A few weeks ago I started seeing Joaquín, a Spanish (really Argentinian) guy who lives close to Madrid and with whom I have a lot in common. We've been on a few dates already and are having a lot of fun together. Here's us in this park near Madrid that does a "tour of Europe," 
so, we'll always have fake Paris ;)
A couple weeks ago, my friends came to visit me! Kristine, Randy, Todd, and Bich all came to Madrid over Truman's spring break to spend the week with me and experience Spain. It was a blast having them here. We did a lot of touristy stuff but I kinda love being a tour guide of sorts so it was fun to be a part of. 
My favorite part was probably hanging out in Retiro Park with them all, particularly the cherry tree garden! 
We went to Barcelona during the week, too, and had a fantastic time there, although I managed to contract some kind of 24 hour bug, and let's just say I would have spent most of the trip in bed if I could have. As it was, I did spend a lot of time sitting and half asleep. 
But Barcelona is too beautiful to see from half closed eyes! In the two times I've been I feel like I haven't even tapped the surface of the city. Here's us all on the beach just before we got dinner and returned to Madrid. 
Since they departed, I've been just getting back into the routine of things. Yesterday, though, Joaquín and I went to a couple villages outside of Madrid, Sigüenza and Molina de Aragon (mostly to see his friend Lucía in a play, but also to just have a good day out together. My favorite part was just being away from the busy noise of the city. We climbed a mountain near Molina de Aragon (there was a path, if that makes it sound less ambitious) 
And had fun exploring the area together. That's us in a little cave halfway up, and below we are at the top of the mountain which, at that point, is a cliff. Ah!
I had forgotten how much I missed being in nature and hearing just the wind in the trees and the babbling of brooks and seeing more stars in the sky than only those that are bright enough to struggle through the smog.
Today, I've been cooking, and hopefully next week I will remember to update this thing again! Until then, au revoir.
