So Teddy and I mastered the Madrid Metro (subway) today. And we didn't get LOST or mugged! We went to Plaza Mayor for some shopping and Teddy purchased some sweet Aladdin pants! We wandered in and out of a hundred stores. Then we took the Metro again to the Centro de Arte Reina Sofia museum of modern art. Saw lots of Salvadore Dali and Picasso works. The highlight is a 3.5 x 7.5 meter giant painting by Picasso called "Guernica". It is an eloquent symbol of the worlds outrage at the horrors wrought upon the innocent by modern warfare. Picasso's anger was evident in this painting...all in blacks and grays. We feel thoroughly "cultured". We also think that we could have scribbled with a crayon on a crumpled piece of paper and done better than some of the "modern art" we saw....some weird stuff.
-Panda oso
Monday, August 9, 2010
Sunday, August 8, 2010
A Relaxing Day in Madrid
It's Sunday and everything is closed so we are relaxing. This morning we took a cab to church. We went to a spanish ward, but all 4 missionaries there as well as a member of the bishopric spoke English. We sang hymns in Spanish and mom was quite good at it, and the people were so nice. We got a few double and triple-takes from little kids who aren't used to seeing white Americans at church. One of the missionaries was from Guatemala and he gave a talk and I understood almost everything he said! South American Spanish is much slower and easier to understand than Spain or Mexican Spanish. Church was great and we met some way nice people.
We took a 5 or 6 mile stroll through town again and checked out Mary's new apartment and her school. Then we stopped for lunch at a sidewalk cafe'.
We have taken the Spanish tradition of "siestas" quite seriously, and taken a nap for at least an hour everyday since we got here. Mom and Mary are asleep right now.
-Ted
The Madrid 5th ward was so nice. The people are so friendly. The missionaries were pumped to talk to someone in english....one Elder was from Provo land. I was able to understand the subject of the talks without anyone telling me...I could catch a few words here and there.
We watched some Disney channel on spanish tv....Esponja Bob, Hannah Montanna....it's pretty funny.
Tonight we had tapas at a sidewalk cafe on Gran Via and just people watched for a couple hours....some good people watching in Madrid! And good Calimari! Mine and Teddy's feet are sore. You should see the size of Teddy's blisters!
-Panda
We took a 5 or 6 mile stroll through town again and checked out Mary's new apartment and her school. Then we stopped for lunch at a sidewalk cafe'.
We have taken the Spanish tradition of "siestas" quite seriously, and taken a nap for at least an hour everyday since we got here. Mom and Mary are asleep right now.
-Ted
The Madrid 5th ward was so nice. The people are so friendly. The missionaries were pumped to talk to someone in english....one Elder was from Provo land. I was able to understand the subject of the talks without anyone telling me...I could catch a few words here and there.
We watched some Disney channel on spanish tv....Esponja Bob, Hannah Montanna....it's pretty funny.
Tonight we had tapas at a sidewalk cafe on Gran Via and just people watched for a couple hours....some good people watching in Madrid! And good Calimari! Mine and Teddy's feet are sore. You should see the size of Teddy's blisters!
-Panda
Saturday, August 7, 2010
Zoologico!
Today we went to the Madrid Zoo and Aquarium! The most amazing thing about it was how close we could get to the animals! The fences were low and the animals really weren't contained very well. It was exciting to be close because we could have been part of a captive animal attack at any time! haha
The zoo is HUGE and has all kinds of animals. Panda osos, koala osos, asian osos, american osos, brown osos...and the brown bears were so close they could have leapt out of their cage and mauled us at any time. I kept picturing them leaping out on the crowd and thinking "what would Bear Grills do?" haha
There was an anteater the size of a large human, a guinea pig exhibit (are those exotic enough for a zoo?), a gila monster and scorpion from the sonoran desert (AZ represent!!!), PENGUINS, horses... and just for Willi, a REAL LIFE herd of non-extinct BUFFALOS!
We thought of sister-in-law Lindsey's fam as we went in the aquarium section because her family is obsessed with aquatic life. There were SHARKS (it's still shark week, right?), sea turtles, eels, rays, etc etc. We also saw a whole dolphin show.
Oh, and during a bird show, a bald eagle flew above us and touched my head. Luckily it didn't poop on me, because I have a history of large birds using my head for a toilet. (Family Disneyland trip and an unpleasant encounter with a seagull.)
You know how at the Phoenix Zoo the employees will kill you if you feed any of the animals? Well at the Madrid Zoo, apparently nobody cares. Every non-aquatic animal in the place was getting its fair share of peanuts from visitors today. The bears would even stand up on their hind legs for a peanut and catch them as they were thrown in. Flamingoes were eating out of people's hands, as were the wild red squirrels around. The most disturbing part of the day was the babboon exhibit. Disgusting, filthy, overpopulated exhibit of monkeys. Ew.
-Teddy
THEN we walked to a sidewalk cafe for dinner and Teddy and I had our first Paella, a traditional spanish dish. We chose one that did NOT contain "squid ink" ew. Ours had rice, chidken wings, green beans, giant lima beans and sweet red peppers seasoned with saffron. It is made in a large skillet like pan and some of them are big enough for a whole table to share. For dessert we had raspberry and lemon sorbet and vanilla ice cream with raspberries and blackberries and raspberry sauce....mmmmmmmmmmm.
After dinner we decided to take a stroll to walk off our dessert and ended up walking 9 miles! Found an amazing cathedral that we have to go back to in the daylight. The royal palace is even more beautiful at night when it is all lit up. There was a pretty cool street performer in front of the palace so we stopped to listen for a while. It was a gothic dude playing the harp! The ambience was lovely. He was really good! It was kind of unexpected because he didn't look the type. He was sitting in the middle of a round red cloth with flowers and leaves strewn all around the edges and he had incense burning nearby.
And here we are again, it is 3:17 a.m. and we are still awake. We fit right in here...everyone stays awake all night. buenos noches.....Panda
The zoo is HUGE and has all kinds of animals. Panda osos, koala osos, asian osos, american osos, brown osos...and the brown bears were so close they could have leapt out of their cage and mauled us at any time. I kept picturing them leaping out on the crowd and thinking "what would Bear Grills do?" haha
There was an anteater the size of a large human, a guinea pig exhibit (are those exotic enough for a zoo?), a gila monster and scorpion from the sonoran desert (AZ represent!!!), PENGUINS, horses... and just for Willi, a REAL LIFE herd of non-extinct BUFFALOS!
We thought of sister-in-law Lindsey's fam as we went in the aquarium section because her family is obsessed with aquatic life. There were SHARKS (it's still shark week, right?), sea turtles, eels, rays, etc etc. We also saw a whole dolphin show.
Oh, and during a bird show, a bald eagle flew above us and touched my head. Luckily it didn't poop on me, because I have a history of large birds using my head for a toilet. (Family Disneyland trip and an unpleasant encounter with a seagull.)
You know how at the Phoenix Zoo the employees will kill you if you feed any of the animals? Well at the Madrid Zoo, apparently nobody cares. Every non-aquatic animal in the place was getting its fair share of peanuts from visitors today. The bears would even stand up on their hind legs for a peanut and catch them as they were thrown in. Flamingoes were eating out of people's hands, as were the wild red squirrels around. The most disturbing part of the day was the babboon exhibit. Disgusting, filthy, overpopulated exhibit of monkeys. Ew.
-Teddy
THEN we walked to a sidewalk cafe for dinner and Teddy and I had our first Paella, a traditional spanish dish. We chose one that did NOT contain "squid ink" ew. Ours had rice, chidken wings, green beans, giant lima beans and sweet red peppers seasoned with saffron. It is made in a large skillet like pan and some of them are big enough for a whole table to share. For dessert we had raspberry and lemon sorbet and vanilla ice cream with raspberries and blackberries and raspberry sauce....mmmmmmmmmmm.
After dinner we decided to take a stroll to walk off our dessert and ended up walking 9 miles! Found an amazing cathedral that we have to go back to in the daylight. The royal palace is even more beautiful at night when it is all lit up. There was a pretty cool street performer in front of the palace so we stopped to listen for a while. It was a gothic dude playing the harp! The ambience was lovely. He was really good! It was kind of unexpected because he didn't look the type. He was sitting in the middle of a round red cloth with flowers and leaves strewn all around the edges and he had incense burning nearby.
And here we are again, it is 3:17 a.m. and we are still awake. We fit right in here...everyone stays awake all night. buenos noches.....Panda
Friday, August 6, 2010
Walked and walked and walked!
Today we walked all around the city...twice! Once during the day and again at night...it looks like a different place at night! We walked about 15 miles!! Went to the Embassy, Hard Rock Cafe for lunch, Plaza del Sol, Biblioteca Nacional, and lots in between. Our feet are Tired!! Oh, tonight we sat at a little sidewalk cafe in an alley and had hot churros that we dipped in hot melted dark chocolate! yum yum
-Panda oso
We also did a lot of my favorite thing-people watching. You know you walked a lot when you start seeing familiar homeless people and dogs. Spaniards wear some very strange clothing, and they're way into shoes! There are stereotypes about Spain that are totally true, including the fact that half the population rides scooters and motorbikes (and the other half nearly kill each other in smart cars), the guys are gorgeous, nobody sleeps, and everyone smokes. I mean everyone. Spanish tv is another thing I'd like to discuss. While in the hotel husa princessa I've watched Baywatch Nights (David Hasselhoff is even greater in spanish), Chuck Norris, and a few American shows like CSI and How I Met Your Mother all in Spanish and it is hilarious. The actors they choose to dub over voices aren't even close. And the Spanish-produced tv and movies are even better...so dramatic, like a soap opera but ten times worse, hahaha.
-Teddy
-Panda oso
We also did a lot of my favorite thing-people watching. You know you walked a lot when you start seeing familiar homeless people and dogs. Spaniards wear some very strange clothing, and they're way into shoes! There are stereotypes about Spain that are totally true, including the fact that half the population rides scooters and motorbikes (and the other half nearly kill each other in smart cars), the guys are gorgeous, nobody sleeps, and everyone smokes. I mean everyone. Spanish tv is another thing I'd like to discuss. While in the hotel husa princessa I've watched Baywatch Nights (David Hasselhoff is even greater in spanish), Chuck Norris, and a few American shows like CSI and How I Met Your Mother all in Spanish and it is hilarious. The actors they choose to dub over voices aren't even close. And the Spanish-produced tv and movies are even better...so dramatic, like a soap opera but ten times worse, hahaha.
-Teddy
Thursday, August 5, 2010
Madrid
Here we are in Madrid! aiiii....I mean wooo hooo! We walked all around the Royal Palace and went inside the La Almudena Cathedral...WOW! Lots of people lounging, sleeping and tanning in the parks. I would fit in well here....I love lazing around! It's great to be here with Mary!
Bienvenidos a Madrid!
We made it! After roughly 12 hours in flight and another few in airports, we made it to Madrid! Our first flight took us to Toronto, Canada, where we had some great people watching in the airport for a few hours. I bought a keychain souvenir, naturally.
The flight from Toronto to Madrid was weird because we left early night Candada time and just a couple hours later the sun was coming up and it was morning in the Eastern Hemisphere. I slept in a plane for the first time in my life, but it wasn't great or long or comfortable enough. We're jetlagged but trying to stay awake until it's night time in Spain so we don't get even more messed up.
If you know me at all you know how much I dislike flying, so my getting all the way here is literally a miracle. I DID IT!!!!!
The flight from Toronto to Madrid was weird because we left early night Candada time and just a couple hours later the sun was coming up and it was morning in the Eastern Hemisphere. I slept in a plane for the first time in my life, but it wasn't great or long or comfortable enough. We're jetlagged but trying to stay awake until it's night time in Spain so we don't get even more messed up.
If you know me at all you know how much I dislike flying, so my getting all the way here is literally a miracle. I DID IT!!!!!
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
Me too...Me too!!
It is I, Panda, the "other bear" checking in! So excited! Can't sleep....but I can sleep on the plane. Leave AZ at 11 ish Wed. morning...arrive in Madrid at 11 ish Thurs. morning!! I packed my "Adventure Slippers" (thank you very much Teddy). We will be swimming naked in the Mediterranean....There will be NO PHOTOS of this activity. But we WILL be posting photo's of la Tomatina...worlds largest tomato fight in Bunol on Aug. 25th. Well, still things to do....so..see ya!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)