Madrid

It has been a whirlwind of a week. We got back from Paris last Sunday night and Taylor and I both hit the ground running first thing Monday morning.  Despite the exhaustion and jet lag, I managed to pass my CPR and Advanced Cardiac Life Support classes this week and I am ready for my clinical rotations to start tomorrow. On top of my classes this week, Friday night was a party for my class to commemorate leaving campus and starting rotations. As the school activity chair, I have been planning this party for months. All the final details came together and the party was a success.

Now that I have found some time to blog, I wanted to share some of the highlights of our trip. We spent seven days in Madrid and it was definitely my favorite city.

Arriving at the Atocha train station.

Train Station from the outside

Our first stop in Madrid for some porras and chocolate. We look so tired because we are!

The center of Spain.

The Royal Palace

Museo del Prado, Spain's National Art Museum. Took us 2 visits to get through it all.

They had several artists copying paintings so you could watch the process and see how much the colors have faded over time.

All the almond trees were in bloom.

During the day, Taylor and I would be tourists and at night we would go back to his family's house on the outskirts of the city and live like locals. We would go to dinner at the local restaurants and do some grocery shopping.

Spain is the world's largest producer of olive oil so we set up our own tasting.

 Couldn't get enough doner kebobs.

So excited for the Reina Sofia modern art museum.

Taylor trying to figure out modern art. Our conversation went like this:

Taylor: "I just don't get it."

Me: "Don't try and understand it, just think about how it makes you feel."

Taylor: "It makes me feel stupid because I don't get it."

Picasso's Guernica was incredible

There were so many Picasso's. I loved it!

A Real Madrid game at Bernabeu stadium

Waiting for the train home.

City on a Hill

We have been in Spain for one week and we are having such an amazing trip. Taylor's parents are the program directors this semester, for the BYU study abroad program, here in Madrid. They teach classes to the students and travel with them around Spain. On our second day here, Taylor and I took a trip to Toledo. We were jet lagged and nervous about navigating the train, the metro and a bus to get to this city. The public transportation is amazing here and we didn't have any problems. Toledo is the most beautiful city I have ever seen. It was settled by the Romans and was Spain's original capital. It was a perfect day.

 

Please ignore the date stamp accident.

When we were walking on some of these streets, a car would drive by and we would have to stand in one of the doorways against a door so it could pass.

Starstruck

Recently, my sister invited me to go see Markus Zusak, author of The Book Thief, speak at a Dallas high school’s litfest. The topic was on writing and this man definitely knows how to captivate an audience. He shared some personal stories, one minute the auditorium would be completely silent, hanging onto every word, you could hear a pin drop. The next minute the audience would be gasping with surprise and roaring with laughter. Next, he went through and dissected out what made them such great stories. I was completely starstruck by this man’s talent. His good looks and charming Australian accent helped too.

I recently read his novel, The Book Thief, and it is in the top 5 books I have ever read. It is an incredible story set in Nazi Germany told from death's point of view. When I heard what the book was about, I was not looking forward to reading it. I already felt like I had read enough WW2 books and then to be narrated by death? This couldn't possibly be an enjoyable experience. I was completely surprised in the best possible way. I would recommend this book to everyone. The Book Thief has been very successful. It's an international bestseller and published in over 30 languages. Add it to your to-read list!

A big thank you to the Highland Park High School PTA for footing the bill for Markus's first class flight from Australia.

You will be surprised.

"I wanted to to tell the book thief many things, about beauty and brutality, but what could I tell her about those things that she didn't already know? I wanted to explain that I am constantly overestimating and underestimating the human race-that rarely do I ever simply estimate it. I wanted to ask her how the same thing could be so ugly and so glorious, and its words and stories so damning and brilliant."
-Markus Zusak, The Book Thief