The BEAUTIFUL Cities Near Madrid

Maddy and I resting during our visit
to Segovia, Spain.

I've been through handfuls of cathedrals, monasteries, ancient cities, and even places where Spanish royalty once lived, but that's all not that exciting unless you are here soaking in the history. Check out these beautiful places we toured while we stayed in Madrid this weekend!

Miss Brynn and I eating lunch in front of
Segovia's infamous aqueduct!

Castle that Queen Isabel and King Ferdinand used to vacation at in Segovia. 

The famous aqueduct in Segovia!

Best Part of Saturday: Getting to visit El Escorial (no pictures allowed inside), which was massive and impeccably crafted including gorgeous ornate ceilings, beautiful handcrafted tiles in all different shades/patterns, graves and coffins made of fine metals and stones, and my favorite part, a statue of Jesus Christ hanging from the cross carved completely out of one giant slab of marble. It was given to Spain by Italy and was even made with white marble with swirls of muted blue to look like the veins under a dying Jesus’s pale skin.

Picture of my favorite Jesus Christ so far at El Escorial! Pulled from the internet: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benvenuto_Cellini

Funniest Part of Saturday: Katie, being the rebel that she is, touched the most beautiful coffin in El Escorial, so naturally I poked it to be as cool as her. The security guard saw us, laughed, muttered something in Spanish, and ruffled the sculpted hair of the tomb showing us it didn’t matter…. LOL.

Where some of the most elite Spanish royalty are taken after their passing.
Stunning! Pulled from the internet:
 http://perroviajante.com/2011/07/12/patrimonio-iberico-monasterio-y-sitio-de-el-escorial/

Worst Part of Saturday: Waiting on the buses for 45 minutes, which were steaming hot, for a girl who dropped her precious iPhone. That’s over 90 people who had nothing nice to say about her holding us all up before our journey back to Madrid.

Church on the main square in Segovia. 

Katie and I on the streets of Toledo, Spain. 

Best Part of Sunday:  Getting to see the gorgeous and immense cathedral in Toledo, Spain. We were able to see crowns from Spanish royalty, a handcrafted bible printed on lamb skin (a gift from the King of France back in the day), stained glass windows all done in sections, and the window opening in the ceiling that lets light shine upon a wall of carved marble figures during sunrise to show that “God is light.”

A very confusing picture of the unbelievable cathedral in Toledo. 

Fancy crowns presented in the cathedral. 

Funniest Part of Sunday: As we entered a room full of portraits of all of the cardinals and with walls painted with enormous biblical scenes, the security guard quickly grabbed his Spanish trash magazine (tabloid?) and shoved it inside his little security desk. BUSTED.

Worst Part of Sunday: Trying to sleep on the bus… There are only so many ways you can contort a body. If you have any questions about those ways, my sore self will happily fill you in. 

The outside of the sky high cathedral. 

Places Visited:

El Escorial - a monastery, chapel, school, burial site, and home

Segovia, Spain - home of the famous aqueduct built by the Romans and of a castle formerly used by Queen Isabel and King Ferdinand

Toledo, Spain - built to mimic Italian cities and was formerly a border city when Spain was split, also home to many different religious structures because long ago that city was home to Muslims, Jews, and Protestants all living happily together

Day 2 in Madrid!

Yesterday evening was as wonderful as the first night in a city can get. Katie and I found that we actually recognized much of mainstream Madrid and wandered down checking out statues and beautiful buildings. We stumbled upon the entrance of a park called El Parque del Retiro, which we soon decided must be the equivalent of the Spanish Central Park. It was extensive, had multiple ornate fountains, a lake with an old structure overlooking it, street music, and an incredible playground that I had a blast trying to understand. In my defense, there were a lot of confusing pieces of equipment….

Trying to work the park equipment.

When we finally found an exit, we walked miles lost in the city (so much fun) and eventually did right as we were tired enough to sit down. We stumbled upon a café and sat down around 6:00PM to eat, but ended up finishing a bottle of white wine and making friends with a Canadian woman who encouraged us to try the olive oil drenched olives and a spirited couple in their 70s that shared all of their Europe travel stories with us in the two hours we spent sitting outside chatting about life. After a nap, we ate dinner at an unknown café.

Our first bottle of wine in Spain!

During the night, I slept with earplugs to try to block out the noise of the Spaniards having a grand ole time until about 4:30AM in the bar five floors below us… When I awoke this morning, I was sad to hear that poor Katie had food poisoning from the sketchy café we ate at the night before. After an episode of F.R.I.E.N.D.S., some Wheat Thins, a shower, and some fresh fruit, she was ready for another day of adventures.

Katie was excited about the fancy bathroom and our bidet
before she knew she'd spend most of the morning sick in there. :(

We took a taxi to the hotel we were to meet our ISU group at in the Salamanca area of Madrid (for those worried, it’s called Hotel Zenit Abeba). We ditched our things and enjoyed trying to communicate with a waitress at a café where I had an interesting version of chicken caesar salad.  When we arrived in our room, we were pleased to find a big open window and two beds…however, the two beds may as well be one kind size bed because they are pushed together in front of a giant headboard (interesting).

Hanging out of our hotel's window that overlooks the area. 

Tonight, Katie and I went to find red wine and found it at simple outdoor restaurant only blocks away from our hotel. When the waiter approached us I said, “Vino por favor” (Wine, please) and proved that I know as much Spanish as I need to know. ;) We sat on the sidewalk sipping and people watching for almost two hours and were shocked when we asked for la cuenta to see that five glasses of wine cost us only €4.50.

One of my delicious pastries. Half chocolate filled and half cream filled!

After wine we found a great pastelería and I picked up some pastries for snacks (I honestly just love pastries). After searching the area for credible ATMs and finding a cheap bottle of wine, Katie and I headed back to the hotel for the program’s dinner. It got us very excited for the weeks to come with ISU on the Mediterranean! :) 

And so begins the trip of a lifetime...

I write to you from the comfort of our very first hostal of our European adventure. Our private room has marble floors, a renovated bathroom, a TV, a balcony that looks over Plaza del Carmen, and best of all, the main door to the hostal can’t be opened unless the door is answered by someone, which makes me feel MUCH better about staying in a hostal. (For those keeping track, it’s called Hostal Acapulco.)

Our balcony and view. 

If you’re wondering why I am in Europe, I’ll fill you in. The next two months I will be all over Europe traveling with one of my very best friends, Katie Kruse. We will be attending the Universidad de Valencia through the ISU on the Mediterranean program and are taking Beginner’s Spanish and Spanish Film (taught in English) courses for the next six weeks. Together we will live with a host family, whom we will meet on Sunday.

Today's people watching location. AMAZING.

Tomorrow, we will meet up with the rest of the group from Iowa State and begin our first excursion weekend around Madrid. Today/tonight, Katie and I are on our own. We’ve spent three hours wandering around the windy streets of Madrid, drinking delicious coffee with steamed milk and chocolate, and people watching (SO MUCH FUN). The last 24 hours has been spent in airports and on planes, but we’re thankful we made it and our luggage did too!

My yummy coffee!

Katie and I about to check our bags in Kansas City. 

Best Part of Today: I am one of those people that everyone hates that enjoys chatting on planes. (HOWEVER, my airplane seat buddy for eight hours started a conversation with me, so I am not at fault this time…) I sat by the greatest guy ever. Some cool things about him are: He is in his third year of residency and had just gotten off a 25 hour call, he was at Harvard when Zuckerberg was and was on Facebook the day after he created it, he was in a FINALS CLUB there (watch “The Social Network”), he laughed at my stupid jokes, and he was headed to three night wedding in Seville for a college buddy…. Even though he was 30 and huge compared to me, I think I might marry that man.

RIP dear sunhat... #SunhatSelfie

Worst Part of Today: I carried the adorable wide-brimmed sunhat my mom and I got at Target with me through all the airports and when we made it to Madrid I went to the bathroom and hung it on a hook in the stall…. I left the stall without the hat and now it’s gone forever. :( My jetlagged alter ego was nearly in tears (seriously though…).

During the next couple months, I plan to keep anyone who cares informed of all the ridiculous things I’m doing, embarrassing moments because of my lack of communication skills, and any fun travel stories. I promise it won’t be historically based and boring, so stick with me and I’ll take you all over Europe, too. :) 

We DARE you to talk to us...

A Formal Letter to Every Single Male Alive:

I would like to formally invite you to talk to a girl this week. Meaning, introduce yourself to someone you think is just soooo pretty and make. a. move. How cool would it be to talk to someone in person and just take a chance? Channel that old-fashioned courtship by at least getting our numbers from our real selves, rather than our Facebook alter egos or best friends.

Why is this a great idea? You’ll stand out. No one takes chances anymore and girls loooveee that stuff. Imagine any sorority house in America and your name spreading like wildfire as the “sweetest guy” she’s ever met. You know who else will appreciate your taking a chance? Moms. Our moms will instantly be your biggest fan when we recap our personal lives to them and there is never a downside to that.

It is also your opportunity to see our most honest selves. A lot of times we don’t know you’re flirting with us… We think you’re nice and an awesome guy, but if you’re not being the perfect amount of forward, you’re about to be friend zoned. (And you rarely come back from that…)

Your sure fire way to know if we would be at all interested would be our reaction to you, I don’t know, asking us to dinner…. Check our facials. Is there a crazy amount of excitement in our eyes? I’m not positive, but that could mean we’re thrilled, right?

The worst possible thing that could happen is that we could say “no.” What repercussions would that even have on your life? It would save you the price of a meal, which I am 100% sure would be greatly appreciated in your weekend fund. In which case I say, Please try asking a girl you like out to dinner. It’s just so easy.

Don’t want a girlfriend? Don’t act like you do. It’s mean. It’s just plain mean.

Oh so sincerely,

Anna Marie McConnell

Sophomore SLUMP

The sophomore slump is real, kids. So real that I have about 30 minutes of free time to finish a six-page paper, a magazine story, another story for class, and some readings and here I am, sitting on Janie’s uncomfortable futon telling you how unproductive I am.

First day of the semester -- when I still had hope.

Let me just say, that I am obsessed with my giant herd of friends and our chef and my sorority and all things Iowa State and my social life in every single way, but I will admit that I have zero interest in my academic life.

Playing dress-up with my roomie and heading off
to chapter is always fun because it's NOT my homework.

I still attend all my classes, do not fret, but I do spend my time in them making massive to-do lists, filling out applications, and responding to the handfuls of emails I get every day. It is really hard to keep up.

Basically, what I’m whining about is my school life and how much I currently hate it. (Hate to say hate, but I meant it…) I have one class I enjoy, but the other four so overshadow that one that I generalize them all as horrible.

An assignment from my only enjoyable class:
Testing a dozen shower products and writing reviews on them.

Why? I despise news stories. I want to cry every second that I spend writing completely unbiased, plain jane, AP-style sentences. All I want to do is write in my twitter voice and flood my pages with the girlspeak that overwhelms my brain. Get me to a magazine, ASAP!!!

Hope you agree?! And Happy Studying from Academic Anna!