Trips!

The European Trip! Ok so I’ve been a major slacker in telling you all about my travels. I wish I could sit down with each of you and tell you all the random details and share the bazillion pics we took. I will be uploading those pics on facebook soon hopefully (again major slacker). In the mean time I’m going to give you the high points in a series of blogs.

SPAIN

Day 0: I left the ATL airport on a nice little evening flight and arrived in Madrid the next morning (read: I was wedged b/c two girls doing study abroad, slept little to none, and ended the flight with a lap full of hot coffee).

Day 1: We went straight from the airport to Hailey’s church where I got to meet her sweet church family; they commented on how fresh I looked…thanks to the coffee I had a reason to change clothes and “freshen up.” We eventually made our way to her place to drop my bags and I got to visit her apartment. We met up with several of her friends to hang out and walked around the city ending up in the Retiro which is a huge (350 acres) fabulous park. I LOVED the park and could not describe it better myself so I’m stealing this from wiki, “A magnificent park, filled with beautiful sculpture and monuments, galleries, a peaceful lake and host to a variety of events, it is one of Madrid's premier attractions. The park is entirely surrounded by the present-day city.” Our gang attended a bull fight that evening at the Plaza de Toros. I could write an entire blog about this experience; it was truly amazing and yet disturbing all at the same time. Consult pics for more info or on a bored day ask me and I will give you the 411 on the whole deal haha.

Day 2: Hailey and I spent the day looking and acting like tourists! We visited the Plaza Mayor, the Palace, several beautiful churches, toured several neighborhoods, did a LOT of walking, and did a little shopping ;)

Day 3: I went to Hailey’s school for the morning so I got to meet her kids and fellow teachers. We took a picnic lunch to the Retiro and lounged in the grass while we planned our Greece trip. Hailey took me on a guided tour of the Prado (yea for free entrance!!). We ended our night in true Madrid style with a couple of her friends dining at one of their favorite places, having drinks at a favorite bar, and dancing like crazies.

~We flew to Greece on Day 4 and returned 6 days later.~

After we returned from Greece, we spent approximately 14 hours in Madrid, and then spent the night in the airport. I was very impressed with how sleeper friendly that airport was; my 4 hour nap was undisturbed and delighful. While back in the city we moved Hailey’s stuff from the 7th floor of her apartment building to the 1st. This was not the easiest task with her elevator (consult facebook pictures) so it required a lot of awkward carrying of furniture and bags. We had one last fun meal at the bar around the corner from her place and said goodbye to two of her friends.

Things I loved: Public transportation!
Seeing Hailey’s “other life”
Just vacationing!!

Things I don’t miss: smelly people on the public transportation :)