El Cocheron 1919 Aranjuez

... big difference in pronunciation, i didnt like it. he didnt have time to pay attention to me so i gave up quickly, lol so went to a bar called the mona lisa and i totally molested the painting in that bar, since i wasnt aloud to touch the real mona lisa. . we had 4 bars to go to in total, and we got a free shot of tequila at each one, FUN !!! and our drinks were half off , but they were stil like, 5 euros ...

... was to have a relaxing day and that it was. On our way to the park we noticed the Royal Botanical Gardens. This ended up being one of our favorite places in Madrid!! It was SO beautiful (as you can see from the pics...) The flowers were in full bloom, especially the tulips. It was so nice to take it easy and rome around at our leisure... afterwards our plan was to go to the Prado museum, but we were too exhausted by then (and yes, we´re ...

... Reina gallery, and that as it was Sunday afternoon it was free entry. So never ones to turn down gree entry, we trundled off in the drizzle to the Art Gallery. We found a 15 minute long line, and thought at this point maybe we should invest in some better rain gear. Once inside, we realised that the majority of the building was dedicated to a special Picasso exhibit. It was a collection visiting from Paris. Well ...

... Also, saw an original Rembrandt (pure genius) and some Botticelli on display as well. Fabulous, fabulous, fabulous. We didn't get to the Thyssen Museum, however, on a more interesting note- as I was running on the treadmill I did see on the TV that Baron von Thyssen-Bornemisza's son has managed to impregnant a regular gal and incite a scandal. The Thyssen family wealth is outrageous and their conduct even more ...

... leaves people breathless! Yeaaaah... Not so much. We walked around, Steve and Julia clearly unimpressed. As much as I knew I should be impressed in the presence of such famous art - I just couldn't even fake it. Not even the very large, very... impressive... Guernica managed to have much of an effect on me. We were, as they say, "museumed out". Making our way back to the subway, Julia spotted a Mickey D, and announced that she was hungry for a snack, chicken ...

... expensive day and we should probably call it a night. However, there was a jazz club around the corner from our hostel that we really wanted to check out so we decided to "just walk past it". So glad we did, we ended up jamming with "The Canal Street Jazz Band" for the next 1-2 hours and left wishing we had checked this place out earlier in the week. It is great to leave a city on such a happy note.... They Said: Happy birthday, Jaden!!! Happy birthday, George W.!!! Happy birthday, America!!!

... hot to remain in their normal palace of residence. Their Summer home was farther away from Central Spain, in a cooler location from the infernal Spanish heat. Pretty sassy kings : one fabulous palace for each season. We reached the little town of Aranjuez located on the valley between the Tajo and Jarama Rivers. When we arrived at the palace gates we found out we had an hour before the guided tour started, so we decided to take ...

... chinese restaurant that after some persuasion let us have the 10 euro menu. We then settled back for our impressively tiny three course dinner. A few spring rolls, followed by surprisingly good almond chicken for me. Being a somewhat picky eater, Brendon picked the chicken. His plate came with four measley chicken wings. Pretty lame. Ice cream was for dessert. Everyone was tired when this finished so we headed back to the hostel.

... about a month now. We reunited as soon as I picked her up from the airport and we have been spending time together. Some of the pictures this time are from a day trip we made to Aranjuez, about 30 Km south of Madrid. There is a palace there used for royal retreats and it has a great garden we got to walk through. This weekend we are going to Escorial ...

... seems huge. And really, by Spanish standards, it was. The other K students were normally in 2 bedroom apartments with a bathroom and tiny kitchen, and that's it. I really was lucky in many ways. When I arrived at the apartment, to which I was driven by my host father, Kiko (which I later learned to be short for Juan Francisco Auz Fernandez-Villa, phew), nobody else was home. Kiko showed be around the apartment and got me ...