Madrid
I arrived in Madrid early this morning, and I wish I could have staying in Sevilla longer. I saw most of what I wanted to see, but it was such a cool hostel and I had a great time. There are pros and cons to planning a lot of stuff out in advance. If you already buy train tickets and book hostels, then you end up sacrificing the ability to stay someplace you really liked. On the other hand, if you wing it all the time and only plan ahead a day in advance, you´ll pay more for it. The cheap hostels will be booked up and on an overnight train, you might have to pay for the more expensive cauchettes or sleeper cars. It´s a tough call, but as much as I liked Sevilla, I think it´s good that I´m moving on.
My hostel here in Madrid is okay, but nothing really special. It definitely is not bad, it just doesn´t compare to the last 2 that I stayed at. Even though I keep saying this to myself, I really am going to have a more relaxing night in and get a good night´s sleep. I´m not sure how well I´ll be able to sleep on the train, and I want to be well rested for tomorrow.
Tomorrow I will probably spend some time trying to memorize some phrases in French so I can at least get by in Paris. I´m not staying in Paris for too long, and I think I´m going to skip the Louvre. I went to the Prado museum today in Madrid, and since I went at 6 pm, it was free entrance. I guess walking around art museums just doesn´t do it for me. They had some great paintings, and I was amazed at how much detail they could fit into those paintings, but all of the paintings start to run together after seeing so many. Still, it was a good experience, but I just do not think the Louvre would interest me. Instead I´m looking at doing Notre Dame, possibly the catacombs, the eiffel tower, the arc de triumf, and the Latin Quarter at least. I´ll probably research some more stuff that I should see as well. Mostly I just get the maps in the train stations and look and see what cool sights there are to see. This works really well if I have a ton of time to spend, but if I´m pressed for time, it may make it more difficult to see everything.
I hope everything is going well with everyone. I enjoy getting the comments letting me know what is going on at home as well.
Posted by offhegoes03 on 06-17-2008 at 07:06 pm
Posted in Spain
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I think you did the right amount of planning while still leaving options open. Just continue to look forward to your next destination, your next adventure. All is well here at home, especially for me since I’m off for 2 weeks !! Keep the post and pics coming.
Good stuff, big bro. Leaving Seville now will just give you an excuse to go back sometime in the future. Last night, Pearl Jam played an amazing show. Good times were had by all.
Hey Chris,
Not as exciting here as there, but things are good at home. Sunday, Dad and I met Hoey and Erin and the kids in Columbia and watched Mike perform. We worked outside for a while today after I got home from work!
Your trip sounds great. I am sure you will enjoy Paris. I saw all of those things when I was there……just a few years ago. Love you and miss you!
Hi Chris, Glad to hear you are having fun. Brett and Jill left today on their choir tour so it is quiet here. Be rude to some French people for me. Order Freedom Fries in a restaurant
Hey Chris
Good to see you are back posting. Sounds like you are having a blast.
Keep on having fun…..almost time for Bethany!
Sounds fun, dude. Have you picked up any travel partners yet or still doing it solo?
Good stuff Chris. Glad you are having a good time. But if you talk English real slowly I think the people in France will understand you fine. If that doesn’t work try talking real loud.
Hi Chris, I was reading this thinking “man I’d want to see the lourve” then reading what else you are going to do in Paris, and Notre Dame and catacombs etc all sound better to me too. Notre Dame may be at the top of my list so take a lot of pictures.
Enjoy the trip; I love reading the blogs.
Hey Chris! Sounds like a great time….thanks for posting because it is fun to hear about your adventures. Not much new here…your mom arrives on Sundya to babysit Kate for a couple days! John went to Disney without us this week for work. He gets back tonight. Have fun!
Pat, you pretty much meet groups of people in each hostel, but sometimes people are just getting there and you’re leaving or vice versa. I’ve met a ton of people though.
Kevin, hah yeah, more people in Paris spoke English than in Spain (at least where I went).
Terry, yeah I saw a lot of cool stuff in Paris and I’m not upset I missed the Louvre. I hear there’s another museum in Paris that is better, but I can’t remember the name right now.
Courtney, John is very lucky! Hope my mom does not try to steal kate!