Uno is not a card game, it's the # of my walk.

Wow, after a series of nearly unfortunate events, I am proud to announce... we found pretty much every single thing on our walk! Here's how it went:

1. Yes, we made it to our destinations! The only thing we didn't specifically look at (although I'm sure we were very close) was the Goya Museum. We asked several Spaniards... apparently the museum isn't big and/or cool enough for them to know about. Ah well. Just finding the "Paseo de Florida" was particularly challenging for us, despite the fact that the whole street advertises in large letters the name "Florida"... what can I say, I'm a person of details, so sometimes I miss the big picture:)

2. Definitely spoke with 3-5 people, probably more. Let's see, the metro-employee, the ice cream man, the sandwich lady, two girls on the street, a man near the Royal Gardens, a grandmotherly woman on the street (she was so cute!), and the lady at the metro station. Yup, we've hit the mark.

3. Yes, we spoke only in Spanish for the first two hours of our walk. And since it was only supposed to be a 1.5-2 hour walk, I feel like we have exceeded all expectations ;)

4. My favorite pics from the walk:

Puerta de Toledo

•Sure, it's in Madrid, but it does double duty

with the name Toledo in it. Kinda like this picture--

Becca & I are BOTH in it!

Jardines Lepanto

•So the "Lepanto Garden" is actually

a small sand field with some trees.

Becca: "¡¿En serio?!"

Glorieta de San Antonio de la Florida

•Saint Anthony is the patron saint of singles

wanting to be in a relationship. I'm surprised

there's no statue and/or altar to him @ BYU ;)

Luvs,

Hales

Numero uno. Highlights (not in my hair) of Madrid.

1. Found my destinations. thanks to my trusty tour guides.

2. I spoke to 4 strangers in total. 

-I am beginning to really fit in. a lady asked if we were at Atocha and I said indeed we were

-On our way to Calle de Toledo I tried to talk to a painter in the Plaza Mayor but apparently I don't speak Spanish because he did not understand. Pretty Don Quixote paintings though.

-Thanks to my trusty bus pass I had the opportunity to speak to two different employees at two different times so that I could use public transit. I am getting good.

3. I spoke spanish the entire time though I admit I had moments of weakness. My companions were super good at speaking Español.

*It was a beautiful day but I came home without my wallet. suspect thiefery. cuidado.

As we entered Madrid we were welcomed by a trumpeter playing "When the saints come marching in," this town entertains me tremendously. I am glad that there are people who get up every morning get dressed in a ridiculous costume and sit down all day in hopes of making me smile. or maybe making major bank. Either way, the plazas of Madrid would not be the same without them. This is on our way to the Plaza Oriente

I don't know who this man is. If I looked at the bottom near his feet I would probably know. Oh well.  He is outside of the Catedral de la Almudena. Everyone says that it is ugly. but he isn't. (And i don't believe the building to be either.)















This is outside of the Iglesia de San Francisco. I love the pale yellow and blue. There was a tour going on inside but we were too cheap to go in. The doors inside were a crazy beautiful dark wood with all sorts of engravings in them.