so where was I? Oh yes, on the way to Madrid. Madrid was pretty cool, with the exception of really cold and rainy weather, but we got around it. We took an early train Saturday morning (most of us just stayed out all Friday night and then slept on the train), and got going about the city right away. We checked out the Prado and the Reina Sofia museums and though both were amazing, we rushed through them a bit too fast. Its funny, when we learned all about Dalí, Goya, Picasso, Velazquez, and other Spanish artists, it was one of the things I enjoyed most in Spanish high school - seeing their works in person makes me appreciate them to an even greater extent.
The next day we did a walking tour of the city, and then ventured around our own to many different places - and also went inside the Royal Palace which was absolutely stunning. So many different rooms, decorated in so many different styles. Gorgeous.

Overall, I liked Madrid - its a really cool city - many things to see and do. But comparing it to Barcelona is redundant because they are polar opposites - Madrid is much more old and traditional, with very little modern architecture, and few large buildings - if you took all the cars and modern advertisements out of Madrid, it would be hard to say whether it was the year 2007 or 1607. At least thats the feel I got from it.

Oh and just for the sake of concluding what I started discussing last time - Real Madrid unfortunately ended up winning La Liga - disgusting. But I guess we can't complain here, Barça has won it the last two years.

So now that I'm back in Barcelona, school kicks in - I have a midterm, if we can call it that, in my language course tomorrow, and then one in my cultural class sometime next week. I cannot wait for tomorrow's test to be over, because this weekend is going to be great - Saturday is the Festival de Sant Joan - where everyone celebrates the summer solstice - huge bonfires and fireworks everywhere, people stay out all night, walking along and hanging out at the beach. People also jump through these huge fires - an old tradition that still lives on. Some online travel guides said this: "If you don't like loud bangs then this is a good weekend to go on a weekend trip to France." - I think I'll be fine here in Barcelona. Hopefully I'll have plenty to write about after this weekend.

Matt