I am here at my home for the next 4 months, España. The act of coming here by myself sounds slightly terrifying, but it actually could not have gone smoother. The trip was long, but, call me crazy, relaxing in a sense. I think when you are left in an airport or in a plane for a certain amount of hours, there is nothing left to do but use those moments to take a break. I left my home in Bay City, Michigan around 9:00am on Friday, August 28.  My parents and I were at the Detroit airport around 12:30 (after a stop for breakfast) and a few minutes later I was saying goodbye. Then I took a flight to Atlanta and around 7:00pm I was on the 8 hour flight to Madrid. On this flight, I sat next to a student from Ohio who is spending this semester in Madrid. Before I left for this trip, I was told by veteran solo travelers that I’ll meet people easier when traveling alone. I was pretty surprised at how quickly that happened for me. I enjoyed her company just being reminded that there are a lot of people like myself not only studying in Spain, but studying across the globe. After landing at 9:45am local time and getting my luggage, I had a few hours to kill before boarding the bus to Zaragoza which was spent people watching. Once aboard the three and a half hour ride to Zaragoza, I took in the Spanish countryside in between moments of sleep. I noticed a few things during the bus ride. 1. Mountains for days.  No, they are not the huge ones in Colorado or Alaska, but they are mountains nonetheless (especially for a flatland girl like myself). 2. The countryside looks pretty dry (at least where I was). I did not see much green grass at all 3. The heat. The inside of the bus showed the temperature, but of course, in Celsius and I am not super familiar with Celsius. I saw 35° and thought, “Oh, that can’t be too bad.” Then I got out my phone and used the converter and saw that 35°C is about 95°F. Definitely warmer than when I left The Mitten State.

I arrived at the bus stop around 5pm local time which was 11am Eastern Time where I was greeted by my gracious host mom. Much to my surprise, I was not that tired even though I had only gotten a few hours of (not so great) sleep on the plane and bus. My host mom and I took a bus to her neighborhood and then walked to her apartment (during which I was wondering why I had packed so much) where I ate some food and took a much needed shower. That night, we went to some stores near her apartment and walked around the city. It was then when I got my first view of the famous Cathedral in Zaragoza. La Catedral-Basílica de Nuestra Señora del Pilar is known throughout the world and is a truly fantastic sight. We turned down the road to the Cathedral and a musician was playing Ave Maria on the violin. The music, people, and Cathedral all together resembled a dream.

Since then, I have gone inside the Cathedral briefly and have seen only a portion of the beauty that this Cathedral holds. I’m looking forward to going back often. My host mom showed me around some other famous sights of Zaragoza, and I tried to take it all in. I was also struck by how Europe, in some cases, is just like the movies. Yes, I have only been here for a few days, but the mopeds are everywhere. It’s so picturesque when I see them coming down the cobblestone road with a gorgeous old building in the background.

As far as first impressions go, this one was pretty wonderful. My journey here went very well and my first few days have been great. I’m looking forward to an adventure-filled semester here in Spain!