52. Wine Country

As of today, we have used one out of our two eurail passes! Today our trip was to St Emilion. A medieval city. Honestly, not sure if anyone actually lives there. 

In this place, they have tertres. This is a special word used for super steep streets. And I mean super super steep. There are four of them in this town. The Friend family managed to walk up these roads about 5 times. 

Not only did we walk up the steep streets a couple dozen times, I think we walked the entire city a few times. It's committed to memory. But exploring cities is what this trip is all about!

We walked around the cloister of the cathedral and Arden and Scarlet had some sister bonding time. And saw some Theta pansies!

Medieval cities have a lot to offer. Special steep streets, cool cloisters, and so many things to climb.

There are stairs that lead to nothing, walls half crumbled, buildings that are probably abandoned, and cobblestone streets that are almost impossible to walk on. We had a great lunch on the terrace, toured the caves and catacombs, and had some time to browse the boutiques!  

51. On the Road Again

Another train day! Last night we had a visit by the landlord who reminded/informed us that at 2 am the clocks would spring forward an hour. We don't really keep track of time apart from the days we have to catch a train. So this was news to us! This morning we had an early train. We woke up at 5 am, which felt like 4 am to us. Don't worry, I had the Bolas to keep me going.

It's always a challenge to find our apartments in a new town with roads we've never seen, and most of the time no map other than iPhone screenshots from the night before. We manage to keep ourselves entertained as we wonder the unfamiliar streets.

Our apartment for the next 4 days is more like a fort. We have two rooms and one loft. Four of us will be sleeping in the master bedroom. It's huge and I think it's Mom's favorite so far. 

The kitchen is under the loft, and the only bathroom is in the loft. It was made for small children. Showering will be a challenge for most of us. 

As usual we spent our first evening searching for a grocery store. We found a gas station type store with overpriced everything that infuriated Brody. He couldn't believe we were paying 5 dollars for a box of corn flakes. At least that's what he claimed to be upset about. I'm thinking it might have been about the price of nutella. Although we haven't found an acceptable grocery store, we did find out that the clothing stores are only a block away!! No more lazy mornings for me. I have stuff to not buy!

  

Tomorrow is our last day to use the promotional eurail passes we have, so we are taking a day trip to St. Emellion. On the train ride there, Arden and I are going to think of a question to ask One Direction for a contest they have going on. Any suggestions are welcome!

50. The Great Adventure

Tonight the clocks skip forward an hour here in Spain. We have a train to catch early tomorrow morning so we felt no need to cut our sleep short today. I think Arden rolled out of her bed around noon. 

We spent the day here in the villa so mom and dad didn't have to plan a day out. They said they have to do taxes, but we all know the real reason. Future chef Brody made some delicious french fries with Dad that tasted like they came straight from McDonalds.  

Afterwards Arden's friend Ana came for a visit and she brought her brother Sam to hang out with Brody. They also came bearing gifts! Four boxes of chocolate! They were gone within 3 hours.

After a quick trip to the store, Scarlet and I embarked on The Great Adventure.

Each time we drive to our house, we see this big Hollywood type sign for neighborhood. Scarlet didn't notice it, but I was determined to find it. To start we found a path at the end of the street. Seemed like a good idea. Soon we found the rickety old bridge and braved our way over the rotted out wood planks and steep slopes.

The path was rough. Rocks were everywhere, mudslides were outrageous, and the sides dropped off at either side awaiting one wrong step to send us plummeting to our deaths. 

After a treacherous hike up the uncertain terrain, indigenous creatures and plants lurking around every corner, and the foliage thickening with every step, we made it to the sign!

And took so many selfies!

And we made it back in time for pizza and hot crossed buns!  

49. Shopping Spree!

This week has been one of the best so far! Our last day was spent on shopping missions. We all met in Plaza del Sol to start. Mom and Dad split off to check out another museum, the boys went with Uncle Brian to look in man stores, and the girls went with Aunt Kenda for some real shopping. Everyone was happy and we went into all the crappy little souvenir shops that we wanted to.  

I bought a couple souvenirs to lug around, Aunt Kenda finished her checklist of gifts, while Arden, Scarlet, and Klaine spent their last allotted euros on candy and pastries! We found a cute market to check out, walked around Plaza Mayor, made friends with one of the doormen for a restaurant, and watched fellow tourists get sucked into pictures with Spongebob and Patrick.

After a couple hours, we met back up at Sol to regroup and head for dinner. We love meeting up here because it's just so entertaining. We watched papa smurf, midget papa smurf, Jack sparrow, Edward Scissorhands, Army Guys, Spongebob, emo witch, and other characters interacting in the square. I wanted to sneak pictures of these people, but I was too afraid they'd catch me and demand 20 euros. And I've already been suckered into stupid buys on this trip, like a 10 euro ice cream cone. Before heading out for Tapas, we naturally made a stop in the pastry shop, where we stuffed ourselves with cañas con chocolate and some other filling. 

When we had enough of harassment from the beggars we made our way to El Tigre, a tapas restaurant recommended by my friend Brett, who is studying abroad here this semester. With every drink ordered, they came out with a plate full of little Spanish snacks that were delicious! My favorite were the tortillas. I'm gonna have to make these when I get home. It's made of potatoes, and eggs, and I'm not really sure what else, but I loved them. I think we need to have Tapas places in America. They are so cheap and convenient, and every plate is a surprise!  

Don't be deceived, everyone is having fun, Brody is just bummed we didn't run into Brett here. This was a great way to end the week. I was actually able to use some Spanish and feel good about the three years I took in High School. The food was delicious, and we just got to sit back and visit with everyone bustling around us. When all the plates were finished and the waiter was giving us the "get out of here already" look, we bid farewell to our faithful companions for the week, and headed back to the villa. 

We will certainly miss hanging out with our cousins, but are so glad they could join us for a little part of the trip. Can't wait for our next big international adventure with them!

48. Real Spanish Culture

The Palacio Real: Where you can't get away with anything. Our adventures today started with a toura round this palace which still houses royalty! When there are royal people present in this palace a special flag is hung next to the spanish flag. Today it wasn't flying, but that doesn't mean security slacked on their job. Within the first half hour the Friends had been scolded at least 5 times. 

Giant four square? Not allowed in the royal courtyard. 

Sneaking pictures of frescos? I thought we taught you better, Brody. 

The kids were also chastised for taking a wrong turn after the royal staircase. Dad was shushed by a tour guide for talking too loudly. At one point we were "sternly talked at" in Spanish. Not sure what went wrong that time, but based on body language and frantic pointing, we made our way back to the courtyard.

Here are some things we got away with:

Climbing royal trees

Organized dancing. Just trying to earn some money as Brody would say.

We spent the rest of the afternoon shopping and the boys split off to do man things. I ended up with a few post cards, and Arden got a dress that I'm hoping she'll decide she doesn't actually like back in America and give it to me.

Our afternoon treat were churros! I've never had these before and loved them and the extra chocolate that we had to just drink after all of the churros were consumed.

Senior year I came to Europe with Grandma, Grandpa, Uncle George, and Aunt Geri. We traveled around to a few places and in Denmark, met up with some of my grandparents friends, the Christensen's. We spent the evening eating, and visiting. It was such an experience to learn about their way of life and eat some great food at the same time. We had a similar experience with Arden's friend Ana and her family.

We crammed 16 people into their place and had a great authentic Spanish meal. I kept having flashbacks to my Spanish fiestas in high school where Señora would spend a good ten minutes describing delicious traditional plates. Ana showed us around her home and we admired all the family artwork they had hung around the house. It sure beat anything I made in art class... 

I went into the kitchen to check out how dinner was being made and saw a huge propane tank hooked up to a huge circular pan that covered the entire stove top. This is where the paella was being made and it smelled wonderful! This is a staple in Spain and the paella pans come in all different sizes even bigger than the one I was looking at! 

Before dinner, we had appetizers of charizo (my new favorite meat), jamón, tortilla (potatoes and eggs), but the favorite among the kids was the bag of potato chips. Ana had 3 younger siblings, Samuel, Sara, and Lorena. The boys loved playing with Sam and were either playing on some type of electronic, or running around with nerf guns all night.

 Ana's family spent a year living in Fishers, so they know English very well. When the Paella was ready, we all ate way too much and didn't expect an entire fruit/dessert course following. Next came the the cooked pumpkin. Literally a pumpkin cut in half and put in the oven. It was the Spanish version of pumpkin pie. Just wayyyyy more healthy. Out other dessert was a almond mocha cake with some type of almond icing on top. Everything was great, and I thought they were going to have to roll me out of there.  We learned that everything is bigger in America, and Aunt Kenda decided she need to buy little Spanish spoons. Not only are the spoons smaller here, they have smaller plates, smaller stores, and smaller houses. Here they have exactly what they need. It almost makes us seem gluttonous in every way. 

It's a school and a work night for their family, but we still left their house around 11 pm. That's just the way Spain works. I could get used to late nights, late mornings and siestas every day! 

47. Day 47

Segovia:

Acuaducts

 Cathedral

 Alcazar

Fun.

46. Our Day with Brett!

This week has been very different than the schedule we've adapted to for the past two months. We have expanded our group to ten, learned how to travel by car and metro every day, start our adventures earlier, end later, and most importantly have found new friends to visit! Today we met up with my friend Brett from PMO and toured around the Retiro. Our first stop was the Crystal Palace. Not sure why it exists, but it's pretty! We made sure to get a picture of the Purdue people. We are going to make the Purdue Alumnus Magazine after this week.

On the way to the playground for a picnic, Brody grilled Brett with every question he could think of. So now we all know Brett's sister's best friend's dog's middle name. We went to a modern art museum and admired the ability some people have for turning elementary level finger painting into famous masterpieces. Brett's favorite was "Olive Tree Grove." (might not really be the name) This was basically a giant canvas covered in a peach color with blue dots. Obviously a tree. With olives.

We made our way to the Naval Museum - Grandpa will be so happy - and Brett split off to go to class. What? School? 

I've made it a priority to learn each of these knots during this trip. Never know when it could come in handy! This museum was full of ship models. Some were cut in half, and others showed the different layers of the ship. I learned that the older the ship, the prettier. My favorite probably has a proper name, but I call it the circle ship. It's very spherical and just looks cool. There were also life size models of what certain rooms of the ships looked like and Mom now has the design for a library room she will have one day.

Every day we have new experiences, and today we had an experience that hasn't happened on this trip yet. Our first day in the city, Dad and Uncle Brian easily found a public parking spot on the side of the road. There were green lines which clearly indicated "Free Parking Here!" We got back and all was well. after struggling with parking garages, we were glad to run into this luck. However, by Tuesday this luck had run out. We got back today and someone had put a flyer, no receipt, no a TICKET on our windshield. Okay Madrid, what do you think green means?

XLV. Toledo

 

Brenna explored the City of Toledo today.  This city sits atop a hill encircled by an oxbow in the Tajo River with a long history and a medieval street layout.  This was a 90 minute drive from the house, 2 hours with Madrid traffic.  But her father handled the driving extremely well, so all arrived in great shape.  The strategically located city has been home to a Jewish, then Muslim, and now Christian population.  We parked at the foot of the hill, crossed a centuries-old bridge, and climbed up to the city along an old cobblestone trail.  We picnicked on the ramparts then started our explorations.  It may be best to describe our stops through Haikus:

First Stop – Cathedral

The El Greco was Lovely

I love my Father

 

The Cathedral was similar to others that we’ve toured, but had some unique qualities.  The high altar was covered in gold plating with a nine-foot statue of Christ at the very top.

 

 

 

The Sacristy featured works by El Greco (the local artist), Caravaggio, Rubens, Velaquez, and Bellini – all wonderful works completed before art became convoluted.  The priests are surrounded by such beauty in the green room of this Catholic church.

 

Second stop - San Juan

Offensively carved monkey

Dad is intell'gent

 

The San Juan de los Reyes Monastery was intended to be the burial site of the Catholic Monarchs, Isabel and Ferdinand, but religious differences would not let that happen.  The cloister carvings featured a monkey – an insulting symbol of Franciscans – on a toilet reading the bible upside-down, thought to be a comment on the Franciscan pseudo-intellectualism (big libraries and small brains).

 

Third Stop – Museo

Macho sculptures came to life

Dad is my hero

At the Museo Victorio Macho, we were able to view a video on the history of Toledo before looking at the Macho sculptures, including his brother’s crypt.

 

 

Fourth Stop - Museum

Stately Renaissance Building

Dad makes great coffee

 

The free Santa Cruz Museum surrounds the special pay El Greco exhibit.  Docents quickly identify the non-paying customers and condescendingly point them to the back staircase where dim lighting and damp floors greet them.  This former orphanage and hospital plays host to a number of nice paintings, some brass relics, tiles, and papal vestments.  It was a good walk for us.

 

Of course, the day included other stops, not museum- or church-related.  For one, there was Taste of America – a store which catered to us.  Apparently, Europe thinks we like our candy, marshmallows, and cream of chicken soup.  Tempting was the pancake mix and syrup which we have not had here.  The mix and syrup was selling for 16 euros (about $22), so Dad nixed the idea.

 

 

Aunt Kenda was excited about the convent which sells mazapans. The process is to ring the special bell and put your payment on a turnstile.  After 5 minutes, the nuns reward your payment by placing a pastry on the turnstile.  Then you eat it in high regards knowing that it was commissioned by God himself.  We figured some greasy Spaniard named Inigo Montoya is hidden behind the door, but why ruin the dream. We found the convent, but it was closed.  A funny anomaly in Europe is the Siesta.  This is the time when the shops all close; it lasts from about noon until 1730 (5:30 p.m.). This is the time when the shop owners have lunch, take naps, and don’t make money off any of the tourists.  However, we did find mazapans, so all was not lost.

 

 

Another great day in Europe!

 

Anonymous Guest Writer

44. Row boats!!

For our first day I woke up with this view out the window! I think I should enter a postcard contest for all of the cities I've visited...

The adventure began with a 30 minute drive to Madrid from the villa, and a few metro stops. Before we knew it, we were in Retiro park! 

This park is so big! Not sure why, but us tourists stick out like a sore thumb here. People trying to sell something, asking for money, or petitioning immediately switch to English as we pass. That's what happened with this street performer. Scarlet was standing in the front and he saw her and tried to get her to come sit in the front. She had none of it and backed up into the crowd. 

We made it to the rowboats! And saw Madrid's version of Budapest's Hero's Square. I don't actually know what it is, but I have pictures of it from every angle. 

Last night, The boys (Brody and Kaden) were put in charge of boat assignments. I was placed with Dad, awesome Aunt Kenda, and Arden. Arden was placed on rowing duty pretty early on in the ride. She immediately flipped the boat around and started rowing backwards. I tried to explain how this was against the entire design of a rowboat, but she insisted that she needed to see where she was going, even if this made it ten times harder.

Next was the Reina Sofia where I found my new favorite artist! I loved looking at the Salvador Dali pieces. They are just so weird. You can interpret what he was drawing an a bunch of different ways. Here were my two favorites. I decided to omit "The Great Masturbator" in order to keep this blog PG.

 I also saw Picasso's Guernica. I've started to appreciate him a little more. This piece looked like a huge black and white mess until I stayed back and studied it a little more. There were picture of the process he took to get to the final product and I began to understand the thought behind the piece. He made this piece during the Spanish civil war and it became very influential even into World War 2. This is hard to see at first glance, but it depicts many horrors of war. A woman trying to run away but unable to because her leg is so heavy - really picasso?Couldn't have drawn her with a normal leg? - theres a dead guy on the floor, a mom with her dead baby, a bull, the sign of strength in Spain, looking panicked, and a horse freaking out. There's a lot of symbolism and parallels in it, but I'm just a beginner. I can feel my art ignorance just melting away.

 We also walked around the Prado with Rick Steve's to guide us to the important stuff. We saw works from some people I actually recognized: Rubens, El Greco, Titian -The Venetian - and Goya! Grandpa told Arden to check out the "Garden of Earthly Delights." Here's what that one is all about. Left side is paradise. This is before original sin. The large middle panel shows what can only be described as eternal spring break. No one is clothed, people are riding around on horses, playing with over sized birds, and bathing. The right panel is Hell. All the horrors are depicted. People being eaten, being tortured by giant demons, a pair of ears carrying scissors around. On top of it all, it's all in a Dr. Seuss style with the colors and unicorns unrealistic plants in all pastels. Arden responded that she enjoys looking at more realistic forms of torture. Okay Arden.

We ended the day in a sandwich shop recommended by - Who else? - Rick Steve's! Side note: My mom has actually started emailing Rick Steve's all the good deals we have run into. She's well on her way to becoming his real friend. Anyway, these sandwiches were fantastic! Some people had calamari, or bacon, or jamon, I tried the chorizo. I'm so glad I'm not a picky eater. If I were I wouldn't try these plates I've never heard of. I asked Dad exactly what chorizo was and the answer I got was "Some type of meat." Originally I picked the ham, but when there was an extra chorizo ordered, I was all for it. AND IT WAS THE BEST SANDWICH SINCE ROME! Still not sure exactly what it was, but it kinda looked like sausage and I would eat one every day if I had to.