Madrid +Toledo

Trip Start Jan 02, 2009
1
Trip End Jun 29, 2009


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Sunday, January 11, 2009

I arrived into Madrid late due to our plane from chicago to warsaw being late making us late to our flight from warsaw to madrid. Therefore, my friends Emily, Casey and I missed the bus tour of Madrid but we arrived to a really nice hotel. Ran into one of my roommates immediately at the hotel restaurant..we hit it off immediately which makes sense because she also happens to be a kappa and has the exact same birthday as me! When we were eating dinner we realize that water is much more expensive here than wine. I ordered a ham and cheese sandwhich which I soon discover is on EVERY menu in Spain.

The next day my program took us to The Valle de los Caídos (in English: Valley of the Fallen) is a monumental memorial  near Madrid, conceived by Spanish dictator Francisco Franco (who is compared to Hitler) to honour those who fell during the Spanish Civil War. It was also claimed by Franco that the monument was meant to be a "national act of atonement". As a surviving artifact of Franco's rule, the monument and its Catholic basilica remain controversial, especially due to the manner and circumstances of its construction (built by political prisoners).

The next day we went to the center of the city at the Plaza Mayor and walked aroud the city past the royal palace etc. The palace reminded me a lot of Bukingham Palace!

The following day we took an hour bus ride to Toledo which is GORGEOUS! Very old and people are really nice to tourists..this was not the case in Madrid.
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