Spring Break

Hi everyone! Not much has been going on this week. In fact, this evening will be the first time I've gone into the city center since last Friday! I've been extremely busy with school work (two final exams this week).

Now that all my work is done I'm getting prepared for my spring break. Our program has break exceptionally early because the second half with the internship is longer. The plus side: it's not really tourist season (with the exception of Venice...I'll get to that), so prices tend to be lower and things are less crowded. The downside: it's not warm enough to take off to the Greek isles or anything like that. Still, I can't complain. It should be around 50-60 degrees wherever we go.

So here are my plans: tomorrow morning I'm leaving for Venice to see Carnivale!!! I'm so excited. Venice was my favorite city in Italy, and I can't believe I'm getting to go back so soon. I'm going to eat my weight in gelato. To make things even better, two of my best friends from BU are staying in Padova, just outside of Venice. They're spending the weekend in the city with relatives of their host family. So...I get to see yet another bunch of my favorite people in the middle of an amazing Italian festival. Some people may be wondering why I chose to go to a city I've already seen, given how many amazing places there are in Europe. Well, Venice was absolutely spectacular, and when I was there I promised myself I'd get back some day to see the Carnivale festivities. When the opportunity arose, I took it!

Then on Sunday we're flying over to Madrid, where we're spending three days touring throughout the city and hopefully eating a lot of Spanish tapas. I'm excited to see Spain. While my Spanish is very weak, I'm looking forward to seeing a place I studied for so many years.

On Wednesday I'm taking a bus from Madrid to Granada, where I'll be meeting up with none other than Katie Stein, one of my best friends from Ellington. She's studying abroad as well. We'll do some site seeing and lots of tapas eating as well (I hope!). I can't wait to try chocolate con churros.

I'm a bit nervous. I've never planned such a big trip myself before, but I've prepared to the best of my abilities. Hopefully it will just be a blast with few issues.

Oh, and a big thank you to everyone for the birthday wishes, cards, emails, and such last week. It made my birthday away from home that much better!