Germany: We're Here!

1_trampolinePS, originally uploaded by travis_prowell.

We just made it to Germany after trekking through the Madrid airport and reading and sleeping all throughout the flight. After getting our bags we were greeted by the Leadley's, and soon after we got in seperate cars and drove off to the Leadley residence. We went to a local beer garden for a dinner of prime ribs, french fries, sausage, and various other meats. All the kids loved their Spezi's (Coca-Cola and Fanta), while the adults were marveling at the sizes of the beer. We got home, watched some disgusting episodes of Scarred on MTV, and went to bed.

La Chocolateria

5_Chocolateria, originally uploaded by travis_prowell.

Well first of all we woke up and we went over to the flee market.
We walked for a wile then we got there.Finaly we were there we walked for a wile it was really hot!!!
And then I noticed some fans so we went over to buy some ,we bought 3.
So then we were walking some more and we saw glasses
so we went over to check them out they were all to big for us.
So we went walking some more and then we noticed some T shirts
we bought 5. then we went heading back to rest once we were done resting we went to go to the chocleteria and got 2 chocolat milks
with some churros. Then we went back to the hotel to pack.
Than we went to have dinner at the Thai restaurant .
Then we went to bed.

Now Phaedrus will like to say somthing....

Hello everyone. Parker was pretty good at covering most of our activities for yesterday, but I would like to cover some things as well. The t-shirts at the flea market were pretty cool t-shirts in my opinion; the t-shirts displayed Don Quixote and Sancho Panza at the windmills, for those of you who have read Don Quixote, and I thought that it made for a nice t-shirt.
After our resting period and before the chocolateria, we took a trip to the local park, where I found myself a pair of sunglasses. The chocolateria was excellent of course, as was the thai food. Adios everyone.

just a few photos: http://tinyurl.com/35aows

Prado, Plaza de Espana

4_PlazaDeEspana-Parker, originally uploaded by travis_prowell.

Today was a mellow day overall. Typical morning: breakfast at the hotel, and then we split. We all went and got coffee at the nearest coffee shop (except for Parker and Jackson), and then Ann, Parker and I headed for the Prado, while Jackson and Dad headed for the lighthouse.
The Prado was awesome, filled with crazy pieces of art, and we hiked around the whole thing for an hour and a half. We met up back at the hotel before going out to see The Simpsons movie (in English with Spanish subtitles). Very mellow day, but very fun all in all.

Parker:

well first of all, we split up, we went to the prado/a really good museum.

Travis and Jackie went to the light house but I cant really talk about that.

So, the prado/a really good museum had paintings from mideavle timesand the good thing is is that all the paintingsare the real copies. After we did that we went back to the hotel to meet back up with Jackson and Travis. Then we went to see The Simpsons wich was pretty good.

Then we went to the Plaza de Espana were me and Jackson played in the fountain and got soaking wet, but then we dried off.Then we went back to the hotel and took a shower.

then we went to dinner.

lots of pictures today: http://tinyurl.com/2wlfq6

TO BE CONTINUED...

Parque de Attracciones

3_ParqueDeAttracciones, originally uploaded by travis_prowell.

Today was a really chill day, up until about two thirty. Before that we woke up, had some good breakfast in the hotel (same food as yesterday), and stuck around in the hotel reading and chilling till two.
At two, we all got up and left the hotel as we went out to eat some lunch (probably my favorite meal in Madrid so far; some kind of chicken sandwich with lettuce and tomato and a good sauce, but I forgot to say "no onions," yeesh).
We took metro for a few stops until we reached a gondola that took us minutes away from an awesome amusement park. The park had wild roller coasters and a ride that had an amazing likeness to DropZone, but I believe it was higher (this one was 66 meters/180 feet?). The most amazing thing however, was that there was almost no one there and it was four o' clock! There was hardly a line for any ride and any concession stand, so we were able to repeatedly ride on our personal favorites....until about seven thirty. At seven thirty most amusement parks are closed, but not here. People just start arriving at seven thirty here in Madrid, and even though the lines were longer, they were still nothing compared to that of Great America. Although, I don't think Great America has twelve year old kids with mullets who smoke while trying and failing to cut in front of you in line for the craziest roller coasters. That was new.
We left at about ten o' clock on a conveniently located metro, got back to the hotel, settled down, and went to sleep.

And now Parker would like to say something.....

OK first of all we tuck the metro, to the telefarico, to the amusment park. And then me, phade and my dad went on the drop zone
which is 66 meters high!!!
Then my little brothers rides.
then we went on AWESOME RIDES!!!
We went on a lot of them, my favorite ride was the TORNADO!!!
And we did two loop-de-loops and four corkscrews.

And now Jackson would like to say.....

I want to say, today I went on really cool and one scary roller coaster. Me and my family went on a gondola to go to the amusement park. Today we played store, and thats it.

More photos from the day: http://tinyurl.com/2vd7b6

2_IceCreamTime

2_IceCreamTime, originally uploaded by travis_prowell.

Yesterday was a long day. We woke up and had breakfast in our hotel, which was composed primarily of bread (and a plum for everyone as their fruit for the meal!). After breakfast we went out to explore around our hotel in Madrid. We found a plaza, got a round of Coca-Cola's and waited horribly long for our check to arrive. After baking in the sun for a while, we headed back home for our siesta, or resting time.
We got some "bocadilla de jamons," which is basically a ham sandwich, but in our case it was a pound of solid ham wrapped in two blocks of bread. It was nearly impossible to eat and so we only ate half each.
After our rest, we all left the hotel once more to go to the Thyssen, but it was far away so we needed to take Metro (much more complicated than BART, in my opinion). We had some ice cream and tried to enter the Thyssen, but we were too late and we just explored the park instead.
At the park we had water, found some Dr. Seuss-looking trees, and found a playground that revolved entirely around spinning so much that you puked. More than 70% of the playground spun in circles, and we had a lot of fun.
We took Metro back and took a long time finding a place to eat dinner (by the end, everyone was cranky, tired, and complaining about how hungry they were, me included). We ended up finding an awesome eatery, filled with croquetas, potatoes, shrimp, bread, mussels, and asparagus. After dinner we all got ice cream; I had to share Dad's after accidentally ordering alchoholic chocolate ice cream.
We got back to the hotel exhausted and settled down in our own seperate ways. Ann read Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, my Dad read a book on Texas Hold-Em, I read More Than Human, Parker listened to an iPod, and Jackson played Lego Star Wars on his Gameboy. Overall, the day was tiring, but rewarding with good food, memories, and increased appreciation of relaxation.

A few more photos from yesterday: http://tinyurl.com/3akuu9

Cheers - We made it!

Cheers, originally uploaded by travis_prowell.

After 21 hours of travel and a crazy cab ride through Madrid we finally settled in for our first tapa feast. Everyone weathered the journey like pros.

Took some time to find our hotel hidden amongst the small winding streets off of the Calle Arenal, but it is a hidden gem. One of the new modern boutique hotels popping up over here. Amazingly everyone slept through the night and we were up in time for breakfast.

Now we're off to wander the streets before it gets too hot when we'll head back for siesta!


Here's some links to our flickr pics:
travel day: http://flickr.com/photos/92253174@N00/sets/72157600985570852/

Arrival in Madrid: http://flickr.com/photos/92253174@N00/sets/72157601016434508/

The day is finally here...

leaving.jpg, originally uploaded by travis_prowell.

All packed and ready to go out the door.
Tickets... check.
Passports...check.
Extra dose of patience... check.

We have an 18 hour travel schedule ahead before we get to Madrid. I'll try to upload a picture of the post-travel look. Hopefully there are still smiling faces when we get there!