April 9



I could not believe that it was already Friday, the last day my parents were here. The week had just been so great and had just gone way too fast. We met up at 9:30 on Calle de la Paz because my parents actually started walking my direction and we met in the middle. We went to Starbucks and got a coffee and some orange juice and we talked about how fun/comical our dinner was the night before.

After we finished our coffee my parents really helped me out and we went over to the hospital to pay my bill. It had been hanging over my head because I haven’t had a credit card, only the number and I was just nervous to go back. We took the metro over to the hospital and asked at a few desks until we were pointed in the right direction to the payment department. The ladies were so nice, they were asking me a lot of confusing questions that I didn’t completely understand but we finally got it paid. I was surprised because I thought with the ambulance ride, there would be a lot more damage done but thankfully it wasn’t.

After we lifted that huge burden off my shoulders, we went over to L’ Almoina because I wanted to show my parents the Roman, Visigoth and Muslim ruins that were right under the Cathedral. After we went to the desk, I found out a tour was mandatory and the English tours didn’t start until 4:30, which was too late for my parents because their train left back for Madrid at 5:50. I decided to show a little of my translating skills and we opted to take the all-Spanish tour that started at 1:00.

The tour was only the three of us plus the guide, which was good because she would pause after every few sentences to allow me to translate. When she played a video about the ceramics they had found, she was nice enough to play it in English. I didn’t translate perfectly, but I was surprised at how much I actually translated. The tour guide was actually so good though that my mom was able to pick up on a lot of stuff before I even translated it.

I was starving after the tour so we decided to look for someone. I couldn’t pull the trigger and decide anywhere so we walked around for a little over thirty minutes until we all decided that the lunch we had yesterday was so good that we should go back. I was so glad we did, the meal was better than the day before. We started with an awesome salad with Balsamic vinaigrette, fresh tomatoes, chunks of delicious cheese. I had bowties again with this Bolognese sauce that was so good. My parents got delicious entrees too, my dad had linguini with a really good Carbonara sauce and my mom had a cheesy orzo that was wonderful as well.

After lunch, we only had a little less than two hours so I decided to take my parents over to the Torres de Quart to have them climb up to the top. The view is incredible, not as great as the Micalet but incredible nonetheless. We stopped back at the dorm to drop off my leftovers from lunch and to see if Joe wanted to come along too. Of course knowing my luck, It was closed for siesta and wasn’t going to open back up until 5:30. My parents still got to see the whole façade covered in craters from canon balls over the years. We decided why not go grab a little gelato and a drink to enjoy the beautiful weather.

We went to Montadito’s and got some drinks and just talked. It was great, my parents really enjoyed meeting Joe. At 5:00 we needed to start making our way to the train station. We said bye to Joe and then headed over to the Hotel to grab my parents bags that they kindly let us leave behind the counter when we checked out. We went over to the train station and looked up where the train to Madrid was leaving. I stood with them in line and saw them off. It was so hard to believe that their trip was already over. I just had the greatest time with them; I ate like a king, saw three beautiful cities, viewed beautiful artwork, but most of all just enjoyed my parents company.

After I got back to the dorm, I saw the Mary Claire, Caroline and Ashley had gotten back from Portugal. I spent most of the evening comparing pictures and telling stories about our respective trips. I got to talk to Laura for a while which was great, our limited Internet access in Barcelona and Madrid coupled with her busy schedule (that is six hours behind) made it hard for me to talk to her. She had a large break in between work and an Arch society retreat so we talked for a little over an hour.

I was disappointed to be back with the cafeteria food. Every restaurant that I ate at while my parents were here was so good and the less than stellar hamburger (without a bun mind you) didn’t look very appetizing. After dinner, we all hung out for a little bit before we decided to go to O’Haras to grab a drink. They were having a Guinness promotion there so I thought I should have one. It was good to catch up with Juanjo and talk about everyone’s trips they had this past week. The girls were going to get another drink but Joe and I decided to turn in early for the night. I was pretty exhausted and my bed felt great.

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