Maastricht

We left Tuesday morning around 11:00... Amy and I had it all planned out. There were 4 train changes and a hike through Paris. We get to Brussels to change trains for Paris... This is where cat man comes in. Our trains were pretty close in arrival time from one train and departure time for the other, so we were bookin' it to get on. When we get on the train was PACKED, but no worries because our seats were 43 and 44 so we won't have to worry about getting split up... WRONG. This train was one of those trains where there are groups of four seats with tables in the middle. We get to our seat area, find a place to shove our huge backpacks, and realize we are split. Amy starts to get into the window seat on the right side, leaving me with the other side (obviously). So I look up at the seat numbers and slowly lower my eyes to see that- oh, there is a CAT in my seat. awesome. So the guy who's in the aisle seat is the most stubborn looking fellow on the train... I said, "excuse me, um.. your cat is in my seat".. of course he doesn't know english.. so I point, "the cat. my seat. 44." So, he rolls his eyes and picks up his cat cage thing and exhales in frustration of the fact that I want to sit down. Then he puts the cage down in the foot area.. but not his foot space- the guy across from him. Isn't it so funny how you don't have to speak the same language and know what people are thinking?.. So here I am sitting as far away to Amy as possible, it smells like cat fur, and he starts to pull out his lunch. Perfect. A tuna sandwich. How appropriate. The whole time I'm looking at Amy with an "are you serious?!" look... She's cracking up and I am trying to breathe. Well, after a couple stops the seat next to Amy freed up and so I moved. We were laughing about it and all I wanted to do was take a picture of him... obviously that would have been inappropriate. So? I drew him. He is quite the character. The only way I could draw him was to label everything with the appropriate labels, so I drew arrows. People kept walking past me and stopping in the aisle to point at him and laugh. Catman was a hit. Well, after we get to Paris, we bought metro passes, our tickets back, go to the next station and get on a sleeper train to Madrid- only to arrive at 7:00 the next morning. At this point it is about 9:30... we finally get into our concentration camp like sleeper beds and one of our roommates for the evening said, "do you girls sleep with the light on?"... "oh, no... we can sleep with the light off." (thinking we were going to read or whatever till at least 10. NO. She slaps the button on the wall and it was bed time! At 9:30! If it wasn't hard enough to fall asleep. We get to Madrid and luckily our hostel had 24 hour check-in. The plan was to meet Dev at 11:30 at Tio Pepe in Sol. Sol was a busy area of town where our hostel was. So we checked in, napped, took showers and met up with Dev. When we walked up we saw several people just sitting down on the curb with backpacks. We realize- oh! It's our friends. Emily, Ashley, David, Austin, Austin, and Courtney were just sitting at the curb waiting for us to arrive (we had talked to them earlier that week) So then we get them settled in. Amy and I went and had lunch with Dev at this AMAZING cheap sandwich place. I love how their fast food is sandwiches. Dev had class so Amy and I went to the Prado museum and Retiro park. The Prado museum was really cool. A lot of the paintings I recognized because of my Dutch Art History class. So that was interesting because I would show Amy what I knew about the paintings and to pair that with her religion knowledge (religion is her major) it was really fun to pick the paintings apart. This is Retiro Park entrance.

This park was soo pretty- I can't even imagine how cool it is when it's blooming.

We walked by a little cafe shop by the pond and bought a Toblerone. We decided to just lay on the ground and watch people/soak up the sun. This is Amy laughing at me because I'm looking like an idiot right now taking pictures.

Mullet... there are SO many here.

Just some shots around the park...

After the park, it's time for siesta... This is becoming one of my most favorite cultural traditions. EVERYTHING shuts down from 2-5. Pretty much the only thing that is open is an occasional grocery store. We met back up with the group for dinner. The restaurant didn't open till 8:30. And that's early for dinner here... it's bizarre.

The next day was devoted to shopping. Emily, Amy, and I just went around Sol and shopped all day with the Starbucks for lunch option.

This is a band playing outside our hostel.

That night we had dinner with Amanda, Devany, and their friend Riley. It was soo fun.. Another thing I was starting to notice about Spain is that service is so weird. There is no tipping- ever and so I'm thinking that means service isn't that big of a deal. Americans are always "service with a smile" and "the customer is always right", not Spaniards. It takes forever to get anything. But it may also have something do with the fact that their culture is one of the most laid back cultures I have seen... just take your time with everything. That night was one of the girls' friend's birthday so we went out for that. It was this really weird/cool cave bar/restaurant. I feel like it might have been a previous Disney ride. There are a few more things I noticed... The guys here hiss at you when you walk by... they definitely don't hold back. But that's ok.. it's just another opportunity to tune up my "Don't you even" looks.. haha. There is always a couple of old ladies in fur coats slowly walking on every street. It is so cute. The Public Display of Affection is really high here.. Dev said it might be because it is considered rude for a guy to bring a girl home until you are really serious about marriage. Anyways, the next day Amy and I wanted to go to Toledo. We got up, got ready and searched for the bus station. For about 2 hours... This is a cool art thing made out of railroad tracks.

We kept asking people, but NO ONE knew english. We finally found someone who helped us find another option. We could take a train there. So we are waiting for the train to come and we sit there staring at the wall for about 20 minutes... at this point we were soaking up any ounce of optimism we had left and Amy just turned to me and said, "ya know, I wouldn't be disappointed if we just took a nap at our hostel." Funny how fast energy comes whenever you realize you can take a nap! We were both exhausted from everything and just slept all afternoon. We woke up, got ready and then just chilled in our room, did a little reading.. and then met up with Dev for some dinner and sangria.

This is our hostel bathroom... we had to sit crooked because you couldn't fully sit down straight.

The next day we went to the bull fighting ring.

AAAAnd there was a mickey there... whhhat?

After that we went to the palace. There was a free opera going on out front. It was really neat to see!

Some pics of the palace.

My favorite room.

After the palace we met up with Dev and Amanda at the park... we missed the rollerblading memo.

treeman... hmmmm?

TOPAS FOR DINNER!! It's pretty much the best thing ever. It's like potato quiche with peppers :)

Dev, Amanda, and Amy.. and our waiter.

After dinner we went to a flamenco bar. Dev had to go for class and so we thought it would be fun to go all together!

The next day we had until 2 to do whatever, but we had to be out by 10:00, so we just took all of our stuff to starbucks and read there for awhile before our train left. The train was pretty entertaining though. They were playing movies! And if anyone was debating on watching "The Break Up" in spanish, I highly recommend it. It is hilarious. Well, that is all I have for you... let me know your comments!

This is 3 days before carnival officially starts... Amy and I were walking around downtown and there were so many bands just playing in the streets.

This is Lady Carnival. She is put up at noon on Sunday and she is dropped on noon on Tuesday, declaring Carnival over.

Walking to the square. Everyone is in costume.

Haha, I like this couple.

Carnival Royalty- For 3 days the government holds no authority. It is the King and Queen of Carnival that has all the power to do whatever they want in the town. They plan everything.

Poor kid, she looks tired...

Royalty again.

Fire man?

I kept taking pictures of these kids... I think the lady in front of me thought I was being stalkerish.. haha, oh well!

These guys were funny. They had set up little activities for people to do.

One of my favorites.

I love looking at all the facial expressions. They get SO into it!

The best sax player there.

Haha, look at this guy. I don't know what he was looking at, but his face is priceless.

About an hour into the parade, Amy and I noticed all the kids were passed out.

Typical Dutch girl... displayed on a man.

Group of nun guys.

The cavemen had real mean on their skewer.

The hoboes.

Takin' a break?

These fishy costumes were the most extravagant costumes there.. incredible!

This looks like Taryn! (except not as cute:))

These guys were cuttin' a rug!!

This band was the coolest of them all. It was all sticks and drums... and a single tambourine. The guy in the front would have a whistle and he would toot a rhythm and the whole band would just bust out in song and step side to side with straight faces.

This is Sue. She is the first local I met. She worked at Shamrock the night of Ellzey's Birthday. She told us to look out for her... But actually Amy and I were just standing there and she jumped in front of my camera, haha. We couldn't recognize her! I wish you could see her hair because she put dreadlock extensions in that are blue, yellow and green... She is an octopus!

Haha, this is the young dutch version of Emily Paige... always on the phone!

No one left behind!

Snow White

The corner of one of the town squares.

I love it. Everyone loves seeing everyone out on the square for celebration!!

There are carnival cartoon signs put up ALL over town. In every restaurant, school, building, pub.. EVERYWHERE! And they are usually huge murals on plywood that they just hang over their walls.