Hola España

For the last two months I have seriously been failing as a blogger. In my defense I was pretty busy studying 8-10 hours a day for Step 1 of the medical boards. I don't think you can truly understand how much studying for this test sucks until you actually do it yourself. After about a week of intense work, a looming depression sets in and you realize that you have nothing fun to look forward to for the next four weeks of your life. Then again, I hate when people bitch about things that they signed up for, so that's enough of that.

Luckily, I did have something exciting on the horizon -- a trip to Spain and Croatia! I was supposed to study abroad in Spain during my junior year of college and didn't end up going (this was the worst decision over). But I scheduled my exam on June 8th so that I'd have two weeks of vacation before third year started.

I went on this trip with my mom and we began by flying into Madrid and spending one night in the city before moving on to Seville and Barcelona. We didn't have enough time to really get a grasp on Madrid, but we explored for a bit and managed to squeeze in some interesting sights. I'll begin with a few shots from around town.

We arrived in Madrid on a Monday afternoon and had only until Tuesday afternoon to explore. I had sort of neglected Madrid during my trip planning and relied on our hotel's concierge for some suggestions. Since time was limited we decided to check out the "trendy" Mercado de San Miguel. If you are in Madrid and you love food, this is a must see! We went there early on Tuesday morning before the crowds arrived to grab some breakfast and souvenirs. I had a traditional Spanish breakfast dish -- something like a piece of veggie bruschetta with a fried egg on top -- and two chicken croquettes. I would describe Spanish croquettes as classy chicken-nuggets that melt in your mouth and are absolutely delicious.

If we had managed our time better I think we could have wandered around the Prado Museum for a few hours but oh well...This post is a little skimpy but I have a lot more pictures from Seville and Barcelona. Come back soon to check out my Spanish adventure in those two cities!