Year 1 vs. Year 2

This is a jet-lag and/or insomnia induced writing.  Year 3 in Spain has begun! I arrived in Madrid on Wednesday afternoon, after a bit of re-routing by the lovely U.S. Airways lady who got me here by way of Frankfurt when a delayed flight to Philly made my original plan impossible.  It is currently Friday, August 31 at 3:30am, the perfect time to compare my first two years in Spain!

Granada - June 2012

During my first year here ('10-'11):                      During my second year here ('11-'12): 
I had 5 people come visit me                                  I had 2 people come visit me
I traveled to 12 cities in Spain                                I traveled to 5 cities in Spain
I traveled to 2 cities in France                                I traveled to 2 cities in England
I traveled to 1 city in Italy


Yes, my second year was pretty underwhelming in terms of travel, but it was because I had a more Madrid-based social life this year.  I'm not going to say it was better or worse than the first year.  It was just different. Having said that, now that I've learned the best and worst ways to spend my time here, I really do think the third time is going to be the charm.  I'm aiming for the perfect combination of enjoying everything in Madrid while traveling just as much as I did as a wide-eyed first year. And it starts this week! I'm off to do 7 days on the west coast of Italy before work starts, and I've already got a Madrid/Morocco/Barcelona trip in the works for winter break with an old friend.  Fingers crossed that I've learned from my mistakes in the past two years and that I make my (possibly last) year here amazing!