So at the last minute, a friend of mine and I decided to go to Madrid for the weekend. We had been told that it was going to be colder than Barcelona, and so we were nervous. To our suprise, the weather wasn’t that bad at all- and we had a great time!

So this week’s post includes some photos from when my parents visited me in Barcelona! It was great to have them here- after not seeing them for a few months I was getting a bit homesick, so this was exactly what I needed!

This album has just a few shots from both Tarragona and Montserrat. Tarragona is a town which is about an hour train ride from Barcelona. It is right on the water and the views are absolutely beautiful. In addition to Tarragona’s natural beauty, it also boasts a rich and interesting history as well. Scattered throughout the city are Roman ruins (including an Amphitheatre). In fact, the ruins are so numerous that some of the shops and restaurants have walls which are directly attached to the ruins! It really is a great destination for a day trip outside of Barcelona.

In addition to the Tarragona pictures, I’ve included a few shots from Montserrat. I was very fortunate to meet a very nice guy on the plane ride from the United States to Barcelona. He offered to show me around, and next thing I knew- invited me and all of my friends to go to his weekend house in Montserrat! The mountain itself was breathtaking, but by far my favorite part was the impressive Cathedral. Now being in Spain, I have had the opportunity to see my fair share of Cathedrals, but the one at Montserrat, for me, topped them all!

Alright, so I know that this week I haven’t posted any pictures of Barcelona (I’m in the process of getting a new camera so picture-taking has been put on hold), but I decided to post these few pictures from my trip to London a few weekends ago. We visited Buckingham Palace, Westminster, Windsor Palace, Winston Churchill’s war rooms as well as the Tower of London! Although it was FREEZING (I wore two pairs of pants the entire time), I had a blast!

Anyways- after spending just a few short days in Barcelona, we left for the weekend as part of an orientation field trip sponsored by IES. We traveled to both Peníscola and Valencia and, of course, they were beautiful. I got to stay in a very nice hotel and during the trip I actually made some really great friends that I’m continuing to get to know now that we are back in Barcelona.

So all in all- I feel extremely fortunate that everything has fallen into place in a seemingly magical and too good to be true kind of way. I’m excited and very much looking forward to what is to come!