The End.

I'm in love with Europe. I don't want to leave but unfortunately it is time. I get on my plane tomorrow morning and land in San Francisco at 10:30pm.

How am I feeling?...Weird.

I was supposed to leave Alcala on Thursday and head to Paris but there were 'huelgas' (strikes). Our flight got cancelled so instead my parents and I went to Sevilla for a day. I loved Sevilla the first time I went, so showing my parents it was really fun:)
We then headed to Paris on Saturday. I love Paris. LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE it. I was warned that people were going to be rude, but in all honesty I found them all to be really nice.

The things I did:
-Ate Crepes..BEST THING EVER.
-Saw the Eiffel Tower...and climbed it! It is amazing in the day and the night!
-Went to Versailles...Line was so long we didn't go inside but the gardens..WOW!
-Went to Notre Dame...yes, I did act like Quasimodo the whole time. We climbed that too! So beautiful.
-Went to the Louvre...Saw the Mona Lisa and other amazing pieces of art. Spent 6 hours there.
-Ate pastries...as many as possible.
-Took a boat down the Seine River...loved.
-Went to the Arch of Triumph...Bigger than I expected.
-Walked on Avenue Des Chaps-Elysees...yes I did shop a bit:)

Eiffel Tower!

Gardens at Versailles

Notre Dame

Mona Lisa at the Louvre

We also went to Mont Saint-Michel. It is a tiny Island with a Cathedral on top and little places built around it. We stayed the night there. It was so cool at night because they close down the island for tourists and only those staying the night there are there. Its quiet and beautiful.

How cool is THAT?!

Sunset:)

The other place we went to was Normandy. Wow...words can't even explain that experience. We went to Omaha Beach. We saw the many holes in the ground scattered in just that one section from the bombings, we saw and went in the bunkers that the Germans had been in. We also saw the cemetery over 9,000 American soldiers who died. I learned a lot that day. It was an incredible experience.

Huge holes from bombings. All over.

So many. <3

I love Europe, and I plan to come back some day. I am excited to go home though. I get to see my family, my nieces and nephews, meet Zoey, see my puppies, see friends, go into San Francisco, eat In-N-Out, and then head to Rexburg for school again.
I won't forget this experience at all.

So this is the end of my Spain blog. Thanks to those who read, I hope you enjoyed.
Maybe I will start a blog and just write about my life or thoughts every now and then, but as for now this is all.

The End.

A piece of my heart.

I feel really weird right now. It's a weird that I have never experienced and can't quite explain. I have never felt emotions like the ones going on with  me right now.

My parents are here! 3 months without them sure is long. It was hard not being able to just call them whenever I needed them. I missed them so much. I missed my dad's big hugs and my mom wrapping her arm around mine and being silly. I missed their presence and even the little naggings. I really hadn't realized how much I missed them until they came off the plane and I saw them. I couldn't help but bawl and run to hug them. My cute little parents finally made it to Spain with me. I can't wait for them to see the paradise I have been living in. I can't wait to travel more around Europe with them. It is going to be amazing. 

They got to come over today and have paella and gofres...delicious. It was so fun to watch them with Encarna and Roberto, the family I had lived with for the past few months. Seeing my real mom and host mom together just made me smile. I just know if they had the opportunity that they would make great friends.

If all of this is so great though, then why do I also feel so sad? It's because Alcala de Henares was my home. This was not some place I just came to visit and leave as a simple memory. I lived here. I lived with an amazing family, I made awesome friends, I studied here, and more than anything I loved it here. I already know so many tears are headed my way this week. It already began today at church, my last Sunday in Alcala. Spain will always have a piece of my heart here with them, a piece I can't get back because it belongs here. 

I'm going to miss everything. I am going to miss walking through this beautiful city with Veronica to class every morning with amazing teachers, I am going to miss going into Madrid weekly, I will miss gelado, I am going to miss laughing so hard at night with Encarna and Roberto, I am going to miss gofres, I'm going to miss the spanish accent, I'm going to miss all of the girls in the program, I am going to miss traveling every weekend, I'm going to miss my roommate, I'm going to miss the new friends I made, I'm going to miss my school, I am going to miss the wonderful and kind people of Spain, I am going to miss the cute old people on the streets, I am going to miss the crazy parking, I am going to miss greeting people with kisses on the cheek, I am going to miss dogs in sweaters, I am going to miss the adorable spanish children, I am going to miss weekly soccer games with the single adults in the ward...and this list goes on and on. 

I am incredibly grateful for the opportunity that I had to live in Spain. I will never forget this wonderful country and the beautiful people that I have met along the way. My heart has a place for Spain forever.

Thank you to all of the amazing people that I have come across. You made this experience wonderful. I wish I could stay, but I guess I need to move onto the next chapter in my life.

I leave for Paris on Thursday and will be traveling a little more and home my April 6th.

¡¡¡Te amo España!! Hasta luego:) Gracias por todo. Nunca te voy a olvidar. Un parte de me corazón quedara aquí para siempre.

Pasta

Time is going by WAY TOO FAST. I wish I could just slow things down. The past two weeks have been really great! I'll let you guys get caught up on my life.


2 WEEKS AGO:

El Escorial

Castillo de Los Mendoza

Valle de los Caidos

ROME ROME ROME ROME ROME ROME ROME ROME ROME ROME ROME ROME!!

I LOVED ROME!

It was such a great time. We got there on Wednesday and began our day right away. Let me explain my days quickly.

Wednesday: We got to Rome. Let me begin by saying I thought Italians were going to jerks. Why..you might ask? Well we bought tickets for a bust to our B&B and they said they come every 30 minutes. We had waited about an hour when Ali and I decided to go tell the lady inside that it had not come. She called someone and told us that the bus just got there and to hurry out and we will be put on right away. Marynn and Vern had got on the bus. We went to the front of the line and told the guy that the lady said we would be let on right away..he said "You shouldn't have gone and talked to her" and refused to take our tickets. I kept asking and he went on to say "Are your friends on there?" and me, thinking this means he will then let us on, said "yes!" and he goes on to say "well tell them goodbye." The only thing that could come out of my mouth was "PLEASEEE!" and push my way right in front of him and he finally let us on. LUCKILY the rest of the Italian people were nice, in fact they were some of the kindest people I have ever met.

ANYWAY...that day we we checked into the B&B and the owner was AWESOME. His name is Fabio and he was so kind and helpful. We felt right at home. If anyone ever goes to Rome, I highly recommend you stay there:)

We walked to the Trevi Fountain and passed the Colosseum on the way. The Colosseum was only about a 5 minute walk from where our B&B was. The Trevi was awesome. We made wishes and it was great. We also got gelado. Yes people...it's true...gelado in Italy is WAYY better than anywhere in the world. Yum. I also had REAL Italian pizza and pasta that night. My goodness, it was heavenly. I miss all the food already. We also went to the Pantheon that night which was just awesome.

Thursday: We went to the Colosseum. AMAZINGLY AWESOME. I loved it. It was so impressive. We also went to the Vatican Museum which was amazing, St. Peter's Square, went to the top of the Dome and saw all of Rome from the top of it. The view was just incredible. Everything was just great. After seeing the top of the Dome we took pictures in front of it. Also, I'm not sure if I have told you all this yet..but Ali, Marynn, Veronica, and I have taken videos of everywhere we go. Vern and I were dancing in St. Peter's Square and right when the video ended 3 guys ran up to try and join so we decided to do it again with them. We all started dancing and soon enough, their whole group of about 20 people ran up and joined us. It was so awesome:)

Friday: We went to the Spanish steps, ate ate ate ate ate, went to Borghese Gallery, met up with all the girls in our group who were in Rome for dinner, and had a wonderful day. 

Saturday: Ali and Marynn left early in the morning. Veronica and I met up with Hilary, Lindsay, and Jenna and went to the Roman Forum. It is so neat to see all of the ruins there. We also met with all the other girls at the Trevi Fountain and went to all get tasty gelado and food. Nom. Then we rushed to pack and headed home

I know I didn't give too much info about everything. It's so much to type! So if you are wondering anything than just let me know.

I'm pretty sure I ate more gelado, pasta, and pizza than I ever should have, but I do not regret it at all!

Pantheon

Trevi Fountain

I dunno if you can tell or not, but I was REALLY excited about my first pasta in Italy. Hahaha.

Colosseum

Vatican Museum

Tome of Dome

Gelado!

Spanish Steps

Borghese Gallery


My parents come on the 24th. I CAN NOT WAIT. I know they will love it here and we get to go to so many other awesome places. I am really going to miss this place, though.....It went by WAY too fast.

Barce-Barce-Barcelona!!!

This week was splendid!
On monday we had class, and played soccer at night. On tuesday we went to class and then we went into Madrid with some girls. We went to a store called "Taste of America" and it was SPLENDID! They had so many great American treats! I got gushers, brownie mix, Dr. Peper, Reese's peanut butter cups, and lucky charms. Can you say YUM? It was heavenly. Then we came home and packed for this week's trip!

Yum.

Wednesday morning we left for BARCELONA!! On our way there we stopped in Zaragoza. It was a nice little town and we got a small tour. Then we drove the rest of the way to Barcelona. All of us as a group got tasty tasty tasty gelado. Then we got to walk around and see stuff. The pier was beautiful.

Pier!

Gelado!

At Par Guell

La Sagrada Familia

Outside of La Sagrada Familia

 On Thursday we woke up and had out tour! We went to Parc Guell which was really cool. All the neat things made out of tile were really cool. We then went to La Sagrada Familia. I was in love with it. Pretty sure it is my favorite building we have been in. I cannot describe it with just words. We went to our hotel and then Ali, Marynn, Vern and I went to eat. We found MEXICAN FOOD...REAL MEXICAN FOOD. I cannot describe how happy I was. It was so tasty!

Barcelona Cathedral

Beach at Mediterranean Sea!

On Friday we got the day to ourselves. We went to the Barcelona Cathedral. It was really pretty and had geese in it. We we then walked through some shops. I got gypsy pants! They are oober comfy. Then we went to the beach! It was so nice! The sun was out. I touched the Mediterranean Sea:) We laid out in the sun for awhile. It was really relaxing. Then we went to some more stores and headed back to the hotel. We showed and rested then went out to dinner and Madi came too! We went to Hard Rock Cafe. It was delicious! YUM! Afterwards Vern, Marynn, and Madi headed back to the hotel while Marynn and I walked down the street "La Rambla" to meet more girls in our group to go to a discoteca. There were a lot of people there and shops. But there are a lot of men trying to get you to go to their clubs. They get really touchy and creepy so Marynn and I waited for our friends in Subway. They got there and the discoteca opened at 12..we were the first there because in Spain no one parties until 2am. Our director wanted us out by 1:30 so it was so calm while we were there. We had a super fun time, though! On the way back some me and 2 other girls fell behind and got lost. Too much to explain so if you are super interested feel free to ask haha:) I went to bed around 3am that night.

Gypsy pants!

Discoteca!

On Saturday we woke up early for breakfast and to head back home. I basically slept the whole ride. When I got home all I did is rest.
Sunday was great. Church was just wonderful. Us girls in the group got together before church to practice a song "Hijas de un Rey" or "Daughter of a King". We sang it in relief society and it was beautiful. I just love spanish. All the classes and talks were wonderful. At night we went to the Larsen's for treats again. Later at night I skyped one of my best buddies, Drew Royster, before he gets set apart. I'm gunna miss this guy but he will be an awesome missionary. See you in 2 years, buddy!!

Dreewww!!