Sadly, today our trip came to an end. As we ended up having a lot of extra space in our luggage, probably because by this time in our lives we are expert packers, we were satisfied that we didn’t even need the extra bag. It was a tough morning to get through, especially since it meant that as soon as we step out of the door, we’ll be on our way back to California. The owner of the apartment came by and made sure everything was great and called a taxi for us, which was very nice to her.

As the time came closer to saying goodbye to our daughter once again, I realized studying in Madrid for a year was probably one of the best decisions she’s ever made. She grew up so much within the time she’s been here and has really learned how it feels to step outside of her comfort zone once again. It was difficult to say goodbye again, and I tried my best to hold back my tears but I knew that this time when we said goodbye, saying hello will be just around the corner.

Today we went to the famous bazaar and according to my daughter, the biggest street bazaar in Europe, El Rastro. The bazaar was huge and it went for blocks in each direction of the street. I couldn’t resist but to do a little more shopping while I was here. I was really eager to do shopping in Spain since the quality of everything has lowered so much back in California. Nevertheless, I got right to it and found some really beautiful jewelry and great bags.

After the bazaar we went to the neighborhood of Salamanca, where my daughter lives. It’s another shopping district in Madrid other than Sol and Gran Vía. I have to admit, that at that moment, shopping in Spain was like being a kid in the candy store. Everything they had in the stores was beautiful and fun to try on. I didn’t let myself get too carried away especially since it started to rain. When I finally decided I’ve had enough shopping, even though in Spain it felt like there would never be enough shopping, we went back to my daughter’s apartment, which luckily was only 2 or 3 streets down, and got our suitcases together to go back to our rented apartment. We put our bags down and decided that we should probably start considering packing since we have so much extra things to take back, not including some of my daughter’s belongings we were supposed to take back for her. We spent the rest of the night trying to figure out what to pack and not pack considering we just realized we need another bag.

When we finally finished shopping we went back to her apartment and started cleaning, just like parents did for their kids that went away for college living at the dorms. It took about 3 hours especially since we had to fix some of the flooring and her apartment was still under construction due to a water leak. After cleaning we went back to our rented apartment and changed to go meet one of our daughter’s good friends she made in the program and her parents. They were a great family and after eating churros and chocolate for 2 hours, we said our goodbyes and headed back to our place for a long night ahead of us trying to pack. I couldn’t believe that our trip was coming to an end right now and that we were really packing to go home. It went by so fast and it was incredibly hard to accept how fast 11 days went by in Spain. When you’re on vacation, nothing goes faster than time.