Lazy Saturday Afternoon

Since I have not really touched on the education system a lot yet, I thought I would dedicate this post to the University of Hertfordshire's education system!  This whole semester up until now I have felt like I really haven't been attending any form of schooling (although all my friends do, they are in different courses).  I am in the Health course and the Fashion course and since I am not in a design studio for fashion, I have yet to have any homework like I would typically receive in the States.  My grade for all three of my classes rests on a  paper for each of them and a test for only one.  So you can imagine the multitude of time I now have on a day to day basis.  I also only have class on Mondays from 9-4 and Wednesdays from 11-1 which leaves my schedule pretty open as well.  Not only that but this week is the second to last week I have classes!  Its crazy! I basically have the whole month of April off and then I have to stick around in May so that I can take one test that only last one hour.  I would like to add that not everyone has this easy schedule like I do but it is a nice break from last semester.  So since I have these papers due at the end of April, I thought I would get a head start so I don't have to worry about them when I am galavanting across Greece and Italy.  I have one done so far and the other two started and I am hoping I can get at least one more completely finished before I leave on April 7th (which I am currently counting down the days too :)).  I feel like I owe it to myself to be slightly productive since I don't have the "I am so swamped I couldn't find the time" excuse to procrastinate.

Pretty Spanish Pictures!

Just a cool little sign in Puerta del Sol, but look how blue that sky is!

First experience with tapas, not too bad.

Hot chocolate and churros!  The hot chocolate is much thicker than
what we would consider hot chocolate but it makes it perfect for dipping
your churros into!

The Royal Palace, which is the largest palace in Western Europe
based on the number of rooms, which is 2,000.  I guess that means the King
can have a lot of guest over!

Templo de Debod, a gift from Egypt to Spain.  There were
parks surrounding it so we had a lovely picnic and then
headed over to take pictures of this.  I'm afraid this might be the
closest I ever get to Egypt.

Just some Madrid skyline.  It was so beautiful and sunny that day!
I am hoping I regained some color that I have lost while living in England.

Plaza Mayor!  Fun fact: this plaza has been home to numerous bullfights
and executions during the Spanish Inquisition and was built in the 1600s

Oldest restaurant in Europe. Seriously, they have the Guinness
certificate in the window and have been serving food since
the 1700s 

For some reason this picture is on its side buuttt this is the Almundena
Cathedral and on the other side of this is the palace!

All of the street signs had pictures of what they described, which
was very helpful for those of us with limited Spanish skills.

Venus and Mars in Museo del Prado.  They had tons
of sculptures and I wish we could have spent more time there.
They also had two time periods that were free of charge for everyone
which was really nice as well.

Quiero España mucho

Hello friends!
I am back from a wonderful weekend in Spain! Well, actually I came back on Sunday but as the british say, "I can't be bothered" to post things in a timely manner!  Our trip took us to Madrid which is that capital city for those of you who didn't know.  My friends and I are getting quite good a navigating aeropuertos y trenes (this blog is going to be sprinkled with some Spanish words :)) so getting from one place to another is getting much smoother.  We had the good fortune to also get some amazing hostels for good prices in great locations, definite plus!  Since our flight came in at 11 am Thursday and we left early Sunday morning we had three full days to sight see.  The weather was also 60s the whole time which was a great break from England.  However, since I have been back it has been oddly sunny (must have brought the sun  back with me!) I am trying to upload pictures buuutttt it is not letting me so as soon as I can there will be pictures of my trip!

What a beautiful English day!

The pretty tree outside my window!

This post is simply dedicated to how happy I am that England is finally starting to warm up!  I didn't have classes today, but I did have errands to run which I was more than happy to do since it is not to windy, rainy, gloomy, etc.  The tree right outside my window is also blossoming and has the most beautiful pink flowers on it! I am hoping this weather will become an everyday thing because I am ready to see some sun on a regular basis.  That's all for today.  The count down to Espana es dos dias!!!!

Pictures! Finally!

Just a building in Sixmilebridge but that vine thing
is pretty cool!

The Hostel we stayed at in Sixmilebridge/Shannon.  It was named
the Jamaica Inn and had palm like trees as part of the landscaping haha!

Just chilling out with Oscar and Eduard Wilde in Galway

We stumbled upon this cathedral as we were walking around
and the ceiling was absolutely beautiful!

There were so many people busking on the market street!
This guy was pretty good, and it turned out a pretty cool picture too.

One of the many coffees I had on this trip.  I am usually not the biggest
coffee fan but it is starting to grow on me!

We found real live Gypsies!  So naturally I had
to take a photo :)

Had to stop and take a picture of these little guys!

Here is the first pub we went to in Galway for lunch, the King's Head.

March in Ireland!

Hello Americans!

Last weekend my friends and I took a little trip to see our neighbor, Ireland!  It was a blast and all of us plan to go back if there is time (and money) left at the end of our trip!  I would post pictures up with this, however, for some reason they are not loading so maybe I can get some up here later.  We stayed in the Galway and Shannon area (which is on the opposite side of Ireland from Dublin) and I am really glad we did.  Galway is two hours from the airport so we took a coach through the country-side which was pretty neat.  The weather was also gorgeous which was a nice change from England.  This upcoming weekend, we are going to Madrid which should be a blast!  I will have to keep trying to post the pictures of Ireland, its easier to say what we did if there is a picture that goes along with it.

My package has finally arrived!!!!

After waiting a whole entire month, I finally received my package from home!  You can bet I was one excited lady when I got home with it.  If it wasn't for my roommate being asleep I might have came in my room singing for joy, no lie.  My parents filled it with all sorts of goodies like two huge bags of candyopolis gummies and movies and my boots and many other things.  It has been a good day already and it is only 1 pm!  Tomorrow will be pretty awesome too, since I am flying out to Ireland for the weekend!

Hooray for things from home!

Sooooo many stamps! haha