A Week in Madrid

This past week was nice because we didn’t have any excursions or big day trips anywhere as a group. So we were able to be here all week and have some time to recover after our free weeks, which spanned across Europe. On Tuesday I was able to go see Cervantes’ house, which is a museum here in Alcalá. He wrote Don Quixote and from all the statues and commemorations for him, one would think the whole country of Spain is obsessed with him. He was born in Alcalá so it was fun to go see that. Later that day a few of us went into Madrid to meet up with our friend Eva. We met her when we went to the Madrid ward a few weeks ago. She invited us over for lunch. So we met up with her daughter and she brought us to her house. Eva is crazy. But we love her. She made us some yummy Peruvian food and we hung out and talked with her for a while, she is so fun. I don’t know how old she is, she has 2 kids and one is 29, but she acts like a teenager haha she was telling us stories of all the boys that try to dance with her at the clubs but she wants them to go love the young girls…haha she is crazy. Before we left though she taught us some dances so that was fun with all of us dancing in her little living room. It was a lot of fun. She is the perfect example of someone who is just so kind and loving and friendly having us all over for lunch and spending her day with us. She really is a sweet lady.

On Thursday a few of us went into Madrid to go see the Prado Museum again. There is so much artwork in that building. It really is amazing to see. It makes me wish I had any artistic talent, but I can at least enjoy them which is good:] After the Prado we went and got some frozen yogurt for dinner, which was delicious. Then we met up with the rest of the group for LION KING! We got tickets to go see the Broadway Production of the Lion King in Spanish in Madrid! I absolutely loved it! It was so fun! I even was able to understand most of it too! I’m not sure if it was because they spoke slowly and annunciated their words, or if I just know the movie and show so well I thought I was understanding the words but I was actually just saying them in my head in English haha either way, I loved it! It was so fun being there with everyone too, I really had a great time. The show was pretty similar to the one in English. My favorite “Spanish” part was when Timon and Puma were acting as distractions for Simba and they were Flamenco Dancing ha everyone in the audience started clapping and getting all into it, it was a lot of fun. I just love musicals and shows they are so fun to go see, and I love the atmosphere.

Friday morning, a few of us went into Madrid to go check out the Museum de America. It was filled with artifacts from explorers, mostly from the Americas. It was super cool to see all of the things and creatures they found. I also really liked the room where they had all of their maps and how they thought the world looked and everything, it was so interesting. I also loved that there was a little school group doing a tour at the same time as us, and they were Spanish children learning English and one of the cutest girls I have ever seen came up to me and was asking me what my name was and stuff, it was so cute. That night we met up with the rest of the group and we went to go see a Pompeii exhibit that they were having in Madrid. While we were walking to the venue, we passed by this little churro stand and we got some freshly made porras that were so delicious. The worker was super sweet, she is from Bolivia, and she was talking with us and she made us fresh porras and gave us free churros too! The Pompeii exhibit ended up being really cool. I really liked Pompeii when we went and visited it a few years ago. I just think it is so interesting how a whole city had been preserved for years and years after this eruption. I think what I liked most in the exhibit were the videos they had created that reenacted that day and showed what happened and how it all took place. It was hard to imagine what it would be like living there at that time. After that we went to the church to meet up with our friend Eva from the Madrid ward. It ended up being kind of chaotic because we were going to go do karaoke with her, but then we had to figure out where we were going, how we were going to get there, if some of us were going to take the metro, then all the Madrid YSA kids came, and it was just funny because we had no idea what was going on. We finally figured it out and drove over to the place. We found it after looking up and down the street, and Eva trying to remember where the place even was haha it really was a funny experience. Then we found the place, thankfully girls got in free! And we went down and they had a whole room dedicated to karaoke! It was awesome. So we all sung songs and hung out, but after a while we wanted to go check out the discoteca and see what it was like out on the dance floor. It ended up being like a salsa-dancing club, so thankfully the boys that were with us knew how to salsa dance, and that the boys lead when dancing and the girls follow ha. It was a ton of fun all together dancing and going crazy. When we had to go to make it home by curfew we ended up literally sprinting down the streets in Madrid to make the last metro haha. We probably looked like such crazy Americans I wish I could’ve seen it. But we made the metro and the bus back and it all worked out just great.

Saturday morning a few of the other girls and I went into Madrid to take a Flamenco dance class. It was so fun! It was in such a cute part of town, I loved the dance studio, and our instructor was super cute. It was fun! None of us knew what we were doing but it was just fun being there together learning how to dance like the Spaniards!  It made me want to just be there in Spain and learn how to dance not even worry about doing any school:] Afterwards I met up with Taylor at the Reina Sophia Museum and we were able to go see that. It was all modern art, which was kinda fun because I haven’t seen much of that since I have been here. I thought it all was super cool! I didn’t know what all of the different works actually meant or anything but I really enjoyed looking at all the different works. We saw the famous painting of Guernica by Picasso, which was way bigger than I thought it would be. I am so impressed by all the artwork and talent that is around me, especially in these museums that we go to look at. Afterwards, Taylor and I walked around in Madrid for a little bit and we tried those chips that are in the windows of all the shops. Good thing they were only a Euro because they were not that good. We ate some then ended up giving them to a lady that we always see in the same spot on the streets, she liked them so that’s good, it made me happy. When we got home we ate some dinner and watched a little Bachelor before we headed back into Madrid. Blanca thinks we are crazy because we go into Madrid so much haha she always tells us we are so young and stuff it’s funny. We went back to Madrid to meet up with the rest of the group to then meet up with our YSA friend Renato to take us to a different dancing place. We got there fairly early by Spain’s definition so it was fun because it was just our group on the whole dance floor. It was like that for most of the time until we almost left hah. It was so fun being all together and just having a fun time. Afterwards we went and got smoothies, which were delicious. And then we ended up literally running through Madrid, again, to make the last train back to Alcalá. Definitely keeps things exciting. We ended up making it to the train with 4 minutes to spare! Talk about tithing blessing. We ended up making back all safe and sound, which was good.

On Sunday a group of us sang during Sacrament Meeting and we sang I am a Child of God in Spanish and it turned our being really good, I think everyone liked it. I’m going to miss all the sweet people that are living here in Spain. I am excited to come home and see my family and friends, and peanut butter:] but I am definitely sad to be leaving this place. I have loved every minute and am so grateful for the opportunity I have had to be here in Spain.

Paris Holds the Key to my Heart

 I had the most amazing time in Paris! It was like a dream, it was unbelievable. We flew in early Wednesday morning and what a great start to a day, flying into France! We took the trains and metro from the airport to where we needed to go. On the way we met a fun family from Holland, and saw a French man dancing for us out on the platform waiting for his train haha.

When we walked up out of the metro we were taken aback by the Eiffel Tower! We weren’t expecting to see it so soon! It was soo beautiful! 

 I still can’t get over it. We walked along the river and couldn’t get enough of the Eiffel Tower. We walked over to the lookout point, and as we were taking pictures we made some friends with some local French boys. They ended up being 15 and 16 haha and thought we were so aged, the one who knew English kept saying we were aged it was funny. He Antóne loved English and wanted to know it and loved learning it and practicing it. It was fun talking with them and learning some French words.

 After we had talked to them for forever we decided we were freezing and wanted something to eat. So we grabbed some food and the only place we found to eat was inside a museum…on the floor haha…desperate times call for desperate measures. It was fun, and we really felt like our adventure began. After we ate we went and found our hotel, which was just on the other side of the Eiffel Tower. It was a cute little hotel and the workers were awesome we loved them.

 After that we went and walked to the Champs Elysee and looked in at all the fancy shops. The craziest ones we saw were car dealerships that went up 5 stories!

  At the end of the road was the Arc de Triumf, which was beautiful. We took a tunnel under the road to walk around the Arch. It was fun being in the center of such a busy road, and being able to see the beautiful Arch and the flame that signified the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

 After we walked around there we had to get some crepes. So we went to this little crepe shop by our hotel. We got an apple one, and he set this liquid on fire on top, it smelled and tasted like apple cider, which we remembered later that it has alcohol in it in Europe, so good thing he burned that all out haha.

 The next morning we got up to go catch the Bato Bus on the river. It was a boat tour that was just like a bus where we paid for an all-day pass and you could catch it at any of the stops whenever you wanted. It was awesome I loved it!

  Our first stop was the Louvre Museum.v It was HUGE! It was a gorgeous building with tons of gardens and sculpture and artwork it was beautiful. There is a student deal for students under 24 and European Union Citizens. When we talked to the ticket lady she didn’t know English quite that well, so she didn’t really understand what we meant when we were just studying in Madrid. So she just told us to talk to the ticket collector people. So we walked up and she was kinda confused and we had to get our passports and everything out, after we showed her our documents she let us in! Without a ticket or anything. So we basically snuck into the Louvre! Not quite, but when we said that it sounded more adventurous haha…desperate times, desperate measures.

 I loved seeing all the different kinds of artwork from all different time periods. I also loved seeing all the famous and classic ones, like Mona Lisa for example. Or all of the works I learned about in my Art History class this past semester, like Venus de Milo and the Babylonian Walls.

 Our next stop was Notre Dame. I was beautiful, and truly Gothic. In our Sociology class here in Spain, we took a decent amount of time talking about the Cathedrals and it has been so cool being able to go and see what we have been learning about.

 Right by the Notre Dame there was this Chapel that was beautiful and filled with tons of stained glass. What was really cool about it was that it was under renovation of the stained glass. So half of the glass was the way old and dirty stained glass, and the other side was the freshly cleaned and repaired side. It was way neat to see, and we saw a video on how they carefully take apart and clean every little piece, it was crazy. But so beautiful and so worth it.

 We then crossed over to the Latin Quarter which had a bunch of cute little shops all around it. We got these cute little treats, we didn’t know what they were, but the store was called Odette so we called the odettes haha.

 After our treat we went over to the shop called Shakespeare and Company. It has been around for a lot of years and it was this cute little store that had tons of books. I think they sold their books, but also had them there for you to read. There were little nooks, and crannies to be in; tons and tons of books, and one room upstairs had a piano in it too. I loved it; it was such a cute shop.

 After that when we were walking back to our Bato Bus we saw the bridge with all of the locks of love! It was FILLED with tons of locks all different shapes, sizes and colors. It was so fun to look at them. It was amazing to see how many people had locked their love. Whether it is newly weds, families, friends, or anything. It is so amazing to see how much love there is in the world. It just made me so happy looking at all of these locks and seeing how much love people have for others.

 We then rode the boat back to the Eiffel Tower. Still can’t get enough of it. And we went to the very top! It was so beautiful! You could see all the lights of the city and the river and everything was so pretty from up there! We met these two guys that were studying in Jerusalem and one carved our initials on one of the walls so I guess I will forever be up there! It was pretty cold and windy up there but it was worth it. It is crazy to think how amazing this building still is today in modern society’s standards, and what a feat it was to build so many years ago.

 That night on our way home we wanted to get macaroons but the shop was already closed so we decided the next best thing would be getting them from Carrefour…desperate times haha. We also bought some bread to have for dinner as well. When we got back to the hotel the man at the front desk first of all was appalled that we would buy bread from a grocery store while we were in France. So he got some bread left over from breakfast that day and gave us some butter and cheese to go with it so we would actually have some good bread. So we went up to our room and had a little feast together! It was fun.

 Sacred Heart Basilica was a beautiful sight on top of the hill. It was beautiful inside as well. It was cool because it stood as a symbol of Christ, and when one would look up to it they would know that someone is praying for them and felt for them in their heart.

 Friday morning we got up and rode the metro over to the Montmartyr area. Right outside the metro we found this huge wall that had ‘I love you’ written all over the wall in all different languages. It was super cool! This city really is the city of love and I keep falling more and more in love with it!

 As we walked back towards home, we walked through all the ritzy shops of Paris. Over in that area I really felt like I was in Paris with all the local people dressed to impress, all these nice stores, and all the expensive diners too. It was fun to walk around and look in all the windows. We then got dinner at a restaurant closer to the Eiffel Tower. We literally couldn’t get enough of the Eiffel Tower. It was so yummy. I got tomato and mozzarella, which made me think of Dad because he loves that, so I had to get it in honor of him. Afterwards we were able to see the twinkling of the Tower again! It never gets old:]

 Saturday morning we got up and got crescents to eat on a bench in the morning and watch the cars and people go by. I felt so French! And the crescent was literally the most delicious crescent I have ever and probably will ever eat in my life. It was better than I even imagined it would be. Afterwards we headed over to the Musée d'Orsay. Another thing we were able to get into for free. We were able to get into every museum and anything that required a ticket by showing our student ID’s from The University of Alcala and our passports to prove we are under 26. It was awesome! I loved Musée d'Orsay, it was so cool, and I liked how it was made out of an old Train Station. I think my favorite part was the impressionist art. I love Monet. It was so fun being able to walk around and look at all the beautiful works of art. It was also fun to see art students sketching the famous works and doing their own renditions of them. That was one of my favorite parts.

After the museum we had to go lock our love on the bridge before leaving of course! We got our lock and wrote our names on it and locked our love in Paris forever! Paris holds the key to my heart:]