Toledo, Spain. What a quaint and beautiful place!

Three weeks ago I spent 4 days in Toledo, a beautiful city in the center of Spain. Toledo is the capital of the province of the same name, and it belongs to the autonomous community of Castilla La Mancha (where the famous Don Quixote is from!). Thw whole city it's been declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO for its extensive cultural and monumental heritage as one of the former capitals of the Spanish Empire and place of coexistence of Christian, Muslim and Jewish cultures (Yes guys, we had Muslims, Jewish and Christians living in the city back in the old days!). And there are still some proves of it ^_^

 (And btw as you can see, I'm talking about Toledo-Spain, not Toledo-Ohio, haha XD Many people confuses them actually (and I'll show you guys a fun fact about this later!).

Day 1

We didn't do much because we left Barcelona at 2pm, so we arrived to Toledo at dinnertime. It was by car, so we had to cross the country lol. 6 hours by car x_x It was worth it, though. We passed by the Greenwich Meiridian in Aragón :)

We also passed by Los Monegros, a desert in Aragón.

We also passed by "ahem" Madrid, since my dad couldn't find the right road XD Here it's Atocha Train Station!  And well, we didn't so much that day since we arrived late to Toledo. We just had something quick for dinner and we went straight to bed ^_^

Day 2

We decided to take our day-off and discover the city by themselves. 

한국어 연습하고 있었어요~ ㅋㅋㅋㅋ

 Those were the views of the city from my hotel. Isn't it beautiful? :)

 The sky looked so bright and blue that day...! <3 *sigh* I'm proud of the photos I took!

You can see the Muslim influence on architecture on that building on the right

"El Alcázar", a stone fortification restored in the 16th century

Plaza de Zocódover <3 I loved this place and its glassy windows!

And this is the fun fact I was talking about before XD Toledo (Spain) has a street called "Toledo from Ohio" lol! My guide told me the next day that those two cities became the first twin towns in the world in 1931.

We found a menorah on the floor. That means there's a synagogue around!

There it is c: 

<3 Hebrew

Another synagogue with Muslim archs

Isn't it clear I love those typical windows?! *sigh*

This is the only mosque left in the city: Mosque of Cristo de la Luz

Nomnomnom brazos de gitano... (That's how we call Swiss rolls lol~ Literally "Gypsy's arm"! Don't ask me why,...)

This cutie doggy decided to pose for me c: Hehe... Thanks!

We had some jamón and Manchego cheese for dinner and then three small pans with "migas" (center) , deer (left) and  a typical stew from the region (right)

I decided to end up that day with some taro bubble tea, yayyyyyyy! So Spanish lol XD

Day 3

That day we decided to join in a guided tour around the city to see the things we had missed on day two. The guide was super lovely and told us about so many things ^_^ I thought it would be rather boring but it wasn't at all! Technically it was our last day in the city (since we were going to spend day 4 on the road), so we wanted to make it worth it.

Marzipan is the typical sweet of Toledo. I don't really like it but this sword made of it looks very yummy ^w^

Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer, one of the best poets in Spain <3 

This white&blue door made of wood reminded me of Greece XD 

Cathedral of Toledo

I got this meal for lunch consisting in 4 small tapas! (From left to right, up to down):
Brandade, fried cheese in orange & honey sauce, stewed mushrooms, deer (aka venison) and sponge cake with wild berries sauce & ice cream <3

Finally we got into this kind of "Choo choo train" that went along the city XD Toledo is a small place and you can go walking everywhere, but going this far was too much. We got the chance to see the city from the outside, and it was totally worth it :) The views were totally breathtaking! <3

I have to say I really enjoyed my stay in this city. I wouldn't live there at all, but it was good to see and visit it. People were nice and it wasn't super crowded of tourists (even though I'm proud to say I practiced my Japanese with a group of tourists I bumped with in a museum haha). We were there for 4 days only, but it was more than enough I think. I totally reccomend it of course, it's a typical Spanish city and there's so much to see and learn from. And food is undoubtedly delicious :)

Hope you guys like the pictures! Feel free to comment or share the link ^_^

Love,
CL

Middle March Snail mail Update

Guys, this is probably the best snail mail package I've never received. And when I say it it's because I mean it. Just take a look at those piece of papers/masterpieces, please...♥

"Why everything's so beautiful?!" you might be wondering. And my answer is simple: My kawaiiest Anna Zhang sent me a letter ♥♥♥ Sigh, isn't it perfect and precious? sdtyuilokjmhngf she got that colorful stationery in London, she came back from her European trip to the city & Madrid one month ago. She told me she loved it, yay ♥ I don't know how am I supposed to make it up for this perfect package, really ;_; But I will! Haha kidding, her letter is ready to go soon, I just need some time to buy some little somethings and it'll be ready to send :) And as always, thanks a bunch Anna! ♥

I finally got Christin's letter after a few months ^_^ We lost contact around Halloween, it seems she didn't get my last letter for some reason so I messaged her >_< So happy we're in touch again, yay! ♥

 Viola's letters usually take way too long to get to each other (3 weeks aprox? x_x), but when they arrive, it's totally worth it. This time she sent me the letter itself, a lovely note pad from Snoopy, a small notepad and a pamphlet of Disneyland Hong Kong (OMG I'd love to go *-* I haven't even been to the closest we have which is in Paris)~ It seems she loved the bubble bath I sent her last time ^^ ♥

Ploi's letter arrived ripped on top :\ Most of times customs open it just to check, but this time the keychain she had sent me had disappeared! ú_u I'm so sad... Also the letter arrived pinched and in very bad conditions, I hate when this happens! Anyway, I'm happy I got her letter anyway, she's one of my "oldest" penpals and it's always a pleasure hearing from her :) ♥

 I also got some postcards this week :) The first is King Ludwig II from Germany. Thanks Tanja!

Also Yunji from Korea and Gabriela from Panamá surprised me with their postcards ^_^ Yunji definitely knows my postcard taste, I love this "sakura" vintage card ♥♥♥♥

Finally Nikki from Cali sent me another parcel. I'll need to pay it back somehow but I need my time to save up and find cute stuff >_< 

(PS. Sorry for the super bad quality pics, my only SD card can't be read and I need to buy a new one asap x_x)

She definitely knows how much I love Reeses and Hello Kitty haha. She sent me another plushie so... One more in my collection ^_^ Aren't they cute? 

 Yes, I also told her my love for Reeses... u///////u *ashamed*

Obviously she sent me a letter with the parcel ^_^ I'll reply the letter first and then I'll prepare something cute for her. I'm not in my best financial moment (even though I realized I got a 1200€ scholarship for my exchange program) it's still not enough! So yeah, I should control this lovely but not so cheap hobby of mine >_<

Byebye you all! Cheer up, good weather will be here soon ;) ♥

Love,

CL

Meeting new friends, Viet food and Holi Festival

Whoa, it's been a long time I don't update this ^_^ I have to say I'm feeling better, thanks you all and sorry I worried you >_< I'm in a better mood recently, I had a wonderful weekend after a few stressing weeks because of the Korean uni paperwork, but I'm finally free, yay! <3 So I'm gonna start talking about my fantastic weekend. 

Honestly I didn't expect it was this good :) First of all, I met Soojung, a Korean friend I met on Penpals-net and who's living in Málaga (south of Spain). She was coming to Barcelona for three days and I didn't hesitate to show her around :)

 We went to Park Güell, which is one of the most famous places in Barcelona. She just loved it! Plus, the day was warm, super clear and there wasn't a single cloud in the sky! Definitely a perfect day to walk around ^^

We found this grafitti on the street which reminded us of Spirited Away's No Face & Mononoke Hime

 We had a refreshing juice before going back to the city center ^^ Then we visited other famous places in the city like Sagrada Familia, Palau de la Música and Santa Maria del Mar. Then we stopped for a bit and we realised we were hungry. She asked me, "Do you like Vietnamese food?" and my reaction was something similar to "OMG YESXDFGHJUKHGFDS  ♥♥♥♥♥" lol haha~ So happy I found a Viet food lover like me! 

We went to Bun Bo Vietnam, which is one of the best Viet restaurants in the city. I ordered my dearest Pho, yumymuyum! (It's a pity they don't have Bun Rieu, it's my favourite Viet food so far!). It reminds me to the States soooooo bad ;_; I want to go back to homelaaaaaaaand! ♥ (?)

And that's how I spent my Saturday ^_^ I found Soojoung such a great and unique girl, very talkative and friendly! She lives really close to HUFS, so I'm happy we can hang out in the future! She wants to take me to this pajeon restaurant and have some with soju! *drools* (And remember kids, never say no to soju!) <<<--- My future motto when I live in Korea lol Haha anyway, I have the feeling we'll get on well and we'll be very good friends ^_^ (PS. CAN YOU BELIEVE SHE'S 25?! OMG it looks like my age, right? Unnie looks so young, haha ♥)

Then on Sunday I went to Holi Festival with Àngel and Esther to "El Carmel", Esther's neighbourhood. I couldn't believe how crowded it was, that's such a small area in Barcelona! XD

 I know I might look like a stalker, but I love taking pictures of kids with their mommies ;_; And this Chinese girl was too adorable! <3

This Indian guy painting this kid...  ♥

My buds ♥

Check how crowded it was :o 

There were some Bollywood and other Indian dance performances. I love how Indian music sounds, so I loved it there ^_^ Despite the paint and everything I could take really nice pictures (yay, I'm proud of them!) I have to say I forgot to put some sunscream and I sunburnt my chest & my nose lol~ ♥ But hey, it was totally worth it! :D

Honestly I never though my weekend would be as awesome as it was. But I'm happy I met my friends both days and I had this fun. Good weather is coming and that kind of cheers me up too. I've been through some terrible months and I feel like I should apologize to my friends, since I've been kind of distant and cold to them >_< Sorry guys! Our time is coming, we all need to make plans and we're kind of nervous, but we'll go through it together. I feel so blessed I have the friends I have. So that's why I'm trying to meet with them as much as I can: I'll be gone soon, and some of them will be gone as well >_< We have to take advantatge of our time together, it won't be the same on Skype!

Well, I guess this is all by now ^_^ I'm preparing a snail mail update soon and I also need to show you guys my pictures from Toledo (the city I visited with my parents during my Spring Break). As always, thanks for reading and thanks for being there! You're all more important than you think, really ♥

Love,

CL

Snail mail update + Gracias, Yina :)

Yay yay! I can't believe this, but I won the first giveaway ever! ^_^ Well, as I told you before, a Blogger friend of mine (Yina) threw a giveway not so long ago, and I won! :D I got super excited because I'm usually pretty bad at this and I never win anything hah, but this time it happened ^_^ We swapped addresses and 2 weeks later I got this lovely thing in my post office:

 The package looks so colorful and cute! I was afraid to break it while opening it, haha >-<

Beautiful stamps, indeed :')

Ta-da! That's what my package contained: Two postcards from Dominican Republic, a typical keychain, a DVD from Samaná (a province in the north west of the country) and a catalogue of the Carnival in DR :) I loved it all, I've never been to the Caribbean but getting all this made me want to go asap! >_< I'm sick of  European cold weather! 

She also wrote me a lovely note ^_^ Isn't she adorable?

Muchas gracias Yina, eres todo un tesoro de penpal, haha! <3 Tu paquetito está listo para enviar la semana que viene, espero que lo recibas pronto!

I didn't get many things those past few weeks haha, mainly it was me sending lots of stuff XD Hope I can get more letters and postcards by next week then!

I got a new penpal from the UK, her name is Katherine and she's 17 :) She sent me a super easy shortbread recipe I'm gonna try asap!

Also I got those lovely postcrards from Eline (one of my closest postcard swappers from the NL), Echo from China and Ting-Hsuan from Taiwan. Did I ever mention how much I love Taiwan? <3

I have a lot of new things to tell, but I had to write this snail mail post first! <3 Sorry if this is way too short, haha. I'll make it up for it, I swear! Till then, hehehe~

Love,

CL