Hello Loyal Subjects,
Tis your traveling Queen speaking.
Barcelona has been wonderful. The hostel is way better than Madrid. I srtuck up a convo with a fellow American on our first day. We'll call him "Jason." Jason literally got in a fight on the subway, and cautioned us not to mess with thugs. (By the way, Claire, Jason called them homeboys. So there!) So we locked up our valueables at the hostel. I only carried my phone, since it takes better pictures than my digital camera, go figure. And the hostel lock box is free!
We walked down La Rambla to the harbor on a beautiful sunny day. There was a huge farmers market on that street. I was able to get some pineapple and it was delicious. That night we went to an Irish Pub with Jason and Shane from Ireland to watch FC Barcelona. It was really fun except for all the smoke. I had a BLT and some Guinness. I had forgotten how good bacon is.
On the agenda for tomorrow...We are going to head out to the olympic village to check that out and go to bed early, early train tomorrow.
Zat is all for now!
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Actividades en Madrid
Hola,
So many fun events in Madrid.
First we went to the Plaza de los Toros, the world's most important stage according to the Spanish. We went on a tour of their bull fighting arena. It was BA all the way. Our tour guide was talking super fast in spanish and then she would come over to Maggie and I and repeat what she just said in english, still talking super fast. It was also extremely cold that day and we were in the shade most of the time. We went into the staduim and took a look at everything from the cement seats. Unfortunately the circus was literally in town and there was a big top in the middle of the arena. We then went down to the bottom of the arena to the dirt, there was some room between the tent and the arena wall. We saw where a bull fighter hides from the bull if he/she must.
Some fun facts about Plaza de los Toros:
-24,000 people can fit in the staduim
-Bulls can actually jump the wall and land in the stands. Our tour guides said that is the reason she will not sit in the front rows
-The last bull fighter to die in the stadium was in the 1940s
-There has been one successful American bullfighter, John Fulton
-Many popular bands have played in the Staduim, U2, Rolling Stones, and Shakira just to name a few
That night we went out with some French guys we met at our hostel. I love talking to non-native English speakers. They were quite entertaining, Victor and Roman. We got some drinks and then went to a Tapas bar. It was a great night. And they insisted on paying! I told them when they are in So Cal I will repay the favor.
Maggie is still a bit sickly. She bought an anti-histimine to take care of the runny nose. Ewwww. I think she's gonna make it.
Next stop Barcelona!
So many fun events in Madrid.
First we went to the Plaza de los Toros, the world's most important stage according to the Spanish. We went on a tour of their bull fighting arena. It was BA all the way. Our tour guide was talking super fast in spanish and then she would come over to Maggie and I and repeat what she just said in english, still talking super fast. It was also extremely cold that day and we were in the shade most of the time. We went into the staduim and took a look at everything from the cement seats. Unfortunately the circus was literally in town and there was a big top in the middle of the arena. We then went down to the bottom of the arena to the dirt, there was some room between the tent and the arena wall. We saw where a bull fighter hides from the bull if he/she must.
Some fun facts about Plaza de los Toros:
-24,000 people can fit in the staduim
-Bulls can actually jump the wall and land in the stands. Our tour guides said that is the reason she will not sit in the front rows
-The last bull fighter to die in the stadium was in the 1940s
-There has been one successful American bullfighter, John Fulton
-Many popular bands have played in the Staduim, U2, Rolling Stones, and Shakira just to name a few
That night we went out with some French guys we met at our hostel. I love talking to non-native English speakers. They were quite entertaining, Victor and Roman. We got some drinks and then went to a Tapas bar. It was a great night. And they insisted on paying! I told them when they are in So Cal I will repay the favor.
Maggie is still a bit sickly. She bought an anti-histimine to take care of the runny nose. Ewwww. I think she's gonna make it.
Next stop Barcelona!
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Estamos en Madrid!
Hola,
Maggie here. We arrived in Madrid yesterday, took the metro from the airport into the city and found our hostel no problem for the first time. The hostel isn't that great but it's not terrible either. The window in our room doesn't close all the way and this morning I woke up with a sore throat and not feeling too great. It was really cold in the room, it snowed a little last night. We're trying to switch to a room with windows that close.
First thing we did this morning was stop by the train station and get tickets for Barcelona on Friday. There was a bit of confusion when reserving our tickets. We said Barcelona, but for some reason homeboy thought we wanted Paris. We didn't catch it at first but then realized that it shouldn't take 12 hours to get to Barcelona from Madrid. But we ended up with the right tickets so it's all good.
After the train station we went to the Museo del Prado and saw lots of gnarly art. It was nice.
Me gusta hablando espanol con las personas.
Paz.
Maggie here. We arrived in Madrid yesterday, took the metro from the airport into the city and found our hostel no problem for the first time. The hostel isn't that great but it's not terrible either. The window in our room doesn't close all the way and this morning I woke up with a sore throat and not feeling too great. It was really cold in the room, it snowed a little last night. We're trying to switch to a room with windows that close.
First thing we did this morning was stop by the train station and get tickets for Barcelona on Friday. There was a bit of confusion when reserving our tickets. We said Barcelona, but for some reason homeboy thought we wanted Paris. We didn't catch it at first but then realized that it shouldn't take 12 hours to get to Barcelona from Madrid. But we ended up with the right tickets so it's all good.
After the train station we went to the Museo del Prado and saw lots of gnarly art. It was nice.
Me gusta hablando espanol con las personas.
Paz.
Sunday, January 24, 2010
More in Portugal
Today is our last day in Portugal. We went on a different sightseeing bus tour yesterday and saw the newer parts of the city. Some parts are really old, like the Barrio Alto which is where we are staying. There was a massive earthquake in Lisbon in 1755 which destroyed most of the city, only three neighborhoods survived, so the rest of the city had to be rebuilt. So yesterday on the bus we drove through a modern part of Lisbon which had a convention center, a sports stadium, and lots of big buildings.
Today we took a street car up a bunch of hills to check out Castelo de Sao Jorge, a gnarly castle overlooking the city, which was built in the 11th-12th centuries. There was also a museum near the castle which had artifacts from back in the day. It was a cool little area with beautiful views. There were lots of little cafes and houses all the way up to the front of the castle grounds. I thought it was crazy how people live pretty much right next to the castle.
After touring the castle we went to one of the cafes near it and I ordered a hamburger, which literally had ham on it. Kind of strange, but not bad. It had a regular beef patty too. I guess they like ham here in Portugal because there was a sign advertising "Melon and Portuguese ham" at the restaurant. Weird.
Switching to Heather...
So we are literally the only people in the hostel right now. It's very quiet at least. This place offers free internet usage! I wouldn't be surprised if this was the only hostel with free internet.
Ready to move on to Spain for the next week! Adios amigos!
Today we took a street car up a bunch of hills to check out Castelo de Sao Jorge, a gnarly castle overlooking the city, which was built in the 11th-12th centuries. There was also a museum near the castle which had artifacts from back in the day. It was a cool little area with beautiful views. There were lots of little cafes and houses all the way up to the front of the castle grounds. I thought it was crazy how people live pretty much right next to the castle.
After touring the castle we went to one of the cafes near it and I ordered a hamburger, which literally had ham on it. Kind of strange, but not bad. It had a regular beef patty too. I guess they like ham here in Portugal because there was a sign advertising "Melon and Portuguese ham" at the restaurant. Weird.
Switching to Heather...
So we are literally the only people in the hostel right now. It's very quiet at least. This place offers free internet usage! I wouldn't be surprised if this was the only hostel with free internet.
Ready to move on to Spain for the next week! Adios amigos!
Friday, January 22, 2010
Lisbon!
Hello all,
Today was our first full day in Lisbon, Portugal. We went on a sightseeing hop on hop off bus tour thingy. It took us around the city with a historical commentary. We saw some cool buildings and got out at the coast. We ate lunch at a little seafood cafe, for less than 9 euro, it was pretty good. We saw a bridge that connects Lisbon to another part of Portugal and it looks a lot like the Golden Gate Bridge, same colors, just not as tall. It's called the 25 de Abril Bridge if you want to look it up.
The city is really old and cool looking. Lots of tiny alleys. Our hostel is in alley and it was pretty hard to find yesterday. The breakfast is just cereal and toast, not too filling. Heather really wants "a nice breakfast sausage."
Also, there are a lot of pastry shops on the streets so we stopped in one on the way back today and I got a donut thingy and Heather got chocolate mousse, which was apparently heaven...
Fun fact of the day, our hostel is called Alface, which means lettuce in Portuguese. Pretty much everyone speaks enough English here for us to get by, which is nice.
That's all for now.
Peace out.
P.S. The commenting of our readers could use some improvement, haha, we're not sure if anyone is reading this.
Today was our first full day in Lisbon, Portugal. We went on a sightseeing hop on hop off bus tour thingy. It took us around the city with a historical commentary. We saw some cool buildings and got out at the coast. We ate lunch at a little seafood cafe, for less than 9 euro, it was pretty good. We saw a bridge that connects Lisbon to another part of Portugal and it looks a lot like the Golden Gate Bridge, same colors, just not as tall. It's called the 25 de Abril Bridge if you want to look it up.
The city is really old and cool looking. Lots of tiny alleys. Our hostel is in alley and it was pretty hard to find yesterday. The breakfast is just cereal and toast, not too filling. Heather really wants "a nice breakfast sausage."
Also, there are a lot of pastry shops on the streets so we stopped in one on the way back today and I got a donut thingy and Heather got chocolate mousse, which was apparently heaven...
Fun fact of the day, our hostel is called Alface, which means lettuce in Portuguese. Pretty much everyone speaks enough English here for us to get by, which is nice.
That's all for now.
Peace out.
P.S. The commenting of our readers could use some improvement, haha, we're not sure if anyone is reading this.
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Last Day in Paris...Portugal Next!
Greetings,
It's raining today, meh. But yesterday we feasted our eyes on the epitome of french luxery. That's right, Versailles! My choice of words cannot begin to describe the beauty of the palace.
After the palace we found Creperie Suzette (recommended by my mother from a friend). It was delicious. I needed to have some really good crepes before leaving Paris. On the way back to the Hostel we stopped at a wine shop and I bought a bottle of French Syrah for 5 euro. I was basically looking for a red French wine with a twist off, due to our lack of a corkscrew. I enjoyed the wine very much.
I'm having trouble finding a USB connector to upload pictures but there are a few pictures from my phone on Flickr.
Goodbye Paris, its been fun!
It's raining today, meh. But yesterday we feasted our eyes on the epitome of french luxery. That's right, Versailles! My choice of words cannot begin to describe the beauty of the palace.
After the palace we found Creperie Suzette (recommended by my mother from a friend). It was delicious. I needed to have some really good crepes before leaving Paris. On the way back to the Hostel we stopped at a wine shop and I bought a bottle of French Syrah for 5 euro. I was basically looking for a red French wine with a twist off, due to our lack of a corkscrew. I enjoyed the wine very much.
I'm having trouble finding a USB connector to upload pictures but there are a few pictures from my phone on Flickr.
Goodbye Paris, its been fun!
Monday, January 18, 2010
Eiffel Tower and the Louvre
What up dudes?
We saw the Eiffel Tower yesterday, but did not pay 10 bucks to stand in line for 3 hours and go to the top. We went to the top of two tall things already, good enough. It was pretty cool, but looks kind of brownish and not too pretty up close. We also walked around a lot and enjoyed the city.
Today we went to the Louvre and we're mot completely impressed but glad we did it. The Mona Lisa was crowded but we saw it enough. Tomorrow we're going to Versailles to check out that palace. The Louvre is massive (we got a bit lost) but the ancient Egyptian area was the highlight. The Louvre used to be the palace, and I think our tour guide said Louis XVI decided to move out to the countryside where he built the Versailles palace. Apparently it's quite extravagant. When the king moved out artists moved into the Louvre and set up studios and later it was turned into a museum.
Later.
We saw the Eiffel Tower yesterday, but did not pay 10 bucks to stand in line for 3 hours and go to the top. We went to the top of two tall things already, good enough. It was pretty cool, but looks kind of brownish and not too pretty up close. We also walked around a lot and enjoyed the city.
Today we went to the Louvre and we're mot completely impressed but glad we did it. The Mona Lisa was crowded but we saw it enough. Tomorrow we're going to Versailles to check out that palace. The Louvre is massive (we got a bit lost) but the ancient Egyptian area was the highlight. The Louvre used to be the palace, and I think our tour guide said Louis XVI decided to move out to the countryside where he built the Versailles palace. Apparently it's quite extravagant. When the king moved out artists moved into the Louvre and set up studios and later it was turned into a museum.
Later.
Sunday, January 17, 2010
Euro Disney and More!
Hey There Sports Fans,
It's Heather, duh. Yesterday was Euro Disney. It exceeded my expectations. Their Pirates was BA. And the costumes were waaaaaaaay better. They actually looked like Pirates, like could have been extras in the movie, not the cartoon. Space Mountain was ridiculous. A loop, a corkscrew loop all at top speed! Indy was a small out door rollercoaster, not so cool. Thunder was great very similar to Anaheim's. The best part was the castle. You could go up to the second floor and see the story of Sleeping Beauty told on stained glass and tapestries. It was definitely my favorite! We were there for about 7 hours, perservering through a bit of rain.
The day before, Friday, we climbed to the top of the Arc de Triomphe and Notre Dame. Looking back maybe we should have done one on a different day since both offer sweeping views of the city after hundreds, thousands of steps. We slept good that night. Once at the top of Notre Dame, we were able to climb into the small space housing the infamous Bell Tower. There were two tiny opennings which you had to step into and then a very small and shakey staircase leading up to the bell. We learned that the bell is no longer used since it could shake the walls and cause possible devastating damage to the structure. Other smaller bells are used throughout the day.
We still need to go the the Louvre, Eiffel Tower, Versailles and get some amazing crepes. We had some ok crepes at a restaurant down the street from our Hostel. The waiter insisted he did not speak English but the menu was in English and French. I call BS.
That's all for now. Lots to still do!
-H
It's Heather, duh. Yesterday was Euro Disney. It exceeded my expectations. Their Pirates was BA. And the costumes were waaaaaaaay better. They actually looked like Pirates, like could have been extras in the movie, not the cartoon. Space Mountain was ridiculous. A loop, a corkscrew loop all at top speed! Indy was a small out door rollercoaster, not so cool. Thunder was great very similar to Anaheim's. The best part was the castle. You could go up to the second floor and see the story of Sleeping Beauty told on stained glass and tapestries. It was definitely my favorite! We were there for about 7 hours, perservering through a bit of rain.
The day before, Friday, we climbed to the top of the Arc de Triomphe and Notre Dame. Looking back maybe we should have done one on a different day since both offer sweeping views of the city after hundreds, thousands of steps. We slept good that night. Once at the top of Notre Dame, we were able to climb into the small space housing the infamous Bell Tower. There were two tiny opennings which you had to step into and then a very small and shakey staircase leading up to the bell. We learned that the bell is no longer used since it could shake the walls and cause possible devastating damage to the structure. Other smaller bells are used throughout the day.
We still need to go the the Louvre, Eiffel Tower, Versailles and get some amazing crepes. We had some ok crepes at a restaurant down the street from our Hostel. The waiter insisted he did not speak English but the menu was in English and French. I call BS.
That's all for now. Lots to still do!
-H
Friday, January 15, 2010
Paris!
Hi everyone! This is Maggie, we've been here two days so far and it's pretty gnarly. It's cold, but not too cold, in the 30's but we're staying warm. We went on two walking tours yesterday. It was a beautiful day. We saw a lot of stuff like Notre Dame, the Lourve, and the Eiffel Tower from afar. Now that we know where things are we're going to go back and spend more time at each place. The second tour was at night of the district we're staying in, Le Montmatre (pronounced mo-mart). We saw Moulin Rouge, a cool church, and it's the art district so we also saw where Van Gogh used to live and his favorite restaurant.
The hostel is pretty cool. We're by a school though and the kids are really loud, running around and screaming during recess seems to be their favorite pasttime. The free breakfast is cocoa puffs or corn flakes and a croissant.
We'll add some pictures later.
Peace.
The hostel is pretty cool. We're by a school though and the kids are really loud, running around and screaming during recess seems to be their favorite pasttime. The free breakfast is cocoa puffs or corn flakes and a croissant.
We'll add some pictures later.
Peace.
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