The past few days have been great! I can't believe I have been here for 2 weeks already. I can already tell a huge difference in my Spanish skills, which I am so excited about!
On Friday, I had classes (they lied when they said we wouldn't have classes on Fridays, but hopefully this is a one time occurrence). After lunch, we went walking around to find the supposed best churros in Mallorca. We found it, but of course it was closed (all the businesses have the weirdest hours ever, and usually they are not posted anywhere). So, we walked down through the cathedral gardens and walked for a mile or so along the sidewalk close to the sea. We found a little beach down there and watched the sunset while picking up seashells. Perfect. I only took a few pictures with my camera that's not very good, because I didn't have my nice camera with me. When we went back to Rosaleda, it was open! The line was so long for a table, but we got one after about 20 minutes. We ordered their hot chocolate and churros which were incredible! The place is called Rosaleda Churreria. You have to dip the churros in the chocolate for the best experience. I can't wait to go back. After all that deliciousness, we decided to go try tapas somewhere. The place we wanted to go was incredibly packed, so we walked around for a while to find another place (and to work off some churros). We found a decent-looking place that had a few natives in it, so we decided to try it. I got some cava (which is ridiculously cheap here.. 3 euros for a glass!) and the other two got drinks as well. We ordered a paella with peeled shrimp and mussels and an appetizer sampler. I didn't really like the food that much. The rice in the paella reminded me of take-out Chinese food, but the shrimp in it was good. The appetizers were really weird including some type of cold potato salad, some squid in a red sauce, meatballs, potatoes and beef, and some bread. I wasn't a huge fan of any of that, so I don't think we will be going back.
After dinner, we wanted to see what this "hacer bolletón" thing was all about. One of our profs told us that on the weekend, all the people our age buy bottles of alcohol and go sit on the path by the sea since drinks in clubs are so expensive. We found some random cafe/bar and got a bottle of cava (7 euro.. so cheap) and plastic cups (the guy offered them to us. he knew what was up) and headed down by the cathedral. We realized it was only 10ish which is really early there since they don't go out until at least midnight. So we sat and looked at the cathedral and drank the bottle for an hour or so. Then we decided to go back and get another bottle and try to find the other people. We walked around and never found them (but someone from Holy Cross told us where to go next time), so we just sat by the ocean and drank the other bottle. We had to go into McDonald's to use the restroom since it is the only place with a free, public restroom. I cannot even believe the McDonald's here. It is like a nice, legit restaurant. The food is about 3x the price, and the building is so cool. I am tempted to try it here to see if the quality is better, but I just can't bring myself to ever eat there again for the rest of my life. We went home kind of early (compared to how late they stay out here), and slept a lot.
On Saturday, we went to Ses Illetes beach. It is about a 25 minute bus ride from Palma and costs about $2. That was the first day I have spent at the beach in at least 5 years, definitely more, maybe even 7 or 8. Anyway, it is paradise. It is the little secluded inlet with lots of beautiful trees and rocks and crystal clear, blue water. It was so incredible. I stood in the water up to my ankles, but it was incredibly cold. Some people were actually swimming out in it, and I don't know how they did that. We took a bunch of food including cheese, 3 baguettes, tons of fruit, water, and a bottle of cava. We had so much food and loved it. We took tons of photos (which you can find by clicking on the sidebar and going to my flickr page) and just enjoyed the day. I felt so happy all day. Vitamin D really does make a difference. I didn't get sunburned either, yay! It was so relaxing just listening to the waves crash against the beach and the rocks and just feeling the sun on me (and knowing it wasn't burning me). I am pretty sure that I am going to need to live near a beach with sun for most of my life. Northern California, Oregon, and Washington are looking like good prospects. After yesterday, I really don't want to spend my life so far away from something I love so much. Just knowing how relaxing and healthy I felt at the beach makes me want to spend many of my days there. You only live once.
Today, I am just being lazy. Nothing is open on Sundays, so there's really nothing to do. I have a little homework to do and need to shower. Other than that, I'll probably watch some tv shows on my computer and read a little bit. I definitely caught up on my sleep last night after taking a nap from 5pm-10pm then sleeping from 4am-11am. I love weekends. We are also planning our spring break trip to... Paris! I think we are going Monday-Friday April 25-29, and I am thinking about heading to Nice/Monte Carlo/Monaco for the following Friday and Saturday by myself (because I love traveling by myself). I found this amazing website that has apartments you can rent all over Europe for super cheap, usually cheaper than hotels. I am definitely not going to stay in hostels by myself, so this website is perfect. I am having a hard time choosing where I want to go, and I can't really plan it yet because I don't know my full class schedule. Right now, I only have classes on Mondays and Tuesdays beginning on 2-14, but I have 2 other classes I will be taking that I don't know when they meet. I am crossing my fingers that I don't have class on Friday (or Thursday either). So far, the places that look the cheapest and best to go this semester are Paris, Dublin, London, Edinburgh, Athens, Berlin, Prague, Barcelona, Madrid, Rome, and Florence. That seems like a lot, but I am going to be here for a long time with many long weekends, so I think it is doable at a pretty reasonable cost. I have found some websites with incredibly cheap flights and places to stay. I want to go to mostly English-speaking countries or very large cities that cater to English-speakers especially if I go on my own, because that would be slightly terrifying to be in a place and not know what anything meant. Anyway, I will probably do more researching about traveling today since there's nothing else to do! I would love to walk around since the weather is perpetually beautiful, but my legs are soooo sore. I think I'm just going to lounge today.
Love and miss you all!
-Lynne
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