I´ve been in Spain for a week now and I have loved every minute of it! I´ve been fairly busy and I hardly touch a computer. So far, I´ve mostly been in Alcalá de Henares, which is a city in the community of Madrid. I´ve been here three days total and I haven´t done much more than walk around the city, window shop, and have a few tapas in the various bars. Since I studied abroad here, I´ve already done most of the touristic things. Although it may sound silly to go to Spain to just walk around, I really enjoy it. It´s exhilarating to be in a foreign city without a cell phone, by yourself, and to just enjoy the atmosphere; I felt free and relaxed.

This past weekend I went to Extremadura. While most American tourists don´t go, they really should. There are many cities that are gems and most people don´t even know about them. In two days, I visited Valle de Ejerte, Plasencia, Cáceres, Trujillo, and Guadalupe. Extremadura is known for its cherries, ham products, and cheese. In Valle del Jerte, I plucked cherries off of the trees and they were simply delicious. I´ve never tasted such good cherries in my life. Plasencia has a beautiful plaza; I don´t know much about it though...Cáceres is a World Heritage Site with so many churches that I lost count! It´s the town of the conquistadors. Almost all of them came from Extremadura because of the primogenitor: since only the first-born son inherited, many people were poor, so they made their living going to the Americas. The tombs of some conquistadors were in a cathedral in Cáceres, but since there was a wedding, we couldn´t see them. The jamón serrano, chorizo, salchichón, queso, and wine were all delicious. Trujillo had a great statue of Francisco Pizarro, who conquered the Incas. There are two palaces there, but we didn´t have time to go inside. Guadalupe was incredible. While there´s not much more to see than the main plaza, cathedral, and monastery, it´s definitely worth a visit. There is a black Virgen of Guadalupe there. Take the tour of the monastery (4€) and you will see it up close. There is an amazing collection of artwork and items that the priests wore throughout the ages. Phillip II´s desk is in the church, there´s a Christ carved out of a single tusk, paintings by Goya, Rubens, and el Greco, along with a crucifix carved by Michaelangelo. There are rooms that are entirely painted with amazing frescos and many relics with bones from the first Christian martyrs. I kissed one relic, but due to the noise in the tour group, I´m not sure what it was for. Since it was near the Virgen, I think it had something to do with her.

Words cannot describe how beautiful Extremadura is. Really, one should dedicate at least half a day to many of the small towns.

Tomorrow morning I´m off to Oporto, Portugal with my amazing boyfriend. Although I´ve basically forgotten all of the Portuguese I´ve learned, I´ll do my best and I will let you know how it went!