Tour Guide and Translator

On Thursday, my mom, brother, Geraldine, and her friend all arrived to visit me in Spain! I got to play tour guide and translator for the weekend which turned out to be a lot of fun! Thursday morning my mom and Colin arrived and I showed them around Alcalá, including La Casa de Cervantes and La Catedral. Thursday night we headed to the airport to pick up Geraldine and Simone, which ended up being more difficult than expected and returned to Alcalá for a nice dinner and off to bed for some rest!

Mom, Colin and I at La Casa de Cervantes

Friday we headed to Segovia and I played tour guide for the palace, cathedral and aqueduct. Segovia is a beautiful little city, a little hilly though, and we also got to do some great shopping! While at lunch we got to see another table order Segovia's traditional meal, suckling pig. It served complete and was definitely a sight to see! Friday night we were back in Alcalá and I introduced them to tapas! We went to the Indalo, one of Alcalá's most famous restaurants, and enjoyed a variety of free tapas with drinks!

Segovia from Alcazar

Saturday was spent in Madrid where we first headed to El Prado. This beautiful art museum is one of Madrid's top tourist destinations, so of course being the typical tourists we are we had to stop in! We then headed onto the double-decker red tour bus to explore the entire city. We got to see all the famous spots while listening to the historical background of everything we were seeing. I was glad to have a bit of a break from being the tour guide! We then stopped for a delicious lunch near la Puerta del Sol and finished the day off with some shopping at el Corte Ingles (a eight floor department store!).

Sunday we were up bright and early for El Rastro. We headed back into Madrid to the enormous flee-market! It was a bit rainy, but didn't stop us from enjoying all the vendors! We then headed to el palacio real, the royal palace, which was absolutely incredible. Each room is decorated in elaborte and ornate way which is truly gorgoues. We had another delicious lunch and headed back to Alcalá. Geraldine and Simone unfortunately had to head by to Ireland Sunday night, so we took them to the airport, which was much easier the second time around!

Colin, Mom, Geraldine, and Simone in front of El Palacio Real

I unfortunately had to go to classes on Monday, but my mom and Colin were able to explore Alcalá a bit more on their own. We then had an amazing lunch with my host family. It was all absolutely delicious and I am so glad my second family and my real family got to meet. I had a lot of translating to do, which at times made the lunch quite comical! Monday afternoon we explore the famous University of Alcalá, the Convent of San Diego and did some shopping along Calle Mayor.

Colin, Me, Cris, Laura and Mom

Tuesday morning, my mom and Colin headed back to the United States, but not before enjoying a cup of tea and hot chocolate at my favorite tea shop. It is right around the corner from my school and we have become regulars. It is the perfect atmosphere and the two women who work there are absolutely wonderful! Overall, I think everyone can agree we had a wonderful visit! I wish they could have stayed longer!

Just over a month left! I have friends who are studying France visiting this weekend and off to Toledo on Sunday! Hasta Luego!