¡Hola España!

      I have been here in Spain for about two weeks now and it has all been amazing! The first week my parents came with me and we took a grand tour of Spain. We arrived in Madrid in the morning, unpacked in my apartment which is centrally located to all in Madrid and hit the ground running with traveling. Before coming to Madrid we had purchased Eurail passes (which for anyone coming to Europe and planning to do a lot of traveling is a great idea), these allowed us to easily take trains from place to place for a really great price. We spent the first two days in Madrid going all around the city. We saw the Royal Palace, Museo del Prado (with works of Goya, Velasquez, Picasso and more), ate a lot and did a large walking tour around the whole city. I have been taking Spanish classes all through high school and college so it was amazing to me to finally see the history and art that I had only learned about in classes actually in front of me.

One of the many elaborate ceilings in the Royal Palace

The outside of the Palace

      Two days later we took the train to the Basque region in the north of Spain. This area was called San Sebastián and was right on the coast/border of France-- absolutely beautiful. It was also interesting because Spanish is not their primary language. I have learned that Spain has about 5 different dialects/languages other than Spanish. None of these languages resemble Spanish in the least in their sound nor spelling.

The beach in San Sebastián

       After spending two days in San Sebastián and enjoying their beach, tapas and scenery we took the train to Barcelona. Another gorgeous city right on the Mediterranean sea. Barcelona is known for a lot of artwork from both Gaudí and Picasso. One of Gaudí's most famous works is the Basílica de la Sagrada Família. We took a tour and it truly is an architectural masterpiece. The details from every inch of the church outside to inside are amazing. We also visited Parc Guell, another one of Gaudí's masterpieces. The mosaics were absolutely beautiful, not to mention the view from the top which overlooked all of Barcelona. My family and I also visited the Picasso Museum. This boasted one of the largest collections of Picasso and was created while he was alive so he directly donated some of his pieces. We got lucky because there was also a special Dalí exhibit going on. We also spent a lot of time near the beach for meals, the water had some of the clearest blues I had ever seen.

Inside of the Basílica de la Sagrada Família

The outside of the Basílica de la Sagrada Família

 Park Güell

     After a few days in Barcelona we took the train south to Valencia, the third largest city in Spain and one famous for its paella. Paella is a typical Spanish rice dish that usually has meat and seafood in a saffron rice. Being that it was a town famous for its food, most of the time spent in this city was spent eating as well as sightseeing.

Valencian Seafood Paella 

      After Valencia we took the train back to Madrid and the next morning took a day trip over to Toledo. Toledo is a medieval town just south of Madrid with a lot of extremely old history and architecture. One of the oldest churches in Spain was located here (built in the 1200's!). From there we walked through the streets looking at the old buildings and spent some time in different museums. One of the things that's very nice about the museums in Spain is that they are usually all free on Sunday's and every day after about 5 or 6. After Toledo we came back to Madrid and the next day my parents left and I began my research!

View of Toledo from one of the highest points in town

         Having finished my first full week in the lab I can tell it is going to be a great and productive summer. Everyone in my lab is extremely kind and offers to help me in any way the can both in and out of lab. I'm waiting for the mice for my project to come in so I spent the past week shadowing the different people in the lab. For the most part I am able to communicate in Spanish and some of the members are able to converse with me in English. The trickiest parts have been trying to explain certain scientific ideas and concepts whether its the lab members to me or me to them. Luckily most things are visually learned so there isn't that much of an issue. One of the things I am most surprised about is the way of life not only in my lab but in Spain in general. People are very kind and welcoming wether its a stranger on the metro or in a store. The biggest adjustment for me so far has been the eating times. Generally lunch is around 1-4 in Spain. At my lab we all have lunch together at two and everyone in the lab comes together to eat (in Spain lunch is the big meal of the day and dinner and is served later in the day around 8:30-10:30 but is usually just a light snack (tapa)). Most restaurants close after four and don't open again until 8/8:30 for dinner. So even if you want an early dinner it can be difficult to find anything open. Overall this city and country has a very comfortable and calming feel. I'm excited for what's to come!