...Festiva!

So much has happened within the past 10 days! It was super exciting to spend time with my family and Betty in France (and to see Notre Dame and the LOUVRE!!!!). Way too much to summarize in a simple blog, but I'll see what I can do. Admittedly, Betty and I were quite excited to go back to a country where they spoke Spanish (a.k.a. Spain). The day we arrived in Madrid we went to the Prado for free in the evening, which was awesome! We saw so much art last week, and it's too bad we didn't have more time to soak it up, but it's better than not going at all. The next day we went to the Reina Sofía (home of Picasso's "Guernica") and explored the city.


There was a cool terrace area on the third floor of the Reina Sofía:


Cool Egyptian ruins up on one of the hills:


We met some interesting people at our hostel and the next day we went to Toledo!!! Definitely one of my favorite places we've visited so far.




There was so much to see! The architecture throughout the city was spectacular. It was a gorgeous day and we saw the cathedral, monasteries, convents, churches, a basilica...We also tried "judías con perdiz," a traditional Toledo bean soup with partridge. We spent the afternoon walking along a path by the river, which involved some fun stops along the way.








It's tempting to put up 20 more pictures, but I'll move on. We arrived back in Madrid that day in time for the Good Friday procession, pointy hats and all.


We took the midnight bus back to Murcia. Our week-long adventure abroad was wonderful, but it was very good to be back in Murcia. Remarkable how much a place can grow on you the longer you spend time there. And it didn't hurt that upon our return the trees were bursting into blossom. :)


Easter was a fun day. We got up to see the sunrise before heading out to church (and stopping for churros con chocolate on the way). Betty had also hid chocolates in our apartment for Rachael and I to find, and we did a small gift exchange. There was lunch after the service and then we headed back to get dinner ready before one of our friends came over. Good times. :)

Yesterday was Bando de la Huerta! The Murcians dress up in traditional costume and go out to celebrate the spring. It was a fun sight. We met up with some friends and went to the parade. There were a lot of fun things to see there.








The craziest and most exciting part was the "carrozas." Over 20 trucks came by with people throwing/handing out a bunch of stuff - teacups, chorizo (sausage, which I ate more than enough of), candy, wine, lemons, bubbles...people came running into the street to grab things. It was nuts.

Until next time,
♥Tracy