Hasta Luego, Spain

These past four months in Valencia have absolutely flown by, but when I look back on the semester and all the trips and experiences we've had, I can't believe all that we've done in this short time.  But, as there is always more to see and do, we've packed some exciting things into our last week here:

(Saturday round of casual drinks after a loca Friday noche at discoteca Mya.  Enjoying our last trip to Cien Montaditos and la Plaza de la Reina.)

(Checked out a Sevillan festival in the Rio, complete with flamenco dancers and lots of patatas bravas.)

 (Went to an international horse competition in the park.)

(Hugged my two favorite teachers, Pilar and Rey-Tor - just because I didn't take a class with him doesn't mean I can't love him.)

Since the program people all flew back to the States on Wednesday (11 May) and I don't leave until Saturday (14 May) to meet my mom in Rome, I've had a few days to do some things in Valencia that I never got around to doing this semester.  First, I went to this really cool outdoor mall called Aqua that sits at the far end of la cuidad de artes y ciencias (the City of Arts and Sciences - all the really modern buildings in the park).  Its location offered a great walk on the beautiful day that was Thursday, so I took full advantage by snapping some pics:

 (Opera House)

(View from mall to Oceanografic.)

Also checked a must-do off the list:  climbed to the top of Valencia's main cathedral.  Again, killer steps, but definitely worth it in the end for the 360-degree views of the city.

(Cuidad de artes y ciencas from afar)

(View from above of Plaza de la Reina)

(Rachel - studying here until July - and me)

(Can you see the Mediterranean?)

(Torres de Serrano - old gate to the city back when it was walled - and mountains to the north)

(After making it safely back to ground level, we browsed the market set up in la Plaza de la Reina before heading to la Plaza de la Virgen right next door to see the following:)

(Picture of the Virgen in the Plaza - made completely out of flower petals!)

And to top of my four months here in Spain, I convinced Rachel to split this nutella crepe!
1.  Yum (noun):  better expressed through photos than words:

As they say, there's no goodbye, only "hasta luego."  Off to ROME and then Pompeii and Isle of Capri with my mom tomorrow!!!!!!