Palacio Real y Museo del Prado

Hola todos!

Today my group visiting the Royal Palace and the Prado Museum.

The Royal Palace was such an amazing place--full of a lot of history. It was built for the Bourbon King Phillip V after the Alcazar burned down. There is quite the collection of tapestries, royal antiques, crystal chandeliers, and gilded furnishings all found throughout the Palace within its 2,000 rooms.

The Museo del Prado is one of Europe's finiest museums and houses over 3,000 painting. Among the many artists in the museum are Velaquex, Goya, El Greco, Italian and Flemish artist and other Spanish and European painters.

Both visits to these places were great and I learned so much! Unfortunately, we weren't allowed to take any pictures, so maybe everyone will have to get to Madrid to see these sites with their own eyes! :)

Another exciting thing that happened today that was when I was walking out to go to dinner this evening, Alex Schwinn (a good friend from Miss Hall's) was standing right outside my hotel! Naturally, we were both in shock and it was so great to see her! Tomorrow we are meeting to have a drink and catch up on life--so I'm very excited about that!

For dinner tonight I had sangria y paella de marisco. Sangria is like a red wine, but not quite wine I guess. It's kind of hard to explain, but very tasty! And Paella is a Spanish dish with rice, peas, red peppers, shrimp, calamari, mussels, and some various spices. Needless to say, it was an excellent meal and I'm hoping my host Mom can cook up some paella upon my arrival.

That's all for now! Until tomorrow.. HASTA LUEGO!

Besos,
Lindsay

Streets of Madrid

Arrived in Spain!

Hi Everyone!

I safely arrived in Spain this morning around 8AM. Gave Mom & Dad a nice wake up call at 2AM to let them know I arrived safely. For the next four days I will be in Madrid, and then I will move in with my host family! I did a bit of exploring today, but am very tired and can't wait to get into bed after dinner! You would think I  would be heading to bed pretty early, but typically dinner does not start until nine or ten o'clock in the evening (Dad wouldn't like this too much)!

When I arrived to the hotel today my room hadn't been cleaned, so I had to ask housekeeping to clean it in SPANISH. Needless to say, my Spanish skills weren't too rusty and the room was cleaned right away! It is so nice to finally be able to immerse myself in the Spanish culture and I am really going to strive to become fluent by the end of the journey.

If I am being perfectly honest, I miss home very much, but am most certain that this will be such a wonderful adventure and I can't wait to share it all with you! Today whenever I had any doubts, I just thought of how proud Gram and Pops must be up in heaven to see me making my dreams come true. I am also very thankful that Mom and Dad have always encouraged me and supported me to do whatever I wanted to do. Be it going off to China, Indiana, or Spain--they've always been behind me. So, thank you Mom and Dad.  

That's about all for now! I will continue to keep my blog updated as often as I can to keep you all posted! Hasta luego (see you later)!

Besos (kisses),
Lindsay

Madrid, Spain

Welcome!

Dear Family and Friends,

Welcome to my blog! When I embark on my adventure to Seville, I will do my best to keep you updated on the various places I've visited and let you know how I'm doing. I'm so excited to get to Spain and I can't wait to share my experiences and stories with you! Until then..

 Lindsay