Oye boom boom boom en mi corazón!

Hello everyone! I had an exceptionally fantastic weekend in Caceres. I went out Thursday night for drinks with friends to my favorite bar here, Divina Comedia. Friday was my friend Page's birthday so a bunch of us went to Divina Comedia (it's every one's favorite bar) to celebrate and then to a discoteca called Ivanhoe. It was a lot of fun.

Let me take a moment to describe Divina Comedia because we all spend a lot of time there. The bartender knows all of us now because we're there like every weekend. She's super nice and always takes care of us. The whole place is decorated like a cave. Think Pirates of the Caribbean in bar form. They play music and drinks are cheap (huge plus there). There's candles on the tables for a little extra ambiance. It's a great bar. Plus not many people smoke in there so I don't smell like an ashtray after I leave. It's nice to be a regular somewhere.

Now for Saturday night. I had concert tickets to see David Bisbal because he was in Caceres last night for a show. Now a lot of you (maybe all of you) probably don't have a clue who I'm talking about. I've been trying to come up with the best way to convey the awesomeness of having tickets to his concert. Popularity-wise he is like the pre-crazy Britney Spears of the Latin world (Spain, South America, Mexico, etc.). He is amazing. Super popular. But what makes him way more awesome than Britney Spears (because I really, really don't like her) is that he is unbelievably talented. He would just randomly in his show do this amazing a capella thing. Oh my gosh. I would kill to be able to sing like that. Seriously. Plus he is beyond attractive. I think I might be more in love with him than I am with Peyton Manning. That's how you know this is serious. It was an amazing concert. I am attaching many photos from the evening and a link to one of his Youtube videos so you can hear some of his music. Some of the photos look a little far away because my camera was zoomed all the way out, but we were actually really close to the stage and had a great view. Easily one of my top 3 concerts ever.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7EJNR-0N0vo

So basically it was an awesome weekend. I encourage you all to download David Bisbal music. It's fun to run to, dance to, sing to...pretty much it's just awesome. I leave on Thursday for Cinque Terre, Italy for spring break and I'm not taking my computer with me. I will be gone for a week and will be sure to post shortly after that. I can't believe I only have 4 weeks of actual class left and only 5 weeks in Spain. The trip is going by so fast. I'll be sad to leave Europe, but I can't wait to see you all again. Love you all lots! Mwah!

Gelato + Rick Steves + 551 steps + flying shoes = Roma

It has been a while since my last post and I apologize. Sometimes- rarely, but it has been known to happen- I just don't have that much to say. Plus I have been dealing with all kinds of bank theft issues so this week has been a little crazy. I finally have time to update everyone about my last couple weeks and, more importanly, my trip to Rome.

Last week (This won't take long.):

I just kind of hung out in Caceres. Classes are good. I went out a couple nights on the weekend. I pulled a legit Spanish night out and got home at about 5:30 am Sunday morning. It was a good time. Otherwise, not a whole lot on the Caceres front.

Last weekend (This will take longer. I apologize for the massive post.):

I went to Rome!!! It was amazing. Seriously. Rome is absolutely gorgeous, and even though I didn't have much time to spend there it was definitely worth it.

I took a bus to Madrid with friends on Thursday. We stayed the night in a hotel that night and flew to Rome at 7:00am Friday morning. The flight was short, but it took 2 hours to get from the airport to our hostel. Apparently the Rome airport isn't actually in Rome, it's an hour by train outside of Rome. They should really make a note of that on their website or something.

Friday night we went to Vatican City. We toured the Basilica and went to the Vatican Museum and the Sistine Chapel. Everything was really cool. Not to mention HUGE. Everything just kind of looms over you. It was a tiny bit scary. Mostly it was just cool, though. The Basilica was gorgeous. We climbed to the top and the view was amazing. It was 551 steps to the top. You could take the wussy way and take an elevator up the first 200 steps for an extra two euros, but we're awesome so we climbed all 551. Also, I won't type it on here, but if you are curious and would like a little entertainment, ask me about my priest story on facebook. It was a classic American tourist moment. But here's another much funnier one for you:

We decided that we wanted one legit Italian meal while in Rome so we went to a nice restaurant Friday night. Now, it had rained earlier and our jeans had just finally dried off so on our walk to the restaurant we rolled up the cuffs of them a little bit. (The fact that we walked through Rome with our pants rolled up is not the funny story.) Well we didn't want to look dumb walking into the restaurant so we stopped across the street to roll out pant legs down really fast. Well we continued walking, but there was still a flip in my pants that was driving me nuts. Not wanting to stop again like a wise person, I just kicked my leg to try to get it out. And my shoe went flying off my foot. Which would have been bad enough. But no, my shoe nailed some poor Italian woman walking in front of me. So, not speaking Italian, I began apologizing profusely in English and Spanish while I hopped 15 feet to her to retrieve my shoe. Yeah, not one of my proudest moments...

Saturday was our only full day in Rome, and we definitely filled it! We went to the colosseum, Paletine Hill, the forum, the Pantheon, and on a walking night tour through the city past all kinds of fountains, statues, obelisks, the Spanish steps (not all they're cracked up to be) and the Trevi fountain (definitely everything it's cracked upt to be). Our entire trip was guided by Rick Steves. He was the theme for the trip. We wished we'd kept track of how many times we said his name. I don't think we could count that high, though.

We only had a day and a hlf because we left early Sunday morning, but I feel like we still really got to see Rome. We hit all the major sites, and had pizza, pasta, wine and gelato. It was a great trip and I got some great pictures and memories out of it. Definitely a major win. And now, some pictures to hold you over till the next post: