Viva Espana!

I need to go back to Spain. 3 days is not enough, even for a little city like Malaga. Everything about Spain is beautiful, the beach, the shops, the food, and the people! We arrived in Malaga around 3pm on Friday, after a crazy flight on RyanAir. I think RyanAir is flight school for Europe. Everyone even clapped when we landed, but that's a different story. After we got all settled into our hostel, we walked down to the beach. The Mediterranean was extremely warm, so we all jumped in and hung out there until around 8. We stopped at a restaurant on our way back because we were starving, but they shut down the grill form 6pm-9pm. Prime dinner hours in the States. We settled for a quick french fry at Burger King off the beach, and waited around on the roof of the hostel until the Spanish dinner time of 11pm. We walked through these quaint alleyways and ended up at a nice seafood place for tapas (small plates or appetizers) and Sangria.

Main shopping alley in Malaga

Waiting for a table at dinner


Lindsay and Adam with the Sangria pitcher

Lindsay and I woke up early on Saturday and went to find the boys, but they weren't answering our calls up to their room, so we decided to go on an excursion ourselves. We ended up eating breakfast at this great little place outside of our building. Then we hiked to the top of this huge hill, where an old army fort still stands and is open to walk around. Best 60 cents spent the whole trip. See the pictures below for the great views we had from up there!

The coast and bull fighting arena in Malaga


View the other way with the cruise ship port


Lindsay locked me in the fort dungeon, thanks alot!


On top of the fort


Us with the bull fighting ring

After that, we met up with the boys and went shopping for a good portion of the day. We ended up on the beach around 3, and once again, hung out there for most of the evening. Our next Spanish dinner was a shared assortment of delicious paella, which is a rice dish consisting of any kind of meat or seafood you could think of. After another late dinner and a walk around town, it was time for bed to prepare for our crazy Sunday!

Lindsay and I woke up early again and had breakfast at the same place (we're so lame!). Then we met everyone else and went to the Picasso museum. He was born in Malaga (along with Antonio Banderez, mmmmm), so there is the beautiful museum dedicated to him tucked in a little nothing alley. It was only 4 euros to get in, and every single painting and drawing inside was done by Picasso. How cool is that? Some of the sketches were pretty weird though. We decided that he was pretty messed up to draw people the way he did.

After the museum, we went to the beach AGAIN, and then left to get ready for the big WORLD CUP FINALS featuring Spain vs. Netherlands. On our walk back, we noticed huge groups of people waiting outside of the bull arena, so we ran back, changed and headed that way. We got there about 2 hours early, at 6:30, and there were already thousands of people packed inside. We passed the time people watching and dancing to Shakira with the Spaniards around us. It was great!

The crowd hours before the game started

Lindsay and I waiting for the game to start


Zach, Adam, Kevin, and Brian excited for the game to start!


Crazy Spaniards.. where's BZ?


That's better... the group before the game

The game started at 8:30, and the place was shoulder to shoulder. The game was actually pretty slow, but there were alot of close shots. At the end of both halves, the score was still 0-0 and the game went into overtime. Nothing happened for the firsth 15 minutes, and then in the last 5 mintues of overtime, Spain scored!!! The entire place erupted. People were dancing and screaming, and even setting off fireworks fight next to us. It was ridiculous! The last 5 minutes of the game were just a big celebration, until the final seconds when everyone settled down, just to erupt again, even crazier! I wish I could upload my movies, but it isn't working. Pictures don't really do the celebration justice, so you will have to wait until I get home.

Yay for the first goal :)

Viva Espana!

Spain being handed the championship trophy

After the game, we stayed in the ring for awhile just dancing and singing and watching people light fireworks. When we finally got kicked out of the ring, the party continued onto the streets, where people were yelling, honking, and singing until we woke up again at 4am to go to the airport. I fell asleep watching the impromtu parade taking place outside of our hostel window. I will never forget that night. I can't even believe our luck. Once in a lifetime.

The parade of Spainards outside of our hostel

After our amazing trip to Spain, we headed back to Berlin very early Monday morning and went right to school to finish our programming project. The rest of the week was spent on cultural excursions, like a trip to the Baltic Sea and Peenemude, where the German Army created the V2 rocket. The rest of the week Lindsay and I spent shopping and getting ready for our trip this week.

Today was our last day of Germany Summer School. We had to give presentations about our projects to our department at TU Berlin and some professors who came over from Michigan. Afterward, we had a huge BBQ before everyone went their separate ways, which ended up being alot sadder than I had originally anticipated. A big group is headed back to the states, a couple went to Amsterdam, others went to Munich, and Lindsay, Kevin, Colin, and I are headed to Italy tomorrow morning. We are flying to Milan and pretty much going nonstop from there.

Saturday: Fly to Milan early from Berlin
Sunday: Spend the day in Milan, leave for Florence by train at night
Monday: Spend the day in Florence
Tuesday: Day trip to Pisa, back to Florence for the night
Wednesday: Leave early on the train for Venice and spend the day there
Thursday: Spend the morning in Venice, leave around noon to fly back to Berlin

Thursday night, my Mom, Bill, and Casey are flying from Detroit and arriving in Berlin early Friday morning. I am so excited to see them and show them everything! We are spending a couple days here and then driving through Germany and ending up in Munich for a night or two and then flying out of there to go back home. These are going to be some crazy 14 days, but there is so much to look forward to. I am really excited to get home and see my G-unit, Dad, Bonnie, Camryn, Kyle (if you ever come home!), Matthew <3, the Geigers, La-Lew & Moose, and of courseee, Ralph!

I will try to update again between Italy and the fam coming! :) Thanks for sticking with me through the last 6 weeks. This has been a really great way for me to keep everyone in the loop, and for me to remember all the good times I've had here. The countdown has begun (or at least it better have started Camryn) 14 days! Miss you all! Love you guys! Auf Wiedersehen!