playing catch up.. so here's an overload of what you missed from spain!

so i got here on a tuesday. tuesdays are always nice days for some reason.  anyway...

flying over spain looked like a wooden quilt.  like, hmm.. i forgot to take a picture and there is really no other way to explain it. maybe i'll take a picture on my way home if i have a window seat again.  anyway i didn't really sleep much on the plane so i was probably like a walking zombie.  and i'm sure i was lookin' hot with my hair in a messy bun on the top dead center of my head... (wait, lets be real... that's how my hair is everyday..)  ha.. but you get the point. anyway.. i sat by a girl from madrid who had just visited new york.  she was nice. and told me fun things to do in madrid. and then we went to baggage claim and all that together and then i was looking for jose, who was picking me up, anyway... i couldn't remember what he looked like.. so that was bad! ha. but i found him, no worries.  he took me back to his house. which this is the view from my room. the far away land out there is madrid. 

he introduced me to the fam. and then they let me sleep. which was so nice. then i woke up and anna, the 8 yr. old, had a dentist appointment, so they invited me to go into town with them.. so i did and lola (10 yr. old) and i went to the monastery to explore.  um, it is so amazing.  but i am a sucker for pretty buildings. 

one saturday we took a trip into toledo.  it is the most adorable medieval town.  and it is where el greco spent a lot of his time.  one of his most famous paintings is actually in a church in toledo.  so we went to the el greco museum.  and the church.  did i ever mention i'm a sucker for pretty churches.. and europe is exploding with them.  we also walked around everywhere looking at everything.  it was fun. and there is also several cathedrals in this town.  i mean, really, toledo is amazing.  oh, and i forgot my camera battery.. so that was awesome.. i had my camera and my extra lens, just no battery. so lola let me use her camera. so that was nice:)

^^peter with the keys^^

on night the parents had a concert.  so i was left in charge.  mawhahaha. jokes. i'm not mean. we had a pizza party!

^^ana^^

^^lola^^

^^we color a lot around here.^^

^^had to zoom in all the way with my 300mm lens.. but you can see madrid!^^

^^we go swimming a lot.  don't worry, if you were concerned for my porcelain pale white skin, it is currently lathered in spf 700^^

^^this is where i walk every night and read.  magical, right?^^

so i met a friend at church! yay. and so she and some of her friends came into san lorenzo de el escorial so i could hang with them. and so we went to the monastery.  it was amazing.  hundreds of paintings.  beautiful rooms. an enormous library.  a basilica. (one day i'll have a basilica in my house.) all of spain's kings are buried in the basement in the crypts here.  from floor the ceiling it was covered in gorgeous marble.  so much attention to detail in the entire place.  it was remarkable.

^^clara and i^^

^^finding pretty things on my walks^^

^^i love ice cream sooo much. probably more than i should. but its the best.^^

we went to the princes house.  apparently it is where he went during the day to hang out with his friends and such because life at the monastery could sometimes be too strict and structured.  it was beautiful.  i wish they would let you take pictures inside....

^^exploring on my walks and i find just the cutest little apartments^^

^^community art gallery for festival week^^

we went into madrid one saturday.  they showed me around the city and different locations of things so then i could come back in later by myself.  madrid is amazing.  so many people and building and all things that are great.

^^ham anyone??^^

i'm seriously a sucker for cathedrals.

^^the royal palace!^^

once upon a time, egypt gave spain a gift:

more cute findings on my walks..

so it is pretty neat here.  i got a pretty bad case of homesickness for a while there.. but it is good now.  spain is pretty and fun to explore.  there is a lot of yummy ice cream. and kinder chocolate:) still on the hunt for shawarma.. well i found one place that might have it but they are always closed... 

more spain coming soon...