And so ends March and my month of travel!!!! I really feel like I haven't been in Madrid for a month, or seen any of my new friends, so I am glad I can finally just be here and enjoy it!!! But Spain is wonderfulllllll. This month I saw north, south, east, west, islands, cities, villages... And everything was perfect. Each weekend trip was perfect. From crazy Galician adventures with Spaniards, to calm sightseeing in Andalucia, to adventuring through the mountains of Mallorca with the parents, and finally to being with my best of friends in Barcelona!! I am so lucky I saw what I did!!

So where did I leave off?

MALLORCA: We get to Palma de Mallorca last Thursday morning welcomed by bright, sunny skies and fresh ocean air and a calm little city that has yet to be hit by the throngs of tourists destined to come in just a few short months. The first day we meandered around the city, checking out the huge cathedral, and generally exploring through all the little streets lined with expensive boutiques and gelato stands. As the sun was setting we climbed up on top of this building and got a great view of the sun going down over the ocean. It was beautifullll :) But day two was even better!!!!!!!! We rented a car and set off early in the morning for the west of Mallorca to explore the mountains!!! There is an actual mountain range in Mallorca and I think it was one of the most beautiful days I have ever had here in Spain. My eyes couldn't even really grasp how amazing the mountains were and the cliffs dropping into the seaside and the little quaint villages nestled in between. There are truly no words to describe how gorgeous it was. I can honestly say the west coast of Mallorca is the most beautiful place I have ever been to. Then there were the roads. Little, tiny, winding roads carved out of the cliffside. Terrifying. And Dad driving a stick shift. And little or no guard rail. I was silently freaking out most of the time. At one point we decided to turn off onto a side road to see this beautiful beach which we had seen the day before on a postcard. Turns out this little pit stop turned into one of the most adventurous things I have ever done in my life hahhaha... if not the craziest. We pull off onto an even smaller road to drive down the mountain cliffside to the beach. A drive that took an hour more than we had originally thought. Now imagine, looking to your left and right and seeing nothing but cliffs. Hundreds of insane German bikeriders flying past you for some idiotic reason or another attempting to scale the mountain with their bikes- defying death and all. Seriously we could have killed about 600 cyclists if we so pleased. Then comes this helicopter out of no where. Flying nearly on top of our car through the mountains. It gets so close I am literally ducking in the back seat. All of this while trying to pass another idiotic tour bus that is crawling up the mountain and hair pin turns and magically not falling to its death when we manage to squeeze by it. Also trying to dodge the psychotic drivers who are literally speeding on blind curves and we come 3 seconds from hitting one when me and my mom scream out of surprise and then the two of us start unintentionally crying just from the overwhelming adrenaline hahaha. It was insaneeeeee. I do not know how my dad did it. But in the end it was all worth it because we get down to this little cove tucked into the cliffside where we are able to park and walk through some cave tunnel things which open up to this secret beach with raging crystal blue water ominously crashing against the rocks. It was so powerful and amazing and crazy and I honestly can say I haven't felt that alive in a long while. It was so intense!!!! We then had a bit of lunch down by the other part of the beach and headed back up the road of death to FORMENTORRR which is the northernmost tip of Mallorca. Once again driving through cliffside roads, through forests and towns, when finally we get to the very tip top of Mallorca. So freaking beautiful. Plunging cliffs. Crystal water. Setting sun. Thats it- I can't even describe it. It was almost unbelievable. That night we headed back to Palma de Mallorca and went out with some of Christina's super nice guy friends from Mallorca!! I was translator all night between them and my parents and we ended up going to a night club and a bar full of Spaniards. Awesome :) We headed back to Madrid in the morning, exhausted, walked to Retiro, had a picnic lunch, went to my favorite Irish bar to watch some rugby with crazy irishmen, and then out for Paella with my parents and Tevia. All in all it was a wonderful weekend with mommm and dadddddd!! I wish they could have stayed longer, but I am pretty sure I/Spain wore them out for a while. It is nice having them so close and so great to share all the things I have seen/done with them :) I love you guysss!!!!!!!!!!!!

The week after they left the new STROKES cd came out (my fav band). Success.

Christian, my old friend from Italy from my first few weeks in Madrid, finally came back to Madrid after being in Milan for a bit of time. So we went out on Wednesday. Success.

I had a huge Spanish oral presentation due on Thursday and it went phenomenal. Success.

And we recorded a radio show in my regular class. I was interviewed in Spanish. Success.

And then I went to BARCELONA. Let me just say that Barcelona is freaking amazing!!!! DE PUTA MADREEEE. It is such a wonderful city with so much to see and so much to offer and with wide streets and lots of green and lots of sun and lots of trees that I am seriously trying to figure out how I can move there at some point in my life. Also, Jessica- my Greece travel partner and freshman/sophomore year roommate is studying abroad there as well as my other really good friend who lived in the dorms with me, Emma. They were able to give me the grandest, best tour of the city and I can't even tell you how much fun we had. We packed so much into each day that I don't even remember it all- Thursday night I checked into my hostel, we got delicious crepes, walked around, and I took my first shot of ABSINTHE!! It was disgusting, but you have to do it once I guess. Friday we walked around parks, went to the beach, I got a massage by a gypsy on the beach, went to a light show at these water fountains, saw a beautiful view of the city, met up with jessicas host brother, and then went out to this awesome international bar that reminded me of what oktoberfest could be like. Saturday we saw all of Gaudi's amazing architecture, the infamous Sagrada Familia, walking through different neighborhoods, played guitar on the beach, saw Parc Guell, ate patatas bravas, got double friendship bracelets, went to an open air market, back to the oktoberfest bar, and spent the rest of the night sharing a bottle of wine on the beach while listening to techno blast from the huge night clubs lining the shore. It was amazing. Amazing. Only complaints are that the city is full of Americans and I can see how it is really hard to learn Spanish there seeing as it is such an international city. I heard so many different languages and saw people from all over the world. Also the Catalan people are a bit cold and it is hard to make friends with the Spaniards there. And also Barcelona doesn't really resemble the rest of Spain at all. It looked like it belonged to its own country. Everyone looks so cool though and the whole city gives off this relaxed artsy, hippie vibe. It is for sure a much more impressive city than Madrid and I think there is much more to do and see. But in the end I still have a soft spot for Madrid and the people here are much more open and I do in fact have to speak Spanish 24/7. Madrid was the perfect choice for now, but if I ever move back to Spain- Barcelona is where I will be. No doubt. Everyone needs to go there. Also did I mention I love Jess and Emma for showing me a wonderful time :)

So that is where I leave you. Mallorca and Barcelona are beautiful. Spain is beautiful. and Madrid is beautiful.

Today I went to FREE YOGAAA at the local squat here in Malasaña hahahaha. It was hilarious. Its an abandoned building that people like now live in and they turned it into this like actually beautiful community center all hippied out and I went to Yoga there today. Awesomeeeeee!! I am sure I will go ever Monday now.

But for now I will go to bed :)

Que sueñes con los angelitos!!!