alex in the cathedral...looks like shes praying but really shes just looking...
another part of the cathedral
view from palace of cathedral
me in front of palace
view from palace...this is Madrid
views inside royal palace...very ornate rooms
corner of wall and ceiling
more rooms
more rooms
the walls can get pretty gawdy...sorry dont know how to spell that...
the asian room
more sorry these are a bit blurry...my camera sucks!
hanging out after our long walk around the palace
lovely
just walkin around madrid and found this guy
bear and cherry tree...famous for Madrid
advertisement...they are pretty good in spain...more to come
statue in puerta del sol
ah street performers are everywhere...this one had sound effects
typical madrid...just sit in one of the many cafes located in on...
street where MAD was located
more ads
blvd. near prado
me infront of prado
clothes
nude
we've taken to naming the dogs in each country we go to...Spain...
inside the royal palace
miror pic inside palace
asian room in palace
view of cathedral from palace
on the Cervantes monument
palza cebeles
I think this was Columbus...hes pointing towards the Americas
in huge park
crystal palace...shows the colors from the light...beautiful!
settling in at MAD in madrid
ok the only reason I am putting this in is because I...
church where the mary and jesus are at that we see during...
inside the cathedral...alex pic
organ and ceiling of cathedral
Alex in front of the Palace
lion in palace
part of the music room in the palace...alex took this awesome pic
part of teh chaple in the palace
again part of teh chaple in the palace
me in front od the Prado
something sweet to smell on our journey for the day
the park in Madrid
park
more of the park...its pretty big and diverse
the crystal palace
crystal palace up close
lake out in front of the crystal palace
me in front if the crystal palace
ok so he was playing beautiful classic guitar but after buying the...
more of the retiro park
still the park....boating anyone?
aww...thats my travel buddy!
pretty church near the park
loved the sporatic magenta trees!
more street performers...cant go to a park of this size and not...
time for another break...the park is so big we needed to rest...and...
another part of the park
plaza de torros! bullfighting anyone?
scott, alex, and gavan...we all are waiting for the bullfighting to start
thats the ring and there were a lot more people who came...
the pagentry begins
these horses get slamed! talk about horsemanship...I imagine this is how war...
a closer look at the horses...dont seem to paded do they.
matadors getting ready...theses guys arent the main one with the red cape
alex and i before the shocking events begin
here comes the bull...
time for the horse
since this was my first I was in shock when the bull...
now time for the darts...actually it looks like he already got some
darts are about to go in
the bull is really worn out now and so out come the...
the sword is out
another angle of teh sword and bull...its really like a dance
inside a church...this mary we saw on procession later in the holy...
these yellow tulips were everywhere...beautiful!
on our way to find don quijote
there he is...forever searching
I'm helping him look
alex feeling up the firm butt of brass man...lol
in torros de oro bar
the bar has pics from bullfight all over the walls
more pics from bar
wanta drink with this bull head staring at you?
up close pics...beware if you have a weak stomach
for all you boys this one might be painful to look at
me under a bull head
a typical pose
talk about a pain in the butt...lol
another classic pose
sleeping Alex...got another one,,,hehehehe!
waiting in medina...it took forever!
finally able to get some sleep...going into lisbon wasnt easy!
almost there...uggg!
lisboa train station
lisbon!
stairs and hills everywhere! at least sometimes you can catch a great...
the castle...yes we took a wrong turn and ended up on the...
local trolly
me at look out from castle
at the castel in Lisboa
the castel
just messing around
castel views
a statue at the castel
the old mote area... looks nice with clean green grass in it
view from the top
another view...look the ocean
how the castel looks from on top
Alex...looks upset...
yup she might be LOL
gotta love the view
simply lisbon
look of tower
even the dogs have to work
sad yet cute
more of lisbon
front view...we sat and enjoyed the sun in this plaza for a...
hangin out
ok so the dogs in Portugal are called...yep oh so original...Fado!
we sat hear for a while to enjoy the sunset
Sintra castel
royal castel on the top of a very steap hill... what an...
detail of entry
tile everywhere
view of surrounding country side
me on top...hot and wind blown
tower
Sintra Morrish castel
way up to the actual castel have to navigate the ruins first
this was our favorite of the 2 sintra castels...
yep we climbed all of it...might not look like much but the...
view of royal castel from the morrish castel
trying to get one of me
ahh thats better
streets of sintra
sintra
a church in sintra
sintra church...we didnt want to pay to go in so we walked...
sintra church
sintra church
nice hotel in sintra...had a great view
a view from the hotel
view of sintra
explorer's monument
explorer's monument
hanging in the park
best lunch ever today. sandwiches mouth watering and these desserts are a...
chilln- lisboa hostel
chilln- lisboa hostel
night time wanderings
night time lisboa
outline of bodies everywhere...a bit creepy
Now this is a place I love. It made me wonder why I didn't head out for Spain earlier. The food, the people, and the culture were all perfectly suited to me. Alex and I basically bounced around the country starting off in Madrid and then going off to Lisbon, Portugal for a few days. Coming back to Spain we met a friend (Chris) in Madrid for the Easter processions, and then all of us went down to the coast. We spent a couple days in Marbella taking a couple days to do Sevilla. From there we went to Barcelona were we ended the trip.
Madrid- wow tapas, sangria, plazas galore, and of course the bull fights...Torro! The first place to see in Spain and I loved it. We wandered the streets, sat in the plazas, ate amazing food, and explored every inch of the city. We went to beautiful parks and churches, and then we did the ultimate Spanish event...the bull fight. This was shocking and beautiful.
Lisbon was all hills, cobblestone streets, and tons of stairs! This is no city to wander around aimlessly with a big pack. This city (this trip!) taught me the value of packing light. Lol. Anyway, I almost want to say this is my favorite city thus far. We would spend our days wandering through winding streets, eating yummy food, and taking it easy in the various plazas...oh and the coast! We spent an entire day just exploring the coastal area. There is this fabulous sandwich place right near the famous pastry shop, and across is a beautiful park. We just sat there eating just about the best sandwich i have ever had, snacking on custard pastries sprinkled with powder sugar and cinnamon. YUM!! What a great day of people watching too.
Sevilla- TAPAS TAPAS TAPAS!!! wow is it good and cheap here!!! there are some businesses here that is older than the USA. LOL. this is a shopping and eating town, but there are some good sights, and i love the old town feel which this has.
Marbella, Malaga- this is the brit mecca for holiday I think. All the restaurant and stores cater to the brits. also not having a car is a bad thing, but the condo chris had was nice and the bus was close. We just spent our days here being lazy and enjoying the pool.
Barcelona- LOVED IT! Catalan is a beautifully crazy language. this is a town for shopping during the day and clubbing it at night. they never sleep it seems! We walked around and saw all the modernism buildings, saw Ramblas a million times, and explored father corners of the city. its big, but mellow. I loved it. It's got a Paris feel to it with the architecture, but the people are way laid back. there style and mentality are awesome as well. Ours days were filled with wandering and simply enjoying the city vibe, while nights were finding good bars and clubs. we found some pretty cool places by just wandering and getting lost. Things and places you don't notice during the day. one bar we ended up at was this revolutionary type place. all young people with Spanish punk blasting on the stereo it was a pretty cool place. Another night we found this club with live music and wow were they good!!! i wish i could remember the name of the band. the lead singer was a girl and after the set all the band was hanging out having drinks with us. it was small and intimate...loved it!!