Skyline

I've been to many big cities in my 22 yeas. I actually lived in one of the biggest cities in the world for a while, and still Madrid is one of my favorite places I've seen so far since I've been here in Spain. I know when many people think of big citites the first things that come to mind are the traffic, pollution, and people, but one of my favorite things I like about big cities are the buildings. The architecture, their appearance, and their purpose are really important to me. Every city has a skyline, but this one is very unique. I took this picture from the Chamartín Train Station in Madrid. From this angle you can see the whole skyline of Madrid. I had never seen it like this before. From this view it looks like the buildings might even meet the clouds themselves. I love the way these buildings look. It may not be hundreds of buildings all crammed into a small space like other cities, but these buildings have something other buildings don't have- they have character. Each one is designed differently with it's distinct appearance. Each one has a modern feel but are totally different from the other. One looks like it has squares placed in the center while another looks like it's made of glass. In addition to the look of the buildings themselves, I love to take everything in the picture into account. I love the way at the bottom of the picture you can see the old Madrid with it's smaller, more classic European buildings while the tall buildings give the city a modern look. It's like two worlds colliding- the new and old in one place. I love that although there may not be many "skyscrapers" in Madrid- there are these 4 that hold such unforgettable picture in my brain that I will never be able to forget.  

Our First Hostel

The weekend we went to Madrid on our first group excursion Hannah, Gabby, and I stayed the night in Madrid. This was our first hostel experience in Spain and it actually turned out really well. You always take a chance when you book a hostel on whether it's nice or you're going to be sleeping in a tent, but this experience turned out nicely. We got a 3 bed room with a private bathroom. We payed 82 euro, but we were in the perfect spot! We were less than 5 minutes from the Puerta Del Sol and lots of great shopping. Our hostel was above a Discotech which was nice. After the group left we went shopping. I was so happy I found some really cheap, nice boots at a store. Actually, I found 2 pairs- so I bought them. I had been looking for boot and these were really nice. After we went shopping we walked around and looked for a cafe and walked back to the National Palace to take some pictures. We ended up finding a little Italian cafe and had a glass of wine before we went to the discotech. We had a really good time at the discotech even though we had a few interesting encounters with random guys. Word to the girls... if your friend is dancing with a guy and looks at you with fright- go over to her. And if she says "want to get a drink", "want to go to the bathroom" or something along these lines... for goodness sakes- SAY YES! I got stuck dancing with a really creepy guy and Hannah had to save me... Thank goodness for good friends! Over all our night in Madrid was a really fun and stress free night. I'm glad we went and I hope we get to go back and stay again.

MADRID

This was our first stop on our tour around Madrid. First, it was beautiful! I love European architecture! I tried to think about the people that were here when it was built. I wonder what they thought about. I wonder what was going on in the city while it was being built. I wish I could go back in time and see what it was like.  I think it's crazy that the building is empty. They only use it for is big events. I thought about writing them a letter and telling them they I would just live there. :-) 

In general though I loved the trip to Madrid. I really love big cities and Madrid is amazing. It's has a old European style but is a big, well known city. I enjoyed seeing all the painted cows around the city. It was fun to see the different styles and varieties.  I lived in NYC for a while and couldn't help but compare the two- but the 2 are so different. I love them both but for different reasons. I love the architecture and "small city feel" of Madrid but I love NYC because it's the U.S. and have the newer, more contemporary style. I hope I get to go back to Madrid soon and see more of the beautiful city.

I have totally fallen in love with Segovia! It is one of the prettiest cities I have ever seen. It has some of the most amazing views of the mountains and other parts of the city. Although the entire city is amazing, the aqueduct is my absolute favorite part!! It is an amazing site. I think it's amazing that it was working until the 60's! It's more than 2000 years old and the Romans that built it knew how to design and build it in a way that it would work for thousands of years! As we learned in our culture class, it's not even built with cement! I can't even imagine how they stacked and cut every stone to fix perfectly! I love all the beautiful sites here in Segovia, but the aqueduct is the most beautiful site here!