This weekend was fantastic, because i got to see the beauty of Madrid. Madrid is a wonderful city, but it is not particularly beautiful, that is, unless you go to the Sierra Mountains just to the north of the city and hike eight kilometers up to Peñalara Peak.

About 30 other Rotary exchange students and I spent Saturday hiking in the Peñalara Park, where we found snowy peaks and beautiful views of the city below. Nothing compares to eating jamón york on the highest point in all of the Madrid area.

Then today, I stayed with my exchange student friend, Eliza, who lives in Madrid, and went to the Rastro, which is the biggest (and best, or so they say) flea marked in all of Spain. It was huge and wonderful. I bought pins, old photographs or Holland and France, used stamps of Spain and bag-fulls of gummy-candy. I was tempted to buy a golden buddha that said SPAIN on it, just because it was ridiculous and would look great on my bed stand, but I ran out of funds and had to resist.

Madrid has a lot to offer, so if you are planning a trip to the city, don't forget that there's more to this wonderful capital than just "tapas" and the Prado (: