After spending two weeks in Madrid during our Verano Espanol program, my cousin and our two homestay roommates Jawaad and Albert, decided to take a train and travel 2 hours east towards Alicante, Spain for the weekend. We were hesitant at first due to the fact that we would be traveling not only through a foreign country without supervision, but a foreign country that spoke a different language. Despite our concerns we knew that this would be a perfect opportunity to practice what we have been learning at Don Quihote. Luckily we made it safe and in a relatively easy manner. On Friday afternoon, we took the Renfe AVE train from out of the Madrid Atocha station and made it to Alicante in a little under 2 and a half hours. That night we walked the streets of Alicante, taking in the nightlife and atmosphere of the new town. Alicante is a beautiful costal region with plenty of history. It has great beaches and even better food; however, the most visited attraction is the Castillo de Santa Barbara. This castle looms over the city of Alicante and dates back to the 800’s. We ended up making the 30-minute hike up, two different times during our visit here because of the beautiful views at the top. It was a clear day on Saturday and the views were breathtaking, you could see all of Alicante, the harbor, and the neighboring towns. This castle was incredible due to the time it must have taken to build such a structure on top of that mountain. After hiking to the top, we decided it was time to go to the ocean, it was a beautiful day and the water felt great, there were free umbrellas and people walking around selling refreshing drinks, it was also my first time swimming in the Mediterranean. This was an exciting weekend trip that we can still not believe we were able to make, we were given the opportunity to experience so many new things. We never thought we would have the opportunity to travel through Spain while studying in Madrid, but from the skills we have been learning at school and living in a foreign city, it made the trip a great deal easier and a lot more fun.