Today was a beautiful day.
My roommate, Katherine, and I decided to spend our afternoon in the park near our house, Parque del Buen Retiro. Retiro is the nicest park I have seen in Madrid, and I am very happy to live just ten minutes away from it. At one time, Retiro served as private grounds reserved for royalty but in the late 18th century it was opened to the public. On a weekend afternoon, while strolling through the park, you can see just about everything from rollerblading classes to puppet shows. People meet up to play instruments, visit with family and friends, to have a drink, or maybe even to have a nice, long, make-out session. Yeah, I don't know what it is about the park but I do witness a fair share of making-out taking place. I try my best not to notice.
Retiro also has a rowing lake, for just about four Euro you can rent your very own row boat! So, that is exactly what Katherine and I did today. The weather was unusually warm as well, which made our boat adventure that much more excellent. We had fun taking advantage of the photo opportunity...
I can't wait until family and friends visit so that I can take them to do this. The best part? It's totally acceptable to board your vessel with a 6-pack in tow, something that will not slip my mind next time around. After the boat ride, Katherine headed home while I took a stroll through the park. It had been a few weeks since I had been to Retiro and I wanted to take some pictures of all those beautiful fall colors. It has been nice to see the seasons change in a brand new place, I really love looking at the trees during fall...
As you all know, my newest hobby has been cooking. After my stroll through the park I stopped by my favorite market to grab ingredients to make parsley soup. I never know where to start when it comes to choosing a recipe, but earlier this week I found this cool website that helps. You start by typing in an ingredient you have in your kitchen, then the site comes up with accompanying ingredients and asks you to select what you have. After several items are chosen, the site gives you a list of recipes that involve items you already have in your kitchen. Brilliant! It's very useful when you have a lot of something that needs to be used before it goes bad. So, I made tabbouleh yesterday and ended up with a lot of extra parsley. Solution? Parsley soup! The soup turned out fantastic...especially considering it was my first time cooking soup. I shared it with my roommates, and even my landlords, everyone was pleased.
On Thursday, I had a great afternoon hanging with the other girl who works at my school. She took me to an excellent vegetarian buffet. There is always a new place to discover when you're living in a big city! Friday, I got to pick up my residency card...so I am officially a resident of Spain. Woot woot! Tomorrow, it will be exactly 6 weeks until Christmas. I've seen a few hints of Christmas in stores here, but nothing too crazy yet. I think the Spanish may be a little more patient about it than we are at home in the States. But regardless of how much Christmas paraphernalia I see, I don't think it's going to truly feel like the season is here until I'm in California with my loved ones. Hope everyone is having a good weekend. Stay tuned, more to come soon.
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