Skip to main content

Ye Old Convent

Try as I may, try as I might I just can't get blogger to upload photos onto the blog for me. So, I did a little HTML'ing and made it happen. Unfortunately you can't click on them to make 'em bigger... I am feeling much too lazy to go through all the work of turning them into links through HTML.



We went on a little viaje (trip) yesterday to take pictures of the "Antiguo Convento" (the old convent), which has been turned into a high-end hotel and restaurant. It was quite a sight... didn't go inside, but got some good exercise walking around Boadilla del Monte, taking in the Spanishness of it all :) There were at least 10 storks nesting all over the convent roof and they were equally curious about us as we walked by. Their nests are ginormous! Sundays are pretty dead in every town, but there are always a few bars/cafeterias open for business. People sit outside sipping on their drinks and chat for hours and hours while their kids play soccer by the fountains. Just like in the movies haha ;)











After the daytrip we went home and relaxed for a bit then headed over to a friend's flat for coffee and a bite to eat. Another Heather! Heather's been here 2 and a half years, didn't know any Spanish upon arriving and is now fluent. She's geographically separated from her husband, has her 2 young kids out here, works, attends college... and yet still manages to seem unstressed and happy. She has all Spanish friends, knows all the local people, knows all the local business-owners. Plus her son and Noah get along really well. She's going to give us all the ins and outs of Madrid. I really admire people like her who can just go someplace new, dive right in fearlessly, and thrive. I want to be like that! She inspires me to work harder on Spanish and to get out more and talk to people. Heather's going to be a great influence on me... I just wish she had her days free too so I can pick her brain even more ;)

So... that was our weekend. I'm happy I can at least get the pics onto flickr. I just took more!

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Hurricane Sandy

This will be a gleefully uneventful post, but I thought I should at least inform everyone of our whereabouts during Frankenstorm. On Friday the landfall predictions were further south, which had the eye passing near our tiny town after obliterating Dover, DE.  We happen to be surrounded by water.  The Patuxent River on one side, Chesapeake Bay on the other, plenty of swamps and creeks in between.  Not a good prospect. Josh and I had gone out that night to try and secure supplies and already, there were no batteries or flashlights.  We also don't have a grill and thought "we'll try Lowe's tomorrow"I mean, most people already own grills... right?  Everything in our house is run on electricity (including the water pump for the well) except for the fireplace.  I don't know what builders are thinking when they do that.  I at least want a gas stove and water heater!  So, anyways.  We got a few hours of sleep before trying to brave the crowds...

Germany

Noah and I are having a great time out in Germany with Josh. The house we're sharing is amazing and the people are also amazing. The only thing we don't have is our own kitchen, but like I said, the people who live here (Josh's friends) are amazing so it's not even an issue. I've been cooking for everyone to try to thank them in some way. We haven't been to many places yet. It's hard to go anywhere with a baby who has a naptime and a husband who has a job. However!! We managed to make it out to Heidelberg to see the castle. It was awesome. the walk up to the castle mmmm castle Heidelberg down below Christmas is huge here. They've even got Christmas markets out in the parking lot in front of WalMart. We've been to Luisenplatz a few times in downtown Darmstadt to visit all the Christmas shops they have set up. It's like a Christmas flea market. Thus far all I've blown money on is candy... mmmm German candy is so delicious. It's...

Hiking on the Guadarrama Trail

As promised yesterday, I actually left the house and went on a hike with Mama C and Goober!  YAY! I was a bad Mommy and ill prepared to shield us from the hot Spanish sun so we all have a touch of sunburn.  Whoops.  It was fun though.  OK so here's where we began our journey.  You can see the bridge between the roundabout and the little house with a red roof (which is a restaurant).  All the cylindrical buildings were a plant nursery.  We walked over the bridge and past the nursery where we crossed the street and then started up the dirt path.  The other little building is literally a Gypsy Keep. Here's what it looked like from the road... and it was so ridiculously creepy, yet fascinating.  I don't know why there is always tons of junk in trees around gypsy places.  There was a gutted van in the backyard, a stroller jammed into a wall, shorts in the trees.  We both wanted to trespass, but the kids would have inevitably fal...