Barcelo Aranjuez Hotel

... for 2 nights, so we took off and did some light shopping all over the main street, ate at a bar, hung out... checked out the plaza mayor which is where alot of hanging took plaace back i nthe day- then i had a nap because i heard spains dinner time isnt until 11ish pm, and the nigh life picks up at 3am, some bars actually dont open until after 2,, HEAVEN. so we headed to the main lobby of the hostel ...

... us by Matt, Tammi´s friend from SD - Thanks Matt!! She was really cool and took us around the city. We first ate lunch, then walked through a beautiful park. Then we went to a popular shopping area called Grand Villa (we know, we know... we shouldn´t be shopping). We also were craving Starbucks so we had one of those too! Haha. After a full day of shopping and watching prostitutes get hassled, we called it a day with Ashley and went our ...

... years ago would pay off one day)! Since I am such a generous person, I offered to buy brunch for the guy that lost. Then I had to hurry and take the Metra to the airport. After getting specially checked twice by security, I was finally on the plane back to my beloved Chicago. I couldn't wait to tell my family and friends all the fun I had! I was even surprised by how much ...

... hopped off the bus (God forbid the locals see us on a bus!!!) and headed to Hotel PYR. It's supposed to be this fancy spot, I guess. When we got to the counter at 2:00pm, the man told us to return closer to five and then he will give us a large room with three beds. "Oh Good!" I thought, "somewhere for my bags to have a nap." I snapped at the man that we watned the room now (I was sure that they were used to this kind of treatment), and he said, okay. He then showed us a map of ...

Despues de haber visitado gran parte de extremadura gracias a la invitación de Eddie y Mariola a su boda, estuvimos de regreso en Aranjuez con Santiago y Lorena. Por cuestiones logisticas y (de clases) no pudimos acompañarlos en el resto de su recorrido (comer en Chinchón) y tuvimos que regresar a Madrid despues de una rápida sesión de fotos.

... home" that night, with full stomachs and light hearts, knowing our work was complete, and the next couple of days were ours. 5) Thursday, April 5: Museums, museums, museums, and - oh yeah - McDonald's. We started at the Museo del Prado, once of the world's most renowned and famous repositories of great historical art. Goya, El Greco, Velasquez - all names I had learned way back when, but to see "Las Munenas" up close and personal was great. Lots of wonderful paintings ...

... to get the all-inclusive passes to go to the Prado, the Reina Sofia, and the Thyssen-Bornemisza. I am not sure how I got bamboozled, but after going to the first two, I insisted on a break. One of the activities in Chad's guidebook was to walk through the gardens outside of the museum to see a crystal palace and a lake with rowboats. Chad may call it spite for going to three museums in one day; however, I like to call it a reward. Yup, we rented a rowboat, and Chad rowed his ...

... which apparently are well known all throughout Spain. After lunch we drove the short distance to The Prince's Gardens, which were the personal living quarters and gardens of the Prince, just in case he wanted a wild Spring soiree away from the disapproving eyes of Daddy King and Mommy Queen. We walked around the gardens and saw squirrels and pheasants. We met an elegant peacock Ed and I drove crazy until he unexpectedly ...

... amazing displays with castles made out of the stuff. It conveniently started to pour in time for us to head back, which made navigation slightly frustrating. We ventured back out at five and wandered through a jewish museum, found that both El Greco's house and the Alcazar (castle) were closed indefinitely. Another man who also found this out walked up to the closed door and symbolically kicked the step in protest. He looked ...

... our host families. All of us were staying with host families that we knew nothing about. From the experiences of previous K students, we knew that we would most likely be staying with an older woman in an apartment with rooms let out for students just like us. And for the most part, that was true. I, however, was blessed with a host family that consisted of a husband and wife, their 4 daughters, and a nephew. The ...