Just because my program has ended doesn't mean my travels have! My family will be joining me next week so I've got some time to kill before they make it over!
Monday and Tuesday were full of finals and packing so it was a whirlwind few days full of last minute preparations!
Wednesday:
To officially end our program, we were all brought into an auditorium for a graduation ceremony! Was a tad confused why my name wasn't called in the alphabetical order, but soon found out that my certificate had been saved for the end with some of my other friends' for special recognition for all As this semester! The ceremony was followed by tapas for lunch—our last meal all together. Very bittersweet day, but full of happy celebration!
Thursday:
Woke up way too early to get on our bus to Madrid where everyone else was being dropped off at the airport and I was dropped off at the train station. All was going well, until I realized I was at the wrong station. I hurried to catch a metro to take me to the new station and even made it to the new station right on time to catch my train, but the employees wouldn't let me onto the platform since the doors had already been closed. I watched as the train sat there for ten minutes, unable to do anything, before figuring out another route and headed to a bus station to try again. My bad luck continued and the bus station's ticket machines were all malfunctioning and no tickets could be sold so I watched as that bus left without me too. It was a trying morning to say the least, I suppose all the possible bad luck this semester decided to manifest today. My host family suggested a ride share service and the only availabilities were for that evening so I changed my plans and booked one of those. Eventually evening rolled around and I found myself in a car with a few other people for a road trip up to Vigo in northern Spain. The six hours passed fairly quickly and I was very grateful to finally arrive. Vigo is known for its Christmas light display which made for a really nice way to end such an exhausting day!
Friday:
I got some much needed sleep and then headed out to explore Vigo during the day. It's a gorgeous city! There wasn't much structure to the day, I mainly wandered from the coastline to green parks to some pretty churches. There was even even life size nativity scene set up!
I then headed to the airport to catch my flight, which included an overnight layover, before arriving in Bilbao, Spain early the next morning!
Saturday:
Not long after landing, I found some breakfast and started my morning at the Guggenheim Museum
I then spent the rest of the day wandering the rest of the city, it's been nice to have no set agenda as I explore such beautiful places!
After a full day of gorgeous views, I headed to the bus station and caught my bus to San Sebastián!
Sunday:
In keeping with the pattern of the past few days, it was yet another day of beautiful views from parks, churches, and I was back on the coast again, so ocean too!
