roadtrip!

its been a week since i last posted, which feels as unbelievable to me as the fact that i am leaving spain in only a little more than 24 hours. what? how did that happen? how has time gone by so fast that it is almost august? incredible.

on the 25th, abbey and willy arrived in santiago after driving all night. they were absolutley in the most ridiculous state of mind i have ever since either of them in, and their insanity was infectious. by the end of the day, anna and i were speaking in a strange half english half nonsense language that none of the four of us seem to be able to break ourselves out of. at least i don´t have to go back to school and try to sound smart in the fall. what a relief.

after taking them home so they could shower, we all went out for chinese food, which in spain tastes exactly like spanish chinese food. that is to say, its like chinese food in the states only without any flavor and crunchy where it shouldn´t be. we decided to walk around santiago a little bit, attempt to find somewhere to buy bread and cheese for dinner (even though it was a sunday and nothign is open on sundays), and see a tiny fraction of the city. instead we abandoned our plans to hunt for bread because we found a huge ferris wheel and a carnival to accompany it right in the middle of santiago. replete with small children holding balloons, cotton candy stands, strange games with huge stuffed animals as prizes, and definitely more than a few rides that are illegal in the states, this carnival was a serious find. who cares if steam was coming out of the electrical sockets on one of the rides or if the ferris wheel was making inauspiscious noises? we were having the time of our lives in the pouring rain!

we spent a few more days together in santiago before willy, abbey, and i hopped into pepe, our fantastic two door car, to begin our drive from santiago to valencia. little did we know that we were about to encounter more magic than i even knew existed. we took a highway that cut through portugal and got off for lunch just over the border, where we found a castle perched atop a beautiful little city with winding streets and colorful houses. we were utterly astounded by the beauty of portugal, and in the northern mountains found vista after vista that made us pull over and take a dozen pictures each. it felt like we must have done something right in our previous lives in order to be having this experience. picutres would only barely describe how amazingly beautiful it all was and words certainly can barely capture the moment.

it was not the last time we would be in the mountians before the day was out, but we left portugal in a daze of happiness inspired by nature only to find the best gas station of all time just across the border. hoping to beg some bread and cheese from the bar there, we instead found a fully equiped general store. for those of you who have been to dan and whit´s in norwich, vt, it was like that...only better. since we were in the middle of nowhere in spain of the side of a spanish highway. we bought snacks and cards and willy bought a new pair of sneakers. truth.

we drove up to the top of the mountians just outside of madrid around midnight, where we ate dinner, almost got run over by bulls, and saw madrid in all of its night time glory. seriously. magic was everywhere....especially considering that we almost ran out of gas, until we suddenly found a gas station just at the right moment with the nicest hotel for super cheap just across the street. we all feel asleep feeling absolutely marvelous and woke to a beautiful morning with clear skies and sunshine.

we drove the rest of the way to valencia, stopping for the night on abbey´s floor (although we weren´t supposed to be there...and if her madre came home, willy´s game plan was to either a) pretend we were cleaners or b) push her over and run out the door into the streets of valencia. in his boxers. so maybe game plan is not really what we should call it. i didn´t really have any kind of game plan. after getting a sunburn on the coast of the meditterean (spelling?), willy and i said goodbye to abbey (tear!) and got on a train coming north to barcelona. we were welcomed by anna´s family friends with a shower (which we needed. badly.) and a homecooked meal.

august 1st, we´ll be in paris!!!