I have been putting off writing for a little while. Of course I want to share my experiences with all of you, but unlike in the past, nothing in the recent present has triggered a thought from which I could generate a written process. Though still lacking that necessary inspiration, I will try to provide an account of the last month, which can more or less be characterized by my time spent outside of Spain. The university shut down for about two weeks during "la semana santa" or the period encompassing the religious festivities. During the stated time, I was fortunate to have the opportunity to see what some of the countries to the north have to offer. Before leaving Spain for the week, another Rutgers student and I revisited Madrid, where we passed by sights that we had missed while visiting Spain's capital in January. In between the frequent bouts of frozen rain and cloudy skies, we were able to enjoy the sun's temporary presence in la plaza mayor and la plaza de espana. We only spent a day in Madrid before moving on to Brussels. I enjoyed my visit in the capital city of Belgium, but felt that a day was sufficient to see what we had planned.

Although we had a map of the city, being the hardheads that we are, we decided to just set off from the hostel confident that we would find what we were looking for. In fact, I remember seeing a postcard in Barcelona with a quote by Picasso that stated, "I don't search, I find." Even though I like to think that I am quite the navigator, I must admit that I tend to get lost occasionally, but perhaps that is how I best learn my surroundings. In any case, from the hostel I could see a giant dome in the distance and was sure that was were all the sights were. I succeeded in convincing my travel buddy that I had a clue about where we were headed, but as it turned out we ended up at a basilica which was a bit of a hike to the city center. In my opinion it was worth seeing, however, for its beautiful exterior, and we even managed to meet a couple who was able to point us in the right direction (and tell us where Manneken pis was). Concerning the latter point, we were told that the famed belgian statue was not worth the visit due to its surprisingly small size, but we simply responded with a "merci" and set off to find him. In addition to Manneken pis, the highlight of Brussels for me would have to be setting foot in le Grand-place, a plaza so to speak with picturesque, towering buildings on all sides. Both tourists and locals gather meet in the center to dine outside and to capture photos of their surroundings.

After spending a day in Brussels, we caught an early flight the next morning for Dublin, a beautiful city in its own right, and the first place in Europe that I have been able to find a very, very big cup of coffee:) Upon landing in Dublin, my poor travel buddy was also kind in walking around a bit, while I got my run in. After enjoying the outdoors for a bit, we were able to check-in and head back out to start touring. Since we were there for two days, we were a little more relaxed in our explorations, and even stopped for a short while to watch a military parade a few blocks from our hostel. We participated in the walking tour that the city offers, and even decided to take advantage of the spanish one. In fact, I was blessed to have spanish speakers with me for the week's entirety. In each of our hostels, I was lucky enough to room with spaniards, so as not to completely abandon the language for the week:) The tour passed through the main attractions in Dublin including the dublin castle and trinity college, which contains the book of kells. Without a doubt, however, my favorite place in Dublin was Phoenix Park, on the outskirts of the city center. I was blessed to be able to run there one morning, which was absolutely incredible. The rather extensive park, contains vast, green fields much like valley forge in PA, where deer roam free and where large crosses and other religious monuments make their permanent presence.

The last two cities on our tour were Glasglow, Scotland and the one and only London, England. With respect to the former, I can not say that it is the most entertaining city, yet I had a good time nonetheless. Glasgow is known for their city centre, that is, it is more or less a favorite among those with a shopping compulsion. It was nice to roam around a bit and visit the beautiful parks and beautiful campus of the University of Glasgow, just a short jaunt from our hostel. Without a doubt, I would love to return to Scotland one day to see Edinburgh and perhaps hike around Lochness. Furthermore, the people are some of the friendliness that you will ever encounter, and an absolute joy to be around, even those that insist on paying tribute to James
Brown by singing "living in America," when they find out you are from the United States.

Lastly, we had the opportunity to spend what was simply not enough time in London, my favorite of the cities that we visited during the week. Perhaps I am a bit biased, however one thing that you will notice immediately upon setting foot in London is that there are runners everywhere. The city is graced with parks everywhere, including Hype park, a giant one much like central park or el parque del buen retiro. But running aside, the city is just absolutely incredible, and I hope to return one day to spend more time there!! The administrative area near Westminster Abby is stunning, and it is quite surreal standing next to Big Ben and looking up. I just stood there for a good few minutes just staring at it, and even as the sun began to set, while we treaded along the thames, I kept glancing back to see the clock start to light up. The London eye is equally spectacular yet overwhelmingly modern in comparison to Big Ben. The london eye is a giant ferris wheel that gives pedestrians a panoramic view of the city. Although we did not ascend during this trip, I enjoyed looking at the tourists inside, glancing back like little fish in an aquarium yet amazed by the views of the city they were witnessing. The girl that I traveled with is a bit of a Shakespeare admirer, so it was exciting for her to see the Globe Theatre, and although I too was impressed, there has been so much renovation on the building, that left me feeling not disappointed by not overwhelmed either (I know......debbie downer, sorry!!). The London marathon is actually tomorrow, so I was there just a tad bit early, but if I can watch it on my laptop tomorrow morning, it should be awesome to recognize some of the landmarks that the runners are zooming by:) Also, Buckingham Palace is gorgeous. My dad had sent me a message begging me to say hello to the queen, but I guess she did not feel like exiting her estate while we were there, for there were no queen sightings. Maybe when you go one day, dad.

I hope that everyone is well. All is well here. I have been reading up on my guide books to help plan my family's trip here in less than two weeks, and in the process have decided to take some day trips to towns a short distance from Valencia. With that being said, in a few minutes I am headed for el Puig (pooch) a town known for their monastery and although quite random, the world's smallest book, about the size of a thumbnail which contains the lord's prayer in a half-dozen languages. I hope that everyone had a nice Easter and hopefully some quality time with their families and best wishes for the upcoming month. This might be my last writing so thanks for following along and see you in two months.
-katie