It?s taken almost 4 months but I finally made it to Madrid, Spain?s capital.  Spain had what they call a ?puente? or bridge, or what we call a long weekend.  It was Labor Day on May first so I took advantage of the extra time off.  I left Friday night at 11 on an overnight train and shared a sleeper car room with 5 other guys from Barcelona.  I had the top, rather small and hot, bunk but I managed to get some sleep so I could do the tourist thing when I got there.  We arrived at 8am and I immediately went in search of a hostel for the night.  That was taken care of fast enough as I booked a room at Mad hostel.  It?s quite the place but only cost $16 for a bunk.  I ended up rooming with a family of five from Holland.  The place had a bar downstairs with a pool table, beer vending machine, a kitchen, and nice cushioned benches, and another bar on the rooftop terrace.  At any rate,  I was out and about by 10 and went straight (as I could) to Puerta del Sol.  I stopped on they way to watch a bunch of huge dogs get beat in a game of fetch by a tiny Chihuahua.  In Puerta del Sol there is the statue of a bear getting berries of a tree, the symbol of Madrid, and Kilometer Zero.  That is the starting point from which all highways in Spain are measured.  I actually couldn?t find it but read all about it.  Next it was on to Plaza Mayor, one of the largest squares in Europe.  I swung by a convent and the ?Cathedral of the Armed Forces? on the way.  The interior of that reminded me of all the churches in Rome, covered with frescos.  Plaza Mayor was definitely huge, but relatively quite at that hour minus a few performers getting ready for the day?s show.  This square has seen inquisition public hangings and even bull fights for many years.  Moving east I went to Palacio Real, or the Royal Palace which was built in on the site of an old Arab fortress.  The Palace and accompanying cathedral, with squares in between, were enormous.  The Palace only functions now for tourism and official military parades, events, and state dinners.  The king and queen live a bit outside the city.  It has 2800 rooms, of which I was only able to visit about 30, a 400 year old pharmacy, and the royal armory that houses loads of battle, jousting, and parade armor, swords, and rifles.  The few rooms included on the tour were pretty amazing.  The throne room had red velvet wall covering and fresco ceilings, the dinning room with a table that seats 140 had Chinese vases, there was a Porcelain room that was completely covered in just that, and the chapel that had 10 marble columns that were made from one giant slab of marble.  Just around the corner there was some beautiful gardens along the way to Plaza de Espana where the Senate is located. Heading down Gran Via we see all the modern shops, then I headed back toward the hostel for a kebab lunch.  Then it was back to the hostel for a nice nap and off toward the Prado museum for a stroll along the pedestrian streets there.  I stopped by Cervantes? and Lope de Vega?s houses on the way.  The area near the museums, Paseo de Prado, was really beautiful with tons of trees, gardens, and some sidewalk cafes.  I walked by the Bank of Espana which was huge, and supposedly has part of the country?s gold reserves reaching under the fountain in the middle of the traffic circle.  Further up, I stopped in El Espejo for a beer then walked though Plaza de Colon and behind the museums and along the Parque de Buen Retiro.  From there it was down to the Atocha train station that has a botanical garden inside, and back to the hostel for dinner and to watch the Barca game.  There I chatted with a priest from New Zealand, a guy from Costa Rica, an Australian, and a few Americans and headed out for drinks. After about three hours sleep I got up with family I was rooming with at 9:30, had some breakfast, checked out, and was out on the town once again.  I headed straight to the Prado museum, free on Sundays, and had a self-guided tour as there were so many people that they were out of audio guides.  I saw all the paintings that I was interested in and was on to lunch in about an hour and a half.  Then, for another nap, I found a nice spot in the huge Parque de Buen Retiro and took in some sun and caught some z?s.  I was content resting there for almost 4 hours, then walked around the rest of the park.  There?s an area where they have an international rose contest, a huge class building that projected a rainbow of colors over the pond in front of it, and a large man-made lake with rentable dinghies.  I exited by the Puerta de Alcala, and headed back toward Puerta del Sol for another failed attempt at finding Kilometro Cero.  I picked up some food at the super, watched part of a show in Plaza Mayor, then it was time to head to the train station.  This time I was in the middle bunk where I fit much better.  We left at 10, and when I woke up we were in Barcelona at 7:30. It seems fast, but I had two really long and full days there.  The thing that I noticed most was the liveliness of the city at all hours, and not just from tourists, and all the greenery.  The Parque de Buen Retiro was like a forest and there were countless, beautiful, tree-lined streets.  It was definitely a nice weekend trip and of course, I couldn?t leave Spain without checking out Madrid.        Complete Journal

            Wednesday morning, my parents caught their flight home and that afternoon, Gina and I were on a plane to Mallorca, Playa de Palma to be specific.  Gina booked us a great hotel right on the beach.  We got in around 5 and got a ton of tourist info at the airport, but we decided to hop a bus to Palma and walked all around getting pictures of the cathedral, marina, and some city sights.  It?s a nice little city and fairly cheap as well.  We settled for another kebab as grocery stores seemed nonexistent, and a sit down meal can get pricey.  We picked up some wine and sangria on the way home and sat on the beach til midnight sipping and chatting.             The next day started out a little cloudy and got worse.  It obviously not a good beach day, so we rented a moto for the day and buzzed around the coastal towns southeast of our hotel.  It was a riot.  We got to see some other beaches, grabbed some lunch during a rain storm, and found some nice views along the way.  I was a little nervous driving with those crazy Spaniards but we managed alright.  The long hills killed us but going down them we got up to 80 km/h.  We had had enough after about four and a half hours so we returned it and took a stroll along the waterfront.  There was a nice bike lane and a ton of serious cyclists out all weekend.  Most of them were German, like the rest of the tourists there.  We think that we were the only people in our hotel that were both under 60 and not German.  We felt like we should have been retired.  We went to a bunch of gift shops along the way then watched the sun set over the water before getting a burger, fries, and a hefty beer.  Must have been the German influence haha.  We crashed early that night and were ready for a day of sunbathing when we woke up.             We got out on the beach around 11:30 and only moved for some lunch, then headed in around 6.  At lunch we had some great bocadillos and Gina got a huge cocktail, the one which we came with a sparkler at night but just some tinsel during the day? not quite as cool, but it was delicious and the huge straw was fun.  We cleaned up nice and headed into Palma for a nice dinner.  We ended up outside by the marina and had a wonderful meal.  I got two whole grilled squid?s with some fries, and Gina got peppers stuffed with a cod filling; both were excellent.  We wondered around a little and got some delicious gelato (for the second time at the same place) then went home to pack up.             In the morning we caught about an hour of sun on the beach and I jumped in (and right out) of the chilly water.  We picked up some more bocadillos to go and we were back in Barcelona after a 40 minutes flight.  We found our hotel off Las Ramblas and did some souvenir shopping before getting a tapas dinner at our favorite football bar and heading home.  It was a great end to a fantastic week of traveling.  Sunday I saw Gina off at the airport and wished she didn?t have to go.  Now we?ll have some European memories that we?ll always remember.

After taking a plane, bus, metro, and walking, we made it to the hostel and my parents were waiting in the lobby.  It was good to see them and they were really excited from their day trip to Girona.  We chatted for a few hours, drinking some Italian wine in their new glasses and having a blood orange.             The next day we all met Clodaugh, a friend of Gina and I that we went to school with.  She has been working in London all year and was in BCN on vacation.  So we had breakfast and walked around the Gothic Quarter checking out a few churches and the cathedral, then heading to the port and finally Barceloneta beach.  I wasted no time introducing them to the Doner Kebab, then we all parted ways so Gina and I could get some fresh clothes from my host family?s house.  Later that night we met back up to check out the light show at the fountains in Montjuic but we had the wrong day, so we headed out for drinks.  I took everyone to l?Ovella Negra and we got some sangria, tapas, beer and a great time.  As we walked Clodes home we passed a midnight Easter mass where there was a fire burning in the street, then hopped the metro to the hostel.             Easter Sunday we slept in then went to a café for breakfast.  My hot chocolate was almost as thick as pudding, great for dipping my croissant!  After breakfast we went right to the bull ring and bought tickets for that afternoon.  Then it was off to the Sagrada Familia, Gaudi?s lifelong work and most famous structure.  We picked up some souvenirs, had a tapas lunch, visited the Hospital de Sant Pau, then went to the fight.  It was an experience.  Even I didn?t know what to expect and we were all a little surprised and slightly unsettled at the spectacle.  They killed 6 enormous bulls over two hours, the toreros getting better as time went on.  Later, we picked up some groceries for dinner and had sandwiches, wine, cava, and a slideshow of our Italy pictures til two in the morning.             Monday was another holiday in Catalunya so the town was pretty tranquil and everything was closed.  We met my parents at a different café for breakfast, then walked around the neighborhood where I live.  Around 2 we headed to my house to meet the family.  Will, the other student that I live with, brought his parents and sister over as well and we snacked and talked in a few different languages for almost 3 hours.  Good times.   After a nice nap, my family went out to a nice dinner.  We got two different paellas and some other typical foods and we outside right along the harbor on Paseo de Colon.  Afterwards, a little gelato was in order, and we lost track of time so the metro closed and we had to take the night bus home.