In Madrid & Barcelona!

We got back from Spain on April 23, 2008. This would have never been possible if Nanny and Loli would have not been able and willing to watch Mateo, Anthony, and Lucas for us. Thanks to them, we had a wonderful time in Spain. We flew from Atlanta to Madrid on Wednesday April 16. That was an 8.5 hour flight, then we flew back from Barcelona to Atlanta on Wednesday April 23 and it took 10.5 hour flight. That wasn't that fun, but it was worth it when we arrived there. What a beautiful place! We visited the main tourist spots in three days in both cities. Madrid and Barcelona are the biggest cities in Spain and the most visited. We got on a tourist bus that took us to all the famous destinations. We got off and on the bus as often as we wanted, and we got to take pictures and video tape all those beautiful places. There is so much history in these two cities; so many museums to visit that there was not enough time to do it all. One of my favorite places in Madrid was the Royal Palace. What an awesome place! We went inside and of course, they wouldn't let anyone take pictures or video tape. I was upset about that because it was one of the most amazing things I've ever seen. The rooms inside the palace are filled with all the finest riches in the world. Every inch of the walls and the roof are full with gold. The floor was covered with beautifully designed rugs. Of course, they covered the edges of the rugs and would not let anyone walk on them. It is really a Royal Palace! I have to tell you, the dollar is worth nothing there. The euro is worth so much more. Let me share some of the pictures we got. They speak for themselves. If you asked me which one out of the two cities I liked the most, I would have to say Barcelona, just because I am from the coast and Barcelona has the Mediterranean Sea that is gorgeous. It also has the beautiful architecture of Madrid, plus the people there are nicer. Madrid has so many amazing buildings all in one place. The whole downtown area of Madrid is beautiful. In contrast, Barcelona has beautiful buildings spread throughout the city, not in one major area. Most of the modern part of Barcelona is under construction. They are building and remodeling many parts in the city. What I loved the most in both cities was the diversity of people from all over the world that go there; so many cultures and languages. I could hardly hear Spanish or English because there are tourists from all over the world and they speak different languages. I didn't know that the official language of Barcelona is Catalan, which is similar to Spanish but not the same. Most people in Barcelona speak Catalan and Spanish. I loved walking in the crowded streets and finding people in the plazas playing instruments, singing, or painting. What a great feeling that is! The way those people travel around the world sharing their talents with others. The food was OK, very greasy and expensive. I still think that Latin food is the best food; you know South and Central American and Caribbean food. I only wished we would have had more time to get to visit the other tourist places. The tourist bus had many routes and we didn’t get to see all the routes because of time, even though we saw a lot for the short period of time we were there. Daniel and I like to call this trip our honeymoon that we never had, because when we got married we were broke and couldn’t afford to have a nice honeymoon. We only spent three nights at a Ramada Hotel that Daniel’s brother, Gregg, gave us as a wedding present. This trip to Spain is the beginning of us traveling around the world and getting to see other places. We look forward to our next vacation!

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