Hola Madrid!

The first stop on our Spanish vacation was Madrid. Some inclement weather in Philadelphia delayed our flight out of Indianapolis over three hours, forcing us to miss our connecting flight to Madrid. After standing in many, multiple, slow moving lines, rearranging our travel arrangements, taking an unexpected connecting flight to Lisbon, Portugal. We finally arrived in Madrid (8 hours later than expected). With all of our flight changes and delays our luggage was lost, but finally showed up a day later (Thank goodness! We had seven unhappy, stinky, smelly travelers on our hands!) and the sightseeing began.

The Madrid Airport was very European and very modern. We were glad we finally made it. Too bad our bags didn't!

The Plaza Mayor was our first stop. Its a huge rectangle filled with cafes, shops, and apartments above. In the evenings people sit at the cafes, drink, and people watch. The inside is like a huge courtyard.

A typical street in Madrid.

Plaza de Toros-The bull ring. It is one of the largest in the world. You might notice the arches on the outside. Lots of the buildings in Spain have this arabic/muslim architecture since this group had a huge presence there many years ago. A few days later we went to a bullfight here. More bloody pictures from the inside later!

We took a bus to El Escorial. This is a view from inside of the front courtyard. It is a huge palace King Phillip II had built. Now it is a monastery and school. Down below is a huge mausoleum were many Kings and Queens of Spain are buried. It is emaculate with marble and gold everywhere!

A view from the outside of the palace.

Our last stop of the day was Valley of the Fallen. It is a memorial to the soldiers that fought during the Spanish Civil War in the early 1900s. Many are buried inside. There is a cathedral inside. It is built into the side of a mountain, and it huge!

That is for the first few days. Next stop: Cordoba and Toledo!

Hasta luego!

House Progress

While I edit and upload pictures from Spain, I'd thought I'd show you a few images of how the house is progressing. You'll probably be tired of hearing of the house by the time it's finished-but I can't help it. We've been waiting a long time to get out of the AP-I just have to share the joy!

A view from the front. The porch is front, the great room in the middle, kitchen to the right, and bedrooms to the left.

Since the lot is on a corner and surronded on two sides by streets, our garage will be a "side-loader. The garage is on the right, the master bedroom is the farthest away, and there will be a patio inbetween.

That's all for now. I should get back to work on the Spain pictures and homework. I'll find any excuse to procrastinate!

We're Back!

Hola! We're back from our trip to Spain! We're (Jacob) is still fighting a bit of jet-lag, but other than that we're happy to be back home in good ole apt. We've spent the last few days doing laundry, visiting our dad's on Father's Day, and catching up on homework. We have a ton of photos to share of Spain and the house-you can actually tell it is going to be a house now, but you'll have to be patient. I'll try to get them up a little bit at a time throughout the week. My computer fried itself before we left and I'm back to sharing one with Jacob until Jay fixes it or we buy a new one (UGH!). Until then I have to "vamos" (one of the most important words I learned on the trip-it means, "let's get going") I'm thinking of using it with my first graders next year!

Home Construction-Week 1

Well, Week 1 of New Home Construction and not much has changed. The mowed down all the weeks on the lot and put some wooden markers up. My guess is that they are to mark utilities. Other than that things really haven't gotten started. My went and picked out cabinets this week, and have narrowed down our countertop selections to a couple different choices.

Just imagine a home there!

In other news...we spent most of the week and weekend trying prepare for the Spain trip. We leave on Thursday! It is hard to believe that is here already! We have been shopping for clothes (it is supposed to be 90-100 degrees everyday, so I have lots of new tank tops!), exchanging money, looking for a new camera, and trying to get ahead on master's work.

Also a request...I would like to take a book to read on the plane. You are supposed to sleep on the way there to prevent jet lag, but I'd like a book to read just in case. Any suggestions? Other than picture books for 7 year olds and textbooks on multicultural education, my reading for pleasure has been limited recently. If you've read any great books recently, please let me know!