Kylie Middleton

As I was sitting at the kitchen table sweating while I calmly ate breakfast this morning, I knew that our hike through the Albufera National Park was sure to be a toasty one. Fear not, we were most definitely not let down in this assumption as our high intakes of water throughout the day clearly indicated. After taking two different busses out of the city, we arrived in a small town on the edge of the park where we met our tour guide, Jaime. From the town, we began a short walk through the forest to reach the beach where we continued our walk to our ultimate destination, which was a small boat. After boarding, and receiving exceptionally fashionable hats to help block the sun, we set off on a short and relaxing journey past rice fields to reach the largest lake in Spain. Along the way, many photos were taken as everyone enjoyed the view, the breeze, and the ease of being out on the water.

I’ll be the first to admit that there was an extensive photo shoot carried out on the front of the boat involving props and a handful of behind-the-scenes help to make it run smoothly. You can see how we are really “moving the world forward” as Purdue students with our extensive innovation as seen here.

As we concluded the boat tour, we made our way back over to the beach for some real downtime. We all set up our towels and blankets, lathered on some more sunscreen, and hung out in the sun for the rest of the afternoon. Because of the beach’s secluded location, there were much fewer people there, which was cohesive for a nap in the sun, or in the case of Cassidy and I, the construction of an architectural masterpiece: a sandcastle. Through the concoction of the perfectly damp sand mixture, a collection of shells, and a few collapses in infrastructure along the way, our three-floor castle was perfect, moat for protection and all. The moat proved its worth, taking out one of its oncoming attackers, but unfortunately it was already too late and the castle could not be saved. I’ll save Tommy the embarrassment by not including a photo of the outcome of his onslaught of the castle here. However, of course Cassidy and I took a super basic photo posing with our creation, and no one can be saved from seeing that.

After returning home for the evening, I was able to spend some time with my host family, and even helped to make some homemade pizza for dinner without causing too many issues. Now, off to nurse my sunburns from the day and watch the popular game show PasaPalabra with the family.