Just a quick side note before I tell my tale: I normally get a cold
about two or three times a year. I hadn't been sick here until recently. Of
course, my body decides to fail me the week my dad and aunt come to visit.
Throwing some major shade at my immune system. But I digress; you’re not here
to read my complaints. Or maybe you are. I don’t know your life.
Madrid
Monday the 19th my dad and aunt
came to visit me! I have to be honest, I cried when I picked them up at the
airport. I am not ashamed to admit it. They got in during the evening so we
took a taxi to their hotel, checked in and then took a walk to Plaza Mayor for
some dinner. By the way, I’m the one who found the hotel for them and I think I
did a great job. It was relatively cheap and they had an amazing view of the
Royal Palace from their room. Also, I was only a two minute walk from them.
Anyway, we walked to Plaza Mayor and had dinner at el Museo de Jamón. I made
them try the Spanish tortilla (eggs and potatoes) and they apparently really
enjoyed it! I need to ask my host mom for the recipe…
After dinner, I walked them back
and then returned to my place to quickly finish my homework and then go to bed.
The next morning, I went to my first class then went back to the hotel to pick
them up. From there we took the metro to Atocha where there is a big train/bus
station and where all the main museums are located. First we went to the
Botanical Gardens and hung out there for an hour or so. From there we went to
el Prado. We saw the van Dyck exhibit, had lunch, and then saw the other side.
After walking all day around Madrid, we were all tired and so we went back to
the hotel to take our siestas… and play the Sims on Facebook. Reminder: I
started to get sick in Granada, just a day or so before they arrived so don’t
judge the siesta. Anyway, I started feeling worse so we had an early dinner at
the hotel (and by early I mean 8:00 which is early for Spain. We were the only
dinner guests for a long time). After dinner, I went back to my place so I
could go to bed early.
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| Botanical Gardens |
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| Prado |
The next morning, I had class
until 1:00 so I told my dad and aunt to go to the Royal Palace, since it was
only a short walk from their hotel. I met up with them around 1:45 (I was late,
problems with the metro) and we went for lunch. Apparently, they did NOT go to
the Royal Palace! Instead, my aunt rested (she has knee problems) while my dad
took a walk by himself. They both enjoyed themselves so I’m not too
disappointed.
We took a taxi back to Atocha
(no metro this time, we wanted to avoid any more thieveries. Oh yeah, some
little girls stole my aunt’s phone. Side eye).
We were dropped off at el Museo Nacional de Reína Sofía, the
contemporary art museum. We had lunch first and then went inside. We spent a
couple hours there… I didn't get half of the art. Anyway, we left and then returned
to the hotel. They took a nap while I went back to my place to do homework.
When I came back, it was time for dinner!
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| Lunchtime shenanigans. |
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| Well hello there, Godzilla. |
And some more walking! We walked
to Plaza de España and took some pictures and from there went to Gran Vía,
which is more or less the Times Square of Madrid. We found a little restaurant
on one of the side streets and ate there for dinner. Again, we were practically
the only people eating since it was so early, for Spain, at least. But it was a
good meal although very quiet. I think we were all tired so there wasn't much
conversation but it was still enjoyable.
The next morning I had class
again. On Tuesdays and Thursdays I have two classes, one at 8:30 and the other
at 1:10. So on those days I typically sit in the library for three and a half
hours and do homework and goof off. Today’s Thursday, which means that I am
currently in the library doing homework and goofing off.
NOTE: I wrote this on Thursday but I didn't upload it until today… because
I’m lazy and wanted you to suffer without it.
Anyway, last week I skipped my
late class (the professor just told me to have fun!) and left school early to
be my dad and aunt. After class I went to the hotel and from there we took a
nice long walk, but not really. We walked to Plaza de Isabel II, where the
metro stop Ópera is, and went to McDonald’s to get some coffee and tea. We sat
outside and enjoyed our hot drinks for a while but we had to leave pretty
quickly because a protest was starting and I’m not supposed to get involved
with that. From Plaza de Isabel II we walked to Plaza del Sol and explored
there for a bit. Then we went to the post office and a department store. I had
errands to run.
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| Hey, look! El Palacio Real in the background. Seen it, let's go. |
After my errands, we walked back
to Plaza de España and then to the park nearby to see the Templo de Debod and
see a nice view that overlooks some of the city. I think that successfully
wiped out my dad and aunt, oops. But it was worth it, I think, a nice little
walk through town. From the park, we just crossed the street to my place for
lunch! My host mom so graciously agreed to cook lunch for my family. We had
gazpacho, paella, flan, basically some traditional Spanish foods. Then we had
some coffee and tea and made our way back to the hotel to take our taxi to the
airport. Next stop, Dublin, Ireland! It was a very enjoyable meal and also,
Thanksgiving! I was very grateful to have some of my family with me in Madrid
and very grateful than my host mom made them lunch. I am very lucky to have
been placed where I am.
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| El oso y madroño en Plaza del Sol. It means the bear and (strawberry) tree. |
Dublin
Okay,
so lunch, taxi, airport, flight, IRELAND! We took another taxi to our hotel,
the Hilton near the Kilmainham Gaol. I had my own room and it was glorious, a
king sized bed with a cozy comforter all to myself. My bed in Madrid is a
little single and I’m used to sleeping in a full at home, so it was really nice
and the blanket was perfect. I miss that hotel. We had dinner in the bar and I
got one of my favorite dishes in general: fish and chips! I also had a Bulmer's
pear hard cider, very tasty. Then it was off to bed for us, very tired from
travelling and I was sick so… yeah.
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| Kilmainham Gaol and the Irish flag. |
In the morning, we had breakfast
at the hotel. Also very good! Very traditional, Irish/English breakfast and I
miss it too. After that, we hopped on one of those tour buses that stops at all
the good sights and we rode that for about an hour and a half, just to see the
city first. It was about twenty five stops in all. We got off at the Guinness
Storehouse stop and took a self guided tour and sampled the beer. There we had
lunch, a beef stew made with Guinness. Very good, I miss it. Next we got back
on the bus and did another half loop until we got to a place where they do
backgrounds on family names. Our family name is McDugle (Scot-Irish) but our
spelling (which might not actually be correct) wasn't there. I guess when they
checked in at Ellis Island their spelling got changed? I don’t know… I was cold
and sick and not paying attention.
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| Gratuitous picture of me. |
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| Nice little Guinness beef stew. |
After our pit stop, we got back
on the bus and made our back to the hotel to take a quick little nap before
dinner. Then we crossed the street to a little pub and had a light dinner
around 8:00. After eating, we went back to the hotel for bed. So, it was not a
very eventful day, but nice and relaxing for the most part. It was cold but sunny,
so that was nice. Too bad I wasn't feeling better!
In the morning, we had breakfast
again at the hotel and then got on the tour bus. We had 48 hour passes. We
stopped at Trinity College and looked around, then saw the Book of Kells which
is a very old book with the four gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Then
we got back on the bus and went to the Kilmainham Gaol to take a guided tour,
the only way to see the gaol. We had to wait for a bit for the next tour to
stop so we went up to the little café and had tea and coffee and some pastries.
Then we took the hour long tour. It was very interesting, lots of stories of
the old prisoners. For example, the leaders of the Easter Rebellion were held
there and executed (firing squad). One of the rebels was allowed to marry his
sweetheart the night before his execution. The only Scottish rebel leader was
already dying, he had been shot in the leg and it got infected, but they
executed him anyway. They had to tie him to a chair since he was so weak he couldn't stand by himself. Yikes.
After the tour, we to the hotel
to rest some, it was getting colder and dark and I was feeling worse and in
general the mood was turning. The big Ohio State – M!ch*g@n game was going on
so my dad got that up on his computer and we were kind of watching the updates.
A couple days before, on Thanksgiving, the hotel bar had some real American
football games on so we were hopeful that we could watch it on the TV. We could
not. Oh well. While watching the updates, my aunt gave me a quick quilting 101
(I want to learn) and I got to help her with one she was working on. Then we
went down to dinner in the hotel bar again. I had fish and chips and another
Bulmer's, this time original (apple). After that, I went up, packed my bag, and
went to bed. AGAIN I WAS SICK DON’T BLAME ME FOR GOING TO BED EARLY.
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| Monument (?) outside the gaol, fourteen blindfolded figures. |
In the morning, again we had
breakfast in the hotel and then made our way to the airport for our flights. I
flew back to Madrid while my dad and aunt flew to London. My flight was about
two hours after their flight took off (same gate too!) so I bought a book and
read while I waited and had some tea and a croissant later. Then I boarded, we
took off, landed in Madrid and I came back home. And that’s the story of my dad
and aunt visiting me in Europe.
So there you have it. My trip with my dad and aunt! This past weekend I went to Rome so there's that blog post to look forward to. Don't expect it too soon though, I had this blog post written for a week and a half without posting it.
