Blogs from Madrid, District of Madrid, Spain, Europe - page 101

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Europe » Spain » District of Madrid » Madrid November 22nd 2007

Hola from Madrid! For those of you who haven't heard the back story you should know we arrived in Spain with some trepidation. When Liz's parents arrived about a week ago all hell broke loose. First the ariline lost Ann's luggage, then on the way to the hotel she was robbed on the train and lost everything, passport, money, identification, phone, camera etc. Then they went to see the apartment they had rented for everyone to stay in and it was in a dodgy neighborhood and roach infested. By the time we arrived in Europe the motto of the trip was "anything that can go wrong is going to go wrong." However, we think we've brought better luck because so far we've enjoyed Spain without incident! We arrived yesterday morning after leaving Paris around 4:30 am. ... read more
Hotel Europa
Jamon
Salud!

Europe » Spain » District of Madrid » Madrid November 22nd 2007

I know, I know. It’s been forever since I last wrote. I think the last thing you read was about my trip to Belgium and my rant about the strike. Well, we are currently on the 7th day of a second strike. I’ve heard that this is the union’s last chance. They won’t back down until Sarko changes his mind on the special pensions. So we can all essentially forget that there is a metro in Paris. Anyway, the biggest things that have happened since my last blog are: getting my carte de sejour (which, after all the hassle is just a small little card that says I’m a legal resident of Frnace) the Semaine Pedagogique, and my 20th birthday. The Semaine Pedagogique is a one week break in the middle of the semester given by ... read more
What were they thinking?
Chinatown
Streets signs

Europe » Spain » District of Madrid » Madrid November 22nd 2007

Happy Thanksgiving family! Laurel and I are making mashed potatoes, stuffing, turkey, and cranberry sauce in our medieval kitchen tonight (complete with a Thanksgiving centerpiece and a that Laurel's mom sent us along with the stuffing)...at least it will be true pilgrim style. If that fails, though, we're also going to Hard Rock Cafe for dessert, because there is no way I'm even attempting to make pumpkin pie. Things that moving to Spain has made me grateful for: Working Appliances. This category isn't against Spain, but my apartment. Appliances include a cold fridge, a dishwasher that isn't my own two hands, a toilet that you can go number two in without hesitance, a shower with constant hot water and pressure, and the mere existence of a dryer. Being near an ocean. Portland might not be ON ... read more

Europe » Spain » District of Madrid » Madrid November 21st 2007

So my morning class was cancelled today and tomorrow, which means I get to finally catch up on some sleep!! I began a new class yesterday, which is an hour and a half and pays 20 euros an hour! It's 4 days a week, but it was cancelled late today, which means I still get paid for it. As I type this message I am getting payed 20 euros an hour to sit on my bed and relax!! 30 euros is about 45 us dollars :-). The sad thing is is that that class is cancelled tomorrow too, because they are having room difficulties and they may have to reserve a new room for me to teach in. The class is in northern madrid in a gigantic company building, and I teach classes in "sala uno" ... read more

Europe » Spain » District of Madrid » Madrid November 21st 2007

I'm sure that I'm slowly forgetting all of the funny details of my excursion to Madrid to be with Laura & Erica, but I'm confident that they can fill you in on the details. We arrived in Madrid after our trip to Segovia a little past 8 pm. We were crunched for time & I was not appreciating our cab driver talking my ear off about how Dave Beckham is gay, how much he likes Pink Floyd & the Beatles, etc. I would have much rather have sat there & worried about how on God's green earth we were going to pick up our luggage from the Consigna at the hotel, haul all of it to the Hostal at Sol, & then meet up with my friend Carlos for dinner by 9:30. Someone we managed to ... read more

Europe » Spain » District of Madrid » Madrid November 20th 2007

I left off at the point where we picked up my sister from Madrid-Barajas Airport. OK, let me get my bearings... Ah, yes. So we spent the day searching for the Hard Rock Café. I was getting very frustrated that I couldn't find it, plus you all know how cranky I get when I'm hungry & tired. That was fun. Poor Laura & Erica. We chose another quaint restaurant that I thought was actually quite good & we all felt much better after eating. We then went to the Thyssen Museum because there was the longest line to get into the Prado. They have added on to the Prado & it's free to get in this month so it's really not worth waiting in line, in my opinion. I was quite happy that we went to ... read more

Europe » Spain » District of Madrid » Madrid November 19th 2007

From the air, the area around Barajas airport looked a lot like I remember Phoenix and Albuquerque looking from the window seat. Only around Madrid there are many more olive trees than you will see in the American southwest. It wasn't long until I realized that the topography is pretty much the only thing Madrid has in common with Arizona and New Mexico. After meeting my parents in the airport we traveled together to the apartment we had rented for the next few days to meet the agent who would show us around and give us the keys to our accomodation. It was already getting dark by the time he arrived and while waiting for him we all became a little suspicious of our neighborhood and the reputation of this rental company. Apparently the neighborhood billed ... read more
Plaza de Toros
Palacio Real
Mom and Dad in Madrid

Europe » Spain » District of Madrid » Madrid November 16th 2007

Hello! Tanto tiempo sin escribiros (so much time without writing you all!) Well, I finally have a few novel things to write about, so I figured I would try to inform you about what we crazy Americans have been up to over in Spain lately. I celebrated Halloween in Valladolid. Not too many people here celebrate Halloween, but there were a few españoles dressed up. Many of the bars we went to were decorated & the bartenders dressed up, so we didn´t feel totally out of place. However, it was not as spectacular as Halloween on State St, for example. I was a 'diablesa,' es decir I bought a pair of devil horns & a red mask. Seems like I should be able to use these items for Carnaval which is much more celebrated here in ... read more

Europe » Spain » District of Madrid » Madrid November 13th 2007

Hello everyone, In response to everyone's e-mails regarding my recent excusion to the city of Toledo, I have decided that it will perhaps be easier and more convenient for me just to write about it on here, so that everyone may read and it will prevent me from having to monotonously type the same story multiple times :-). On Sunday, I awoke around 8:00 am and made for the metro station, where I took the underground about 9 stops south to Estacion Sur de Autobuses (South Bus Station), where the majority of intercity, national, and even international busses depart from. After purchasing my tickets, my bus departed almost immediately, and I arrived in Toledo about an hour later. I found Toledo to be a very intriguing little city. It, like Avila and Segovia, is very ancient ... read more
A view of the cathedral
Crossing the road...
Gazing...

Europe » Spain » District of Madrid » Madrid November 12th 2007

I was in Madrid for a 3S Project Consortium Meeting. I have been managing this project as well due to the normal project manager on maternity. I saw a Picasso exhibition that was fantastic. I am not an art guy, but it was really cool to see an actual Picasso. "Guernica" (see pic) was huge, took up most of the wall. Now I can understand why some people go to these things, you could really look at it and keep seeing different things. The entire exhibition was really interesting.... read more
Picasso's Guernica
Bullfighting Stadium
2 Mayo Memorial




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