Week 8

Hola!

I have just completed my eighth week here and I think it has been the best week yet. I had my mum and aunty Mandy here visiting from Monday-Thursday and we had a great time. On the Monday, they got here at about 6pm - the landlord was at our flat sorting the internet out so as soon as that was sorted I went to meet them at the hotel. We had a catch up in the hotel, and then hit the shops straight away! One of the big differences between Spain and England is that in Spain the shops stay open until late so you can literally go shopping at 9pm! We were going to go to the Bistro for dinner but it turns out that they close on Sundays and Mondays so we went to an Italian restaurant instead, and then for a coffee. I showed them round the flat and we sat in my bedroom for a bit. My mum bought me a really cute white Christmas tree so that is now sitting in my room, making me really excited for Christmas!

On the Tuesday, me and Niamh went to the gym early, and then I met Mum and Mandy at 10y10 for breakfast. We had to run to catch the bus to the Rio shopping centre and we spent a good few hours there shopping again. We got back later on and then mum and Mandy came for dinner at our flat - they got to try our signature dish of salad and cous cous...Then Niamh and Callum came with us to 10y10 for some drinks and I stopped at the hotel afterwards as they had two massive beds that could have easily had four people in! I ended up stopping the night after as well as I wanted to make the most of the time we had together, plus the shower was amazing!!

We walked around Valladolid a lot and started getting Christmas presents, and went on a bike ride around the park which was really nice. We went to different cafes and restaurants etc. too. I can't believe how quickly those few days went - I felt a bit deflated on the Thursday when they left as I had been so excited for ages about them coming to visit and then all of a sudden they had been and gone!

On Friday we had a test in the morning for our translation module, and then I started the year abroad work that we had to do for Warwick, so I had a day of working really hard! In the evening we went out with our Irish friends, our next door neighbour and his flat mates so there were quite a few of us. We just went for drinks at 10y10 but we had a really good night and a lot of laughs. We walked to the Cathedral and got a touristy picture!

The rest of the weekend has gone really quick - we went out again last night too so I am very tired! We went out with the Irish again last night and then ended up at a bar which was a really good experience; it was the first time I have felt like I was in a completely foreign country as it was very different to the sort of bars we would find in England! There were these dancers there who were dancing salsa and they were really good. Then the girl who had been dancing started doing all these moves and everyone copied and joined in so there was a big group of people all dancing together! Then the barmen put fire on the table to burn whisky or something - at first I was thinking that there was a fire, then I was told it was supposed to be there to do the shots with! I nearly ran out screaming! They played lots of music too which was really good, some modern Latino music and some old traditional Spanish songs.

Today me and Niamh went out for a drink this afternoon and then met Aine and Nathan, and we went to a new café that opened yesterday, called Cereal Hunters - basically, you get a bowl of any kind of cereal and then you can choose your milk (normal or all the plant based, dairy free milks) and they can die it different colours! Me and Niamh had just eaten so I didn't have anything but I definitely want to go back as Aine and Nathan's looked reallyyy good! It is a really good idea, and there were quite a few people there so I think it will be very popular.

Until next week...

Grace xx