Catching Up!

Hi Everyone!

So I know I've been absolutely terrible about blogging lately. I'm surprised they haven't kicked me off of here for lack of attention. But I'm back. Fear not :) I guess I should start out by catching everyone up on what I've been up to the past few weeks...

I left Geneva quite sad to leave some of the good friends I'd become close to, heading home for the holidays to spend with the family. It was wonderful and relaxing. Played lots of cards, monopoly and even played in the snow, for as long as I could manage before being froze out. My mother and I cooked a lot and everyone ate A LOT. Over-indulgence is the name of the season.

Family Pic
Playing Pitch at Uncle Doug's on Christmas
Grandpa Jeep and I dominated the game...

I headed to St. Louis for a few days to meet up with friends. Spent a few days with my old roommates in Soulard and a few more with friends from SLU. We all spent NYE together in Benton Park at Frazer's, a really cute little bar near the brewery with free apps and a midnight toast. I loved having everyone together :) Bridget and I even went to the art museums I worked at and saw quite a few friends and good art.

Missing these two!! Lindsey, Bridget and I

Me and some of my StL boys :)

I came back to Europe a few days early to fly to Madrid for the weekend to meet up with a High School friend, Jennifer Crawford. She had found a cheap flight and wanted to meet me there. I obviously had no problem with this as I had spent six months there in my undergrad and had always wanted to revisit the city. So after my terrible luck with traveling, I finally made it to Madrid about 3 days after I'd started. (Apparently Londoners can't handle 3 inches of snow on the runway... I would like to have seen how Chicago could have handled it, not biased at all :)

But Madrid was absolutely amazing. Jennifer and I ate tapas and Spanish Tortilla, drank Sangria, stayed out late, saw Flamenco and lots of art. It was exactly how I like to spend my vacations. :) It was so fun to be back in the city where I had first experienced life abroad.

Some Views of Madrid, Mi Amor :)

Street and Sky view outside the Museo del Prado

Jennifer and I at the Flamenco show :)

Spanish Flamenco Dancer

Tortilla Espanol, Jennifer and I were on a mission to find the best, meaning we tried it in every place we visited :)

Richard Serra and I in the Reina Sofia Museo

Plaza Mayor

I recently read a quote by British critic, GK Chesterton, that I think describes accurately some of my own feelings of being abroad... "Foreign travel is not so much to set foot overseas as to see one's own country as a foreign land."

Just some food for thought :)

Cheers from London!!

xoxo
Amy Jo