Spain: Day 6 Part 2

Playing: Do You Know What I Mean?-One Night Only
Reading: To Buy or DIY? by Leandra Medine

After our visit to the Plaza Mayor, my family and I decided to check out the Museu del Jamon, which looked like a chain restaurant/market revolved around prosciutto. It was amazing to see how many hind legs they had hanging up and how the hooves were still attached to the prosciutto. I haven't seen this since my trip to Florence. Looking back, I should've eaten here at least once.

Since we were craving our own prosciutto, we stopped by Ferpal to get some hand cut prosciutto slices to snack on. It was cool to see this man cutting the slices by hand so quickly and thinly without using a machine. We ended up sitting outside, people watching, while eating all of the prosciutto we had bought. Once we finished eating, we went to the Convento de las Descalzas Reales, which was a complete rip off. For all Europeans, the admission is free, but the tour is only given in Spanish and you spend the whole time looking at art. You don't get to see how the nuns live and at least for my family, we had to pay for a tour we didn't understand.

For dinner, my brother and I shared two appetizers at Cafe de Chinitas. For our first appetizer, we got the Melon with Ham. Can you tell that we couldn't get enough prosciutto on the trip? Pretty standard dish though, just slices of prosciutto and some chunks of melon. Nothing special, but very pricey!

We also ordered the Fried Squid Andaluza Style, which was only ok. The calamari was pretty meaty, but I found the batter to be flavorless and suggest trying something else. Once again, it cost more than it should've. At least the portions were big here.

The main reason we went to Cafe de Chinitas was to catch a flamenco show before we left. It was definitely worth seeing and the show is the main reason the food is so expensive. The dancers were extremely impressive and they had a singer there that looked like Mick Jagger. (I will try to find the photo on my dad's camera for all of you.) The show lasted for about an hour and a half with many different performances, showing all types of flamenco dancing. You can probably reserve a seat through your hotel.

After the show and dinner, we walked past the Plaza Espagne, which looked beautiful at night. There were a lot of couples there and young people hanging out, so I felt like an idiot, when my brother dared me to run up a fountain's side and I agreed. How can you turn down a dare, especially one that sounds so easy? I was wearing Toms, so there was no traction on my shoes and I ended sliding right down from it. Normally, I can do it though; I promise. We ended up just walking around, but ended up back at our hotel by 12:00AM. That was about it for day six of our adventure.

First Day Back From Spain

Playing: You Could Be Happy-Snow Patrol
Reading: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl

On the first day back from my wonderful trip to Spain, I had to go to my first SAT prep class, which put me in a horrible mood because let's get real, what teenager would choose SAT prep class over sleeping in? To make up for the bad start of my day, I went down to Corona Del Mar to get my favorite sandwich from Bruegger's, the lox on a garlic onion bagel. I always get the works on it-capers, tomatoes, and red onions. My dad got my hooked on this, while we were staying at the Waldorf Astoria in New York. Every morning for breakfast, I had a lox on a garlic or onion bagel at their breakfast buffet. Fun fact, they couldn't get my family two rooms next to each other like we requested, so they put us up in one of their nicest super private suites as an apology. Definitely makes my list of favorite hotels!

I walked around, shopping at all these small boutiques there and came across this lovely Thunderbird. The Thunderbird is my dream car and I've been wanting one, since I was in elementary school. I want one in pastel yellow, but this powdery blue is lovely too. Whenever I see one of these driving around, I always shout, "Thunderbird!" I did this once, when I was out with my friends, and they all stared at me...

My mum made up for forcing me to take SAT prep classes by getting me this Marc by Marc Jacobs jacket at one of the boutiques. I love the cut of it in the front with the cool cut out at the bottom and the long, thin lapels. What's weird is this is a size six and I fit into it, when I usually wear a size two or four for Marc by Marc Jacobs. I also like the subtle color changes in the weave of it.

My friend, Jackie, has been getting after me about eating healthier, since I've met her. Boy, would she be proud seeing me buy all of this, when I went to Albertson's after my trip to Corona Del Mar. I bought some yogurt to try in my smoothies that I've been having for breakfast and instead of getting my favorite Lay's crisps, I bought pop chips. Also, bought some frozen fruit for my smoothies and some yogurt drinks. The mushroom ravioli and light pesto sauce will be good for dinner. And I just tossed the Walker's shortbread in the photo to show you that I've been loving it recently.

After Corona Del Mar and Albertson's, I went to the post office to pick up all my mail from the week that I was gone. Surprisingly, I had three letters from Jessy, Sophie, and Rebecca. I replied to all of their letters and made envelopes for them. Rebecca's is the large pastel blue envelope, while Sophie's is the lavender one with scalloped edges and Killers' lyrics on it. Jessy got the only envelope with zig zag edges. The only regret I have is that I forgot to scent them. I love mailing letters to people, so I hope all three of them got their letters. Overall a very productive day until I fell asleep due to jet lag..

Oh and I forgot to tell you, I went to go see Ted the day we left for Spain with my brother, Ted. It was so cute and funny. I thought the story was very creative because we all have that one friend from when we were little that we wish could be alive. I really recommend it to all of you unless you're the type that gets easily offended by jokes that make fun of everyone and everything, especially Susan Boyle, Taylor Lautner, and Justin Bieber.

Have you seen any good movies lately?

Spain: Day 6 Part 1

Playing: Heartbeat Slowing Down-The All American Rejects
Reading: How to Read Literature Like a Professor by Thomas C. Foster

For our sixth day in Spain and our first full day in Madrid, my family and I kind of got tired hunting for inexpensive breakfasts, so we just went to a fast food place called Pans & Company, which was a sandwich and pastry chain. I'm not sure what the name of this is because I just pointed at it and said, "Uno por favor!" I do know that it was a cranberry muffin stuffed with vanilla yogurt though and it was surprisingly good.  The only issue I had with it was that after the first half, it tasted too sweet and too much like a vanilla cupcake.

After breakfast, we walked around and I looked at all the grafitti that was on the buildings. It's surprising how much grafitti was in Spain and how everywhere you look, there's grafitti. It's like your in the seedy parts of Los Angeles...I kind of liked this one though. It looks like me after my AP World teacher announced that we were going to have three more projects after we took the AP test. Either that or a psychotic toad. Not much of a difference to tell you the truth...

When we got to our destination, the Palacio Real, it was thirty minutes before the opening and there was still a line. I was standing behind these two girls, both over six feet, complaining to my mum about how she should've given me growth hormones. The Palacio Royal is a stunner, but it looks just like any other European palace to me. The most unique part of this palace was that we got to take a look in the royal pharmacy, but the armory was so confusing for the audio tour. I had no idea what I was supposed to be looking at. For this, you really should get in line before it opens because when we left, the line was at least two blocks long.

For lunch, it was another one of those times, where I pestered my dad into letting us eat anywhere because the heat was killing me and the walk felt like it was never going to end. We ended up at this little place called Cafeteria Otero, which I really liked because it felt like you were eating in your grandmother's kitchen. I ordered the Filete de ternera con champinion (veal with mushrooms) for only 7€, so this was my cheapest meal in Spain and probably one of the best ones I had. The veal was buttery and tender, while the mushrooms were lemony and full of garlic. Even their French fries were amazingly crisp and salty, which I stole from my family members' plates. You wouldn't have expected this, when you first stepped in because the place was empty, but I definitely recommend it to you. 

After lunch, we walked to the Plaza Mayor and here you can see my lovely parents standing right by the entrance to it. My dad's camera ran out of battery at this plaza, so he took over my camera asking me to take a photo of this and that for him. We both have camera sharing problems, so that's why we needed to get our own. We used to get into fights over it.  Anyways, this particular little entrance had all these cute places to eat and look at.

For example, look at this! How adorable are those giant gummy bears made of well, tiny gummy bears? It reminds me of the time we set fire to gummy bears in chemistry and how my chemistry teacher would always be snacking on them during lectures. Also, these long candy vines looked fun with all their bright colors, but I wasn't quite sure what they were. Are they licorice or what?

In the Plaza Mayor, there were locks attached to all of the lamps, so I'm guessing they serve the same purpose as the ones on Pont de l'Archevêché. It symbolizes couples everlasting love and then they usually toss the locks somewhere. That's what I'm guessing right now, but I could be wrong. If you know of this, let me know if I'm right! Thanks for reading!

PS Today is my last day of SAT prep class, so I'm celebrating by going to an All American Rejects concert with Rebecca!

Spain: Day 5

Playing: Forget My Name-One Night Only
Reading: Elle July 2012

For my last day in Barcelona, I grabbed a ham and cheese sandwich for breakfast at Fresh 101. My family and I kept on returning there because the food was pretty good and fairly inexpensive. We also had to grab sandwiches for out train ride to Madrid too. Since nobody understood English there, I got a chance to practice my limited Spanish by pointing at what I wanted and saying, "Uno por favor!" We ended up just walking around the city for three hours before leaving for the train.

Truthfully, I love train rides and long car rides because I love looking at the scenery. On the train, I pretty much just listened to my new Billy Idol and Killers CD's that I bought and downloaded onto my ipod, while looking at the countryside. I took these photos just a tad before we passed Calatayud, so I'm not sure which city this is. The countryside is so lovely there, since you'll be looking at fields and out of nowhere, and old castle shows up like one from a movie. Very scenic!

For lunch, I had yet another sandwich from Fresh 101. Only this one was a thing baguette with prosciutto and tomato sauce. The bread was a bit dry for me, but the prosciutto was tasty enough for me to forget that and finish it off. I should've bought more for lunch because two hours later, I was starving.

Once we got off the train, we headed down to our hotel, Hotel Atlantico, to drop off all our stuff. Our room was super adorable and they welcomed us with a basket of fresh fruit, which was great, since I was starving by then. The kiwi quickly disappeared, if you get what I'm saying. I loved how large all the rooms in Spain were compared to the ones in other European countries. Ahem, Ireland, I'm talking about you.

We were up on the eighth floor, so we had a spectacular view from our balcony. Our hotel room actually had two balconies, so I would stand out there, people watching. The height freaked out my mum, so she wouldn't go out. I tried tossing something to my dad's room using the balcony and it didn't work out too well...

After we finished unpacking all of our clothes and stuff, we took a cab to the Museu Del Prado, which I kept on accidentally calling the Museu Del Prada. Whoops, my bad. This museum had a huge selection and tons of famous names and way too much to look at, if you wanted to finish it in a few hours. However, it was kind of confusing to get around. We were looking for a bathroom and my family and I got into a fight about it.
Mom: Just ask someone already.
Dad: The sign says it's over here. (The signs were pointing at each other like this: --> <;--, if you looked at different signs. There was no bathroom in between them, though.)
Audrey: Do you really need to go that badly?
Ted: Oh my god. Really guys. You went five minutes ago.
Oh and it gets better. Once we did find the bathroom, we couldn't find an exit, so we rode the escalators for awhile. It looked like we were choreographing Ok Go's next music video. Anyways, it's worth visiting this museum, if you're into art, but I don't think it's worth more than three hours.

 Our dinner was awful that night. I won't tell you the name of the restaurant, since I forgot it, but here's the basics, I ordered Tagliatelle al Funghi and the pasta came out burnt together and had a similar texture to glue. None of my family members had a good dinner either and the restaurant was hot and stuffy, so we were all grumpy by the end and snapping at each other.

To avoid causing further frustration amongst us, we walked off to the Puerta del Sol, which is a huge plaza with a lot of twenty somethings hanging out. It made me wish I was in my twenty somethings that way I could chill with cool European boys. When I'm in my twenty somethings, I'll probably be hanging out with semi-cool American boys. Anyways, I saw a Topshop there and decided to check it out. I wasn't that impressed with it because a lot of the clothing looked like an H&M met Forever 21. However, I left with this very Beetlejuice backpack. (I'm not as obsessed with the movie as I may appear.) I've been wanting a nice backpack other than the typical Jansport that most high school students carry, so I was quite content buying this. Actually, other than a tube of paprika flavored Pringles, this is the only thing I bought there to bring home. There actually wasn't a lot in Spain that I was dying to buy. Have you ever felt that way during a trip before?