The dog went up to my ribs. It was crazy!
The next night, we went to a Real Madrid game! It was so cool! I loved it! I forgot how much I love watching live soccer. It is so intense. I also enjoyed watching one of the most attractive people I have ever seen in my life play a sport I love. It was a beautiful combination :)
However, this was equally beautiful...
Real Madrid played a team Getafe. Let's just say Getafe is the third worst team. However, I loved the atmosphere and everything about it.
The next night we went back to Madrid and watched Flamanco dancing! It was so cool and I really enjoyed it!
However, what was outside of our house here upon out return was what completed the night. I thought parking in Mexico was bad...
WOW.
We left early the next morning and were on a bus for two hours, two of which I slept :) and I woke up in a city called "La Ciudad Encantada". We got out and went on a hike on a trail there and it was beautiful.
There was also a "hole in the rock"...Papa :)
After that, we got back into the bus and we drove a little bit farther to a lookout point.
It actually made me a little homesick though because on the little trail up to the lookout there were wild flowers and it reminded me of how we used to go on walks on the trail and I would try to pick all of the different wild flowers.
After the lookout, we drove twenty more minutes to a city called Cuenca and we went into an abstract art museum that was pretty cool, but this is all I really got out of it...
Just kidding :)
We took a small bathroom break and I saw these in the gas station... Dad... they aren't just gummi bears...they are bears of gold. haha! :)
After cuenca, we drove three more hours to Valencia. I slept two and a half of them! I was so tired. We finally got to Valencia and we pulled into out hotel. I was a little afraid because my teacher basically mentally prepared us to be staying in no star hotels. It was a lot better than I thought it was going to be. Here is a picture of our room!
The best part was the emergency plan...
The last step specifically. It says "call the attention". I almost died of laugher.
We had twenty minutes to unpack and clean up a little bit and then we went into the centro for some dinner. We ate and then we came back. We got up and had to be at breakfast at nine o'clock. The first thing we did was amazing. We went to the Lladró factory. I got to watch the artists make each piece! It was incredible. There are three different elements that go into the porcelain. It is liquified and poured into a mold. Each piece is actually about five to ten pieces put together. After they are "cooked", they are brought to the artists who put them together piece by piece. After that step, they are given to a different set of artists who paint them. One very cool thing is that the paint is transparent! There is dye in each paint just so that the artist knows what color they are working with, but the dye has nothing to do with what the color really is. After it is painted, it is covered in the liquid that makes it look to glossy. It actually turns the whole piece blue, but that obviously goes away in the "cooking" process. The amazing part to me was the flower station. If the piece has flowers on it, they are created there. Each flower is hand-made. Each teeny tiny flower. The artists mold and shape the porcelain (in clay form) to form the flower. The clay in this case, however, is the color of the flower because it would not be possible to paint each one. After we were able to see the step by step we went out into the show room. I would have enjoyed the show room, but I had so much more of an appreciation for each piece after I watched the process. Amazing.
This is not a very good picture of it, but this is called "Cinderella's arrival". So beautiful.
I loved this one as well:
After the Lladró we went to an Aquarium for the rest of the day. It was a much smaller version of Sea World basically. It was pretty cool.
I also saw these flowers there and it reminded me of Mexico!
After that, we went to the beach for about an hour, but it was overcast and cold so it was not the most enjoyable experience, but nice to see the ocean! The next morning we got up and got all packed up and we had a tour of Valencia. We walked through the cathedral and we able to learn a lot about the city.
As we were walking out of the Cathedral, a bride was walking into the Cathedral with her dad and her little flower girls- it was so cute!
After the cathedral, all of my dreams came true. We went to my heaven on earth.
Inside...
Fruit everywhere I looked. I got some dried cranberries and some apricots. So good! Also, Valencia is known for their oranges. I think I got the prize orange.
It was perfect. This is me and a kid in my group named Will and we are holding my perfect orange. He had just said something hilarious right before my other friend took the picture.
Ignore the fool in the background of the picture. He always gets in the back of people's pictures.
After the fruit market while we were waiting for the bus, there was a little girl that had just had her communion.
It that so cute or what?
After that, we went back to the beach because it was actually sunny outside.
It was pretty and the sand was so soft!
Then, we headed home and I basically slept the whole time again :)
I had an incredible weekend and it was very fun! I am so grateful that I not only get to live in Spain and study here, but that I am getting the chance to see so many of the other cities that are in Spain! I am one lucky girl!
I love my family and miss them so much! <3
Love always,
Natalie Christine
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