¡Adelante!

Bueno. So much happens every day, I am just struggling to keep up with it all! Although you may not believe it, I'm going to tell you that the past two posts took hours or more each to do because I uploaded about 30 pictures for each one! And so then, I get tired, and feel like it's okay, I don't have to write today, and then 2 days later I have tons more to say and it takes me hours again. But, so is life. I guess if I do a mountain of laundry one week and don't do it for three then I'm... wearing dirty underwear. And no one wants to do that. Or be by me when I do that. Not that I do. Promise I don't (stop laughing CBarnfaceWordGmama!) (inside joke. I still promise I don't wear dirty underwear).

And moving on. Let's talk about sophisticated things, like...

MADRID!

This is where we went Saturday! We live about 45 minutes by train outside of Madrid, so we took the train into town bright and early Saturday morning and played all day long. But Elise wasn't feeling up to playing... I was so sick. It was not super great, so these pictures aren't super great, because I definitely remember having thoughts like I couldn't care less about the dead people and their buildings, I just wanted a bed. Shame, right? Good thing we will go to Madrid a lot. I can appreciate it more next time. Fotos:

First thing we saw coming out of the Metro in the Puerta del Sol, a famous station in Madrid. I on accident failed to capture the larger-even-than-this-building poster of a Calvin Klein underwear model who had an expression on her face that said, "Er-Duuuuuuuuuuuuuh."

This is the King! Not the current king, but a very smart one, who's name I have currently forgotten. Anyways, they have a sound system that makes it so the birdies don't land or poop on any of the statues. Smart Spaniards! We could use some of those at BYU.

This is the spot where all of the Spanish Highways begin. They all count down to this point. And so there I was, at the heart of it all :)

There was a little antique shop, that didn't look like much, but this plaque on the ground in front means that it has been within the same family for at least 100 years. Amazing!

Another protected king statue.

We are in the Plaza Mayor here. It was a major center back in the day. Nobles would buy or rent out people's private balconies that surround the plaza so they could have the best seats for the bullfights etc. I would imagine the normal people wouldn't have much say in the matter :)

Letty and I :)

Matchy Pants!

This seal was on most buildings. Pretty ornate, I would say. It's fine, it was just carved a million times out of stone.

Me and another Poop-Free King Statue.

We visited this convent, which is where nuns stay for their whole lives. These nuns specialize in making candies! I will be visiting to try some. We couldn't try some this time because it was Saturday and they were cleaning. The building on the left is actually part of the Vatican. If I had entered there, I wouldn't have been in Spain any more!

Convent on the left. This street is called Elbow Street. And there was some incredible piano playing wafting out of one of the windows above us. Magic.

One of the oldest doors in Spain. My dad laughed when I told him that. I think it's cool, stinker!

Street of the Mischievous :) Me gusta!

Eh, it's pretty!

I have a gorgeous cathedral behind me, and next to me is a monument for an attempted assassination to the King at a Parade that ended up killing citizens instead :(

The tree to the left is one of the Cedars of Lebanon.

Dad! This is in fact a REAL LIFE PEREGRINO! These guys walk from France to the South of Spain,  on the world famous Camino de Santiago, which is hundreds of kilometers, with only their backpacks and hostals as their nightly homes. Can you imagine? Maybe one day, Daddy. I recommend the movie "The Way" if you want to see a story about this walk :)

Okay I forget which building this is. But in front of me, behind the camera, we witnessed the common trio of Romanian girls trying to rob a Japanese woman and making a scene. We witnessed this again later in the day. They ask you to guide them on a map and unzip your bag while you aren't paying attention. Stinking dictators and fallen countries and consequential robber ladies!

Galileo Galilei helped calculate how to make this statue stand on only two feet. It was an incredible feat at the time. And plus Galileo looked at something that I looked at. Never thought I'd see the day.

She's pretty :)

I matched Burger King! How flattering!

Inception, anyone?

Mikayla and Letty, in a shi shi store in Madrid :)

Can't believe the architecture- this is the Calle Mayor with all of the shops and everything along it. It was amazing! And beautiful, as ever.

Another shot of the Calle Mayor. We saw a bride and groom on this road getting pictures taken. Not a bad backdrop I'd say...

And unflattering picture of me, but that's the bank behind me!

The girls I was with :)

This was an incredible building with art exhibits inside. 

La Puerta de Alcalá (my village)

It's normal to have intricate mosaics lining walls and stairways no one ever sees.

Ornate ceilings inside the place where lots of art was displayed.

Another shot of the same building.

I will definitely be returning for this exhibit- it is talking about how the men were not alone in conquering America, and the women had a role in it. The feminist in me loves this :)

Train station :) Que Bonito, no?

Me and the Cluffs. The sweetiest couple you'll ever meet, besides my grandparents of course :)

So there you have it. Saturday in Madrid, Sunday sleeping and trying to control myself from eating, Religion, Literature, and Grammar class today, and sleeping more tonight. I do well with the sleeping thing. Things are getting much more comfortable now, and we are starting to understand street rules better, except we on accident almost got hit by 3 different cars today. It's okay, we didn't. We'll be better at it all soon :) Love my family, Love the Lord. Love my bed. Love you all. Goodnight ;) <3