Las Cuevas

Last weekend we stumbled out of our cozy beds to head up into the mountains of León to trek through some caves.... in the snow. It was like a winter wonderland with all of the freshly fallen snow, serene and untouched. If it doesn't snow in Seattle this year I will be content with the fact that I at least saw some real powdery snow this year!

On the way up the mountain to the caves we made a pit stop to hike up into the side of the mountain to see this gorgeous waterfall. It was well worth the pit stop.

Los pueblos on the way home to León. Pretty rustic huh?

I'm going to miss León so much, but am very excited to go home in just one short week!

Un besito!

Chocolate Valor

Lately, I've been eating entirely too much chocolate. I swear to you that Spain's chocolate is better than America's so I'm savoring it while I can. Chocolate has also helped me get through studying for exams and writing essays. It's a Godsend. Don't be too jealous though, I'm bring lots of chocolate home for you guys!

All of the pictures seen below were taken at a Chocolate Valor, a café that is tucked into one of the little side streets in León. While it has proved fruitless to attempt to study here, it's always the perfect place to grab chocolate with churros, or anything else relating to chocolate for that matter.

A few things

I've been lying in bed all day, literally. These last few hours have been torture and I suddenly had the urge to write something down (which never happens), especially since I haven't posted for a while. 

I return home in a mere 3 weeks! I have learned that time is one of the most precious things in life and we must soak up every moment of it while we can because it flees past us before we have a chance to realize that a moment once lingered with us.

I thought I'd share a few things that I've been thinking about and a few things that I'm thankful for seeing as I've been sitting all day in bed doing absolutely nothing...well I did a minuscule amount of homework before rushing back into the warmth of my sheets, but let's be serious, that hardly counts right?

1. I started a tumblr a while ago but have recently become addicted. It is my new inspiration board and in my humble opinion, way better than Pinterest. If you care to take a peek follow this link. Piece of my Life

2. I am generally pretty independent but this experience has made me realize how important it is to live close to my family and my love. In fact, I didn't even make it 5 minutes walking into the SeaTac airport without crying. I also cried myself to sleep the entire week I was staying in London. I'm a baby I know.

3. I am really, really excited to come home and whip up my more than 50 pumpkin recipes that I have either pinned or bookmarked on my computer. It's a ridiculous obsession I know, but also an important part of Fall that Spain does not partake in. 

 Recipe Here

Recipe Here

4. Lastly I miss the comfort of drinking a nice grande Starbuck's coffee. It's sad and first-worldly I know, but Spain's coffee consists of tiny coffee mugs with one shot of espresso and a little milk. I have already decided that as soon as I walk off that plane in Seattle I am walking straight to Starbuck's before I rush down to baggage claim to meet my family. 

I am sorely missing all of you. One essay and two exams to go and I will be off to Madrid and heading home. 

Besos XX

La Coruña

La Coruña is another favorite city of mine. We were lucky to be able to enjoy some beautiful weather by the beach! We climbed to the top of Torre Hercules (below) and witnessed a stunning view of the entire coastal city. I've been so blessed to be able to visit so many different cities while I've been here in Spain.

We visited a science museum in La Coruña. I snapped a picture of this DNA sequence made out of books.

Our hotel was right on the beach and the view was perfect. I wish that we could have spent more time exploring this beautiful city because we were only here for one day. Next time I'm in Spain this city will be close to the top of my list of places to visit.

Burgos y La Rioja

Sorry this post is coming to you way after the fact, but a few weeks ago we had an excursion where we stopped at ANOTHER CATHEDRAL (It's getting old for me too), a monastery and wine country (obviously the crowd favorite). Below is the cathedral of Burgos, which of course was beautiful on the outside, but I'm a little tired of seeing/touring all of these cathedrals when they have the same history and  basically the same architectural appearance. However, the trip was fun nonetheless!

Below we are wearing our headphones for the cathedral tour! Those precious pieces of plastic allowed us to hear Javier (our tour guide) continually yelling in our ear for about an hour. He never quite grasped the concept of using his microphone discreetly, thus we ripped those headphones off about 15 min into the tour.

Below is inside the monastery of Yuso. This particular tour was interesting but I remember that it was freezing that day and so all I could think about was getting back onto the bus! The monastery is nestled into the side of a mountain near wine country and actually has a twin monastery above it called Suso. We were only able to see the Yuso monastery.

I'm terrible and forgot his name, but this is our wonderful and patient tour guide of the winery. The winery was interesting, but it was hard to understand what he was explaining to us because I'm not too familiar with wine vocabulary in general let alone in Spanish. It was still a great experience and we were able to taste several delicious glasses of wine throughout the tour. 

I think Brianna was trying to steal a bottle?

 We wore our wine glasses around our neck the whole tour with these nifty little necklaces. The pocket also included a bag of pretzels so that the wine didn't go straight to our heads, which DID NOT help at all. I recall our program director Santos telling us that we were all drunk as he stumbled and tripped over the root of a vine ha! Best part of this trip!