Lots of catching up to do guys...be prepared for several posts in the next few days. As I mentioned in my previous post, Siobhan, Alexa and I were planning to go out to dinner at McDonald´s lol and then heading to the movies to see the Spanish comedy "Primos." Dinner was hysterical, as we snapped pics in the restaurant and had a little piece of America.  

Cheeseburger Meal :)

I will admit...I was in heaven!

The movie was actually really great as well.  It was difficult to understand every detail, but we all definitely got the main points.  We all burst out laughing in the theater however when the 3 main characters in the film began performing a song by the Backstreet Boys.  I had serious flashbacks to middle school.  It was nearly 1:00 in the morning when Siobhan and I got home.  We quickly packed for our trip to Valencia and then went to bed.

On Thursday (March 3rd) I bounced around all day with excitement.  Both of my classes seemed exceptionally long and I basically ran out the door when it was time to get on the bus to Madrid to catch our flight to Valencia.  Per usual the trip started off great and then we hit some problems.  We all made it to the airport with plenty of time to spare and were feeling good.  We decided to get our boarding passes, pass through security and then get something to eat as we had 5 hours to wait before our flight (we were so early because there was only one bus from Salamanca to Madrid's airport).  We were not looking forward to the long wait.....but in hindsight we were very fortunate to have the extra time.  Siobhan and I used the self check-in with ease, successfully printing our boarding passes.  However, Alexa was not so lucky.  After the self check-in told her that they didn't have a flight booked under her name she remained calm and went to the actual ticket counter.  With confirmation number in hand she once again attempted to obtain her boarding pass....FAIL.  Although she had a confirmation email and number and the airline had her name, phone number, and email address along with the same confirmation number, there was no flight listed along with it.  This is where panic set in.  Now the only way for her to come with us was to purchase a new ticket, sounds easy enough...WRONG. The only roundtrip tickets were over 300 euros..not dollars, euros.  In short the ticket was RIDICULOUSLY and UNNECESSARILY expensive.  Obviously she was not going to pay this much money for the flight.  To save you all some time...and torture...I will fast forward 2 hours...YES 2 HOURS! Alexa ended up having to buy a one-way ticket to Valencia (which still was priced to high, but not 300 euros) and then buy a train ticket back to Salamanca for Sunday instead of flying back (the train was way cheaper and she would have taken it to Valencia as well but of course by the time we thought of this she had missed the last available train of the evening..womp womp womp).  Oh and let me not forgot that when Alexa went to purchase said airplane ticket her card would not work...so actually Siobhan bought it lol.  With now only 3 hours until our flight left we treated ourselves to yup yup more McDonalds (DO NOT JUDGE!)  Fortunately we made it to Valencia without further issues.

Valencia was AMAZING! First of all, it was extremely exciting and relieving to see familiar faces.  I think I literally almost cried when I say Dr. and Mrs. Reyes, Dr. Costanzi, Ashley and Ang.

Marywood <3

Me and Ashley

Me and Ang

Although the weather did not fully cooperate, we still got to see plenty of the charming city.  I was most thrilled when we got to see the church where Dr. and Mrs. Reyes were married and of course the one sunny day that we got to take a walk on the beach and then eat AMAZING paella in a beachside restaurant.

Alter where Dr. and Mrs. Reyes exchanged vows!

Beach!

Oh and I cannot forget to mention how cool La Ciudad de Artes y Ciencias was.  One architect created this breathtaking complex of museums, unique architecture and artwork.....

However, nothing could top getting to see the first lighting of the decorations for Las Fallas, a very important holiday in Valencia. Large ornate, free-standing, metal pieces lined the various streets. Each one has millions of different colored lights on them.  The minor streets were all lit earlier in the evening, kicked-off by fireworks.

 The main attraction was lit later in the evening.  I think pretty much everyone that lives in the city was in attendance, including all of the local news stations.  Everyone got a little impatient waiting for the lights to come on...but it was WELL worth the wait.  It was one of the most amazing, special things that I have ever experienced and not just the lighting and fireworks to open Las Falles, but the pride I saw on the people's faces to be a native of such a truly beautiful city.

More to come on the last 2 weeks...

Love,
Tayler