While I sit here in my last hours in Madrid, I reminisce on the past 118 days and how outstanding each and every one has been. Sadly, I have not had time to write for a while because the second half of my abroad experience was jam packed with places to go and things to see. Since my last post I have gone to Barcelona, Copenhagen, Florence, Paris, Munich, and Vienna. I have also had many visitors including my sister, Tovah.

I went to Barcelona the end of October, like most college Americans in Europe, to celebrate Halloween. It was a crazy weekend, to say the least. With all of the Catalonia drama happening lately we were skeptical of what would happen while we were there. Soon after we arrived news broke that Catalonia declared their independence; this shocked us and lots of people around us. The whole weekend was very tense because no one knew what would happen next. As scary as this situation was for us, we tried to focus on seeing the city. We toured Gaudi's houses, cathedrals and parks, tried delicious Catalonian food, and even did a Segway tour. Even though I was in Barcelona on one of the craziest days of its history, I can easily say Barcelona is one of my favorite cities in Europe.

Copenhagen, Denmark was a completely different experience; it was cold, quiet, and dark. I loved the amusement park, the beautiful colored houses, and the churches. While I did enjoy Copenhagen and what it had to offer, it wasn't my favorite city. In my opinion this city was overpriced and somewhat overrated. Overall it was a good weekend visit, but compared to other cities in Europe I have been it was not my favorite.

The following weekend, I had friends from Tulane visit as well as Tovah. I had a great time showing them around the city and catching up with all of them. Tovah stayed in Madrid for two weeks, so I was able to see her often and show her some of my favorite places in Madrid. Since she was in Madrid for Thanksgiving, we cooked a full thanksgiving meal for her exchange family.

Also in November, I went to Florence, Italy. Senior year of high school I went to Italy, so it was exciting to return to Florence and relive what I saw years ago. While I was there I had the best pizza I have ever eaten, climbed the Duomo, saw a few museums, and ate delicious gelato.

All of December has been nonstop action. The first weekend of December I went with four friends to Paris. It lived up to all of my standards and expectations. It was cold and snowy, but that just made it even more lovely. Within three days of exploring Paris my friends and I managed to do it all; we went to the top of the Eiffel tower, went to four different churches, went to the louvre and the Musee d'Orsee, saw Versailles, and of course had one-of-a-kind pastries.

The following week was our last few days of classes. As crazy as it sounds, Ryan flew in two days after I got back from Paris, on my last day of classes and stayed until the day before my finals began. I showed him my favorite parts of Madrid since this would be my last opportunity to be in and see the city. We tried some nice traditional restaurants, went ice skating and attended a real madrid game! After he left, I had two days of finals, and then the following morning I flew to Munich, Germany. My friend Shikha and I spent four days in Munich absorbing the culture. We tried the traditional sausages, went on a walking tour of the city, and visited Christmas markets. My favorite part, though, was taking a day trip to see the Neuschwanstein castle, which is what cinderella's castle was designed after. After our exciting trip to Munich, we took a six hour bus ride to Vienna, Austria. We spent two full days in Vienna visiting museums, churches, and more Christmas markets before heading back today.

This moment could not be more bittersweet. I sit here excited to return to America to see my family and friends, but I also know how much I will miss this semester and all of Europe. Looking back on the past 4 months and past year (2017) in general, I can say without a doubt it was the best time and year of my life. I don't regret anything; I have learned so much about the world and myself. I now have such a strong appreciation and love for Europe, and especially Madrid. Madrid will always be a second home to me. This is not the end of my story, I will be back for more crazy adventures.