January 2009!

Wow, I cannot believe January is ending already! Today marks four months abroad. It's incredible that I am half way through my journey. So since the first snow in Madrid has passed, now mother nature has decided to bring extreme winds. Despite the beautiful blue skies, its still freezing when you're practically being blown off your feet!! I have been getting back into running finally, and it feels great! There is a park I run at near by. There is this steep hill in the middle of the park and Tuesday as I was running up the hill I was practically blown away. The wind was so strong that I had to push so hard to make it to the top as my eyes were watering and my earphones were struggling to stay in my ears. It was insane, but felt great every time I made it to the top.
This weekend my friend Jessie and I are going running Friday night and Sunday! I am falling back in love with running after almost a four month rut. It helps having someone who is interested in it as well. Yesterday we ran very far and included hills, sprints and intervals! Today I admit I'm a little sore, but the good kind.

I have been taking Pepe to a play group on Thursdays called Sticky Fingers. It is so fun and the highlight for him is riding the Metro(underground subway). The group is for children to learn and play in English. It's fun for me as well because I get to chat with other adults, some who speak only Spanish and others who speak English. I look forward to Thursdays....



So.... Jan 17 the girls and I went to a concert to see Jeremy Enigk. My Mom dated his Dad over ten years ago and he used to be in a very popular band(out of Seattle) called Sunny Day Real Estate.

I was stoked to see he was playing in Madrid and I had a great time. His music is very moving and the venue it was at, Moby Dick, was perfect!






Last weekend we walked around the city to see the many painted cows displayed all around. It's exactly like in Seattle when there were pigs all over the city. I'm not exactly sure what the purpose is, but there are over 150 in the city painted by different companies, even one from Microsoft.





This Saturday night night some of my friends and I have been invited to a Mojito party by one of our Spanish friends. I am very excited, mojitos are soooo good. Sunday we plan on going ice skating!!

Wednesday, finally, three of my girlfriends from Seattle are coming! They will stay for a week and a half. We are staying in Madrid from Wednesday the 4th till Monday when we will fly out to Granada. Its South of Madrid and from what I have heard it is one of the most beautiful cities in Spain. So I will definitely have some great pics for my next post.

Wishing all a wonderful New Year and a great start to February! xoxo

P.S. The kids love baths now that I started putting bubbles in! :)

First "real" snow in Madrid!

Today I woke up, looked out the window and was shocked by all the snow on the ground. Pepe and I took advantage of the day!

We found this cool snowman when we went for a walk!

Italia!

I fell in love in Italy...with Italy!! What an awesome, beautiful and charming country. I would love to live there...but don't worry! Maybe one day!

ROMA!!
My friend Leah(whom is also an Au Pair in Madrid) and I flew out of Madrid very early on Christmas Eve. We started our trip in Rome where we stayed in a great hostel and met many young people from around the world. We spent three days there and on Christmas Eve we were lucky enough to attend midnight mass at the Vatican. Pictured here is my friend Leah(from Wisconsin) and in the middle is our new friend Glauci(from Brazil) whom we met in the hostel.

Here are a few more pics from Rome....


FIRENZE!!
Our next stop was Florence where we were hosted by a really nice guy named Leo. He is from Brazil but is living in Italy where his grandfather is from. We had the best time with him. He plays guitar and sings in a band and we were lucky enough to witness the first show with his new band mates. He also showed us around Florence and took us to a really cool bar in his little town.(He lives 20 min outside of Florence by train in Pistoia)

The Cathedral in Florence...



VENEZIA!!
OK so Venice...if you have never been you must go! It is soooooo incredible! We lucked out and found a great hostel the evening we arrived. It was steps from the main canal and we made quick friends with everyone who was staying there. Our original plan was to stay two nights then return to Rome for New Years, but we were having such a great time with our new friends that we decided to stay in Venice! I am so happy we did because it turned out to be one of the best New Years ever!

Our first day and its sunny!



Our new friends...from New Zealand, Australia, Uk and Canada. Our hostel host Gustavo made us authentic Italian dinners every night..we were spoiled!


The island called Burano, known for the lace made there.

Hmmm...which house do I want...pink or yellow??

Our friends from Australia..


New Years festivities commence and the beauty of it all...it snowed! For those who are sensitive to pasty white skin, I apologize for the last pic! But, how many people can say they ran around in their undies in the snow on New Years in Venice???





If you have Myspace or Facebook you can view all the pics from my trip!
Happy New Year!!! xoxo