Stephen’s Travels

I dont know if you know what doner kabob is, but eating it all of the time makes my day. I have found two different kinds; lamb or chicken. Basically think of a big piece of meat that spins around, which they shave pieces off into a pita or onto a plate. It’s usually greek food I think, but the places we have been going are arabian. Anyways, its tasty and cheap. As far as tourist attractions go, there aren’t too many here in Madrid. We went to the Museo del Prado yesterday, they didn’t have any Rembrandt paintings anymore, but they did have Raphael, who is fantastic. They also had a very large Goya collection, who is a very famous Spanish artist.

It has been hot, around 95F, or 34C everyday. Not deathly hot, but hot enough to not make me nearly as adventurous during the day. I believe the plan today is to go to the botanical gardens and to the park for a little bit. As I mentioned before, knowing some spanish has been coming in handy for understanding. For instance I was able to tell a brasilian where the bathroom was because we both knew some spanish.

Our next stop is Seville then Barcelona. Oh, I also found a Real Madrid energy drink to add to my collection. Today is a good day. haha

Bye bye for now,

Steve

blah blah blah….

We are in Madrid right now. The weather is great, subway sandwiches are great, and our spanish is not so great. Well, it´s better than our french was. I can understand fairly well, but speaking is atrocious. Shaun is good at saying tengo el gato los pantalones, which I´ve been trying to tell him means that he has a cat in his pants. But he likes saying it.

I wish I could update some pictures from the last few days, but I have not had a chance to get the pictures from my camera at these internet cafes. Anyways, the plan is 4 nights in Madrid, 2 in Seville, and another 4 in Barcelona. Then we make our way along the south of France toward Rome.

Um, I can´t think of anything else. Bye Bye for now.

Stephen

As of the time of this writing, we are still in Paris. It’s about 9pm here and we are planning on seeing Jim Morrison’s grave in the morning, traveling to Versailles for a bit, then heading out of Paris to Bayeux and Mont St. Michel.

Yesterday was an eventful Sunday with our journey to the magnificent Cathedral in Chartres. It is by far my favorite cathedral in Europe so far. I haven’t had a chance to go inside St. Paul’s in London, but Jon says it is amazing. Another aspect of Chartres that I really enjoyed was the number of people that were there. I could honestly say that there were probably 25,000 people there, maybe 5000 were tourists. The remaining 20,000 were all there for religious reasons, many of them waiting through an incredibly long line just to see and touch a statue of the Virgin Mary. I’d say that many people get upset when they can’t find a close enough parking space at their church in the US, let alone traveling hundreds of miles just to wait in line and still being happy. Call me old fashioned, but there is probably something missing these days in the good ol US of A.

Anyways, enough with that. Enjoy the pictures of the amazing stained glass. We also ate an extremely tasty lunch of fries and a kabob sandwich. It was almost too good.

Between last night and today we saw both Notre Dame and the Louvre in the day and night. Norte Dame is nice, but not the best. I think that pesky hunchback has given it more fame than it actually deserves.

At the Louvre we saw some amazing paintings by all nationalities. I also think that the recent fame of the Davinci Code has only added to the allure of the Mona Lisa. Again, I liked it though not as much as everyone wants me to. I also made it my goal to look at the dutch painting of Van Ruysdael, whose street my parents live on (Van Ruysdael Lane) There are actually several famous Van Ruysdael’s which make me feel extra good about my parent’s address. (insert me gloating here)

I tried to go to the Musee d’Orsay, but it is closed on mondays. Oh well, more reason to come back again some time.

Leave me some comments I really enjoy reading them, or email me at stevesearer@gmail.com if you want to chit chat in private Click here for photos

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I heart you all,

Stephen

As I mentioned in the previous post, we are now in Paris soaking up the sights and sounds of the largest city in France. Before I go on, I will apologize for the picture of me in a comforter. As I tried to explain, neither Shaun nor myself packed towels. I really wanted to shower, so I dried off with the Coca-Cola blanket. Is that really so wrong?? haha

Anyways, back to Paris. We arrived at about 10pm, luckily there were still rooms, because the first one we tried was full. Our room overlooks rue de Parme and rue de Clichy (both streets) We really love this room because it has free internet, hot showers, and is close to the subway. Our food has mainly consisted on free hostel breakfasts and sandwiches we make from supplies gathered at the local grocery stores. We could spend more at cafe’s and such, but I don’t mind and neither does my (or Shaun’s) wallet.

We didn’t work too hard today. Our day consisted of going to the rail station, the market, Arc de Triumph and the Eiffel Tower at both day and night times. It was really lovely. Make sure you check out the pictures of them both. I should add that we didnt go to the Arc at night, but we did see it from the Tower.

Our next few days are going to consist of exploring the rest of Paris, going to the d-day beaches, Chartres, Mont St-Michel, and a couple other northern french areas. Because I have access to internet right now, you can look for updates every day or night (I am unsure of what time it is back home, -9 hours I think.

I hope everyone is having a good time in warm weather, It has been cold and rainy here.

Goodbye for now,

Stephen L Searer

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