My two new favorite places in Spain...

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Well hey there! How goes it stateside?! It pretty much goes without saying that things are continuing to go well on my side of the Atlantic. Actually, these past two weeks have been QUITE eventful, so if my fingers can endure all I have to type, this is going to be the longest post yet. Prepare yourselves.

Ready?

Okay. Here goes.

Recap of my life since we last left off. The Tuesday after I posted the last blog, I went to a get-together at Fabio’s apartment (the hilarious South Korean from my grammar classes) with the rest of our grammar class. The entire class minus the Americans was continuing on together, and I really missed all of them! It was so nice to see everyone again, as well as hang out with people that I could only speak Spanish with. We had lots of good food too... always a plus 😊 We’re working out another reunion too, so that’s exciting.

The election was also Tuesday, but I’ll get to that in the general stories section in a bit.

Last weekend (a week and a half ago) was a nice relaxing one. Saturday Nikki and I took the tram that hits small towns all along the coast for a small day trip. Our first stop was Villajoyosa, about 45 minutes north of here. The town itself didn’t have much to it and wouldn’t have really been worth a trip, BUT it was home to the Valor chocolate factory, so that speaks volumes for itself 😊 Valor is pretty popular around Spain… I’d rank it around Ghiardelli in the U.S. So, basically, it’s pretty good stuff. They sell it in the U.S. too, so you should look for it.

Anywho, I had been the one to look up info on the factory, but I think I just got so excited that all I looked up was the city it was in and what the hours were. I guess I figured there would be huge signs pointing to it or we’d be able to immediately spot it when we got of the tram, I don’t know, but basically we ended up wandering around for over an hour trying to find it and had to ask directions three different times. It was quite a trip getting there, let me tell you. We managed to hit the last tour of the day, but since the factory was closed on Saturdays, it wasn’t much of a tour, just a video explaining how chocolate is made and then we walked past the factory and into the gift shop. I guess that’s the main reason I went anyway, though, so I wasn’t complaining too much. Our tour guide was pretty snooty too, and started talking about us being stupid Americans, thinking we couldn’t understand her. Oh, but we could. *sigh* Oh well.

So basically to get back at her, we took a few extra free samples 😊 I then proceeded to spend a little too much money on chocolate, but it all had a sticker that said it was bought at the factory versus a store, so I had to get it… right?

We left Villajoyosa after that and headed up to Altea, which we knew nothing about but had heard it was beautiful. It was about another hour on the tram to get there, and we pulled in at about three. Nikki and I had packed lunches from home, so we headed right down to the water to enjoy our picnic. The shorefront was absolutely beautiful… Altea is settled on a bit of a bay, with mountains jutting out on both sides of the water. B-e-a-utiful. We took a walk along the water, and Altea is also a pretty touristy town, so the beach was lined with restaurants of all ethnicities as well as tons of little stores. I was already enamored with it… it reminded me of the little coastal towns in Maine actually, which I love too.

Well then we decided to hike up into the old town center (the water front is all newer stuff). The city is built on a hill, so it was literally a hike upwards to the cathedral, which was situated at the top/center. The town was absolutely stunning… I didn’t think it could get much better than the area by the water, but it definitely did. It was full of tiny streets lined with white houses and balconies overflowing with flowers. Each little street exited into a small plaza with one or two restaurants and outdoor table settings before branching off into another street. Gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous. We ended at the cathedral at the top, and went inside to look around. There was only one other person inside, so we didn’t have to fight with crowds of tourists to see a statue or the altar… I think that “forgotten” feel made it one of the prettiest churches I’ve seen yet.

From the area outside the cathedral, we could see the town from all sides. From one side was the sea, from another the towns in the distance, and from the other two the mountains surrounding the town with homes scattered among them. It was absolutely incredible! The sun was setting too, making it all the more stunning, and also sealing Altea as one of my favorite places in Spain. I think what made it even cooler was that it’s somewhere that few people will ever think to see, so it holds more charm than the giant tourist traps. It kind of felt like my own little Spanish secret, if you will… I loved it 😊

Let’s see… then Sunday Ana’s family came over for lunch again, which was less awkward this time around, and I was able to understand more of what was going on, so that was kinda cool. After lunch Nikki and I went for a hike up the castle. We hit it at sunset, and I was being all artsy-fartsy and took tons of pictures… it was, to overuse the phrase, stunning.

This past week was pretty uneventful, although I did manage to talk my program director into letting me go to Madrid on my own, so that was good. The trip was a requirement for my art class, but the class was only going for roughly two days, which I thought was nowhere near enough time in the city, and I did four FULL days for the same price. It took awhile for him to budge, but luckily he did.

Yes, so this past weekend was Madrid. I left on Thursday night/Friday morning just after midnight, sleeping on the bus and arriving in Madrid Friday morning at 6. It was absolutely freezing… I was actually thankful that Ana forced me to bring her daughter’s old coat that made me look like the incredible hulk… I thought I was going to be a popsicle! The worst part is that in comparison to what the weather is back in Michigan, Madrid wasn’t all that cold… apparently I can’t handle anything below 40 anymore. Yikes.

Katie met me at the bus station, and Ryan’s bus from Seville got in at 7. Since Katie is the Madrid expert, she was our guide for the morning. We couldn’t check into our hostel until 9, so we grabbed breakfast first. Katie was almost robbed… a guy had his hand in her purse (we didn’t notice) but was caught by one of the employees of the restaurant. We were all actually confused as to why this woman was yelling at the guy, but she yelled something about Katie’s bag, so it kind of all clicked as he took off running. Luckily he didn’t get anything, but that was quite a way to start the weekend!

We checked into our hostel, which was really nice and we had our own shower, so that was sweet. Ryan didn’t sleep much on his bus, so he took a nap while Katie and I went for a walk around the city. From the moment we stepped out of the hostel, I was absolutely enamored with Madrid… the architecture in that city is incredibly beautiful. Alicante has some cool old buildings, sure, but about 98% of Madrid’s buildings are a couple hundred years old (at least in the main area of the city)… cool, cool stuff.

We went for a walk through El Retiro park which is to Madrid what Central Park is to New York. It was breathtaking! The leaves on all of the trees were bright yellow (no palm trees!), and there were piles of them all over the ground… it was my first true taste of fall! I was beyond excited, you have no idea. I could’ve stayed there all day, but there’s a lot to see in Madrid, so that wasn’t much of an option. Katie had class, so she left and I had a few hours to kill just wandering around. I picked up a chai tea and went for a photo-walk around the city. Just about every tree and building in the city became the subjects of my pictures… it was all just too cool! That morning right there was one of the biggest reasons that I was so adamant on doing this trip alone… we never get time to just wander around when we go on group trips.

I met Katie, Eva, and Michelle at their school and we headed back to the hostel to pick up Ryan and go to lunch. First we hit the Plaza Mayor, which is the most famous plaza in Madrid (and possibly Spain). Now it’s basically all shops and restaurants, but it was once used as the public square in the city… where they held bull fights, meetings, and even hangings. Good stuff. It’s also now the main hub for street performers, namely statue-people. I got my picture taken with a guy in a Yoda costume, so that was sweet! Haha.

We grabbed lunch at the “Museo de Jamón,” or Ham Museum restaurant chain, which is quite popular in Madrid (Spaniards love their ham), and we grabbed some sandwiches and headed off to find a place to eat. While wandering past the royal palace (enormous!) we decided to eat in the palace gardens… once again, they were very fall-ish, and we had a great view of the palace as we ate. I think moments like that are some of the coolest parts about studying abroad… I get to come home and say, “Oh, yeah, we just ate lunch next to the royal palace in Spain, no biggie.” 😊

After lunch we continued to wander around and wound up on these paths/gardens behind the palace. Once again I snapped tons of pictures… the leaves here were gorgeous, and the walkways were FULL of peacocks! I’ve never seen one outside of a zoo, and here they were everywhere! That was pretty sweet overall, even though none of them ever spread their feathers… oh well.

We then went to an ancient Egyptian temple which was taken from Egypt in the 80s (I believe) and brought for permanent display in Madrid. It was completely random, but pretty cool. Plus, I took a picture doing the Steve Martin “King Tut” pose, so all was well.

We were all pretty beat, so we headed back towards the hostel and grabbed dinner at a kebap restaurant, where I got made fun of by the owner for ordering a falafel while everyone else ordered the kebap that he recommended. Good times. We wound up just hanging out in the hostel that night, which was fun.

Saturday morning Ryan, Katie, and I met up with the Alicante group for the day to tour various museums. We started at the Senate, which included a tour of the original senate room as well as the modern one, plus a wickedly sweet library. All of the shelves were made of iron (in case of a fire), and it was all dark and really ancient-looking. It looked like something out of Hogwarts… I was in love 😊

We then went for another walking tour of the city, where Armando pointed out the palace and the Plaza Mayor, so hey, I got to see them again! Actually, it was cool, as he had some additional information that I didn’t know before. Besides, those places are so incredible that I could see them dozens of times and not get tired of it! We also toured the cathedral, which, like all cathedrals, was gorgeous. Unlike most cathedrals, however, this one was very modern-looking from the outside… it doesn’t actually look much like a church at all, which is kind of weird.

We split for lunch and met up again at the Reina Sofia museum, which is a museum of art from the 19th century on. Some of the most famous painters whose works are featured there are Picasso, Dalí, Gris, and Miró (some of the most famous Spanish painters). “La Guernica,” one of Picasso’s most famous works is there, so that was really cool to see. It was ENORMOUS… at least 10 by 50 feet! The security there was really intense, so my secret pictures didn’t turn out so well 😞 Actually, I thought I was doing pretty well, but I got busted after my 4th picture of it. Oh well, it was still cool.

The museum also featured works by… *drumroll please*… ALEXANDER CALDER!!! For my Michigan readers, you’ll know him as the famous sculptor whose sculpture is featured downtown Grand Rapids!!! Apparently, he and Miró were good friends… I thought that was so cool! As soon as Armando pointed out the sculpture in the museum, I about died of excitement, and then HE was so excited that someone actually knew what he was talking about! It was fantastic 😊

Our final stop of the day (and the one I was most excited for) was the Prado museum… this is the most famous one in Madrid, and for good reason. It’s positively stuffed with art, almost all of it from the 18th century and before. Some of the featured artists here include Velasquez, El Greco, Goya… once again, some of Spain’s absolute best. “El caballero de la mano en el pecho,” Las meninas,” “El 3 de mayo de 1808 en Madrid,” “Saturno devorando a su hijo”… these are all works that I’ve only ever seen in books, and to see them up close (they’re so big!) was spectacular. I was more impressed than I expected to be… I really wish I could’ve spent more time there. Well, there’s always next time, right? 😊 Seeing the Prado only makes me more excited to see the Louvre in December… incredible, incredible stuff.

Sunday was a pretty relaxing day overall. The Alicante group went to Toledo, but I stayed behind to hit up some Sunday Madrid traditions. First was El Rastro, which is an ENORMOUS flea market that takes up block after block of streets. It only takes place on Sundays, so I’m really glad I got the opportunity to go. It was packed with people (so no bringing your purse! Darn pick-pockets…), and at times we couldn’t walk, but it was a great place to shop. I bought myself a couple of scarves, so now I look more European 😊 We were there for about an hour and a half, and there were still TONS of streets that we missed. If you ever get the chance, I seriously recommend it!

After lunch, we went back to El Retiro park for a Sunday afternoon stroll. Sundays in Spain, I think I mentioned before, are incredibly relaxing… they really stick to the old traditions of using it as a day of rest. Therefore, the park was packed with families all out for a quiet afternoon. It was really cool to see, and felt very “Madrid.” Plus, the street performers were top-notch… lots of musicians and magicians and whatnot. It was the perfect afternoon overall… just as Sundays in Spain are intended 😊

Ryan left Sunday night and the girls had classes during the day, so Monday was a solo day for me! First I went and found the apartment that my dad used to live in when he studied here (at least, I think it was the right one… otherwise I have pictures of a random building), and then I left for the bus station to go to Toledo. Well, the bus to Toledo switched stations, so I had to quickly master the metro system so as not to get lost, which I did (master the metro, that is)! I was rather proud of myself 😊 I eventually found the place and got my tickets for my first ever fully solo trip!

It was about an hour-long bus ride to Toledo and I arrived at around noon. I first bought a map in the bus station… I could’ve gotten a free one, but I really didn’t know much about the history of the city or any of the sites, so the purchased map gave me quite a bit of information, making it a rather smart purchase. The downside was that the map was HUGE, and therefore immediately erased any doubt in people’s minds that I was a tourist. I did a short checklist walking into the city too… Giant map? CHECK. Giant camera around my neck? CHECK. Dazed/awed expression? CHECK. I was ready to go.

I started my hike into the city, aiming for the cathedral, as I’ve heard that’s the absolute must-do in Toledo (it’s also one of the places in my 1000 Places to See Before You Die book, so definitely a must-do). It was quite a hike into the city, as, like all cool Spanish cities, it’s on a hill. I had to stop a few times along the way to consult my giant map, as the streets in Toledo are absolutely insane! They’re ridiculously tiny, for one, and they wind around constantly, forcing me to continuously check the map to avoid being lost. However, the map failed me many times… the streets literally made no sense! There was no rhyme or rhythm to them, they just curved and stopped and joined up with others whenever. I’m pretty sure the Toledo tourism board just wanted to watch people look stupid as they whipped out their ridiculous maps on a regular basis. *sigh*

One of the cool things that I noticed right away about Toledo after spending three full days in crazy-busy Madrid was that while the streets were bustling, everyone was moving at a really slow pace. It was kind of bizarre… they all seemed really busy, but were taking their sweet time to get things done.

At one point I almost gave up on the map, because I had been walking for nearly an hour and still had yet to find the cathedral, when I looked down some narrow alley and spotted it a couple of streets over. Moments like that became my saving grace in Toledo… I would be completely lost and then look over and spot a tower or spire or something to lead me in the right direction. So I took off towards the sliver of the cathedral that I could see and eventually found it. The entrance fee was a bit high, which was a bummer, but again, this was the main thing I had come to see, so I paid and went in.

And boy, am I glad I did! It was GORGEOUS! I’ve seen numerous cathedrals so far, but this one was stunning. I think part of its appeal was that there were so few people inside, but this one was truly unique. To quote the information on my map a bit here: “Work on the cathedral began in 1227 (!) during the reign of Ferdinand III but was not completed until the 15th century, so the architecture reflects the evolution of Spanish Gothic over the period as well as the different styles of later modifications.” Luckily the security here wasn’t as tight as the Madrid museums, so I snagged quite a few pics. The absolute best part about it was the altar… I literally sat in a pew for twenty minutes just staring at it. It was by far the most intricate one I’ve seen so far, and from what I’ve learned about Spanish art, that was one of the first things constructed, fitting in perfectly with the Gothic style. It really stood out from the rest of the church, making it all the more beautiful.

One of the best parts about not being with a tour group was that I had all the time I wanted to enjoy the cathedral, which I took full advantage of. I was in there for at least an hour, just wandering around. The downside to not having a tour group was that I really didn’t know much about what I was looking at, so I actually casually joined on the end of another group to gain a little more insight. I had to quit after a little while though, as I started to receive dirty looks from some of the paying members. Oh well.

The cathedral also had quite a few side museums and galleries, one of which included a work by El Greco entitled “El Expolio,” so that was cool to see. As one of the guys in the tour group pointed out (while I was pretending not to listen of course), “it’s really incredible to see these paintings in their intended homes, rather than in giant museums.” I agreed whole-heartedly… these are incredibly famous works that most tourists won’t see because they’re off in some side room of a church. I think that’s part of what makes them so cool.

Like I said, I stayed for about an hour and then left to enjoy the rest of Toledo. My super cool map included tour routes to follow, loaded with information, so I picked the one that included the most stops that my Alicante group had done the day before and followed that. It gave specific walking directions too, which was nicely intended, but with the crazy streets of Toledo, I found myself circling some blocks multiple times before finding the entrances I was looking for. The route I chose was through the old Jewish Quarter of the city (“a district that disappeared in 1492 with the expulsion of the Jews from Spain”). One of the coolest things about Toledo was that it was once shared among the Jews, Christians, and Moors, so a lot of buildings show the influence of all three.

Random little note: so I said that the streets of Toledo were crazily narrow, right? Well there were a few times that I would be walking along and a car would come down the street and in order for it to pass I would have to either step into a doorway or turn around and walk back out of the street to let the car through… crazy!

I grabbed a quick lunch at a grocery store which I enjoyed at a lookout point over the city, then headed off again to my next stop at the church of Santo Tomé (this is the one that I walked in circles for nearly a half hour to find). The church itself isn’t really all that famous, but tourists flock to it because it contains “The Burial of the Conde de Orgasz,” El Greco’s most famous work. It was commissioned for the church in 1586 to commemorate a miracle that occurred during the Conde de Orgasz’s burial… he was actually buried in the church too, so that was kind of neat.

I then hit Santa María la Blanca, a Christian church that was once a synagogue. There wasn’t a whole lot to it, but it was really pretty and unique nonetheless, so I enjoyed it. Plus, while parts looked extremely new, it was actually built in the 12th century! That’s what I think is coolest about Spain… the fact that most of their buildings are so much older than our country! Such amazing history.

I then hit up the Monasterio de San Juan de los Reyes. I almost didn’t enter, but something told me to at the last minute, and I’m so grateful I did. It was absolutely gorgeous! I went through a LOT of batteries on my camera, just snapping pictures of anything and everything. Once again, to quote my map (this is the only information I really have to go on, cut me some slack), “ one of the most representative monuments in the style of the reign of Isabella the Catholic combining Flamboyant Gothic and Mudéjar.” The hallways surrounding the gardens illustrated that perfectly… the bottom floor was clearly Gothic and the top had much more Mudéjar influence. The chapel was also incredible and there were fewer people in there than in the cathedral, so I really had time to soak it all in and enjoy it. To think of the time spent creating such intricate architecture astounds me… I get bored drawing stick figures!

My last complete stop was El Puente de San Martín (the bridge of Saint Martin)… Toledo is surrounded by a river, and this foot bridge was constructed in the 13th century. From there, I had a spectacular view of the city as the sun was starting to set… cool, cool stuff!

I started to head back towards the bus station, but not before picking up some mazipan (that’s marzipan for you English speakers). It originated in Toledo, so it’s a must-eat for tourists to the city, and I bought myself a nice box which took me almost no time to devour 😊

It took me forever to get back out of the city, as the bridge was on the opposite side as the bus station, the city is a hill, and the streets are nuts. Good times indeed. On the way out I passed by the mezquita, which is the oldest building in Toledo. Unfortunately, it was closed for reconstruction, but I snapped a picture as I passed. Neato.

I just made the bus (they leave every hour) and arrived back in Madrid at around 7. I met up with Katie and Eva for dinner, and we hit three different places to fill up on tapas and then dessert. The “tapas bar crawl” is considered the Madrid way to eat dinner, so that was a fun way to end my trip! It was nice, too, to have people to talk to after a day of almost complete silence! The only thing I said pretty much all day was “ticket for one” at the entrances to the various churches… weird.

Anywho, I then caught the metro (again, I’m a master!) to the bus station and left at midnight. I barely slept on the ride home, which was a bummer, especially since I had two full seats to myself. Oh well.

When I got home at around 6 in the morning, I went to unlock the door to my apartment and discovered to my dismay that Ana had forgotten that I would be home and put the chain on the door! Unless I wanted to break it, which I didn’t, I had to ring the doorbell for a full five minutes before her niece, Lydia, woke up and let me in. If she hadn’t, I was fully intending to sleep in the hallway, which would’ve been quite a sight for the neighbors! However, I was let in and slept until noon 😊

That’s all I have as far as my trip, but this blog is most definitely not over! Haha! Now onto the little stories!

First of all, I have a lovely cold right now, which I’m pretty sure we all caught in Madrid, because every one of us is sick 😞 I didn’t think that would’ve been at all possible, since Ana is fully stocked on oranges and I eat at least two per day! Seriously, I’ve got to stop telling the woman that I like something… she just buys it by the bucketload until she discovers something else that I like. Well, at least oranges are healthy… she’s also just purchased boxes of chocolate muffins for me… yikes!

Oh, speaking of my cold… the Spanish word for congested is “constipada.” Yes, like constipated. I giggle every time Ana asks me if I’m still “constipada.” Don’t scoff… you know you just giggled too!

Let’s see… oh, so I said that Ana’s niece was the one who woke up to answer the door, right? Well, that would be because I’m pretty sure Ana is extremely hard of hearing. For one, she never hears the doorbell, even when we’re in the living room, which is right next to the door. Usually I’ll hear it and get up to answer it, and she’ll ask, “Oh, are you getting something to eat?” Which I usually reply, “No, the door,” and then she gets really confused. “Oh! I didn’t even hear it!”

The best story of this though, is one that happened the other day. She usually keeps her cell phone in her pocket so she can hear it better. Well, she was walking around the house the other night (one of her indoor walks), and it started ringing. It continued to ring, getting louder and louder, and she still didn’t answer it. Whoever was calling let it go all the way to voicemail, hung up, and called again! And she still didn’t hear it! I didn’t know what to say, I was trying so hard not to laugh… not at her, but at how crazy the situation was… she was just wandering around, completely oblivious the extremely loud music coming from her pocket. Classic.

I was just glancing at my notes (yes, I jot notes down every time I come up with something for the blog) and realized that most of them pertain to Ana this time around. So, here are some more!

I don’t know if I’ve previously mentioned this or not, but she is absolutely obsessed with cleaning. She’s like my own personal Monica Geller (Gellar?). Every morning she scrubs the house for at least two hours, and last week she even booted me out of my room so she could sweep and dust! Since we have massive construction going on outside of our building, she’s even more obsessed with getting every speck of dust… sometimes I’m afraid to enter the house because I know I’m going to leave dusty footprints and she’s going to follow me around with a mop! It cracks me up how impeccably spotless she is, especially since I’m not.

Another one of her little quirks: so she loves to sing and often just randomly breaks into her own made-up songs as she wanders around the house. They’re always sung opera-style, and always incredibly loudly. Well, lately she’s been adding me into her songs, which is hilarious. So say I’m getting ready to take a shower… she’ll wander around the house singing, “Laura’s going to take a shower, Laura’s getting ready to shower” in this rich bravado tone… it’s absolutely fantastic! Completely random, but it cracks me up.

She’s also recently begun calling me “hija” or “nena,” which basically mean “daughter”… I think that’s cute!

Ooh, I’m making plans to go visit her hometown one day in the coming weeks! She goes usually about once a week just for a day, and she wants me to go with her 😊 Awww.

Another random little tidbit that isn’t really much of a story, but oh well: I have my own shower now! She had someone come install it last week in my bathroom (the spot was always there, but she used it for storage). Now I have my own! That’s kind of exciting for me 😊

Oh, and Ana loves incense, and right now we have chocolate-scented burning… yum! It makes the house smell awesome.

Next week, as you all very well know, is Thanksgiving, and I’ve been put in charge of cooking the turkey for our group dinner! We’re all getting together at our director’s house, and we each offered to do something, so I have that plus making the green bean casserole to do. I went shopping last week to scope out the ingredients for the casserole, and I’ve discovered that Spaniards are a bit behind on their canned soups and vegetables, so I’m going to have to improvise a bit. Oh well, one of the girls is having pumpkin pie filling shipped over, since they don’t sell it here, so at least I don’t have the worst situation to deal with! I just have to cook two turkeys for 15 people…

Oh, last week Ana made a really good Spanish version of fried rice! I’m typing that mostly so that I remember to make it when I get home 😊

So the Spaniards are getting all prepped for Christmas, and now on the streets we can buy freshly roasted chestnuts! It felt like such a Spanish Christmas thing to do, so I bought some yesterday, and discovered that I don’t really like roasted chestnuts! Haha… they were super weird and tasted almost like a potato. Bizarre.

Okay, final thing… the election! From what I’ve seen it’s been quite a celebration back in the U.S. and Spain is absolutely no different. I tried to stay up to watch the results, but I fell asleep and had to wake up at 6 to see online. Oh well, I almost made it. Anywho, they are absolutely ecstatic, and for me, that’s one of the coolest things about Obama’s win. To see that he’s not only brought hope to the U.S. but to the rest of the world as well… that’s just cool right there. I just wrote an opinion piece about that actually for my internship… it was published in the University paper here, so that’s kind of exciting. I’ll bring a copy back in January!

Alrighty, well, after 9 pages in Word, I think that’s about it from me this time around! Thanks for sticking with me (if you did)!

I don’t have any major plans for my final four weekends… exactly four weeks from today I leave for Rome!!! It’s crazy how time has flown!

Lots of love from me! I miss you all loads!

Laura

P.S. As I was about post this, I discovered that my last month is going to get interesting! Two girls from Tunisia are living with us until right before I leave… neither speaks Spanish all that well, and one speaks a little English (they do speak French, which I know a whopping five words of!). I’m the new designated translator, so it should be fun…

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Photos

Beautiful Altea
The small streets of the gorgeous little town.

What a View!
Looking out at the sea from the cathedral.

La Catedral
The somewhat forgotten cathedral of Altea.

Sunset From the Castle
Exactly what the title says :)

Artsy-Fartsy
My attempts at artsiness as the sun was setting

Palmeras
Palm tree at sunset.

Yay for Fall!!!
Me looking awkward but happy in a pile of leaves!

El Retiro Park
The purty park... home of my first official taste of fall

Atocha Train Station
The train station where the bombing in Madrid happened 4 (?) years ago.

Street Performer, He Is
Yoda!!!

El Palacio Real
Enjoying lunch in front of the royal palace

Peacock
My new buddy :)

King Tut
Eva and I doing our best Steve Martin impressions

The Senate Library
Ignore the flaming fireball chandelier in the middle... this is the super cool library in the senate

La Guernica
The best shot I got of Picasso's work before getting busted by security!

El 3 de mayo
One of many very famous Spanish paintings up close!

Madrid Post Office
Yup, that's right... that's a post office! And also an excellent example of Madrid's architecture

Tracing Family History
Dad, was this your apartment building? I hope so, because otherwise I looked like a creeper out there!

I Found It!
Toledo... the glimpse I had of the cathedral while wandering around for an hour trying to find it.

Cuidado!
An example of the crazy streets of Toledo

Gorgeous, no?
The altar at the cathedral... I could've sat there all day.

La Catedral
A shot of the cathedral from the back... it's huge!

The Burial of El Conde Orgasz
Hidden away in a tiny church, this is El Greco's most famous work!

The Monastery
Looking at the gardens from the bottom floor of the monastery

The Chapel
The beautiful chapel inside the monastery

And Again...
The gardens again... notice that the bottom floor has Gothic style windows while the top has Moorish.

From the Bridge
A part of Toledo from the bridge.

Comments

[Freya]

speaking from experience...being the household translator is pretty crazy, but makes you feel really important. Enjoy it!

[Liz]

I love Madrid and Toledo. That picture of the post office in Madrid brings back memories. I remember the first time I saw it I thought it was a palace or something, but then they told us it was just the post office...what a bummer.