Does Spain Know?

Don't get pickpocketed!

So we've been away for awhile, but I promise it's just because we've been so busy doing fun stuff! But we'll do our best to get you all caught up with our latest goings-on.

Last Sunday (the day after our last update), Riva and I did end up going to El Rastro, a big open-air market that sells mostly crap that looks like it was made in poorly-funded sweatshops trying to imitate something they saw on an American infomercial, but there was also some cool handmade jewelry and cheap leather goods, so we both ended up finding a few things--mostly Christmas presents!

The rest of last week was pretty much the usual until Friday, when we set off to Cologne! Or, as it's apparently called in Germany, Koln. Who knew? Coline met us at the airport and we were off for a weekend of festivities!

Apertif, anyone??

It was great to see her after all that time--we figured out we hadn't seen each other since 2010--and she gave us a great look at the city, which sits right on the Rhine River. Coline lives in this surprisingly spacious student apartment with one other girl, who happened to be out of town that weekend, so we didn't get to meet her, but we did get her room, which was bigger than our living room here in Madrid.

Cologne is beautiful, and the Christmas markets were just starting to open up, so we got to check out all the crafts and food and decorations, and it was all so festive and fun that we are REALLY ready for Christmas now. We had bratwurst and marzipan and good German beer (Cologne is part of the Kolsch region) all weekend, and I only wish we could've had more time. But we were lucky to be there as long as we were.

Later today, we leave for Santiago de Compostela, and we'll be touring Galicia all weekend, but we'll try to update whenever possible!