

It was definitely worth it to go! There were so many good deals! These scarves were all only 2 euros, when they would normally cost anywhere from 6-12 euros anywhere else!

After spending the morning shopping at El Rastro, we got on the 1/2 hour zip train to Segovia to see the famous Roman Aqueduct.

This aqueduct was built in the 1st century and it was made simply by placing each of the stone pieces on top of one another... there is no cement or anything similar holding it together!! Amazing after 2000 years!

It was so cool to see it in person!

Side street of Segovia

La Catedral of Segovia

El Alcazar (Royal Castle) of Segovia

The king's and queen's thrones inside the Alcazar

Beautiful painting of the ceremony crowning Isabel as the Queen of Spain

The Royal Chamber

This trunk used to hold royal treasure and valuables! That looks like some serious business- nobody was gonna break into it, I'm sure of that!

We climbed the tower of the Alcazar to get a great view of the city of Segovia (it was too bad it was raining though)

Segovia

View of the country side of Segovia

After spending the weekend in Madrid and Segovia, Brendan headed back to Valladolid to work and Courtney and I headed back to Salamanca, since I have classes Monday-Friday. Although it did kind of stink that I had classes, Courtney and I made the best of our time together, checking out the beautiful streets and sites of Salamanca, including where Brendan proposed to me :), getting some typical Spanish food and drinks at some of my favorite places with my friends from the master's program, and even relaxing and watching a chick-flick one night with Rebecca (the other American in my master's program). It was so great to show her around the city I live in, introduce her to my friends in my master's program, and just be able to hang out with her. I really am missing home, so it has been so nice because she has brought a little feeling of home with her :)