Es un Mundo Vagabundo: Madrid to Segovia to Valencia

His:

Trip to Segovia:

Segovia was awesome, my favorite part of course was the castle, there was a moat and all! We had to pay to go inside, but I felt it was worth it. There was actual/used knights' armor and it was interesting to see how small the people were back then, I REALLY wanted to try one on. No one told us that Segovia was in the mountains as we had an unexpected down pour of snow! The snow was awesome and a nice surprise.

And then there were three!

Our 3rd roommate Brynn, has joined us! It has been nice having an additional person to speak English with as well as hearing Jennison help her with her Spanish. I enjoyed showing her the ropes around Madrid as it felt like I knew what I was doing. Brynn is a vegetarian and Jennison is vegan... and it was at our first restaurant I realized I could really use another male around! It's amazing what another female can do to another in terms of shopping... I have done more shopping this week than I think I did all of last year! I also do not think I'm getting enough credit for the time I have spent in female only stores. I've become a huge fan of soccer as this is the only sport they show here, oh and this weird handball game which is basically soccer, but you use your hands and not your feet. Man, I am going to miss baseball...

Valencia:

We have made it to Valencia where we will be living for the next two months. We took a bus over, which was very easy, and then our wonderful landlord lady met us at the bus station and paid for our taxi to our flat. There is an elevator! Awesome, no more stairs!

Valencia is a much smaller city than Madrid, with less tourists, the weather is much warmer, and our living quarters are quite an upgrade. So, overall I would say moving to Valencia has been a plus. Since the city is less of a tourist spot we have noticed that pretty much the entire city shuts down during siesta time (2-5pm), which is our prime exploring time. We found one American Pub called Portland Ale House, I went to check it out yesterday but it doesn't open until 7pm... weird! They will be showing the Super Bowl though!

Hers:

It has been a week since our last update and, to be honest, we have been enjoying every moment so much we haven’t had the time to write! Brian and I went on a daytrip to Segovia from Madrid, which was gorgeous. The highlight was walking out of the medieval castle into beautiful snow showers. It was so fun and romantic, walking through the deserted streets of Segovia, bundled up, hand-in-hand. What a fun memory!

Madrid ended with a bang as our friend (and roommate for the next 4 ½ months), Brynn, joined us for our last few nights. We explored more of the city, found some fun local bars and restaurants, and really enjoyed being able to speak English to another person ;)

Last Sunday, we took the four-hour bus ride from Madrid to Valencia- our home for the next two months. I.LOVE.THIS.CITY. Valencia already feels like home. The woman who owns the flat we are renting met us at the bus station and paid for two cabs to take us (and all of our bags) to our new apartment. She was amazing and had prepared sangria for our arrival, bought us new shampoo and fun kitchen gadgets to make us feel at home. Our flat is in the perfect location. A ten-minute walk to the city center, a five-minute walk to the nearest neighborhood with trendy bars and restaurants, and about four miles to the beautiful Mediterranean Sea. We settled in right away and set out to explore the town.

Valencia is the third largest city in Spain, with a population of about one million. There is an adorable historic city center with gorgeous cathedrals, little cafés in decorated plazas, and enormous medieval city gates. We took a bike tour earlier this week and explored the city as well as the parks that surround the main part of Valencia. These parks are amazing! They are filled with playgrounds, fountains, trails, and workout areas every couple kilometers. Imagine men in their 50’s, on their lunch break, dressed in their work attire, working out on a stationary elliptical machine in the middle of a park. Awesome.

We truly are enjoying our new home. I have loved shopping at the local markets and Mercado Central for our groceries every day before cooking up some delicious meals at home. I feel so blessed to be in the company of fun, positive, and adventurous people I love. I remind myself to stop a few times a day and just take it all in. Look up, look around, and just think- I am here right now. Be here now. Be present. I don’t want one moment to slip away.

Our Spanish is definitely improving a little each day and our English is getting progressively worse… (I think that’s a good sign…?) We have been attending a yoga studio this past week- with classes taught only in Spanish. It has been challenging and pretty hilarious at times, but so much fun! We’ll definitely be going back.

Highlight of the week. We knew the beach was somewhat close so we decided to walk there! Because of the unknown distance, we decided to make it into a little “bar crawl”. 4 miles, 4 beers, and 4 hours later….we made it to the beach!