The arrival...

After a rough start, I made it! At a painful 7:10 am departure, I was bumped off of my SFO flight to JFK because AA decided to fly in a much smaller plane than anticipated, leaving approximately 20-30 of us totally displaced. I was one of 3 lucky passengers to get on a Delta flight from SFO to JFK with hopes of making my connection to Madrid with only 30 mins to spare. When I arrived at JFK I ran from Delta to AA/ Iberia (terminal 2 to terminal 7) which included the tram and an elevator…mmmmm yeah. Luckily, my connection was delayed….by 3 hrs. blah, blah, blah.

Okay, fast forward, I finally landed in Madrid! The Metro was a piece of cake but finding the hostal? Not so much. I looked like a typical tourist with my rollaway suitcase, duffel bag and backpack (hot). I tried my best to sneak a peak at the map every 5 to 10 mins without completely studying it with a monocle and a compass. After walking around in circles for x amount of time, I found it.


Then...I slept my face off!

This is the hostal where I'm staying. I have a private room and a shared bathroom. It's clean, quaint and quiet. It's a quick 10-15 min walk to and from the University and it's in a great location.

Great find, Allison!



Shab sent me off with some cute pictures just in case I get home sick.

Monday morning I was up and at 'em at 6:30 am to make sure I made the
9 am welcome/inauguration on time.

My first, café con leche of the day.

Lauren made sure that no matter where I go, super small baby Jesus has got my back,

so he's chillin' on my backpack.

This is where I will be spending the next 4 weeks:

Upon our arrival, the directors of the Spanish Language and Culture program greeted us with a very warm welcome. We sat through a video about the history and founding fathers of the university. After touring the campus, we were dismissed for the day!

The Universidad Pontificia Comillas was founded back in 1890 and has been ranked one of the top universities in Spain.


One of the many super cute cobblestone side streets.

This is for all my bichos.

After lunch, we went our separate ways. I took my time walking around, soaking up the sun, fun and culture surrounding me.

I pretty much took full advantage of our free day :)

This I thought was hilarious: a random one-pump gas station in the middle of a busy street?

Yeah, so that's happening...

One of many statues found throughout the city's parks and plazas.






Plaza de España

Street signs are posted on the corner of buildings (and are a little hard to find).

Me and mí amigo, Chanchito, had to stop and rest.

I honestly cannot think of anything better to do here than to post up outside at a corner café and people watch over a chilled glass of vino blanco.

This is what I felt like doing after walking around all day.


Plaza de Colón