Palacio Real & Plaza Mayor!

Since I haven't started classes I am taking advantage of our free time and exploring. On today's list: Palacio Real & Plaza Mayor!

Waiting at the Colegio Mayor and taking the Metro to Opera, the stop for the Palacio Real and Plaza Mayor.

First up: Palacio Real. It's the official residence of King Juan Carlos I when he is in Madrid, since the royal family lives in Zarzuela. It is used for a lot of State and Military ceremonies. There was a couple taking wedding pictures in front of the Palace. The apartments in the back face the Palace and are very expensive but gorgeous backdrop. The last few pictures are the backside of the palacio of the courtyard. If you tour the palacio, you can take pictures inside the courtyard. 

 

                                      

                                      

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Next to the Palacio is a gorgeous Catedral de la Almudena.

Then we walked to the Plaza Mayor for some ice cream. I had mango and raspberry sorbet, it was amazing! Plaza Mayor is illuminated so pretty at night with many people enjoying sangria and tapas while there is music playing in the background. It was such a nice night to sit back and relax, eat ice cream under a sunset. 

Dia numero 2!

Well I didn't explore much on the first day in Spain because of jetlag and getting used to the meal times here. Lunch at the colegio mayor (dorms) doesn't begin until 2pm and dinner starts at 9:30pm, way different than America. So I explored a lot today with the group after having lots of meetings including the US Embassy incase I lose my passport or a national emergency happens. The Marquette en Madrid, Fall 2010 group took our official picture with our Resident Director from Marquette Dra. Pasero (on the left) and our program secretary and native of Spain Paloma (on the right).

It was also purple shirt day, so we needed a picture in the dorms. Lindsey went to Lincoln Way East by my house and is best friends with someone from my old neighborhood. Small world!

I explored Sol first. Puerta del Sol is known as the shopping district. It has all of the best stores next to each other on a few streets. It's very touristy as well.

(Metro stop in the background)

Yes, there's McDonalds in Spain. 

We kept walking toward Gran Via. Gran Via also has a lot of stores and a great nightlife. Gran Via is celebrating it's 200th anniversary this year. Gran Via also has a lot of movie theaters and plays/musicals/theaters. 

              

 Then we ended up at El Parque del Retiro. By far, this is the biggest park I've ever been to. I can't wait to rent one of the boats and row in the lake. 

There aren't many boats in these pictures, but on the weekends the lake is filled!

Great day exploring Madrid!

Arrived in Spain!

Arrived in Spain!

Well I’m here but it sure did take a long time to get here! Left home at 11am Tuesday and arrived in my dorm in Spain at 10:30am Wednesday, which is 3:30am Chicago time.

                                   

I took two fifty-pound suitcases. One has all of my clothes and one has my big hiking backpack, shoes, and all of my toiletries. Well the morning I was leaving, I was about ten total pounds over weight. So I had to take a small duffle bag as a carry on that ended up weighing about twenty pounds. Getting through O’Hare and Philadelphia’s airports were a little rough since I was carrying the twenty pound duffle bag as well as a ten pound carry on bag that had my computer and things for the plane. Of course I was always at the furthest terminal and last gate.


At O’Hare, I met up with two Marquette girls and then in Philadelphia we met up with three more Marquette girls. Then when we landed in Madrid, the six of us met up with the one guy who arrived an hour earlier. They sent us on a shuttle to our dorm at the university; however, they could only take five of us. So two girls waited at the airport for one girl who was arriving about an hour later. Two girls arrived yesterday and there is still one more girl arriving later today. There are a total of eleven of us from Marquette – ten girls and one guy.

We are all exhausted; however, fighting to stay awake. If I take a nap then I won’t get adjusted to the time change and will be wide awake in the middle of the night. Both of the plane rides had a lot of turbulence. I managed to get two hours of sleep on the long flight. Anytime I fell asleep, the people behind or in front of me would turn on their super bright lights or our individual tv monitors would reset and have a blinding light in our face to wake us up. We were woken up about 6:30am with all of the plane lights on even though we weren’t landing until 8:30am. I only ended up watching twenty minutes of a movie on the plane. Their entertainment system took an hour just to start up and then crashed twenty minutes into the start up. They reset it but I was asleep by then.


We took a walk around our dorm and learned to get used to a lot of hills. It’s pretty hot here, high 80s F but cloudy and supposed to rain but hasn’t yet.


I still haven’t bought a hairdryer or straightener yet. We were told just to hang out at the dorm until we have lunch and meet up with everyone at 2pm in the cafeteria in the building. It’s a small dorm but I have my own room and own bathroom. All the girls are next door to each other too. My room was a sauna when I first walked in but we discovered how to work the electricity and air conditioning with our room keys.
It’s a work in progress. I’m sure as soon as I get used to this place it will be a week and a half from now when I am moving in with my host family. 

~Kristen 

Getting ready to leave!

I am packed and doing some last minute errands before I leave on Tuesday. 
I have two suitcases with a hiking backpack packed inside one of the suitcases with a small carry on bag. Hopefully I have enough of stuff for four months but yet enough of empty room to bring home souvenirs! 

Costa del Sol

I leave Tuesday from O'Hare Airport at 2pm for Philadelphia. I have a short lay over and then at 6pm I am off to Madrid. I have a total of ten hours in the air and arrive at 8am with a full day ahead of me! 
My last picture/memory in Spain two years ago was on the beach in Costa del Sol. I can't wait for some new Spain pictures and memories!
~Kristen