Morning/Free Time

On Friday 3/13 it was our last full day in Madrid. I was at the point in questioning where all of the time went. It felt like we had just gotten there and getting to know each other. Now it was the last day with the people who made Spain feel like home to me. I woke up that morning with a slight stomach ache and decided to stay in bed longer than I anticipated, which caused me to miss breakfast. Instead I went to explore the city with my boyfriend. I was very excited to explore the city because my best friend was coming to visit me. She’s studying abroad in Sevilla, Spain for the whole spring semester and when we found out we’d both be in Spain at the same time we knew we had to meet up. Before her arrival I went to get breakfast, I got an acai bowl from Amazonia in Madrid. It was really good, everything tasted super fresh and it was super cheap in cost. I learned that acai originated in the Amazon Rainforest in Brazil and that’s why the place we went to was called Amazonia. 

After that we walked around Calle Gran Via with no google maps and just went wherever the wind took us. After a bit of just mindless walking we found a souvenir shop and I decided to get souvenirs for my mom and dad, getting my mom a tote bag and my dad a bottle opener. Soon we went back to the hotel and met up with my best friend and her roommate. I had two activities planned which were a photobooth and bracelet making. We made our way to Matik Studios where we took different pictures in the photobooth. I took pictures with just my best friend and I, the whole group, and then some with my boyfriend. After that we made our way to Casashi International S.L. where we were able to custom make different types of jewelry. I made a bracelet for my sister and one for myself for a very good price which was around 9-10 euros each. Once we finished I headed back to the hotel to get ready for the farewell dinner.

Paella Dinner

We all met up in the hotel lobby, dressed up, and ready to head to La Taberna de Penalver. We headed to Gran Via station and took the metro as a group to the restaurant. It was very sad on the way to the restaurant because it was our final dinner together. Once we got to the restaurant there were two tables ready for us outside and we all sat down together. Our resident director Fran ordered a bunch of tapas for the table and two different Paellas. To get an authentic Paella it would be better to go to Valencia which is next to the Mediterranean. But we got lucky and the restaurant specializes in making Paellas. We all were talking at the dinner table about what we had done with our free time earlier in the day. Then when the food came we started to eat, my favorite food to eat was the ham and cheese croquettes. Then the two Paellas arrived, one was rabbit and mushroom and the other was a seafood paella. I’ve never had rabbit before and it was my first time ever trying it. I enjoyed the rabbit a lot except there were little bones which caught me off guard. The seafood paella had something called monkfish in it, I’ve never had monkfish before but it was super yummy and fluffy. After we stuffed our faces they brought out dessert and there was a big variety like cheesecake, molten chocolate lava cake, pistachio lava cake, and ice cream. The dessert was delicious and the lava cake was to die for. After we finished eating we all said our goodbyes to our professor on the metro. 

Night time/Karaoke 

After our dinner we all headed back to the hotel. We decided that for our last night together we would all go to a karaoke bar together. I changed my outfit and invited my best friend to come out with us. We went to a place called Cheers Karaoke. We had a great time singing along with the songs the other Americans were singing while also hyping up our fellow classmates in the songs they sang. I even got to sing with two other students Jack and Russell, singing the song Meet Me Halfway. We took a bunch of pictures and made a lot of memories that night. I knew after that night I was going to miss my time in Madrid but I knew I had mad friends that would last a long time. Creating amazing memories with them.