España - The Prologue

I'm trying to recapture just how excited I was before leaving for Spain. I was scared that every thing would go wrong, but at the same time I wanted so badly to be there and I was anxious to be on my way.

I've dreamed of going to Spain for years now, and La Fiesta de San Fermin has fascinated me since the first time I remember seeing footage of the running of the bulls.

I started planning the trip in May, not long after my plans to study here were definate. Originally I wanted to see Bilbao, Pamplona, and Barcelona, but as time wore on it became quite clear that any flight into or out of Bilbao was far too expensive and just not feasible. It didn't make any sense to take a train to Bilbao and then a train back to a different city, so unfortunately Bilbao and my beloved Guggenheim had to be scrapped. Consider it something saved for a return trip.
For practicality reasons, the trip itinerary became Barcelona, Pamplona, and Madrid. Bus availabilty determined how long we needed to stay in each city, and the break down was different than I would have liked, but I was happy with how it all worked out in the end.

I also didn't want to travel alone, so I had the EAP coordinator e-mail me the contact information for those participating in the Sussex summer program. I ended up e-mailing seven different people, and within about a week I'd found a traveling buddy from UCSD named Sarah.

There was some last minute scrambling and planning, but on July 6th Sara and I left Sussex for our 4 day, 3 city whirlwind tour of Spain... and I couldn't have been happier.