November 16

Yesterday marked the month mark to when i come home. cannot believe i have less than a month in spain. very much bittersweet!

Traveled to Prague this past weekend. Had a great time. Fun surprise to see 3 friends from gettysburg not only on our flight but also in our same row on the plane! small world! explored a lot of the city and had a very nice weekend. VERY cold in prague- but other than that i loved the city, and would love to go back some time.

Florence! October 22nd and October 23rd

We woke up in Venice at around 9 am, and were off to Florence by about 10:30 am. We arrived in Florence at around 1:00. We found our hostel, put our stuff down, and headed out to explore the city! After finding an amazing panini place, we met up with 3 of my friends from Gettysburg, and went to a wine bar with them! Afterwards, they showed us around the city for a little while. Then we headed back to our hotel to get ready for dinner! We had dinner with a few more of my friends from Gettysburg, and then afterwards met up with even more friends of mine! It was so much fun seeing everyone! Florence is an incredible city!
The next day, we woke up early and went to an American diner for breakfast. We then decided to climb to the top of the tower. 420 steps. To say it was difficult would be an understatement- but it was VERY much worth it!! Our time in Florence was quick, but we made the most of it! And saw pretty much the entire city. We headed back to Venice around 2:30, and arrived around 4:30. We checked back into our hostel and then met up with the Gettysburg kids who did not go to Florence. We all ended the trip with another group dinner at a great Italian place.

All in all, it as one of the quickest but also one of the best weekends so far on this trip!!

Venice, October 21st

We left Sevilla at 6 am, and were in Venice by 11:30! It was a great day. We walked around San Marco (the main plaza in Venice) and found a great place for a cheap lunch. Then it took us about 2 hours to find our hostel! Luckily two of the boys in my group are great with maps, so we just followed behind them! Then, once we settled in at the hostel, we took a gondola ride (bargained the price to 12 euro per person!) We walked around the city for a long 3 hours and then ended the day with a big group dinner. 

Granada

This past weekend, we traveled to Granada. It is probably my favorite city in Spain. The Sierra Nevada surrounds Granada, which makes it gorgeous. We walked around the entire city all day on Saturday. It is a very hilly city, which is the complete opposite to Sevilla. Also, it is much cooler (which I liked!!) Saturday evening, Chris, Matt, Johanna and I got hot chocolate at a nice restaurant overlooking la Alhambra and the Sierra Nevada at sunset. It was absolutely incredible!!
The first and second night, we got mean phone calls from the front desk at the hotel telling us to be quiet in Spanish... we pretended to not understand what they were saying.

Greece!

Annie and I at the last minute, decided we wanted to go to Greece! Luckily, we found flights, and had a place to stay (with 2 friends from Gettysburg). We got there around 5:00 on Thursday afternoon. Our flight was a bit delayed because of the strikes in Athens ( a little scary ! ) Lindsay (my friend) picked us up from the airport, and then we took the metro back to her apartment. We took the metro because all taxis were on strike. Once back at the apartment, we met up with Haley and all went out to dinner. We had the best Greek salads.
On Friday, Annie and I did so much exploring. We saw the olympic stadium first, then headed to the Acropolis. We had a great breakfast overlooking the amazing view of the Acropolis. Greek Yogurt and Fruit. Then we headed up to the Acropolis and then Parthenon and saw so much more. We then walked into a touristy part of Athens and had a great lunch (pizza and Greek salad.)
On Saturday, we took the flying dolphin out to the island of Agaeina. It was very pretty. We had a hard time finding  a hostel, but once we did, it was all fun from there. We found a very nice beach, and had lunch and spend the day there. Annie and I rented kyaks for just 5 euros for an hour! That night we had dinner at a very nice restaurant right on the water, the sunset was unbelievable.
On Sunday it was already time to fly back to Sevilla! All flights were delayed in the Athens airport due to the Airport regulation flight deck strikes. So, we were delayed a good 3 hours. But, we made it back to Sevilla around 3 am on Monday morning. (believe it or not i made it to class the next day at 9 am!)

Bull Fight

On Saturday afternoon we met with our tour guide and went to see a bull fight. In total, 6 bulls were killed. As important as bull fighting is to the culture in Sevilla, I did not like going to the bull fight. It was very brutal to watch. In my opinion, it basically was just watching the Spaniards torment and then kill the bull. To make it worse, when the fifth bull came out, he ran towards one of the horses, and flipped the horse over- either killing or severely injuring the man on the horse. It was so hard to watch, but I am glad that I went because it is such an important cultural event in Spain. Here are some pictures!

I cant believe it's already the weekend for us! I can get used to these four day school weeks! This weekend we are going to a bull fight. I'm a little nervous- but I think it is a must-do before leaving Sevilla! Will add pictures after!