Spring Break in Madrid (I GOT TO SEE MY SEESTER!)

Hello hello! 

(hi a-tank! hi avery's mom!) Haha, I love hearing that people read my blog! It definitely encourages me to keep it up!

I went to Madrid this past week...and I got to see my sister Maddie!!!  It was SO fun to see her, def the highlight of my trip!  More on that exciting development later.

Ok, so we left at 6:30am (insert whininess here) on Tuesday morning.  After a solid 4 hours on the bus, we stopped at Calatrava, where this castle was waiting for us on top of the mountain! SO cool!

I was relieved to see the castle because a 20 minute drive + a giant bus + a mountain + no guardrails = terrifying.  

This is Logan jumping off the wall of a 500 year old castle, no big deal.

 Roomie pic! (we only have 923847937 of these :)

The view from the top: (I loved getting to see the countryside)

We piled back on the buses and drove for another hour until we got to these windmills.  BUT WAIT!  THERE'S MORE!  These are not just ordinary windmills, they are Don Quixote's windmills! Woo!

We finally got to Toledo around 7ish, grabbed some pizza, and went to sleep!  The next morning, our group was going to explore Toledo, visit a few other old things (surprise surprise!) and then end up in Madrid on Wednesday night.  I, however, had other plans.  My sister Maddie got to travel to Spain over spring break with a group from her high school and my fave teacher ever (hola Sra. Gantt!).  They were in Madrid from Saturday-Wednesday, and then they left for Barcelona on Thursday morning.  I took a train from Toledo to Madrid early Wednesday morning and met up with Maddie's group!!  It was SUCH a blessing that we were able to see each other.  Her teacher, my professors, her tour guide, and my schedule all had to coordinate perfectly, and it worked out!  Definitely an answered prayer.

Yay sisters!

We (Maddie's group and I) went to Segovia, a town about an hour away from Madrid.  Segovia is home to an ancient Roman aquaduct that was built 100 years after Christ...and it still works!  Amazing.

See the snow-capped mountains? 

The inside of a small monastery:

What kind of puppy is this? I took a creeper pic of him because I loved him, and now I want one.

The 2nd largest cathedral in Spain (Sevilla has the 1st largest...holla!)

I actually ended up going to Segovia twice because my group's trip there was scheduled for Thursday.  This was fine with me, it is such a sweet city!  Cameras were not allowed inside this cathedral (the first one I've been in where I couldn't take pictures!), but the inside was so great!  All of the chapel gates were open, so we got to actually walk into the chapels and look at everything up close.  The lighter stone made the inside of the building much lighter and more comfortable.  ¡Me gusta!

This castle sits on a hill looking over Segovia.  It was the inspiration for the Neuschwanstein castle in Germany, which inspired Walt Disney to create Cinderella's castle!

 I have heard this story before, but I thought it was just a legend:

A nanny was taking care of a 2 year old prince, and he fell out of the window of the castle.  She realized he would surely die, and that she would be killed, so she jumped out of the window too!

This is that window! What a tragic story.

 The view from the top of the castle:

Driving around town, eating m&m's and listening to the Glee soundtrack :)

The next stop was the Valley of the Fallen.  This is a huge "memorial" that Franco (former dictator of Spain) built to "honor" all of the people who died in the Spanish civil war.  He is also buried here, so it is basically just a massive monument to himself.  Many citizens of Segovia have chosen to never visit this site, even thought it is only a 20 minute drive away.

 

It was HUGE and neat to see just built into the side of a huge, rocky mountain.

Thumbs down for Franco.

All of Maddie's friends...SUCH fun people!

Next stop: El Escorial.  This palace was built by King Felipe II in the 1500's.  It is basically a huge palace that established Madrid as the official capital of Spain.

No pictures were allowed, but it was such a neat experience!  Underneath the building, there is a huge network of marble rooms (marble floor to ceiling!).  We stood in a room that held the tombs of every king and queen of Spain since Felipe II.  500 years of history!  Such a strange feeling to be in the same room as all of those important people.  It was a little creepy when we started going through endless rooms of marble tombs, some filled, and some awaiting the next deceased royal person.  Ew!

After saying goodbye to Maddie (awwwwwww), I walked to the hotel that my group was staying at.  I met up with some friends and we stumbled upon a red carpet movie premier!  We had no idea who any of these people were, but we snapped a few pics, just because everyone else was going crazy and freaking out.

Woo celeb sightings!

On Thursday, we visited La Granja, a summer palace built by King Felipe V in the 18th century.

No pictures were allowed inside..it was very ornate and covered in tapestries (if I never see another 20 foot tall tapestry again, I will be juuust fine.)  It was FREEZING cold in there and raining outside...oooof course.

The gardens are HUGE!  Imagine it is summer and that it is not rainy and that everything isn't dead.  

The next morning (Friday), after a DELISH breakfast of frosted flakes, normal cold milk, strawberries, and orange juice, we headed out to the Prado Museum.  No pictures were allowed, but I stayed for over 3 hours and saw Las Meninas by Velazquez, and about 29873492873 more amazing works of art.  Such a neat experience!

Afterwords, we grabbed some lunch and went to the Thyssen Museum.  We saw a bunch of modern art, some Van Gogh, Picasso, and Pollock, and a Monet exhibit.

This is the exact center of Spain.  I just googled the exact center of the USA...it is 4 miles outside of Lebanon, Kansas.  Lame.  One point for Spain! (It's ok America, you get points for having Taco Villa, my favorite people on earth, Dr Pepper, my jeep, and ice cubes)

This is the Plaza Mayor...basically where a bunch of street performers and pick-pocketers hang out.

Pooh!

This guy was amazing!  He was painting with this thin knife, and his paintings were thick with paint so they had texture.  I watched him for a while, like the creeper that I am.

Spiderman has let himself go, apparently.

 I could never do this...I can't even sit still for 3o seconds, let alone 20 minutes while covered in bronze paint.  Props to you, fake statue man.

 Crazies.

A cathedral by the Royal Palace:

The Royal Palace!  This place was a fun surprise, it was AMAZING inside! It made me think of Marie Antoinette (the movie...not the headless woman)

This place wouldn't let us sample, so, unfortunately, I didn't get to try any of this interesting flavor...

Some sights around downtown:

We decided to immerse ourselves in the Spanish culture by having bacon cheeseburgers and chocolate milkshakes at the Hard Rock.  We had to wait for 45 minutes to be seated, so, like any logical person, I stood on a ledge and did the macarena with a group of 14 year old Spanish girls who were also waiting for a table.  They were way sassier than me.

 And then Tom came on the TV, and my heart was so incredibly happy.  "Heeeeeey! I will stand my ground, and I won't back down", thanks Tom, that's just what I needed :)

Saturday night, I went to a 7 story discoteca (super fancy dance club) with a bunch of friends!  I wasn't expecting to have as much fun as I did, but luckily I went with some amazing people!

Sunday morning we went to the Reina Sofia Museum:

Picasso:

Salvador Dali:

I also saw Guernica by Picasso! It is HUGE, but pics weren't allowed :(

The gift shop was amazing!!  Eric Carle Pop Up books!  A Very Hungry Caterpillar was my fave.  And because of this book, I can never say "Today is Monday" without shouting "MONDAY STRING BEANS!!"

After Reina Sofia, we rushed by Starbucks and then it was off to the Madrid train station...AKA the biggest indoor turtle habitat ever!

We got to take the train back to Sevilla, which was awesome because it is super speedy.

This is my friend Chris, we are basically identical mustache twins.  Let me tell you something about this brave boy, he is a soldier and served in Iraq twice.  Talking to Chris completely opened my eyes to how much I take our soldiers for granted.  I am so glad we are buds now, and I am proud to know him!  Ok Chris, I'll stop blogging creepily about you now :)

My trip to Madrid was a blasty blast!  So much fun...especially seeing my baby sista!!

On a completely unrelated note, this was an ad on my facebook, and I obviously had to take a screenshot of it because it is EXACTLY what my sister Emily looked like as a wee little tot:

Hilarious.  Love it so much!

Today I got TWO packages!!!  So fun!  My fam sent me an easter-themed package, and my studly boyfriend sent me a fun box full of good music, candy, a t shirt, and other fun amazingness.  What a great day!

hasta luego!

jules

p.s. I currently have 2 mosquito bites on my right arm, 2 on my chin, 1 on my neck, and one on my right leg.  My face looks deformed!  On a brighter note, it is SUNSHINEY IN SEVILLA!! I was actually hot today, and I didn't have to carry my umbrella.  Keep it up, Sevilla, I'm lovin it.