Cadiz.

This post must be divided into 3. Because well, each place I visited has its own feel. And because things must not always be in order, this isn't in order of when I visited these places.

Again, being close to the sea does it for me and Cadiz, being the last leg of our trip seemed like a good way to end it. And it was, this town may not be the busiest, or may not boast of the best beaches, but it does have something special about it.
It's easy to get around it and everyone knows where everything is, it's that small. Their little plazas are decorated with Christmas lights (which is the case everywhere in Spain, something I am not used to)and people 'hang out' a lot. My best memory of Cadiz, is us sitting outside a restaurant treating ourselves to a cheap (11 euros) but gastronomically fulfilling meal (which was first for me on this trip) for almost 2 hours, as band of street musicians played some music.
I don't think Cadiz is the prettiest place I've been to in Spain, but it's the most livable place for me, so far, which is saying a lot.
I think it has a little of everything in perfect doses. Places to visit (there's a very pretty cathedral), the sea (they have just one beach, but there's a nice walk you can take along the coast), food (For a vegetarian, yes, I was surprised too), nice weather (it was 20 degrees in December, for Europe that's good!) and well, nice people, of course, this is Spain.

Xpress again.

I've been in Madrid for almost 3 months now and it seems so less. What have I done in these three months, you might ask me?
Other than learning to live with someone I hardly knew and in a new country, I've travelled a lot.
I went to Toledo, a little town that boasts of 3 different cultures and has been the hub for painters like El Greco. Along with that I also went to EL Escorial, which is home to a monastry/old residence of Spanish monarchy. Members of the Spanish royal family are buried here now. And it's a little scary to walk around all those beautifully carved marble tombstones.
Along with that, I left the peninsula and went to one of the Balearic islands, Mallorca for the weekend. Of course, the Spanish had more holidays and we had almost a week off, so we road tripped from Cordoba, to Sevilla and then Cadiz. I never thought I would say this, but it was 22 degrees in Sevilla and that’s the warmest I've been in 2 months!
I've learnt from all these places that even though they are major tourist spots, those little cafes in the secluded corners of the tiny lanes are the best bet. I am a vegetarian and they don't really cater to my taste, so I have to do with chips and salad from Burger King but otherwise, they are the best places you can go to.
With all that travelling, I came back home, yes, I finally called Madrid home, to work on my first presentation in Spain. I am glad to say, all those presentations in front of a 100 people back at Xavier’s helped a ton. It was quite easy and for the first time, there wasn’t a weird feeling in my stomach. So far, I’ve done well but there’s always more to learn, and I am looking forward to that in the next 6 months.