Day 1.8 Washington DC to Portland to Springfield
Today, completely wore out, Deija and I slugishly get out of bed to prepare our bags for the airport. Today we check out of the hotel, and that means we are carrying our backpacks around. Today we had planned to see museums today which is great, but they don't allow our big packs in there so this meant that someone had to stay behind with all the backpacks. March, always thinking of us, volunteered himself because he has been in D.C. once before and had seen most of the museums. First Deija and I went in the Air and Space Museum. It was sweet! There was lots of history and famous things that I have heard of in there. Deija had heard that they had a Einstein Planeterium and she was really excited to see that... until she figured out that it was $15. Yes, $15, we are not working with the strong Euros any more... for now at least (;
The next museum we choose is the Natural Museum of History. It is huge! Everything was so interesting and cool you couldn't help but read everything which made it take very long to get through. I tried to hurry because I felt a little guilty because I didn't want March to sit there all day but I ended up being longer than I had thought. They had such great set ups, amazing fossils and a big section on evolution, mammals, ice age, sea life, and much, much more! I really enjoyed myself. I walk back to our meeting place and sit with March for a little bit until Deija arrives back. He tells that we have a change in plans. Instead of walking to the Airport we are walking to the F.B.I. building bwcause Deija wanted her picture next to the building then we will say good bye to Bree there because she flies out at a different place. We then will take the Metro directly to the airport. We are so close to being home, the end is coming quicker than I expected. Saying good bye to Bree and thanking her really made me notice that this trip really is ending! We were splitting up and going our seperate ways. I'm glad that Bree was there to experience the trip with us. It would have been way different if she wasn't there.
Once we arrive at the airport the security checks and everything seem to go by very quickly. Now we just wait! We have about 3 hours to Houston and then we switch to a 4 hour plane ride to Portland. On the first plane it wasn't that bad but we were getting a little tired. We still aren't used to the D.C. time yet and we were still mixed up in Spain time. By the time we board our second plane for the evening we all were exhausted! It was probably the most uncomfortable plane ride I hace experienced on the trip! I don't think I slept for more than twenty minutes, neither did March or Deija, but I'm glad it was my last plane. I don't plan on getting in another one for a while. Once we get off the plane and we were about to walk into the crowd of families waiting to see their loved ones I tried to choke up a very sincere "Thank you." to March without tearing up. I cried a little bit though, I can't ever explain or say how thankful I am for him giving me this experience of a lifetime. So many doors have opened up in my head and I have new interests, new priorties, and new goals. We made it! I was very tired walking up so it was a little surprise when I felt a huge squeeze around my body. It was my mom! Mommy dearest whom I've missed, oh so much! She wouldn't let go for a while and my lungs had most of the oxygen squeezed out of them but I was okay with it. (: Deijas mom squeezed her a bunch as well! Her mom was holding a sign that my mom had made that said "Welcome home, James, Auna, Deija". My great step dad was there as well, it was nice to give him a big hug too, I missed them both so much! Deijas mom had drove up with my mom and we also took March home so our mini van was almost full with March and my step dad up front and then my mom and I in the middle and Deija and her mom in the back. It was a very long drive home and as tired as I was I dodn't sleep because I was telling my mom all these stories! My mom's phone was also getting a bunch of calls from family eager to hear my voice again. When we arrive home I am welcomed by my grandma and my Aunt Meg. I talked with them all night to so I didn't actually get to bed until 3A.M. and it felt so nice to be home. I saw my baby sister sleeping and she has gotten big! I couldn't resist but to pick her up. Later on the night my seven year old sister came down the stairs and jumped into my lap! I was so happy to be with all of my family again but I will definetly miss the days of the Camino.
So now it's time to get used to the time change. This shall be interesting.
We will have some follow-up posts about the trip, too. Thanks for reading!
Auna
Monday, August 8, 2011
Saturday, August 6, 2011
Day 1.7: Washington DC ( Deija)
Day 1.7: Washington DC
Hello everyone! I believe this will be the last post by me for this trip! So I guess it's time to say goodbye, but not yet, for I have to tell you what we did today!
We woke up semi-early, at about 7:20 or so, and by 8 we were out of the hotel and on our way to the Washington Monument, from there, Lincoln Memorial. As most of you know the reflecting pool is in between these too, and Auna was really excited to finally see it. As we pass the World War 2 Memorial we begin to see what doesn't really look like the pool, and as we get closer, I began to laugh. I knew Auna was looking forward to it, and I though it was pretty funny that we happened to be in DC while it was under construction. It was a massive muddy rectangle. A pigs dream, but with construction equipment, and a large chain link fence surrounded the area.
We arrived to the Lincoln Memorial a few minutes later and I walked up the stairs, cautiously, in my head singing the Batman theme... All things turned from joking to admiration when I stood there, in front of Lincoln, looking at him, his expression, his hands, his posture, everything, taking it all in. I walked to the left and read the Gettysburg Address, then to the right to read the Second Inaugural Address. I of course have read the Gettysburg Address before and actually remembered a lot of it, but the inaugural address was something that I don't remember reading, just a quote from it, and I was amazed at how it captured my attention, and I could only think of how amazing it would be to hear it in person.
Afterward we made our way around to the Korean War Memorial and the Vietnam War Memorial, we walked across the street to the Einstein Memorial, and we sat there and had a small snack.
Mr. March had told us how he had enjoyed the National Zoo the last time he was in town, and he decided to take us there. We walked from downtown to the zoo and immediately split into two groups so we could decide what to see first easier. Bree and I walked around together for the greater part of the time, and when we met up with Auna and March we ended up just leaving because both groups had seen either all or the majority of the zoo. As we were leaving Bree and I spotted a frozen yogurt store and of course we all kinda wanted some. It was hot and muggy and something cold sounded great. We all got our share and sat outside and people watched and spoke of what we could do before we were planned to meet up with my Aunt. She lives in PA, and decided to make the three hour drive to the DC area just to have dinner with us! Now, that may not sound too bad, but imagine that drive with 1.5 year old twin girls, and without daddy, who was working at the time. Props for Aunt Tracy! Thanks!!
We decided on riding the Metro back to the downtown area and exploring a bit. We saw the Capitol building, and Auna and I went to the Holocaust Museum, while Bree and March went to the Museum of Modern Art. The Holocaust museum was amazing, we went through an exhibit telling the story of a ten year old Jewish boy, and it was from his perspective, from his diary! Everything was beautifully put together despite the subject given.
After two hours, we went back to our meeting point and the four of us walked to the center of town to catch another Metro to a suburb outside of DC, where we would meet my Aunt and cousins. We arrived no problem, and it took us a little longer than normal to find the arranged meeting stop. When we did I introduced Aunt Tracy to everyone and we decided on Mexican for dinner. Which was definitely appreciated, I think all four of us mentioned at least once how we missed Mexican food during our time away, and it was great to finally have the option.
Everyone conversed during dinner, adding the occasional, "No, no, Mommy doesn't need water all over her lap --- Oh, thank you...thank you, nice and cold." Afterward the girls ran around in a nearby plaza (with supervision of course) and after a bit we said our goodbyes.
We made our way slowly back to the metro station to catch a train back downtown, and on this way, we happened upon a Borders that was going out of business. We stayed in the store for about an hour, but who knows, maybe more, maybe less. Everything was so tempting! ;)
We finished our walk, then when we arrived back in downtown, we continued our walk back to the hotel. It was late when we got back, but showers were overdue, it had been a very humid, warm day. Apparently it was cooler than it had been in recent days, but we were a little bit spoiled with the cooler weather on the last week of the Camino, so this meant that we were warm. After Auna and I took our showers, we turned on the TV for a little dose of American television, ended up watching the Discovery Channel. It's Shark Week by the way! :)
I don't remember the exact time, but the the TV was turned off and we were sleeping soundly. A nice day to finish off the most amazing thing that I have completed in my lifetime, so far.
So this is goodbye, huh?
Some of you I know I will talk to in the future; friends and family. But for those of you who have been reading the entries, whom I don't know, or see often, thank you for being part of my journey, OUR journey, and thank you for staying long enough to see the ending of something great. This experience has been amazing for me and I would like to think for Auna, Bree and James as well, and without our readers support, it may not have been possible. Thank You, and have a great rest of your summer! :)
ADIOS AMIGOS! (Extremely necessary.)
Hello everyone! I believe this will be the last post by me for this trip! So I guess it's time to say goodbye, but not yet, for I have to tell you what we did today!
We woke up semi-early, at about 7:20 or so, and by 8 we were out of the hotel and on our way to the Washington Monument, from there, Lincoln Memorial. As most of you know the reflecting pool is in between these too, and Auna was really excited to finally see it. As we pass the World War 2 Memorial we begin to see what doesn't really look like the pool, and as we get closer, I began to laugh. I knew Auna was looking forward to it, and I though it was pretty funny that we happened to be in DC while it was under construction. It was a massive muddy rectangle. A pigs dream, but with construction equipment, and a large chain link fence surrounded the area.
We arrived to the Lincoln Memorial a few minutes later and I walked up the stairs, cautiously, in my head singing the Batman theme... All things turned from joking to admiration when I stood there, in front of Lincoln, looking at him, his expression, his hands, his posture, everything, taking it all in. I walked to the left and read the Gettysburg Address, then to the right to read the Second Inaugural Address. I of course have read the Gettysburg Address before and actually remembered a lot of it, but the inaugural address was something that I don't remember reading, just a quote from it, and I was amazed at how it captured my attention, and I could only think of how amazing it would be to hear it in person.
Afterward we made our way around to the Korean War Memorial and the Vietnam War Memorial, we walked across the street to the Einstein Memorial, and we sat there and had a small snack.
Mr. March had told us how he had enjoyed the National Zoo the last time he was in town, and he decided to take us there. We walked from downtown to the zoo and immediately split into two groups so we could decide what to see first easier. Bree and I walked around together for the greater part of the time, and when we met up with Auna and March we ended up just leaving because both groups had seen either all or the majority of the zoo. As we were leaving Bree and I spotted a frozen yogurt store and of course we all kinda wanted some. It was hot and muggy and something cold sounded great. We all got our share and sat outside and people watched and spoke of what we could do before we were planned to meet up with my Aunt. She lives in PA, and decided to make the three hour drive to the DC area just to have dinner with us! Now, that may not sound too bad, but imagine that drive with 1.5 year old twin girls, and without daddy, who was working at the time. Props for Aunt Tracy! Thanks!!
We decided on riding the Metro back to the downtown area and exploring a bit. We saw the Capitol building, and Auna and I went to the Holocaust Museum, while Bree and March went to the Museum of Modern Art. The Holocaust museum was amazing, we went through an exhibit telling the story of a ten year old Jewish boy, and it was from his perspective, from his diary! Everything was beautifully put together despite the subject given.
After two hours, we went back to our meeting point and the four of us walked to the center of town to catch another Metro to a suburb outside of DC, where we would meet my Aunt and cousins. We arrived no problem, and it took us a little longer than normal to find the arranged meeting stop. When we did I introduced Aunt Tracy to everyone and we decided on Mexican for dinner. Which was definitely appreciated, I think all four of us mentioned at least once how we missed Mexican food during our time away, and it was great to finally have the option.
Everyone conversed during dinner, adding the occasional, "No, no, Mommy doesn't need water all over her lap --- Oh, thank you...thank you, nice and cold." Afterward the girls ran around in a nearby plaza (with supervision of course) and after a bit we said our goodbyes.
We made our way slowly back to the metro station to catch a train back downtown, and on this way, we happened upon a Borders that was going out of business. We stayed in the store for about an hour, but who knows, maybe more, maybe less. Everything was so tempting! ;)
We finished our walk, then when we arrived back in downtown, we continued our walk back to the hotel. It was late when we got back, but showers were overdue, it had been a very humid, warm day. Apparently it was cooler than it had been in recent days, but we were a little bit spoiled with the cooler weather on the last week of the Camino, so this meant that we were warm. After Auna and I took our showers, we turned on the TV for a little dose of American television, ended up watching the Discovery Channel. It's Shark Week by the way! :)
I don't remember the exact time, but the the TV was turned off and we were sleeping soundly. A nice day to finish off the most amazing thing that I have completed in my lifetime, so far.
So this is goodbye, huh?
Some of you I know I will talk to in the future; friends and family. But for those of you who have been reading the entries, whom I don't know, or see often, thank you for being part of my journey, OUR journey, and thank you for staying long enough to see the ending of something great. This experience has been amazing for me and I would like to think for Auna, Bree and James as well, and without our readers support, it may not have been possible. Thank You, and have a great rest of your summer! :)
ADIOS AMIGOS! (Extremely necessary.)
Friday, August 5, 2011
Day 1.6: Madrid to Washington DC (James)
Day 1.6 Madrid to Washington DC
Not much of note happened today. We did sit a lot. Whether it was at the airport in Madrid after a long sleepless night or on an 8 hour flight, or on a one hour bus ride once in DC, whatever it was, we generally just sat there.
One cool thing did happen, not counting arriving back in the U.S. safe and sound. While on the plane, Auna searched through the movies and found "The Way". This is an Emilio Estevez and Martin Sheen movie about a father walking the Camino de Santiago. We knew about this movie and were excited to see that it opens in the US in early October. It opened in Europe in May:). So here we are on a plane, all simultaneously watching a movie on the very journey we just took, marveling at all them little things in the movie that we knew only pilgrims who had been there would get. We recognized locations, situations, even scenes in which they were technically walking the wrong way! Ok, I will extend them artistic license.
Overall, it was great and I hope you all get a chance to watch it. The bad thing is that the movie only ate up a small chunk of the flight. We still have 6 more hours!
Those 6 hours went by quicker than expected and soon we were on the ground at Dulles international airport. Customs was a breeze, passports were stamped, and we were officially back in the country.
Although it is only 7pm here as we check into the hotel on the Potomic river, our bodies think it is about 1am and we will probably go to bed soon, whether we want to or not.
We have a full day tomorrow. Monuments, museums, zoo, and dinner with east coast relatives await. Glad to be back:)
James
Not much of note happened today. We did sit a lot. Whether it was at the airport in Madrid after a long sleepless night or on an 8 hour flight, or on a one hour bus ride once in DC, whatever it was, we generally just sat there.
One cool thing did happen, not counting arriving back in the U.S. safe and sound. While on the plane, Auna searched through the movies and found "The Way". This is an Emilio Estevez and Martin Sheen movie about a father walking the Camino de Santiago. We knew about this movie and were excited to see that it opens in the US in early October. It opened in Europe in May:). So here we are on a plane, all simultaneously watching a movie on the very journey we just took, marveling at all them little things in the movie that we knew only pilgrims who had been there would get. We recognized locations, situations, even scenes in which they were technically walking the wrong way! Ok, I will extend them artistic license.
Overall, it was great and I hope you all get a chance to watch it. The bad thing is that the movie only ate up a small chunk of the flight. We still have 6 more hours!
Those 6 hours went by quicker than expected and soon we were on the ground at Dulles international airport. Customs was a breeze, passports were stamped, and we were officially back in the country.
Although it is only 7pm here as we check into the hotel on the Potomic river, our bodies think it is about 1am and we will probably go to bed soon, whether we want to or not.
We have a full day tomorrow. Monuments, museums, zoo, and dinner with east coast relatives await. Glad to be back:)
James
Day 1.5 Madrid (James)
Day 1.5 Madrid
Last day in Madrid. Our flight tomorrow morning is early enough to encourage us and our budgets to spend the night at the airport. This means a full day in Madrid and then a late subway to the airport.
Running around the city is fun and all, but it can be a bit cumbersome with a full backpack. Our first stop was the Prada Museum. Free for kids under 18, it was perfect way to start the day and Bree agreed to wait outside with our backpacks. The paintings were amazing. it was heavily represented by Spanish painters, go figure. Goya seemingly had half the museum. There were others, though, Rembrandt, Raphael, just to name a couple others. I especially liked the Velazquez, in particular, the "buffoons," or so they were called. Apparently you couldn't be an upwardly mobile gentlemen of note unless you owned a mentally or physically disabled person at the time. The portraits of these people seemed real, like the artist didn't feel the pressure to portray their client in a way that reminds them that they were indeed paid to paint them in the best light. in these paintings I saw humans. In all the others I saw incredibly inflated egos.
We finished the museum around 11am, leaving the vast majority of the day open. One great thing about Madrid is that you can't go to far without running into a well groomed park that positively calls for you to sit in it's shade. We found such respite from the heat in Buen Retiro park. This place is huge. We parked our bags near an artificial lake and Bree and the girls all parted to explore while I napped with the backpacks at my feet. The lake was filled with rentable rowboats and pretty soon I caught a glimpse of Deija and Auna paddling towards the banks. Hours passed blissfully by and as the sun was making it's final call, we boarded a subway towards Barajas airport.
We encountered no problems getting there and found our terminal. We all looked at the clock. 11pm. 12 hours to kill. Unfortunately all this airport had was a incredibly hard tile floor. Sleep was near impossible. In fact, I'm still awake right now as I write. Since its the quiet hours for passengers, all the construction work is being done now. A worker 50 feet away is jackhammering one of the floor tiles to be replaced. I think I might go walk around....
James
Last day in Madrid. Our flight tomorrow morning is early enough to encourage us and our budgets to spend the night at the airport. This means a full day in Madrid and then a late subway to the airport.
Running around the city is fun and all, but it can be a bit cumbersome with a full backpack. Our first stop was the Prada Museum. Free for kids under 18, it was perfect way to start the day and Bree agreed to wait outside with our backpacks. The paintings were amazing. it was heavily represented by Spanish painters, go figure. Goya seemingly had half the museum. There were others, though, Rembrandt, Raphael, just to name a couple others. I especially liked the Velazquez, in particular, the "buffoons," or so they were called. Apparently you couldn't be an upwardly mobile gentlemen of note unless you owned a mentally or physically disabled person at the time. The portraits of these people seemed real, like the artist didn't feel the pressure to portray their client in a way that reminds them that they were indeed paid to paint them in the best light. in these paintings I saw humans. In all the others I saw incredibly inflated egos.
We finished the museum around 11am, leaving the vast majority of the day open. One great thing about Madrid is that you can't go to far without running into a well groomed park that positively calls for you to sit in it's shade. We found such respite from the heat in Buen Retiro park. This place is huge. We parked our bags near an artificial lake and Bree and the girls all parted to explore while I napped with the backpacks at my feet. The lake was filled with rentable rowboats and pretty soon I caught a glimpse of Deija and Auna paddling towards the banks. Hours passed blissfully by and as the sun was making it's final call, we boarded a subway towards Barajas airport.
We encountered no problems getting there and found our terminal. We all looked at the clock. 11pm. 12 hours to kill. Unfortunately all this airport had was a incredibly hard tile floor. Sleep was near impossible. In fact, I'm still awake right now as I write. Since its the quiet hours for passengers, all the construction work is being done now. A worker 50 feet away is jackhammering one of the floor tiles to be replaced. I think I might go walk around....
James
Day 1.4 Madrid (Auna)
Day 1.4: Madrid
Once I wake up I roll towards Deija, I ask her what time it is and she says "8:12 Let's go!" and I knew exactly what she was talking about. We both throw off the covers, stretch, and slip on our sandals. That's exactly how it went, we run down stairs, grab a chair to sit at in the Café through the lobby. We see a bar filled with cereal, an assortment of sandwiches meats and cheese, bread, butter and jam, napalitanos, croissants, orange juice and milk! The fancy shmancy hotel offers FREE breakfast! Deija and I were really excited for this the night before. We ate, and we ate some more. It was really good!
It felt really nice to mosey around the hotel room and take my time. The shower was amazing, it had a lot of water and it stayed the nice hot temperature the whole time! I think Deija and I both averaged about half an hour each in the shower. We could just lay around if we wanted to all day.... But we are in Madrid! We're not going to lay around all day. We have to see the town so we hop on the metro to downtown Madrid. Our first stop is the Palacio Real, I think that means real palace...? I know it was a palace though. It was huge! We sat around in the Sabatini Gardens which was right in front of it. It was beautiful with statues and fountains all over the place. Deija and I climbed a tree and we messed around a bit. Then we walked to the Debod temple. I don't know much about the temple but March tells us that it was found in Egypt and they took it apart and rebuilt it here! Of course it was closed on Mondays so we didn't get to go in but it was huge and really cool. We saw some great views of the city and let me tell you something, Madrid is HUGE! We walked down Gran Vía and it was so busy! Buildings full of stores, cafes, and hotels towered over me. Some of buildings were beautiful and had statues set at top. I think I was the only one who was kind of overwhelmed, I had never been to such a big place.
We see Plaza Mayor and then we head back because we had to sneak Bree into the hotel after she arrived from her flight from Portugal. We were all reunited again! Bree sets out to see what we just did and we all lay back around the hotel by the swimming pool and we explore more bits of the town. In just a few days I shall arrive home. My feelings are being a bit unsure of how I feel. Every time I hear from a friend or someone in my family I get excited and I can't wait to be home! ... But whenever I step out into the town and see the beauty of Europe I don't want to leave yet! My mom would say that it has been long enough and for the time I guess it has been but I will be back and my travels don't end here. March shows me just how stressful and how much work it takes but I'm prepared. I would like to say thanks to everyone who is reading, I appreciate it and you are also apart of this trip! Thanks again!
Auna
Once I wake up I roll towards Deija, I ask her what time it is and she says "8:12 Let's go!" and I knew exactly what she was talking about. We both throw off the covers, stretch, and slip on our sandals. That's exactly how it went, we run down stairs, grab a chair to sit at in the Café through the lobby. We see a bar filled with cereal, an assortment of sandwiches meats and cheese, bread, butter and jam, napalitanos, croissants, orange juice and milk! The fancy shmancy hotel offers FREE breakfast! Deija and I were really excited for this the night before. We ate, and we ate some more. It was really good!
It felt really nice to mosey around the hotel room and take my time. The shower was amazing, it had a lot of water and it stayed the nice hot temperature the whole time! I think Deija and I both averaged about half an hour each in the shower. We could just lay around if we wanted to all day.... But we are in Madrid! We're not going to lay around all day. We have to see the town so we hop on the metro to downtown Madrid. Our first stop is the Palacio Real, I think that means real palace...? I know it was a palace though. It was huge! We sat around in the Sabatini Gardens which was right in front of it. It was beautiful with statues and fountains all over the place. Deija and I climbed a tree and we messed around a bit. Then we walked to the Debod temple. I don't know much about the temple but March tells us that it was found in Egypt and they took it apart and rebuilt it here! Of course it was closed on Mondays so we didn't get to go in but it was huge and really cool. We saw some great views of the city and let me tell you something, Madrid is HUGE! We walked down Gran Vía and it was so busy! Buildings full of stores, cafes, and hotels towered over me. Some of buildings were beautiful and had statues set at top. I think I was the only one who was kind of overwhelmed, I had never been to such a big place.
We see Plaza Mayor and then we head back because we had to sneak Bree into the hotel after she arrived from her flight from Portugal. We were all reunited again! Bree sets out to see what we just did and we all lay back around the hotel by the swimming pool and we explore more bits of the town. In just a few days I shall arrive home. My feelings are being a bit unsure of how I feel. Every time I hear from a friend or someone in my family I get excited and I can't wait to be home! ... But whenever I step out into the town and see the beauty of Europe I don't want to leave yet! My mom would say that it has been long enough and for the time I guess it has been but I will be back and my travels don't end here. March shows me just how stressful and how much work it takes but I'm prepared. I would like to say thanks to everyone who is reading, I appreciate it and you are also apart of this trip! Thanks again!
Auna
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
Day 1.3 Madrid (Deija)
Madrid
As we leave the train station, we enter a ghost town. This part of Madrid is completely lacking human and animal appearances. It is the business district, at least that is what I figure, but no one is doing business today apparently. Even though Sundays in Spain and many other European countries are slow, I would expect a big city such as Madrid to be awake at 8:30 on a Sunday no matter what happened...
*Zombie Apocalypse maybe?
No... Maybe not. *
It's my birthday! EVERYONE SHOULD BE AWAKE! The astonishing anniversary of the day I left the womb! We should have a party! Or not. I'm thinking maybe a slice o' cheesecake, hanging with March and Auna, watching Spanish television shows at whichever hotel March has booked, sleeping?
March had other plans, after walking for a little over an hour from the train station to where the hotel was suppose to be Auna and I noticed a hotel that looked super nice and I made a lame crack that that's where we were staying, then as we passed it there was another sign and it was for a restaurant in the hotel and their logo was of a spork. Totally not pertinent to anything else I am going to tell you, just wanted you to know. Giving out useless information for free? That would be me. :)
We kept walking for maybe thirty seconds and then Mr. March turned around and I assumed he was just going back to use Wi-Fi or something but when we walked in, it all kinda clicked. Bree's comment on Facebook, the weird way Auna looked at me when we started to walk back, all the weird looks I was receiving from her while standing in the lobby as March talked to the receptionist. We were totally staying here. Suite.
(Ha! Play on words! They were called the Alcala Suites)
I was really excited! :) Hostels are no more on our itinerary! Don't get me wrong, some were really nice, but, hotel? A nice one at that? Lovin'. It.
There was a swimming pool, complementary breakfast, short walk to a few restaurants and a grocery store. Out of the way so no traffic noises. I. Am. Happy. For sure. It's great, and I didn't expect anything else. I got to take a nap, hang by the pool, listen to music, watch American movies in Spanish without subtitles... Rearrange.
Then later in the day I stayed back at the hotel while Auna went to see if the grocery store would ever open during the day, and while she was gone, I just lay back, relaxed, and enjoyed every minute of it.
She came back, along with March (whom I didn't notice even left till I looked up from my resting spot, sprawled on my bed with headphones) and they brought me cheesecake ice-cream, (they couldn't find actual cheesecake, but it was way better than the real thing) and super delish pizza... Like real pizza! Pizza pizza! Not weird Spanish pizza. Good old fashioned delicious American pizza. It was amazing.
Mr. March afterward went to sit by the pool, and Auna and I took a ton of pictures, trashed the room then cleaned it up, made dancing videos with our new poofy pants, (Auna's present to me :D) and had a tiny dance party with the music channel on the television. It happened to be playing American music, and we knew all the songs... We watched videos on YouTube, and when March got back, we calmed down slightly, but I still think we kind of bugged him, just a little.
We ended up actually going to sleep around 1:00AM or so, not too late. Breakfast in the morning!
Overall, a great day! Thanks March! It was awesome! And Auna? "Pantelones pants" are amazing! :) love you guys! Thankya for everything!!
Deija
As we leave the train station, we enter a ghost town. This part of Madrid is completely lacking human and animal appearances. It is the business district, at least that is what I figure, but no one is doing business today apparently. Even though Sundays in Spain and many other European countries are slow, I would expect a big city such as Madrid to be awake at 8:30 on a Sunday no matter what happened...
*Zombie Apocalypse maybe?
No... Maybe not. *
It's my birthday! EVERYONE SHOULD BE AWAKE! The astonishing anniversary of the day I left the womb! We should have a party! Or not. I'm thinking maybe a slice o' cheesecake, hanging with March and Auna, watching Spanish television shows at whichever hotel March has booked, sleeping?
March had other plans, after walking for a little over an hour from the train station to where the hotel was suppose to be Auna and I noticed a hotel that looked super nice and I made a lame crack that that's where we were staying, then as we passed it there was another sign and it was for a restaurant in the hotel and their logo was of a spork. Totally not pertinent to anything else I am going to tell you, just wanted you to know. Giving out useless information for free? That would be me. :)
We kept walking for maybe thirty seconds and then Mr. March turned around and I assumed he was just going back to use Wi-Fi or something but when we walked in, it all kinda clicked. Bree's comment on Facebook, the weird way Auna looked at me when we started to walk back, all the weird looks I was receiving from her while standing in the lobby as March talked to the receptionist. We were totally staying here. Suite.
(Ha! Play on words! They were called the Alcala Suites)
I was really excited! :) Hostels are no more on our itinerary! Don't get me wrong, some were really nice, but, hotel? A nice one at that? Lovin'. It.
There was a swimming pool, complementary breakfast, short walk to a few restaurants and a grocery store. Out of the way so no traffic noises. I. Am. Happy. For sure. It's great, and I didn't expect anything else. I got to take a nap, hang by the pool, listen to music, watch American movies in Spanish without subtitles... Rearrange.
Then later in the day I stayed back at the hotel while Auna went to see if the grocery store would ever open during the day, and while she was gone, I just lay back, relaxed, and enjoyed every minute of it.
She came back, along with March (whom I didn't notice even left till I looked up from my resting spot, sprawled on my bed with headphones) and they brought me cheesecake ice-cream, (they couldn't find actual cheesecake, but it was way better than the real thing) and super delish pizza... Like real pizza! Pizza pizza! Not weird Spanish pizza. Good old fashioned delicious American pizza. It was amazing.
Mr. March afterward went to sit by the pool, and Auna and I took a ton of pictures, trashed the room then cleaned it up, made dancing videos with our new poofy pants, (Auna's present to me :D) and had a tiny dance party with the music channel on the television. It happened to be playing American music, and we knew all the songs... We watched videos on YouTube, and when March got back, we calmed down slightly, but I still think we kind of bugged him, just a little.
We ended up actually going to sleep around 1:00AM or so, not too late. Breakfast in the morning!
Overall, a great day! Thanks March! It was awesome! And Auna? "Pantelones pants" are amazing! :) love you guys! Thankya for everything!!
Deija
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)