http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/District-of-Madrid/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Europe , Spain , District of Madrid en-us Tue, 05 Jan 2010 11:27:27 +0000 Tue, 05 Jan 2010 11:27:27 +0000 The past few days have been crazy. It is such a culture shock coming here and not really speaking Spanish well. Just trying to order food at a restaurant is difficult but luckily I have made some friends that know Spanish better than me and are able to help me out if I need it. On Thursday September 3rd we all took a walking tour of Madrid. We went to the Royal Palace the old part of Madrid and http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/District-of-Madrid/Madrid/blog-463777.html After a long night day of traveling I am finally here in Madrid Spain. I spent a long 7 hours on my flight from Chicago to London. However I sat next to this really nice Englishman who was easy to talk to and helped pass the time. Technically it wasnrsquot even really my seat though because when I got on the plane and looked at seats for some reason I got confused and although I was suppo http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/District-of-Madrid/Madrid/blog-463766.html Dias 106 a 110 Madri foi o fim da at ento maravilhosa jornada pela culinria espanhola. A boa comida estava l certamente mas escondida em algum lugar onde no houvesse um bar pdechinelo vendendo po com presunto em meio fumaa de cigarros ou ao menos mais acessvel do que os restaurantes do bairro onde estava hospedado Salamanca na casa de uma espanhola chamada Rocio. Ter que gastar http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/District-of-Madrid/Madrid/blog-461712.html Bon VoyageGoodbye America.. See you in Madrid. http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/District-of-Madrid/Madrid/blog-460542.html I finally discovered Madrid. and after checking why the comments underneath the photos don't match I decided to let go just enjoy the photos and have funAs I love Barcelona I was wondering if I would like this town..and yes I did I was however with a great company Scherazade who allowed me to see the city with otochtones eyes We walked a lot through all the streets and it was sunnyOn Sunday http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/blog-459379.html The transition my brain had to make upon moving to Spain was immense coming from Asia. My first realisation I was back in lsquocivilisationrsquo is ironically a very uncivilised tale itself. For the first time in my life I am living in a city with one of the best transport systems in the world. My first rides on the metro produced excitement akin to what the first moonwal http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/District-of-Madrid/Madrid/blog-459287.html At the end of October when it was still warm and leaves clung onto Madridrsquos trees my parents rang to say a large brown box had arrived safely in Cork from Vietnam. At the time they phoned I was chewing down a jamon y queso asado near Calle Serrano before racing to the first Colegio of the day at Santiago Bernabeu where the Real Madrid stadium is to teach nine eight year old chicas. I w http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/District-of-Madrid/Madrid/blog-459069.html All these titles lead up to one thing...Holiday seasons are meant for familiesfriends to come closure together in the WARMTH and happiness of Love and marriment.So much so that when an entire country celebrates it's independence there's only one thing to do.....celebrate......and only one place to do it Madrid. It started early enough leaving our lovely honeymoon hotel for the unknown world o http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/District-of-Madrid/Madrid/blog-458620.html Six hour bus ride to Madrid to see a concert with two guys I barely know followed by a six hour trip back to Sevilla all in the span of 24 hours. I almost wish that something had gone wrong so that I could have a better story to recount but it really couldnrsquot have gone any better. At all. It was positively fantastic. Allow me to tell you about ithellipAt 1030am last Saturday the bus de http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/District-of-Madrid/Madrid/blog-455558.html Bonjour tous je suis arrivee Madrid hier. Quel choc cette ville est vraiment etourdissante. Les gens font la fiesta toute la nuit cest croire quils ne dorment jamais. Mais comme chaque fois on doit bien sadapter. Ce matin je prends connaissance du coin o je suis installee. Lhtel est assez ordinaire mais il faut sy faire. Cest un hostal de sjour bien situe et est central prs de http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/District-of-Madrid/Madrid/blog-453084.html Sorry for the delay on this blog but due to camera cables being swiped i've been unable to get to my picsSo the end of the trip and i decided early on as my flight was passing through Madrid to stop there for a few days as its a great place.I landed early afternoon after a duff flight in which the baggage handlers helped themselves to items in my bag and found the hotel my parents had boo http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/District-of-Madrid/Madrid/blog-451169.html We left Barcelona Sunday and got into Madrid around 4. We flew Ryanair again but it was much more organized and I liked the Madrid airport much more than Girona. Our hostel in Madrid was harder to find but it was very clean and there was a bathroom in the room. There was also free internet like in Barcelona. Again breakfast was included but not really. There was a Starbucks directly next to our http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/District-of-Madrid/Madrid/blog-448730.html My transition period to Madrid has passed or rather I can say that I've finally crossed over. I am feeling more and more accustomed with my schedule with my daily nap after school then my course work for my MSCD classes in the evening. I usually cook myself a small dish lately its been soup and a sandwich or minute rice. I'm not that great of a cook though I try. And vegetables out here ar http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/District-of-Madrid/Madrid/blog-448149.html Hola a todosLife in Guardo has gotten much busier since the last time I wrote and with my travels a lot has happened in the past month This update is long overdue...So... from Sept. 30th Oct. 5th I was in Madrid for my teaching assistant program's orientation. The orientation events were only scheduled for Thursday October 1st but Spains Ministerio de Educacin paid for our 2 night stay in http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/District-of-Madrid/Madrid/blog-447246.html Everybody in this country is named Javi which is short for Xavier.And if yoursquore not named Javi you could be Paco which is short for Francisco. Then we have Chema which stems from Jos Marahellipnaturally. So just to clarify here... if I were to have say a baby Spanish boy I could name him Enrique Jess Eduardo and just call him Carlos for kicks noOn a totally unrelated topic http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/District-of-Madrid/Madrid/blog-447051.html I'm fairly settled into my new home work and social life. Things are good there is very little to complain over sure it's flippin expensive in Europe and my loan money is quickly dwindling but I am working and that is really all that matters. Yesterday was semi productive though memorable nonetheless. I finally got a bank account after going all over town. Pablo and I did an intercambio at http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/District-of-Madrid/Madrid/blog-446475.html Weekend trip nach Madrid http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/District-of-Madrid/Madrid/blog-445991.html ldquoIrsquom kiddingrdquo she claimed after I told her that her I that I was going to name this blog after her perplexing question. We were trying to orientate ourselves and thatrsquos what she offered up. Oh mother. I believe youhellip I had a lovely weekend with my parents in Madrid and it could have only been improved with the addition of my longlost brother busy toiling away http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/District-of-Madrid/blog-444488.html Valle De Los Caidos Valley of the Fallen Soldiers a monument dedicated to the Nationalist Fallen soldiers from the Spanish Civil war. Franco is interred there. Many Spanish think of it as a fascist monument but they still visit it. It is a grand massive stony very somber and austere monument cropped and dug into the Guadarrama Sierra Mountains. The outside temperature was about 28 degrees http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/District-of-Madrid/Madrid/blog-444465.html Why canrsquot you be more EuropeanmdashBloc PartyApparently I look more European than not or Irsquod rather just convince myself this is the truth since being recognized immediately as American is more offensive than being called a puta. Found an underground club in El Tribunal that plays the best Brit pop around. Wersquore talking Bloc Party MGMT Tegan and Sara Camera Obscurahel http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Spain/District-of-Madrid/Madrid/blog-444455.html