Quick trip to Madrid

Hi everyone! I hope you all enjoyed your weekend! This past weekend I decided to go to Madrid to visit my friend Mayuka who this month was hired at the Japanese Embassy in Madrid. I had a great time with her. We didn't do much sight seeing since we both had been there several times before, so we mostly just walked around the city and Madrid's park Buen Retiro. I only took a few pictures, but enjoy!

Besos, Celeste
El Rastro, a market that goes on forever!
Another view of El Rastro
Here I am in Puerto de Sol, one of the main squares in the city. It is also where all the shopping is.
Mayuka in Plaza Mayor.
Plaza Mayor
One of the many human statues in Puerto de Sol. I was actually impressed by this one.
City hall which is in Puerto del Sol.

Salamanca for the day

Salamanca: My flat mates and I decided to take a day trip to lovely Salamanca. Emily and I were hoping to see our study abroad coordinator who we had in Santander, but unfortunately she was busy (however we did run into her during lunch at a restaurant....what are the odds?!). It was a nice day trip and a great break from my normal weekly schedule. :) Enjoy the pictures!!!
Plaza Mayor...one of the more recognizable plazas in Spain.
Our walk towards Plaza Mayor.
Main entrance to the Universidad de Salamanca. There is a story that is told here; every student that passes through this university is supposed to find the frog carved into the facade. If the student finds the frog on their own, they pass their exams to graduate.
Look at the skull on the far right, on top of that skull is the little frog....it is incredibly difficult to find.


A view of the cathedral from the river. Also in the foreground you see a stone bull, which is written about in a classic Spanish story called Lazarillo de Tormes.
This is a statue of Lazarillo de Tormes and the blind man who he had worked for.

One side of the cathedral in Patio Chico.

A monastery that we happened upon. :)

La catedral de Salamanca.

Casa de las conchas (The shell house).
Another university building.

Hope everyone is well!
-Celeste

Segovia...where I technically should be living.

My dear friend Kyle invited me to join him and a few of his British friends to Segovia this past Saturday. We spent the afternoon (from 1-7pm) in the small city. It was absolutely beautiful and a really nice city. It was my first time there and I had been told by countless people that it is one of the places I just had to visit before I left Spain. Now I only have 2 more cities to visit in Castilla-Leon and I will have visited the entire region! :)
Kyle (on the far right) acting as our tour guide. I believe we were in front of the aqueduct at this point. From left to right: Dominique (lives near Birmingham), James (West Midlands, near Wales), Chrissie (near Leeds), Claire (northern Ireland) and Ashley (Wisconsin).
Plaza Mayor
View from the castle.
El Alcazar....a very large forested area.
Iglesia San Millan



A beautiful gazebo in the middle of plaza mayor.
An electric bus!!!
Walking towards the aqueduct.
In front of the cathedral: James, Kyle, Chrissie, Dominique, Claire and Ashley.
View of the cathedral and city from the castle.
Kyle and me in front of the cathedral.

The main tower of the castle....where we climbed 152 steps to get to the top.
One side of the castle....I've been told by several Spaniards (I'm not sure if I believe this yet) that Walt Disney modeled Sleeping Beauty's castle from this castle.
The old moat.
Segovia's beautiful castle.
Casa de conos.....house of cones.
Kyle informed us that every house had its own "stamp" that was used to decorate the outside of the house, so you knew to which family the house belonged to.
The aqueduct from the top.
The aqueduct.

Beautiful, isn't it?

Food, Friends and Good Times!

Dia de Los Reyes Magos at Esther's House: Jan 6th
Roscon, a traditional cake eaten on this day. The tradition is for each person to cut a slice from the cake and there are two little "prizes" hidden in the cake. One is a little figurine and if you get that prize, depending on who you talk to, you are king/queen for the day or you get luck for a year. The other figurine, which sometimes is a hard candy, means that you have to pay for the roscon.
A new friend, Pablo, who's from Argentina. He is Esther's neighbor and was invited to celebrate the day with us.
My friend Esther- she received the prize!
Esther and Pablo cutting the cake.
Esther and her sister Leticia.
The roscon.

Dinner with Friends at Diego's House: Jan 8th
The delicious dinner cooked for us by Diego and Javi. They are great cooks.

For dessert we had roscon, which was filled with cream. Javi and Diego acting as bride and groom while cutting the roscon together....silly boys!My good friends Laura (from Scotland) and Kyle (from Wisconsin). The dinner was nice, just the five of us eating some delicious food and enjoying great conversation until 3am. I just love the mixing of nationalities; you never know what will come from it!

Cheers!