One last time...

Hey all,
So this will probably be the last post from Europe. The more I think about it, the more glad I am to be heading back to my own bed and seeing you all. Ive loved it here so much, but it will be soothing to be back home. Like I was telling Amy earlier, its just more peaceful to be home. Plus I miss you Mom and Dad, like crazy amounts. Oh and Jeff and Brian and Anna too (but I dont know how often jeff and brian check this... :]) I will get to see you guys soon!

And for the sake of it, one last city update:
Madrid.
I have enjoyed Madrid pretty well so far. Ok a lot. Despite hearing stories of gangs of people doing... bad things. No worries, that has NOT happened to us. Madrid, madrid, where to start? We have walked around the city quite a bit in the few days we have been here. Of course we hit up the parks and gardens, it just wouldnt be possible to not. They do have some nice gardens- though I prefer Sevillas. Amy and I went on the free walking tour while Rachel did some much needed laundry... Im still a huge fan of them! I felt bad because I literally had about 1 euro 27 on me and couldnt really tip the tour guide, but I figured thats why they make them free anyway. At the end of the day we went to a flamenco show. I loooooooveee flamenco. I wish life could always move to the rhythm of the dance. On the way home from the show we saw a fire on the street. Of course we had to stop and watch.... at first we thought it was a car fire, but eventually it became evident that it was just a dumpster and not going to explode... which was disappointing but probably for the best. The popo came and put it out, and as far as I could tell there was no real damage done.

Next day (because Im tired because it is 140am and we need to get up in about 5 hours to get to our flight). We walked around some more, this time with Rachel so she could see the town. We went into the Palace, which is the largest palace in Europe with thousands of rooms in it (literally). We didnt get to see every room, for which i am thankful because we probably wouldnt ever escape it, but my oh my was it beautiful. I think, hands down, this place had the most ornate and interesting art work and sculptures I have ever seen. Every ceiling was covered in frescos, every trim was carved out, and sometimes it looked as if the two were intermixed and part of the painting were popping out of the wall. We couldnt get pictures- I wouldve snuck some if there werent guards in every room. But look it up and maybe youll find some. I dont remember the name of it, so youll have to do some investigation...
Then we went to the Prado Museum for free (because it was 6pm) and wandered it for a few hours. What can I say, there were lots of paintings... some of them lovely, some of them average, some of them repetetive, some of them ingenious, some of them plain gruesome. I liked it. We went to the museum with a couple of parisian girls who are in our room, who have officially offered to show us around paris next time we come... I hope they dont mind when I honestly take them up on that offer. :)

Ok I have to go to bed. See some of you tomorrow (well... I guess thats a relative term in this case) and see others of you later than tomorrow.

Laura