“You know Spanish is taking over when you spell wonderland as o-n-e-d-r-l-a-n-d,” Emily.

Valentine’s weekend I met up with my friends from college, Emily and Richard, in northern Spain…

Just to catch ya’ll up: Emily and I met at UMD and during Christmas break we went to Tunis. Last year she graduated from UMD and since October has been teaching English in the Spanish city, Arnedo; which is in Spain’s famous vineyard region, La Rioja. The best description of this region would be the southwestern part of the United States: red rock, hot springs, mountainous land, and clear starry nights. Anyways, last weekend was my first opportunity to check out her stomping ground. Well actually, Emily and I made a pact over Christmas break to celebrate Valentine’s weekend together: a romantic getaway to celebrate our single-hood (wink wink). Richard (our Australian friend that and has been dating (on and off) a friend from Duluth) decided to join our celebration.

and it was wonderful! We rented a car and road-tripped to San Sebastian, Pamplona, and southern France. The three of us explored the cities, cooked feasts, took all kinds of crazy pictures, watched the stars in the hot springs…but most of importantly we had the best conversations (about love, life-abroad, and God)… solid fellowship was exactly what I needed…

Valentine's Weekend II

Richard and Emily
my failed attempt to do a hand stand...
being random on the beach...
Emily and I decided to take a picture in the bathroom (I took a picture of the mirror)...
cooking in Emily's apartment...

Valentine's Weekend I

the beginning of our road trip...
exploring the city of San Sebastian
walking along the coast...
at midnight we went to the hotsprings in this town...

Madrid----tambien

Saturday night my friends and I went out to an Irish Pub and then to a Tibetan restaurant- I know kind of ironic. Anyways, the next day a few of us toured the Palacio Real. It was absolutely beautiful!

Salamanca

The next day I met back up with my American friends and we made the voyage to Salamanca. (I think that Salamanca is the oldest city I have been to in Spain.) The city was unique: peaceful, old, and clean.

The girls and I had a blast exploring the city!

Toledo: ‘clearly lost but incredibly found’

Early Friday morning I said goodbye to the group and headed off on a day trip to Toledo…and my day there was wonderful!

Toledo is small simple city that rests on top of (something like) a mount and the narrow streets make it seem like a giant maze.

I aimlessly wandered the narrow streets, took random pictures, and ate at a local restaurant.

My day couldn’t have been better; even though most of the time I had no clue where the heck I was, it was exactly what I needed…