KS2 to Greycliff 3rd floor to 90 611 to MADRID!!!

A little bit less than a month ago, I had to pleasure of hosting my best friend Sarah Jennings in Madrid for the weekend!!! She stayed in my homestay with me (Isabel has an extra bedroom) which means she got to meet the famous Isabel, which I was sooo glad about!

The universe was somehow rooting for us because the only weekend I had free was the weekend she was able to travel. Praise the lord for that because abroad would not have been complete without seeing her in Europe!! :)

When Sarah got here, we explored Retiro a little bit and just walked around, catching up on 6 months of happenings. (Which ended up being a huge bummer because we got there when all the good stuff closed.) Then we got dressed up and went out to a nice dinner courtesy of my parents (thanks Mom & Dad) where the waiter thought we were dating, which I mean we kind of are so it's fine.

The next day we went back to Retiro so I could show her my favorite place in all of Madrid (la Rosaleda) and then we headed out to the city to do some sightseeing!  We saw el Palacio Real and happened upon a big parade in the city for the feast day of Madrid's patron saint. (literally most random parade ever.) It had a bunch of cute little dancers and women dressed in traditional attire.
Then we went to Cien Montaditos for lunch where we got bocadillos and OREO SANDWICH ON CHOCOLATE BREAD aka the best dessert ever. Since our friendship started with dessert, it was only fitting that we continued the tradition.

 

the parade!

La Rosaleda

After lunch and a failed attempt to get tickets from scalpers for the Real Madrid game (LOL who did we even think we were????) we just went back to the house and hung out for a while, which was wonderful and a good break from a super busy weekend!  Then for dinner, we met up with friends at a Mexican place (lol Sarah came to Spain and we ate Mexican food) and stayed out for a while just hanging out! There was a singer there who was passing around this huge sombrero and Sarah ended up with it...so naturally, pics were taken.

The next day, we woke up and got chocolate con churros, (wouldn't be a trip to Madrid without some good ol churros) went to El Rastro, (the flea market) and walked around that area for the morning.  We went to El Mercado de San Miguel for lunch where we ate croquetas and had a copa of sangria and it was just wonderful!  We headed back to the house so Sarah could say goodbye to Isabel and then it was time to head off to the airport!  Goodbyes were said on the metro (not super ceremonial but whatevs) and the countdown was started til January when we get back to Boston and are ROOMIES! :)

This is What Dreams are Made Of - Roma!

For best effect, press play and read post:

So over a month ago (jeez I am horrible at keeping up with this...) my family packed our bags in Madrid and headed off to the land of pizza and pasta! (literally doe.... I didn't eat anything besides pizza pasta and gelato the entire weekend. If you think I'm kidding, I'm not. Thank you world for containing a place with so many carbs. Much appreciated.)

We had a super packed couple days, so here's the brief summaries of my Roman Holiday!

DAY 1
I took an evening flight out of Madrid on Wednesday to meet up with my family who had Tuesday morning. (I had class until 6pm on Wednesday.) On Wednesday, they went to the Papal audience and got this close to the Pope.... SOOOO glad I had class and had to miss it!
Special shout-out to the cab driver who took me from the airport to the hotel yelling Italian words at me the whole ride! love ya :*

DAY 2
We woke up and headed over to the Vatican.  Today, we took a tour through the Vatican Museum (props to Mom for buying our tickets beforehand and helping us save 3 hours of waiting in line.) where we saw the Sistine Chapel (may or may not have taken a secret pic of the ceiling...always gonna be a mystery I guess) and St. Peter's Basilica.  After, we took a Scavi tour, which is a tour of the ruins beneath the Vatican.  My mom booked this in July because they only let a certain number of people go down each day and I am so glad she did because it was one of the coolest things I have ever seen.  You get to see the believed bones of St. Peter and we just happened to have a British monk in our tour group who asked to say a prayer at the end of the tour, so it was super special and unique.

St. Peter's Square

In the evening, we walked through the city to hit the main tourist spots, like Trevi Fountain (I got to be Lizzie McGuire), Spanish steps (I got to be Audrey Hepburn), the Pantheon (I got to be Robert Langdon), and Fountain of the 4 Rivers. (again Robert Langdon.)  Yes, I took the classic touristy Trevi Fountain wish pic, and yes I did make a wish on love and promise to return to Rome.

I look like Lizzie, right?!?!

Vatican at sunset

DAY 3
Ancient Rome day!  We had a tour through all the ancient Roman ruins which was super cool and then we also had a tour through the Colosseum.  After a lunch looking over the ruins, we decided to find a few chapels off the beaten path which ended up being really cool.  One of the cathedrals also had ruins beneath them like the Vatican, so we went down and saw those as well.  After that we ventured across the Tiber River and took a bus to a view point so we could see the entire city of Rome.  Although it was nighttime and dark, it was still pretty cool to see! (although waiting for the bus for 45 minutes was definitely not the highlight of my trip... your public transportation system was a bit lacking, Rome!!)

DAY 4
Today we slept in a little and then headed out to Castel Santangelo, which I was SO PUMPED for because it was in Angels and Demons. (super dorky but I mean I'm not sorry bout it...) We had an audio guide for that walked ourselves around the fortress built by the emperor Hadrian. (look Mom, I learned things!!) When you get to the top, it's super windy but has one of the best views of Rome. (hence the hair blowing in the wind pic.) We finished the day by going to the Pantheon to see inside of it (which also appeared in Angels and Demons so I knew that I would be seeing Raphael's tomb which originally was not placed in the Pantheon.) We finished the day by going to the Trevi fountain during the day.

DAY 5
My last RyanAir flight with no assigned seats so people go nuts to get on the plane first HOORAY ECONOMY FLYING!!! Goodbye RyanAir, you won't be missed!!

My proudest snap chat moment

No description of meals included here because each one was a variation of pasta/pizza and a glass of white wine. Italy, you just get me.

Could not have asked for a better week with better food and better people!! Nothing beats spending a weekend in Rome with your family! (sorry Kev...)