Wondrously Wandering

Anyone that comes to stay or live in Madrid for an extended period of time will know there are two places almost everyone visits during their time here: Toledo and Segovia. Both towns are situated no more than 1 hour and 30 minutes from Madrid by public transport and both are UNESCO World Heritage Sites. I took a rather spontaneous trip to Segovia yesterday as I felt like I just needed to get out of the hustle and bustle of Madrid for a bit after a rather busy 6 weeks here. (I honestly can't believe I've been here that long already!) As I'm a poor student being paid lower than the minimum wage at my internship (no joke..), I scoured the internet to find the cheapest way to get there and back that suited the time I had available. In the end I decided to take a Regional train from Chamartín station at 10.15 which got me to Segovia at 12.15. There are quicker trains which can get you there in under an hour, but this train cost me just €8 and it took a really pretty sce...

My year abroad has involved spending 5 months studying at a university in Chile, and moving to Madrid just 4 days ago to spend a number of months doing an internship for a multinational company. Two very different things in two very different places. But they have two things in common: 1) Both are amazing opportunities to improve my Spanish and learn about the very diverse cultures of these two places and 2) Both are away from home. Before I went to university I was such a homebody, which is why I think a lot of people were surprised that I was even considering going to England to study. In school I was the shy girl that stayed within her comfort zone at all times pretty much. But when the time came to apply to university, I was ready to break away from that. I wanted to become more confident, to meet new people, to see new things and to experience a different way of life. And I knew the best way of doing so was to step far out of my comfort zone, to pack up my stuff and to leave h...

Hello hello! And Happy New Year! I know it's been the phrase of the week but I honestly can't believe we're in 2019! I feel like it was 2015, I blinked and next thing it was 2019! With new a year comes a new beginning and I do like to use the new beginning to reflect on the previous year - the good and the bad - and to make a list of my achievements, and things I want to continue in the following year, as well as things that didn't exactly go according to plan and things I want to continue working on in the following year. So I thought today I'd share some of my goals for 2019. I have split them into 3 sections - Travel, Career/University, and Personal Growth.. I feel like having this post public can maybe help me stay on track in order to achieve these goals and maybe can inspire even one person to come up with their own! Travel As I mentioned in my previous post, the 5 months I spent studying in South America have given me a serious case of wanderlu...

Welcome to my blog! I thought for my first post, the best thing to do would be a bit of an introduction to me, who I am, why I'm starting this blog etc. My name is Caoimhe, pronounced Kee-va. It's an Irish name which is why it looks really weird and why the pronunciation has absolutely nada to do with the way it's spelt. I have this name because - you guessed it - I'm Irish. I'm 20 years old and a student in my third year studying International Management and Spanish at the University of Bath in England. This year is my year abroad and after completing my first semester studying in Chile, I have come home for a few weeks before heading off to do an internship in Madrid. Studying in South America gave me the incredible opportunity to do lots of travelling, experience completely new cultures and learn so much, and it has seriously given me the travel bug as a result! Before I left I was such a homebird. Heck, I would get homesick whilst I was away at uni during th...