Ok, so you may be wondering what people in pirate hats and bears eating madroño tress (does the bear thing really happen anywhere??) have in common.  Well, these are both pictures that I took during previous trips that I made to Spain.  In fact, I have made two previous trips to Spain and the trip that I am currently planning for will be my third one (as you can tell, I really like the country).  Anyway, I thought it would be appropriate for me to write a short post explaining a little about my previous experiences in Spain.

Before I get started talking about my previous experiences in Spain, I would like to draw your attention to a new tool that I am using on my site: Picasa.  For those of you who don't know, Picasa is a tool that allows users to post photos in a sort of "blog style" and then lets anyone access those photos from around the world.  Anyway, I decided to post some of the photos that I've taken during my previous trips to Spain on my Picasa account.  You can go HERE to view those photos.  I encourage you to take a look at them... some are pretty cool.  I'm also adding a link to my Picasa account on the sidebar to the left, so you can visit it anytime.

Now, without further hesitation, let me explain to you a little about the two trips that I have made to Spain so far:

Trip #1 - Tour of Madrid and Southern Spain

Ok, my first trip to Spain came in 2003 and involved me visiting Madrid and regions of Spain south of Madrid (like Toledo and Sevilla).  This trip was short - it only lasted about two weeks; however, it was great.  In fact, it was during this trip that I decided I wanted to return to Spain some day for a much longer period of time.  The picture above of the bear eating the madroño tree is a picture that I took during my 2003 trip.  It's a famous statue that was located near the Puerta del Sol in Madrid (apparently, these statues are located throughout Madrid - see Bill's post below).  I remembered having seen a photo of that statue in one of my high school Spanish books so when I saw it in person I just had to take my own photo.  Remember, you can click HERE to view the complete photos from my 2003 trip.

Trip #2 - Study Abroad in Valladolid, Spain

My second trip to Spain came in 2007 when I studied abroad for six months at Valladolid.  During this time abroad, I studied at the Universidad de Valladolid and helped volunteer as an English/Spanish translator and teacher for the Red Cross in Spain.  I really enjoyed my time abroad and it was this trip that "persuaded me" (I really didn't need much persuading) to pursue the current scholarship that I just won in order to return to Spain for an even longer amount of time.  The picture of the "pirate" above is actually a picture of an actor in a Renaissance Fair held in Valladolid that I attended.  Remember, you can click HERE to view the complete photos from my 2007 study abroad trip.

Trip #3 - Coming Soon!

As you already know, I'm now preparing for my third trip to Spain.  All I know about this trip so far is that I will be in Spain for at least one year and I will be somewhere in the Castilla y León region.  As I find out more details, I'll be sure to post them here...

Hasta la próxima,
--Chris
http://www.abroadinspain.com