Marchtime Travels

I don't remember really ever being this busy in my life, maybe not even in college. Maybe. But anyways, lots going on! My February was blur and March is shaping up to be the same way.

I've been home from my work trip to Spain for exactly one week, and home from my birthday celebration weekend in Vegas for 2 days and they both already feel like a month ago.

My work trip to Spain was exhausting. I was home for 5 days from Scandinavia before I had to cross the Atlantic again. I had only been to Spain in 2006 when I was living in France and I spent a week during Halloween in Barcelona, and then had a weekend road trip to San Sebastian. My work was all in Madrid, and it was my first time there. It was lovely. It's such a classic city. It reminded me of a smaller, Spanish London. It's classy and nice and beautiful parks and statues.


Unfortunately, the weather was absolutely miserable while I was there. They were in the middle of Winter Storm Emma and it was pretty nonstop cold, pouring sheet rain and gusting winds that drenched me. I made friends with a lot of reps from the UK and one of them told me the wind even knocked her over and she fell splat on her side. That being said, the day I arrived was mostly gray and drizzly. I did a full city walking tour to get on the time quick, and it didn't start pouring til I was the furthest from my hotel and needed to walk back. So cool.

View from my hotel

Beautiful architecture!

This is awesome! Temple of Debod; a temple
from Egypt built in 200 AD that was dismantled
and rebuilt in Madrid

The most heavenly dinner I may have ever had

I hate taking pictures of food but I was really enjoying my
morning breakfasts at the hotel

The view at the education fair I was at

The education fair I was attending for work was put on by the
Spanish government and included education opportunities for
ALL stages. The little kid area was SO ADORABLE!!!

Original Picasso's in the Museo Reina Sofia

Picasso's Guernica. Photos weren't allowed. Oops.

A Spanish busker singing Sublime. You don't hear that everyday!

I had one day off during the week and really all I wanted to do was sleep. And because it was still supposed to rain and be miserable, I thought it was the perfect excuse to just relax and lounge and get energy for more work. But, then I thought about Sevilla and saw it was going to be sunshine and I figured I had to take the opportunity while it was here. So, I exhausted myself more fully by taking a full day trip down to the Andalusia capital. Which, by the way, was insanely beautiful and breathtaking. No wonder they used it to film the Dorne scenes of Game of Thrones!

Roman walls

Fresh oranges abound!

Bullfighting arena

Golden Tower

Sevilla tiles

Fun fact: That palace was where they decided Magellan would sail around the world and where Christopher Columbus petitioned the Spanish crown to fund his trip to India!

Then, I gave myself an early birthday present and decided to visit an Arab bath in Sevilla, plus get a 30 minute massage. It was so exotic and also heavenly.

Lobby for the baths

It was a beautiful day, and so nice for some respite from the rain! Because back in Madrid it was gray and rainy and also rainy on Monday when I had to visit our partner school. And then Tuesday fly home!

Flying home over the Rockies. We also
flew directly over the Grand Canyon which
would have been so neat but it was pitch black
by that time :(

And then leave Friday morning for Vegas. I was exhausted and I wasn't dreading it, but it was hard to look forward to it. But, it ended up being suuuuuch a good trip. Maybe one of the better ones! We tried to revitalize the entire Rafael/my's birthdays/Mountain West Conference crew and relive the Golden Years. We didn't get to peak performance, but we certainly got a group together.

We mostly all stayed in the Cromwell, which used to be Buffalo Bill's but is now a fancy Caesar's property with a perfect location on the Strip. AJ and I shacked up with Rob and Rafael for the weekend and I am going to take the liberty of speaking for everyone and saying it was a pretty bangin' success!

It had been on my bucket list to visit the
Seven Magic Mountain, and the Welcome
to Vegas sign... we did both!

Originally our plan was to go to the Omnia Club to see Calvin
Harris... instead we ended up in a food court hahaha. This was
a great night though - insane good blackjack at Paris with our
Bulgarian dealer Hristriana!

MountainWest Conference finals between SDSU and UNM

Halftime tap dancers! That might be me one day!

SDSU win! First time since 2011 when they
pummeled BYU... which we were also there for!

Fancy dinner at Yellowtail in Bellagio

Bellagio fountains outside

Seeing La Reve at the Wynn!

Le Reve scenery

Virtual craps table

Don't let this picture fool you - Rob worries
that Raf and I are addicted to gambling!

This was my favorite night though... this
was about 6am in the Cromwell watching
partiers in line for Drai's

Las Vegas sign!

Friends!

Birthday entourage!

Originally AJ and I wanted to hit the road first thing on Sunday morning (we were the only ones who drove) but we were having too much fun. We decided to stick around, walk the strip, have some brunch, gamble, visit the Vegas sign with Rob & Raf and then drop them off at the airport before we hit the road ourselves. Such a memorable trip!

And to add to the notion that 2018 is probably the best year of my life, yesterday, for the first time in my life, I won an Instagram contest!!! That stuff really works! I won this insane spa package at Kelly's Spa at the Mission Inn.

How does this even happen I don't know! 31 was a great year. 32 is going to be even better!