My 21st birthday and trip to London!

Sorry it has been so long since I last posted, the last week and a half have been absolutely insane!
Last weekend rather than relaxing an ended up being on the go pretty much the whole weekend. My friends and I decided Friday to visit El Escorial and the Valley of the Fallen on Saturday. The first is a late Renaissance palace and the second the Catholic Cathedral Franco (the previous dictator) built in the side of a small mountain. They are only about an hour outside of Madrid, with a bus running between them so it works out well to see them both in one day. That Sunday I finally had a chance to meet the missionary family my uncle knows here, the Humes. I spent most of the day with them Sunday, it was nice to be with an American family and have a homecooked meal for the first time in weeks!
Tuesday was my 21st birthday, it worked out well because another one of my friends from my program's birthday was Monday so we celebrated together Monday night. The woman she lives with made us a homecooked Spanish dinner, it was delicious! It was nice to have our closest friends from the program all together and celebrating.
This past weekend was also a busy one, one of my best friends from home, Lizzie, was in London for the week. I decided that I couldn't miss the chance to see her when she was so close, so I skipped class on Friday to go spend the weekend with her. She is a theater major, so we went to a show Friday night and then just spent the weekend wandering around London seeing the sights. It was so refreshing to see an old friend.
This week hopefully will be slower than last, I am ready for a breather!