Hotel Mercedes Aranjuez

... the steak that I'm used to; rather, it was a little pinker, flatter, and a bit more disgusting...but it was edible...and I enjoyed it! I was happy for that! Then, I decided I didn't need to run my mouth as much so I didn't spend all my time talking. Instead, I actually decided I was going to take a 4 hour siesta and enjoy the nap. I truly enjoyed it - very relaxing! After my wake-up call for dinner, I started to dread what was going to ...

... the city. I spent last night in jail - the jail hotel that is. The place was a jail up until just 10 years ago, I booked one of rooms that they call the unplugged rooms, and they are suppose to resemble what the prison rooms really looked like. Wow did they ever the bars on the windows, the cot like bed, it was almost a little too real. While the novelty wore off after about an hour, it was still a neat place ...

... learned a lot about the history, but we really didn´t see that much cool stuff. The part we liked best was called Plaza Mayor (where we later came to grab Madrid´s famous Calamari Sandwiches for lunch). We sat around for about an hour and watched the weirdo street performers and the tourists then decided to come write to you! Now we´re off to another city in Spain... again, we´re so lucky... we´re thinking of you all, and miss you a lot... Ciao!

... had just touched was actually an exhibit. Feeling a little stunned, a bit stupid, and mostly annoyed at the unfreindliness, I headed into the main gallery with Cameron. Straight away I realised the art was not what I was remembering from high school. There were lots of portraits with strange looking people with big feet and hands. I was still feeling belittled and tried to find a place to recover and read the ...

... seniors hugging and reminiscing. We said our farewells and my Mom and I reflected upon our time together. A few thoughts: 1) We did not kill each other = success. 2) She is not trying to single handedly nag me to death. 3) She admitted that I had a few good ideas along the way. 4) We are the exact opposite of each other. 5) We are exactly the same. 6) Dad's credit card came in rather handy. 7) Time zones ...

... it easy and sleep in. I got up around 9:30, packed my stuff, and finally headed out to the Gallery Thyssen-Bornemisza. Hey, if you're going to visit museums in Madrid - you can't leave that one out, no matter how museumed out you are. It turned out to be amazing... Rodin's, Monet's, Pissaro's, and so on, and so on, with the world's most famous painters all represented in one great, easy to navigate location. By 1:30pm, I was hungry, tired, satisfied of my visit ...

... market "Mercat de Sant Josep". Mercat de Sant Josep was near Las Ramblas and was a dry and wet food market selling stuff like dry jambon (ham hung on the top of the stall), fresh fruits, neatly laid out seafood, very sweet candied fruits etc. The fruit ...

... interesting details or explanations of the palace. She just walked us around a few rooms and chambers describing what they were who slept there and blah blah blah. So I decided I was going to block out her ****** explanations and walk around with Ed taking pictures and enjoying the details for myself. I did however pay attention to the must-know details like who it was comissioned for, and who later remodelled it, and what ...

Day two without internet access. Up by eight so I could get to the Museo del Prado when it opened. It was raining by the time I arrived. The Prado is supposed to be one of the world's finest art museums. Largely composed of Spanish paintings, particularlz Goya, it was a great place to walk around. It was nowhere near as large as I was expecting it to be. It takes up an entire city block, and it is three stories tall, but I still managed to see everything in less ...

Ok. I have decided that Spanish people aren't all that friendly. But I can't blame them. Why would they need to talk to an American when they have $1 Beers and they are way better looking. Nuff said. I do respect them, if for only the fact that the food is really good, really cheap, and often involves taking shots of alcohol at the end. Not a bad combo. My story picks up again in Salamanca. This is a beautiful university city which was ...