IAS 201 Madrid Walks

Hmmm Hello out there

2010-12-02T18:26:00.000+01:00

Does anybody still look at this?
Man. Spain time seems like forever ago.
If anyone reads this.
Hi.
We are having a Lumberjack Christmas party on Sunday the 12th up in the Salty City at my apartment.
I wouldn't mind seeing you hooligans again.

That's it.

El fin.

2010-03-24T10:36:00.003+01:00

1. Yes, I believe we got everywhere.

2.si

3.Claro

4.
a. When there's a statue of don quijote, you just have to get a picture...
b. Because there are mcdonald's everywhere and they are always part of the walk...
c. Because fountains are just so purtty.

Que lastima pero adios, me despido de ti Madrid y me voy.

2010-03-24T10:35:00.005+01:00

1. Yes

2.Yes

3. Yes

4. Grand via is where the best shopping is I realized. Everywhere I looked I saw some article of clothing that I needed to have. I wanted to go down the street that was forbidden but I realized getting raped might not be worth it. Sad and glad to be done with you Madrid walks, you've taken me to a bunch of cool new places. I'll never forget what we had.

Siete y Fin

2010-03-24T08:26:00.003+01:00

1. Yes.

2. I ordered an ice cream, I offered to take someone's picture, and I said goodbye to a friendly old man. That makes three, so yes.

3. Sí, hablabamos en el Español durante el paseo.

Wow, wicked sweet hair, huh?

Fancy McDonalds... yes, I'm lovin' it!

Who honestly puts a flowing liquid symbol and 'Cibeles'

on an add for alcoholics?? I'm just saying...

El último.

2010-03-23T22:52:00.000+01:00

1. Sí sí sí.
2. Por supuesto. One conversation was with an adorable old grandpappy who wanted me to snag a picture of him and his mujer, whom he later told me is from France.
3. Sííííííííííííííí.

4. Herrrr ya go.
I looooved the buildings on this street. Every thing was muy elegante y fancy-nancy and all, and it just felt like a classier part of town.
Then Katí y yo purchased a mango-coco-fresa smoothie....great life decision.
Also we saw the Temple of Debod and surrounding park area, which was marvelous. The sun was out, the people were frolicking, the birds were singing, the couples were snogging.....really, fun was had by all.
Funny story occurred on the train ride home: after spending hours in line at Chamartin station to get our Eurail reservations, we were so stoked to be heading home. We had some lovely conversation and I did a sudoku puzzle to pass the time. All was well, until we reach La Garena stop (the closest one to Alcalá). Some crazy hombre started waving his hands and saying "hallo, hallo, HALLO", and I, thinking I was being sly, replied in Spanish "no entiendo, blah blah". But alas, brilliant plan was foiled when he said "I heard you speaking English". Shucks. Then I ignored him and he hit on Katí for the whole 10 minute ride to Alcalá, begging her to let him call her sometime. We literally jumped off the train and all but ran away, until we recognized some black suited men in front of us as the missionaries, so we awkwardly ran up to them. What a day.

Mas helado por favor

2010-03-23T22:34:00.005+01:00

1.Si, did I really know what all of the places were? No, but I walked by them all.
2. Si, I even fake asked for a picture to be taken to get my last one in.
3. Si mas o menos.
4. My pictures are of:
Our absolutely delicious stop for 1 euro icecream. I must say the addition of a stick of kitkat is a nice touch but a little random.
Adorable old men playing bocce ball in the park. I love the way they dress.
A plaza I thought looked cool.

Going all the way to Spain for a McFlurry? Por supuesto

2010-03-23T22:28:00.004+01:00

1. yes, and even on to the temple de Debod (just trying to make it full circle ya know)
2. technically yes
3. i think we did pretty dang good
4.
that building w/ the cool roof on Gran Via

I like me some MJ

How do you say "Spring has sprung" in Spanish? Because it definately has

cool story: nothing super exciting happened, we did see a group of mayores playing bocce ball. I got a toblerone McFlurry, when in Spain right?

The last of them!

2010-03-23T21:59:00.004+01:00

1. Yes we did. Hallelujah!
2. Por supuesto
3. Claro
4. This is the prettiest and most fancy Mickey D's I have ever been in in my life. I'm sensing a McDonald's theme in my posts...

Hello awesome church. I'm not quite sure how exactly this place works, because I'm not sure what part is the church, however it is still cool.

Just Adri shaking her thing in the mirrors at the place where we got the most delicious smoothie of my life! Note to self: mango, strawberry and coconut is DIVINE!

So sidenote/funny story: Going home (later at night because of our ticket-buying fiasco, but that's another story) Megan and I encountered this man from South Africa who felt the need to talk to us (darn those English-speaking Africans who we can't play dumb with or ignore!). This man could not take a hint that I DID NOT WANT TO HAVE COFFEE WITH HIM (what part of I can't hang out alone or date people while on my program or I don't drink coffee do you not understand man?). And he also did not understand that in order to talk on the phone you need to have one, which I don't (at least that's what he thinks). So Meg and I high-tailed it out of there and seeing salvation ahead (in missionary form) decided to talk to these elders that we do not know and probably thought we were creepy weird BYU girls. Probably one of the most awkward conversations in Spanish yet. Sorry missionaries-I was not trying to hit on you, merely trying to escape the grasps of the creeper Afican.

The Last Madrid Walk! Que lastima!

2010-03-23T17:23:00.006+01:00

1. Yup. All the sights were seen, especially easy as it only covered one street.
2. I forgot to go out of my way to talk to people, but if I remember correctly I did have some brief natural interaction with 2 or 3 native.
3. Yes sir. We did great on this one.

4. Adri, Hayley and I went on this walk together. It was SUCH a glorious day, I couldn't have asked for more. We stopped in at a super cute internet cafe, and were tempted so much by the fruit smoothies that we caved. It was a piece of heaven, and worth every centavo of the 3.95 price tag. We made it to the Plaza de Espana, and I actually wish we could have had more time to explore the surrounding streets. I had a great time and was more than happy to have the excuse to be out and about in the sun.

Plaza de Espana was such a romantic spot, we had to contribute what we could.

Monument to our very own Cervantes

Haha. Super awkward candid shot.

this is HOWIE do it.

2010-03-23T17:00:00.001+01:00

Well, it was a beautiful walk down that Grand Way. We saw all the buildings we were supposed to plus hundreds more (1). We had good conversation cruising the Via and even cracked jokes. All in Spanish mind you. I felt that we were butta (3). We stopped at a really cute and tasty cafe that reminded us of the delicous sweets that can be found back home, we ordered from a stranger or in other words the waitress (2) and shared a cold pink drink of heaven(4-1). Adri wore her same shoes (4-2) and we arrived in the Plaza de España which was a dream. There were many photos to be taken in such the romantic setting. But this wasn't all serious, we also managed to capture the most awkward jumping picture ever imaginable(4-3).

Five, Six, Pick Up Sticks

2010-03-17T08:30:00.002+01:00

1. Yes!

2. Yup.

3. This one was a wee bit in the grey area, but I would say it was definitely more towards the talking end of the scale. (Does that make it more white, or more black??)

4. Errm, about that... my camera cord seems to have mysteriously disappeared and seeing as I'm leaving for school in 10 minutes, we'll have to leave those to your imagination until I find it. Sorry pals, I know you are all deeply devastated ;)

Story: Afterwards, we went to the Institute Activity for "gofres con chocolate". Let me just say, I have found something new to smother in chocolate. YUM.

2 for the price of 1

2010-03-16T23:30:00.006+01:00

1. yes maam
2. si si si
3. yup 3 hours worth. couldnt be more proud
4.

Whats not to love about a street named "A fist in the face"
I love me some Moorish doors

this'd be cool if my camera liked me aka would take nice pics in the dark

and some ivy

cool story: i found the best bakery on Calle Mayor.

2010-03-16T23:09:00.004+01:00

1. Si

2. Si, one to buy a pastry (mmm the delicious Spanish version of French toast), one to a homeless lady by a Cathedral, and one to a sales clerk that ripped me off. Seems like a common theme on my walks. We went to this way overpriced market and saw a jam stall. They had taste testers so I went for some wildberry. When its already in my hand the lady is like "Cuesta 50 centimos" En serio? You are going to charge me for half a cracker and some jam? I could buy a loaf of bread for that! Ridiculo.

3. Si, and let me tell you that Rebeccah is a Spanish talking fiend. Turns out when you go with only two people you get a lot more out of it and you practice a lot more Spanish!

4. I loved the houses with the weird windows trying to make it look like there isn't two levels in the house. Very clever. The second picture is me being sad because I really want Mexican food here and that place was all locked up and closed permanently I believe. The third is of the gorgeous balconies you find all over Spain!

i'll mix it up a bit and go with....fünf y sechs.

2010-03-16T22:06:00.000+01:00

1. Why yes, we surely did!
2. Yes indeed. I asked the woman at the tapestry museum if we could go inside, and she said "no."
3. mmm...A for effort?
4. I especially enjoyed walk number sechs. It was in a really beautiful part of Madrid that we haven't seen before, and I liked the low-key atmosphere and beautiful colors of the buildings.

I thought this building was random, funky, and fantastic.

The adorable little shop selling "dulces de conventos"

I love all the art vendors in Plaza Mayor. Whenever we pass by and glance at their art, they invite us to check it out. This time, Hayley and Megan accepted.

Thinco y Seis

2010-03-16T17:28:00.003+01:00

1. Check
2. Check Check Check
3. Mas o menos. We kind of sucked this one up at the end.
4.

I love the all the paintings on the buildings in Madrid, as well as the amazing blue/yellow color combo on this building. Spain you inspire me for my future residence.

Thank you older gentleman for letting me go in front to take a picture. And thank you Senor for informing me that they are government people, and something about Columbia. And thank you idiota for getting your large head in my picture.

The Mickey D's we were supposed to take note of. This is also reminiscent of a certain fantastic night...

2 walks= one good of a time.

2010-03-16T14:22:00.006+01:00

1. SI

2.si

3. Si

4. The first picture is a nameless building that had a bunch of cool windows everywhere, so naturally we had to do some serious model pose by it. I love taking mirror pictures, it's just what I do, my signature so to speak. We found this way delicious looking candy shoppe that had these foot long rope candies, along with other tasty looking things inside. It didn't disappoint.

Blur 56

2010-03-16T14:04:00.001+01:00

Done and Done.
1. I have seen every destination/sight to be seen on these two walks.
2. I talked to some strangers. I told a man that we were leaving the metro as well so that he would kindly get his paws of my friend Katie. I also got a new bus pass from a mean ole metro worker woman. etc.
3. I will go with a mas o menos on this one. There was definitely a valiant effort given I daresay.

The first walk was a bit of a dud, if I do say so. But the second (6) was in a beautiful neighborhood and I was loving the paintings and color combinations of the buildings. We also so the oldest restaurant... of something. We will just say in the world. Well, the man decided to smoke in the window because smoking is not allowed inside (a real plus for my dining pleasure.) Speaking of old stuff. I sat in a real old barbershop chair, and behind me is a barber in his barber shop barbering a man's beard.

cinco & seis

2010-03-16T13:56:00.008+01:00

1. Yes, we did visit all the stops except the ones that we had already visited
2. Yes, i spoke with several natives (mostly at institute but i'm counting it)
3. I spoke in Spanish for the duration of the paseos, expect when it came to directional debates.
4. I loved the 6th walk, it was in a super cute part of town that we had never visited and it made me realize that there is so much more to see and experience in Madrid. And time is dwindling!!

I had a great time going on these walks, while we were in the Plaza Mayor there was some band from Columbia that was really fun to see and hear. There was something different about Madrid this weekend. The streets were crowded with all the people that have come out of their winter hibernation, and I think tourist season has officially opened. It gave me a glimpse of what a true Madrileno summer must be like when the weather is good. I'm beyond excited to enjoy the good weather!

the band from Columbia

a cool mural + Hayley and Megan

the Plaza de Villa

walk 4

2010-03-15T13:41:00.003+01:00

1. Si, we visited every spot.
2. Si, we spoke el castellano.
3. Si, we spoke to locals.
4. The funny part was that we had a few run-ins with quite a few amiable asians. One took a picture of me in front of a bank. One chatted with us and showed us around for 20 minutes. Jimmy was his name, and he was a real gentleman. Spoke perfect english and spanish. Needless to say, this was my favorite walk so far.

..And we became instant friends

2010-03-03T18:08:00.006+01:00

1. Pues si

2. We have people's emails even

3. Venga si

4. Here we have Meredit and her asian friend that thought she must have looked like someone famous, because he asked to take a picture of her. I loved the banco Banesto, reminded me of good old Gringotts. Obligatory pic with the art that was pretty sweet.

This was probably the most fun I've had on a walk thus far. I saved the best pic for last, here we have our new friend(email and all) jimmy. He came up to us as we were looking for one of the banks, and gentlemen that he is asked us if we were lost. He then proceeded to basically tell us his life story and took us around the neighborhood. He introduced us to his Egyptian friend that owns a souvenir shop (and let's just say I can get you a great deal on a Matador outfit). We have new friends all over the financial district. Don't be surprised if either Riley, Meredit, or I start ditching on excursions to hang out with our new posse.

Why, you don´t eat?!

2010-03-03T10:51:00.004+01:00

Yes, we did the walk without a map, too thank you very much!

Yes, we spoke to quite a few strangers, but some of them were speaking to us in English, but we tried to just Speak Spanish.

Yes, other than when strangers would talk to us in English.

So, I´m not really sure if this is going to work with the whole picture thing, BUT...

The first one i of Nikki and Meredith walking with our friend Jimmy who is an old Philippino man who showed us around a little bit.

El segundo es de mi novio y yo. This was the Russian guy who is about 8 ft tall and tried to hand Jimmy a flyer for comida, but Jimmy said no, so mi novio said, in a Russian accent of course: Why, you don´t eat?!

The third shows my new fear for basically any and all animals, but especially dogs and cats. I saw this cool tree and thought, wow i should go sit in it and take a picture, then this dog decided to come out of no where and try to kill me.

The funny story from our walk would have to be when we met Jimmy. He came up to us because he thought we looked lost and then showed us around for about 30 minutes. We learned that his wife is in the military, he speaks about 7 languages, and he´s a boy scout!

Financial District, Shminancial Shmistrict

2010-03-02T23:51:00.001+01:00

1. Por supuesto.
2. Indeed. I bought postcards and the man tried to speak to me in English but when I replied in Spanish he said "mejor" and commenced in speaking Spanish. Gracias hombre.
3. We try so dern hard. Pero es dificil decir palabras como "fuzzy" en español.
4.

I love the architecture and detailing on the buildings here. It seemed like every building was HUGE and had such incredible detailing, and I loved all the different styles and elements.

How on earth would you describe this dog...en español?

5. I have a story. It may be funny now, but at the time I did not thing it was very comical... There is a beautiful gated plaza near our house with gardens and fountain in the middle. As I was sitting there sketching, a creeper came and sat on me. Well, close enough that he practically was. He asked me all these questions, and then asked if I would meet him back there in a couple of hours to have "cafe y zumo" with him. He was very persistent, and after running out of excuses I finally just pretended like I didn't understand what he was saying. Then he proceeded to steal my sketchbook and pencil, draw a circle and some lines, return the book, and set his hand on my thigh. I was highly uncomfortable by this point, and I abruptly stood up to leave. He did not seem to get the discomfort vibe, and gave me dos besitos and left. I hid behind a bush and called Katie to come walk home with me. El fin.

Había cuatro personas, come el numero del paseo

2010-03-02T23:06:00.003+01:00

1. Los destinos: absolutamente!

2. Los desconocidos: sí, es la verdad :)

3. El Español: más o menos; nos daría "10" por esfuerzo (creo que esta frase ha estado perdido en la traducción... discúlpame)

4. Las fotos mejores:

Group: Well that's weird, it doesn't look at all convex to me.

*moment later* "Oh, maybe they meant the curved

building across the street... " ^_^

Ministry of Education. It's pretty darn cool 'cuz

1) Ministry of ANYTHING makes me think of Harry Potter,

and 2) Because if I had a door like this on my office, I would think better too.

Nos gusta helado... muchísimo!

Interesting story, sheesh, many come to mind, but I still think my favorite moment was when--after several minutes of staring at the BBVA building trying to figure out how anyone could even possibly think "convex" when they saw it--we realized that the real building was across the street. It was a really big, really curved building. Go figure. :P

Heeeey

2010-03-02T22:17:00.003+01:00

1. Oh did we ever.(that was a yes)
2. Man in souvenir shop-check, guards at the army place-check. (that was a yes)
3. I left being quite proud of our Spanish-speaking effort. (that would be a yes)
4.

3. big roll of some red tubing or something. I like to call it art
2. guy on a razor
1. elephants: there were elephants on a building-so cool

Funny Story:
Nothing happened that made me, or anyone else keel over laughing, but one time, Katie and I crossed the street, leaving Megan and Haley on the other side. We were taunting them, it lead to very embarrassing pictures being posted on the internet. I learned my lesson

El estacion del tren tiene mi amor

2010-03-02T20:53:00.005+01:00

1. Si
2. Yes and if you are looking for proof look below.
3. I wouldn't have it any other way.
4.

Hello street of awesomness. This calle had some of my favorite buildings in Madrid and was so awesome to just cruise up and down the streets.

These men were kind enough to tell us what was up with the building they were guarding and about one of their Texan friends (yeah we totally know her because we're from the US too!). After before I'm pretty sure I heard me some kissing noises (Proof that we hot...or they just love the American girls).

Rebecca and I risked our lives crossing the street very late and left Meg and Haley in the dust. Then we celebrated our victory by dancing for them across the busy intersection.

Funny story of this walk: Well it's not exactly that funny, but rather intensely passionate. Man with the beautiful eyes me and Meg met on our way in to the train station. "Will you attend an economics lecture in Spanish and vote for this one man?" he whispered delicately into my ear. "Will you be there to enchant me with those deep blues?" I affectionately replied. "Para ti, claro." he muttered, his voice dripping with something that can only be described as overwhelming joy. You are all invited to our wedding, aka: celebration of love.

Maybe eating out in Madrid just sucks

2010-03-01T16:14:00.006+01:00

1. Yes we did
2. Sure did, my personal favorite was trying to be nice and donate to help the deaf and the girl stealing five dollars for me. New rule of life, get your change BEFORE you give them the bill. I also went back to La Finca de Susana with Adri for supper and talked to our waiter there. The food was good but the portions were a little small, and they didn't have the ten dollar deal that the walk boasts about. The place was packed and had a huge line up before it even opened so it's pretty popular. However, I've decided if you want to be full AND have a cheap meal in Spain your options are shwarmas and McDs (as much as I hate to admit it).
3. Yup
4. You have heard of the legendary dancing that occurred on this trip and now you can witness it yourself, starring Megan and Hayley!

Adri looking oh so chic in our favorite tree.

Really cool visiting artist that has decaying sculptures all around Madrid.

Summertime...and the livin is easy

2010-03-01T15:29:00.006+01:00

1. We reached all the points of interest, although most of them weren't extremely captivating. "the building across the street used to be a bank..."
2. I had a harder time finding people to speak to on this paseo than on the others. But I did manage to talk to 4 strangers, if you count the creepy boy on the train.
3. We did speak in Spanish for the duration of the trip, expect when it was absolutely necessary for directional purposes.
4. I had a great time on this Walk. My favorite happenings consisted of dancing swankily on the street to the smooth, jazz tunes of Porgy & Bess' "Summertime" (and then singing the fragmented Spanish translation the rest of the day). As well as seeing the really cool collection of sculpture all along different parts of the walk. Another memorable happening is when Angela lost 5$ to the UNICEF girls. we had a little too much fun with this tree...

cutest old man in the world who was rollerblading and covered with every protective pad imaginable. props old boy. props.

I mostly just love this picture because of Hayley's face. It is an accurate depiction of how we felt when we looked in at the Haagen Daaz store.

Bet yer bottom dollar

2010-03-01T14:30:00.001+01:00

1. We saw all of our intended sites, many of which I had already seen. It says a lot that we can marvel at bank buildings, no?
2. Throughout the course of the hours in Madrid I did speak to some strangers. Some of conversations were quite hasty and short, as they should be.
3.We spoke Spanish, and daresay that we did quite a good job of it.
4...
     The spy the weasel and the tart. what do they all have in common? They use the post office. and what a glorious post office it is
     One of the first buildings, if not the first was decorated beautifully with fat stone faces. I love me some fat faces.
     Through the course of the walk, everyone took their turn in taking a spill and my turn happened to be a step into nasty cig water.

It was a beautiful day and the company was mighty fine. It started out perfectly with the sight of Chubaka in the plaza, this led to many vocal imitations, which were right on spot if I do say so myself. Jazz musicians played in the streets and we danced in our sultry way and entranced the men. Much coveting went on when we passed the ridiculously overpriced Haagen Dazs, but we did not give in. We climbed a tree, and not once did I think about finances. Except for when I gave that scammer a Euro.

La próxima semana

2010-02-24T22:18:00.004+01:00

¡Hola chicas!
For next week, dont forget to write a short story about an experience you had while on walk #4. ¡Por favor no olvidéis! Keep up the good work :)
Muchas gracias,
Adri

Whoops

2010-02-24T14:31:00.004+01:00

Ok better late than never.......

1. yup sure did
2. mas o menos
3. better than last time
4.

At the restaurant w/ mosaics, obviously. I think this one's Sevilla.
I just can't resist their sexy pose

We found a little stump

The 2 cutest boys sharing a skateboard. Precious

Camino Tres y las Tres Mosqueteros

2010-02-24T14:29:00.005+01:00

We, las tres mosqueteros (Nikki, Meredith, and I; hereafter referred to as Athos, Porthos and Aramis), thoroughly enjoyed our walk through an area of Madrid that we had never before explored. In this thrilling summary of our conquest, I shall enlighten you on the greater adventures of our noble journey to overcome aforementioned task.

1. Yes, with the exception of one particularly conceiled location, we successfully navigated ourselves to all of the outlined destinations.

2. Yes, in a grand triumph over our deepest fears, we conversed in Spanish with at least three people--the woman who was not from Madrid, the amiable gelato man, and the lady who graciously pointed out that we were standing 20 feet from the street we were searching for.

3. Indeed, Spanish words seemed to flow from our lips like intermittent rainfall on a wet day in Spain.

4. My most preferred photographs:

So we ended up waiting probably a good 3-5 minutes

for this little boy to finish his water so that we could take

our pictures with the statue... what a devilish little rogue!

Aramis and Athos.

AND Gelato. Good stuff in any language.

I was really quite torn between this picture and the picture

of the "Ojalá" sign, since I use that word so much.

Finally decided that weird bathroom sinks were cooler :)

Hermano Cervantes

2010-02-23T15:46:00.005+01:00

1. Yes indeed we did, without anything dire to report.
2. Yes we did, some of them included some creepers that hung around us forever, and others include keeper's of very adorable shops.
3. Yes! We did a lot better this time, and it got easier and easier to get used to it as time went on. Hooray!
The cutest little traditional Sweet Shope. They have really good business tactic by offering free samples. I am hooked para siempre.

Another really cute store that is in the place of an old cemetery where a lot of the great thinkers/writers of Spain's Golden Age were buried, until they were unceremoniously moved by Napoleon's hermanito
And this...this the door of the house of our own Mr. Cervantes. He lived here at some point of his life. I thought this walk was great, I really liked seeing all the different quotes along the street, and seeing the "intellectual gathering place" of Madrid's Golden Age.

I'm seeing double

2010-02-23T15:06:00.007+01:00

1. Yes
2. Yes and to a few people I didn't want to speak to (aka men old enough to be my father and scary homeless guy with dreadlocks).
3. Sure did! Only a couple of slip ups!
4. First photo: I don't know if you can tell but the reason Riley looks so distressed is this guy was sporting a mullet with a ponytail in the back. I still can't get over how well the guys dress here but how gross their hair can be. That is one fad I'm hoping does not make its way over to North America.
Second:I loved this little flower shop we found. It had such a cute ambiance!
Third: We got to see the real sweeper man statue! The best part was recreating our original photo our first day in Spain. See if you can guess which one is a live man.

Walking through Literature

2010-02-23T14:49:00.004+01:00

1. Yes we arrived everywhere, whether all the locations were open or not is another story.
2. But of course! How else would I buy me some food?
3. Claro. Just love trying to communicate my thoughts using broken Spanish and amazing charades skills.
4.

Well first off this mural on the wall of the building was really cool to see, it just looks like a continuation of the city. However what is more funny is the fact that we had amazing trouble locating this mural and thought that it may have been torn down. Note to us: turn around and use your eyes.

Hayley likes to strut her stuff out front of the governmental-type building (I think-doesn't it look official?). Everywhere we go it's like ANTM.

My Spanish boyfriend found in the alley leading to the restaurant with the tile murals of the different Spanish cities. I love how they even graffiti holes in walls here!

Pues nada

2010-02-23T14:42:00.004+01:00

1. Es que no pudimos encontrar una o dos..

2. Una mujer era un poco rude. pero si.

3. Always

4. The mural was probably my fav part or the tiles at that restuarant but my camera died, so I was only able to capture these images. This area of Madrid was to my liking, and I even discovered a gelato shop con un chico que me quiera besar. La building de foreign affairs was a little breathtaking too.

Sure. I'll marry you, grey-haired man.

2010-02-23T13:37:00.001+01:00

1. yrp.
2. yrp. employees of sorts. men who were pretty high on the creepycrazy chart. they were about 8s?
3. YRRPPEEE. so exhilarating. I didn't want to stop!
4...
   Mustard is really in right now. Though I still refuse to eat it.
     Such a cute Flower shop. Keep on flying to your dreams, little birds.
     Merely the sight/thought of Haagen Dazs forces the tongue out of its cave.

Numero 3

2010-02-23T12:48:00.003+01:00

4.This picture was in the garden store. I loved all of the flowers in there!
This is when we were looking for the mural on the wall and right after someone said, ¨I bet they just painted over it,¨ someone said, ¨oh, look guys the mural.¨

This was next to the tiles on the wall for Sevilla, Granda, Cordoba, etc. I thought it was fun and random.

1. Yes, we reached all destinations even though some were closed and we could not go inside.

2. Yes, I spoke to a couple random people in the streets and a lady working at the garden.
3. Yes, we actually did really well speaking Spanish from what I remember.

3

2010-02-23T12:38:00.003+01:00

1. si
2. si
3. si. we asked a few people directions and a boy asked for my phone number on the tren.
4. I like these photos. The sign is of a gelato shop we stumbled upon and had to try. One is of Nikki with the streetcleaner. The other of the building of foreign affairs. I love its architecture.

Insert creative title here.

2010-02-20T00:09:00.000+01:00

1. We sure did!
2. Yes indeedy. Including some drunken men at a fútbol rally.
3. As much as possible en español, and only when we were failing miserably in fully explaining ourselves en íngles.
4.

I fell in love with this adorable garden store. Very zen and beautiful.

We enjoyed the pretty tile scenes. Obviously.

I thought it was cool that these famous quotes were everywhere on this street.

numero dos

2010-02-17T10:36:00.002+01:00

1. yes, I did the walk.
2. yes, I talked to people in spanish.
3. yes, I conversed with a few spaniards. even waved at a few guapos.
4. I really like the architecture in this one picture that i took. I enjoyed the david statue in a window, and of course i loved the dessert shop we walked by. Supposedly the king´s grandmother (or something like that) frequents this one.
sweet!

A load a girls

2010-02-16T23:13:00.002+01:00

1. si si si
2. I spoke to over 3, si
3. mas o menos
4....

Rx: A "Dos" of Walking...

2010-02-16T18:17:00.004+01:00

1. Yes, the walk was "un gran éxito". Thanks to all our awesome navigators!!

2. Um, things are a little hazy at this point, put I'm pretty sure I spoke with at least three people... there was the lady at McDonald's for sure, can't remember who the other two were. It was a little bit harder to talk to people on this walk, since we didn't get lost once and since there were so many of us.

3. Sí, hablaba (love that word) solo en el Español.

4. Favorite pics from the walk:

"La Duquesita" aka The Little Dutchess

pastry shop. Royalty love it, and obviously

so do commoners:) Yum!

Our walk was a series of epic failures:

this museum was CLOSED, the market was

under construction, and we spent 2 hours waiting

for a parade that was exactly three minutes long. haha:)

This building looks so incredibly average

in comparison to some of the RIDICULOUSLY

cool buildings in Spain that I almost didn't realize

it was what we were looking for. Built in the 1930's.

Numero dos.

2010-02-16T16:02:00.000+01:00

1. We were playing follow the leader, and the leaders said we reached every destination, and I believe them.
2. Por supuesto...even if a few were only 5-word conversations.
3. We gave a concerted effort to the Spanish language whilst on this walk. But we are only human, and slipped up a few times...

4. We found this amazing toy at one of the playgrounds on our route, and this picture embodies how we all feel about them.

I thought this Goya painting in the Romantic Museum was groovy.

This was a funky building that we were not allowed to enter. One day........

2010-02-16T15:14:00.005+01:00

1. We reached the location, whether or not there was anything there to see was a whole different matter.
2. Certainly did. My favorite was the strangely helpful and cute lady at the front desk of the Romantic Museum. I say strangely because I don't think anyone in Spain has heard of customer service. Oh excuse me for trying to buy something at your store, I'm sorry to bother you, I'll just be on my way. Actually, no scratch that, my favorite was the dirty construction worker I asked for directions who nearly got hit by a car watching eleven guapas walk by.
3. For the most part. There were a few moments where an encouraging English phrase was required to round up our gi-normous group.

Even though I thought this walk was a little ridiculous, one of the things I did find interesting was being in a less "touristy" part of Madrid. I felt like you got a bit more of the local flavor, complete with sketchy homeless men and graffiti on every corner.

I also enjoyed the protest posters lining the street. I'm still not positive what they were protesting, something about writers, but I thought it was interesting to see their enthusiasm (20 posters is a little overkill).

Whatever may have happened on the walk, it was all made worthwhile since we got these sweet cowboy hats in Madrid for free! Ten bucks for whoever can name which cowgirl is which!

Numero dos amigas

2010-02-16T15:08:00.006+01:00

1. From what I remember every spot was reached with little to no difficulty.

2. Si. I talked to some construction workers who were a little too friendly.

3. For the most part I'm going to say that we were.

4. My part favorito would have to be when we went to the Museo Del Romanticismo. This might sound horrible but I just loved the house it was in and all the colors they used on the walls. Like this gem of a color below.

We went to the pastry shop that the Great Grandma of the present king goes to. If it's good enough for her why not me?

2010-02-16T15:01:00.005+01:00

1. Yes we reached the destinations, even though there usually wasn't much to actually see (except for maybe a name).
2. Yes the people at the museum were quite nice and helpful. As well as the folks that directed me to a bathroom (always my personal favorites).
3. I tried to talk in Spanish for the most part, but sadly failed at doing it for the entire time.
4.
I giggle at the fact that everytime we pass a pasteleria (no matter how many we've seen here) everyone must stand and oggle in the window. This particular one is the one that the current king's great-grandmother would go to everyday, La Duquesita.

I thought this building was so pretty (El Palacio Longorio). The only problem was that they just did not want us to go inside to see if the inside was just as good. One of these days I'll be able to see what's behind the locked doors of all these buildings...

This particular beauty occured as we were walking past La Plaza Alonso Martinez and rather than taking notice of the plaza, I actually took notice of this.

Walk 2

2010-02-15T17:16:00.003+01:00

1. Yes, yes we did. Even though the market was actually just construction....

2. Yes, I talked to three people at the museum alone. They were all pretty nice there!

3. Yes, with the exception of translating for Miquela...

4.This is the pastelería where we got wonderful cake things covered in chocolate!! It was really good and all of the treats looked delicious!

This was at the museum where we got in free. I first thought this would have been baby Jesus, but it was titled "dead prince." Just one of the weird things we saw there.
This was the amazing teeter totter that we found at an adult park on the way to the pastelería. It was pretty much the best thing ever!.

You are a peach.

2010-02-15T15:17:00.003+01:00

1. Since it was Carnaval I dressed up as a follower and did exactly that. We went as a probably-too-big group and I was led. So. Maestra, if you say that I had reached all destinations it is certainly so.
2. I did. Well the first couple of strangers I basically "holla"ed at them but they got my meaning. Apparently I have some sort of radioactive bag that kills my bono. So I did speak to two different workers, so that I could get a new one that worked properly.
3. Funny you should ask. I started out strong. I was at the caboose of the train and I distinctly remember trying to form sentences with Katie and Megan. But. it was cold and windy and all we saw was construction and I do not know how to whine properly in Spanish. Out it came in English. So there you have it. I vow to never do another walk with 11 other girls who speak English quite fluently.

My favorite part of this walk was the Museo do Romanticismo. It was so great and fantastic and free! I have recently found an obsession with Jane Austen and I loved perusing about an old-timey house that had so much history and information. I also liked watching megan and others twirl around in the park, and a little glimpse of what the architecure is like in Barcelona. very droopy dripped. Anyone remember the name??

Paseo en Madrid 2

2010-02-15T13:29:00.006+01:00

1. Yes we reached the "destinations"...which didn't actually turn out to be destinations at all for the most part haha.
2. Yes I talked to 4 strangers, the most interesting and helpful being the tour guide at the Museo de Romanticismo.
3. No, I didn't talk in Spanish for the entire time...I did try to at least
4. The clear highlight of the Walk for me was the Museo de Romanticismo. It was so beautiful!! There was a lot of information available for the visitors with the booklets as well as the guides. The other highlight was definitely the pastry shop. Loved it.

My first blog!! Woot woot!

2010-02-09T14:34:00.006+01:00

1. Yes, we got everywhere we needed to go.

2. Yes, we even had a lady asking us if she was getting on the right Metro!

3. We did our best while we were in Madrid, but there were a few slips. It's hard to get into the hang of it!

4. This one was at the end of our journey when we started to get cold and found a heater en la Plaza de Oriente.

This one I chose because I really liked the way the sky looked that day. It's in front of the Palace.

I chose this one because I thought it turned out cool and it was also in the same place as the other pictures because that was when I actually took decent pictures.

¡Olé!

2010-02-08T15:33:00.006+01:00

1. más o menos...we reached all the ones that we knew about.
2. Yes, I most definitely did. One of the artists in the Plaza Mayor gets inspiration from his inner world, the museum man told me to come back tomorrow, and the kind officer directed me to the right train...oh and I also chatted with our friend Spiderman.
3. Yes, we did.
4. We had a great time, with the exception of coming home without Hayley's wallet. The first picture is from the base of the statue of Fillipe IV. The second is Palacio Real (claro) and the last is of my trusty companions and I at the start of our epic journey.

Anyone else feel like a creep trying to talk to strangers?

2010-02-08T14:41:00.005+01:00

1. Sure did :)

2. I talked to a lady to take our picture, a painter, a guitar player, and a security guard. The painter was mean and didn't want to talk. Or maybe my Spanish was just that bad he couldn't understand me. The guitar player was awesome though, he told me all about how Spanish guitars are different from acoustic. Did you know they don't have any metal strings?

3. We did, even though it's really easy to slip into English so I had to catch myself a few times!
4. Hayley and I and a random child chilling in front of the fountain in La Plaza de Oriente. I thought this fountain was gorgeous and this was where I met the guitar player!

I am in love with the parks in Spain. These were Los Jardines del Cabo Noval. I think they really encourage people to get out into the street and enjoy the city.

After the main part of the walk we decided to head up to El Templo de Debod which was given to Spain as a thank-you present from Egypt for helping them save some other ruins. It was a little strange walking through a building that had been shipped to Spain stone by stone but I did enjoy the hieroglyphs and of course the palm trees!

Walk #1, check

2010-02-07T13:10:00.004+01:00

1. Yes we did indeed reach the destinations, as so we think
2. Yup 5+ may I add
3. Yup yup I was pretty dang proud of myself at that feat
4. Ok, so it has been 1 week since, and a ton of awesome things have taken place of all the events that transpired during this walk. Ill do better next time

Catedral Real? Es verdad, no se, yo pienso que?

A hospital I think. No requerdo

That church where the single ladies go to get a boyfriend. I should return

Yes I would love to spend an hour and a half riding the train to get home.

2010-02-06T23:51:00.005+01:00

1. Megan and I wandered a bit but eventually found all of our destinations.
2. Yes we conversed with the locals. The two people on the train were a riot! I learned that apparently eating cream (like most people in Spain do) makes you a little more well-endowed. I may have learned more than I bargained for.
3. We did speak us some good spanish. There was a bit more silence than there would have normally been...
4.
Hello image of majesticity. Felipe IV apparently died in battle and his statue engulfed in shadows is the best foreground for the Palacio Real in the background.

I was taking a cue from the other tourists around me (mostly Asians) at the fence of the Palacio Real. If only I could scale the wall and "kill the beast" to get in!

After a few hours of no success in finding un aseo (not even the public library would let me use one. Public? I think not). At the Principe Pio station I happened to glance down the escalator and saw the best sign I ever could see. Thus Megan and I briskly walked and I finally had success!

A loooong, but lovely, day in Madrid

2010-02-06T23:38:00.001+01:00

1. Yes indeed we did.

2. Si...two of those strangers were on the train en route to Madrid, and let's just say it was a highly inappropriate conversation on their part. We were shocked and appalled.

3. Kathryn and I conversed in Español for at least 4 hours of our trip.

4. Fotos: uno:Katie doing a fabulous impersonation of the statue outside of the beautiful Catedral de la Almudena. dos:I really appreciate art on doors. tres:Sun going down through La Puerta de Toledo.

I´m still in Spain.

2010-02-06T12:03:00.004+01:00

1. all destinations were reached and enjoyed.
2. i conversed with the locals of the land. most memorable was a 80-year-old woman on the train who told me her son was 40 and single. matchmaker?¿?
3. i spoke the native language of castellano during the duration of our stay.
4. photos i´ve chosen: (1)some guapos in the plaza de oriente. the plaza is beautiful. (2) riley, adri & nikki in front of the catedral al lado del palacio real. (3) I don´t remember what this building is called but i thought it was nice.

Waz up Madrid?

2010-01-31T18:51:00.004+01:00

1. We successfully made it to each destination.

2. Si

3. Not one English word was spoken. Vale?

4. One of my favorite pictures was at the Plaza de Oriente, the colors that they used for certain buildings just took my breath away. The second picture is of Catedral de la Almudena, every cathedral is beautiful and has so much detail to it. The other picture, and not a very good one at that is of La Iglesia de San Francisco. We wanted to check it out but we didn't feel like spending the euros on it. Pretty from what I saw though. Love you Madrid.

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

2010-01-30T19:31:00.009+01:00

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.

2010-01-29T19:01:00.003+01:00

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.