Hi Everyone!
I'm sorry I'm doing so terribly at updating this silly little blog of mine. I haven't had a whole ton of luck with the internet in this country, and the little time I have had I have spent doing emails and figuring out travel plans. Anyways, you don't really care about these details; you're probably here to figure out what the heck I've been up to. Well it goes something like this, I've done a few beautiful walking tours of Madrid, it is such a beautiful city and it is always abuzz. It’s a bit of an adjustment, but it’s just a fantastic place. On weekends the whole city is out until 4 or 5 in the morning! (I haven't made it that far; I tend to do the collapse into bed by 1 thing). Last night my roommates went and had a beer in a bar that Hemingway was known to frequent, and the night before, a nice place called Magistero, which actually brews its own.

There are so many different neighborhoods in Madrid, each with their own distincitive feel. I'm personally partial to a place called Huertas, which is full of restaurant lined streets and has just an attractive small town Europe feel to it even though it is right in the middle of a 3 million person city.

Siesta is rough, I haven't really embraced the practice of a long nap in the middle of the day, so you wind up with nothing to do for a few hours. Oh well, maybe one of these days I'll get the hang of it, though its not looking good.

Yesterday I took a day trip to Segovia, which is a small town about a 2 hour train ride from Madrid, its a long time on a train that seems to stop a lot but it was very much worth it. It is home to a beautiful Roman Aqueduct, a breathtaking Cathedral, and a castle which juts out over a ledge that just goes hundreds of feet into this valley with a small river in it. It’s a beautiful little Spanish town and I highly recommend it to anyone who comes to Spain. The local delicacy is roast suckling pig, I couldn't stomach the price nor the idea of a dead baby pig being thrown in front of me (maybe someday). Toledo is Wednesday's trip, and then on Thursday evening my roommates and I are off to Rome and Venice until Monday. This should be a fun trip and a good way to spend the long weekend.

I'll try to get some pictures up here somehow, but don't get your hopes up too much, I have to figure out how to get a reliable internet connection (this one seems to have disappeared in the course of writing this post), but as soon as I can I'll try to get some things up. I promise.

Until Later,
Owen