Madrid, Spain

Hola!

Now that my travels in France were over it was off to Spain!  I spent 3 days in Madrid, Spain.

This picture on the left is the Palacio Real (Royal Palace).  

On our arrival day we just walked around the city after getting settled.  Madrid is filled with lots of plazas and fountains.  The city is also a lot smaller then Paris so it was easier to get around on foot.

Our first full day we went to Plaza Mayor, the famous plaza in the middle of the city.  Then we went to Catedral de la Almudena and the Palacio Real which were originally connected as one big building.  The Cathedral may not have been the most grand that I've seen but it was definitely the most colorful of all my travels.  Later in the day we went to the Museo del Prado.  We saw many famous pieces by Goya, Caravaggio, and Raphael.  This art gallery is in my top 3 of 

Europe.  I was sad I didn't get a chance to see Adam and Eve because it was being worked on.

  But they had many others that I enjoyed.  We went to the Prado two days in a row since it was free entry from 6-8pm.  I love my free things!

With the encouragement of my father, I had a chance to enjoy some delicious Paella while in Madrid.  Here is a photo of me with my chicken paella!  Very yummy!

Our 3rd day in Madrid we went to Centra de Arte Reina Sofia which has many works by Picasso, including the famous Guernica.  It was very big and probably my favorite work in Spain.  Reina Sofia also had works by Dali, Gris, Miro, and Ganzalez.  This gallery was filled with more modern art.  I don't think I have enough depth to understand modern art.  We got a chance to go to the Botanical Gardens in Madrid.  I enjoyed the slower pace of sight seeing in Madrid.  I had the chance to actually enjoy 

the city itself as a whole.

Here is a photo of Plaza Mayor on the left.

Our final day in Madrid we went to the Museo de America in the morning before going to the very large Parque del Retiro.  If you looked at a map of Madrid the park covers a lot of the area.  They have a bunch of lakes in it and even some modern art sculptures.  Our flight to Barcelona was late in the evening so our last day was relaxing and stress free.

I love the Spanish culture and am very excited to take Spanish next year.  I also enjoyed the food very much!

Next destination, Barcelona! 

  

Paris

Salut!

Time of finish the last few blogs of my trip.  I spent 3 weeks traveling to 5 different cities!  My travels began in Paris, France!  I fell in love with the city.  I got to see so many amazing monuments.

Due to my overwhelming number of attractions I have decided to list everything I saw to save lots and lots of time lol.

Arrival Day, April 1: Basilique du Sacre-Coeur

Day 2, April 2: Spent 4 hours in the Louvre (Saw - Mona Lisa, Venus di Milo, Coronation of 

Empress Josephine, and lots of paintings and sculptures), Eiffel Tower (Climbed all the way to the top and got a great view of the city), Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel (also known as Napoleon's Arch), Garden des Tuileries, Obelisque, Hotel des Invalides.

Day 3, April 3: Notre Dame (the inside was incredible), Hotel de Ville, Tour Saint-Jacques, Le Pantheon (in the crypt they had Victor Hugo, Emile Zola, Voltaire, Rousseau, Louie Braille), the Catacombes, Cimetiere du Pere-Lachaise (saw the tombs of Chopin, Rossini, Noir, Morrison, Oscar Wilde).

Day 4, April 4: Spent the whole day at Versailles.  Chateau de Versailles, Les jardins (the Gardens), Le grand Trianon, Le Domaine de Marie-Antoinette, Le petit Trianon, Le Hameau.  The place was incredible and despite the season was still breathtaking.  We got to see even more paintings and 

famous exhibits.  

Day 5, April 5: Arc de Triumphe, Palais de la decouverte, Petit Palais, La Defense, Grand Palais, Palais Royal.

We also went to the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre at night to see the lights.  At 11pm the Eiffel Tower started flashing lights.

April 6th we spent a short amount of time before getting on our plain to Madrid, Spain!

Paris was my favorite city when it came to attractions.  The Louvre was the most incredible museum I've ever been in.  I would've loved to spend hours roaming around the place.  I loved the history Paris had to offer.  I also loved the nutella filled crepes!  Yum!

It was also helpful that so many french people spoke English.  The rest of our travels were not a convenient.

Paris was also the largest city we visited.  We had to make use of the subway system while we explored during the day.  Everything was very spread out. 

I definitely left a part of my heart in Paris!  

Next up Spain!

Au revoir!