The start of 2017 was all business for me. I was working on obtaining my Virginia teaching license, for which I had to take a couple of Praxis tests. I scheduled one test in Madrid, Spain, and another in Manchester, England. Okay, January was not ALL business. I strategically planned to be in places where I could tour (also, cheap flights).
We arrived in Madrid on a Friday evening:
The following day, we took a train about an hour away to Toledo, Spain. Here are some photos of our day in Toledo:
We toured a church that has been renovated over the centuries. Here are photos of what was left of the original:
We toured inside of this old fortress/armory which was turned into a museum.
Photos around Toledo:
It was a beautiful day, and the weather was a great relief from what we were having in Germany at this time in January! We didn't need to wear our coats!
Here was my dinner when returned that evening to Madrid from Toledo. This was a fish with a a sauce that reminded me of sauce my Nona used to make! It was incredibly delicious.
This is a model of the inside of the restaurant where we ate. It was supposedly the "oldest" restaurant in Spain, or Europe, or something. I've gotten so confused over the years because I've eaten in several of the "oldest" in the world/Europe/country/etc. It's hard to keep them straight, and believe which is truly the "oldest"!
On Sunday we toured around Madrid:
This was an ancient Egyptian temple that was transported to Madrid:
This restaurant had the best olive oil that I've had in a long time! I could literally eat it by the spoonfuls.
On the final day, Monday, I had my test in the morning. After, we had lunch, walk about for a little, and then had to catch a nighttime flight home!
A few weeks later, I had another test in Manchester, England. I chose Manchester for this test because I was able to get a round trip flight for only 30 euros! Our friends, The Jelles accompanied us on this quick weekend trip. We flew in late on a Friday evening. I remember arriving to our hotel at about midnight, and I had a test to take in the morning at 8 am. We stayed very close to the testing center, but being that I can be a bit neurotic at times, I still had a taxi take me right to the door of my testing center. I'd rather not wander around, lost, knowing I have a multiple hour test ahead of me. I felt a bit silly when he literally drove me a few doors down the street...
Anyway, after my test, I met up with Greg and our friends, and we took a train to a town called Hebden Bridge. Here are photos from our day:
We took a hike to the top of a hill to see old church ruins...
We finally reached the top!
The sunset had beat us, but it still made for some creepy, Tim Burton-esque photos.
Well, that is it for our January trips. For the record, I passed all of my tests with flying colors.
I realize that I did not have many photos of us on these trips. Here are a few from Valentine's Day, when I took Greg out on a date in Stuttgart. ;)
Stay tuned for more long overdue posts on our travels!
-Gina
