The struggle

As I mentioned before, I am getting to my location a little early. This means I have to coordinate bookings for multiple hotels and flights, which, for someone as obsessed with organizing as I am, is a huge struggle. Ireland was easy, because I know Dublin. I know where to go, where to stay, what I want to be near. But Spain? I've absolutely no clue. We are staying in Madrid overnight, which means I've been endlessly researching hotels near the airport, hotels closer to city center, surrounding amenities, hotel amenities, transportation to and from hotels/city center/airport. It's exhausting.
So I've narrowed it down to five (or seven) hotels which have things that are important: ATM, bar, COFFEE, maybe a pool (30 day forecast says I should expect 90 degree weather!!), and convenience of transportation. I have a feeling I'll want to be by things and places I can go walk to and ogle at, but I have a sneaking suspicion I'll get lost.
33 days and counting!

Leave the things that habit made you love

So I wrote the following on my other blog a few weeks ago. Looks like I'm going to be double-blogging this summer!

Another year, another study abroad. Back to Dublin- just for a few days- and then a month in Spain. I chose to go back to Dublin because I struggled last year. I expected the jet lag, but I didn’t expect to be awake at three am with my thoughts racing and a fear of walking out the door into an unfamiliar city with nowhere to go. But this time, Dublin isn’t unfamiliar and I know where to go at three am when all I want is fresh air and a coffee. So two days in Dublin, two days of Lemon Crepe & Co, Orchard Thieves cider, really real Guinness, and -hopefully- a day trip to Howth and the seaside.

And then a month in Spain. I’ll be arriving a day early and staying in a hotel overnight in Madrid with another NIU student in the program with me, before we all meet up to catch a train to Toledo, a city south of Madrid, which is known as ‘la ciudad de tres culturas’, for its strong historical ties to the Christian, Jewish, and Muslim cultures. It is actually a UNESCO World Heritage site! Below is a picture of it, which Wikipedia kindly provided:

I really love Europe because it feels a little like stepping backwards in time. When we think of ‘old’ in the US, it really doesn’t resonate the same- we don’t respect our old buildings the same way. We tear them down and make way for newer, shinier, taller buildings. Our country overall (as we know it) isn’t even that old in comparison. In Ireland, I visited a church which had been in existence (and is still fully functional today) since 1000 A.D. It just blows my mind, that something so old could still be here. So I am extremely excited to see more of Europe and hopefully as much of Spain as I can. It sounds like I will have some free weekends so I’m already looking into places I can go (the dream: Mount Vesuvius & Pompeii, because VOLCANO OMG), although my list is longer than my bank account can accommodate! It’s a very fine line between living for experiences and memories, and accepting the importance of financial security in American society. However, I am determined to make the best of my time, and go as far as my free time allows me.

Countdown: two months exactly!!! I leave on June 22nd.