DAY 61: Van Gogh and the Windmills

On this lovely Sunday morning, we woke up extra early to use the last few hours of our bike rentals. So we hopped on the bikes and meandered our way around a marathon track that ran through the city and made our way to the Rijksmuseum, which is the Netherlands National History Museum. It is here that has the famous "I Amsterdam" sign in front of it.

In truth, I have no idea where the "I Amsterdam" saying comes from, and when I looked it up, this was all I found. "'I Amsterdam' began as the marketing campaign for the Amsterdam Area and its business and promotional organizations, but quickly took on a life of its own, becoming a collective catch phrase for the city's residents, regardless of who they are or where they come from." 

No, the painting is not actually this big...

In any case, it is a pretty cool place in front of a beautiful building, so like regular tourists Lizzy and I went to take pictures there. Lucky for us, there was no one there because it was so early in the morning!! So we took our pictures as the sun came up and continued to ride around the park to find the Van Gogh Museum. 

Van Gogh's Self Portrait, pre-ear chopping

When we arrived, again, no one was there! Apparently no one wakes up before 10 on Sundays in Europe. So we sauntered straight into the museum with no line and began our tour of one of the world's most famous artists. 

FUN FACT #41: Vincent Van Gogh only sold one painting while he was alive and did not become famous until his sister-in-law sold his paintings after his death. 

"Almond Blossoms"

It was a pretty cool museum. As you moved around the building and up to the different floors, you were able to follow the paintings throughout his life. It was really interesting to see the differences in his artwork as his life changed. Most people only remember that he cut off his ear, but in the grand scheme of the museum posters written about him, they mention it only once in one sentence near the end of the trip. 

"Irises in Vase"- my favorite painting

He was a very interesting guy, and for a man who only lived to be 37, he made over 900 paintings! His most famous, Starry Night, which he painted while he was in an insane asylum, is not located in this museum, but actually in New York City. Go figure. But we saw his famous self portraits as well as his famous "Sunflowers"and "Almond Blossoms" paintings. My favorite, by far, was called "Irises in Vase". In person, this painting is unbelievably gorgeous. 




When we finished with the Van Gogh Museum, we rode our bikes around the Vondelpark until we had to return them to our hostel. It was a beautiful ride- though a bit awkward as we had to ride around the marathon. After we returned the bikes, we went into the city and got a quick and cheap lunch and ate falafels on the banks of a canal. How picturesque. 

FUN FACT #42: Amsterdam has more canals than Venice! What is even better is that they actually form a cohesive network throughout the city- unlike in Venice.  

One of the many things that The Netherlands is famous for is its windmills. In Zaanse Schans, just an hour away, are a number of working windmills. We decided to catch a bus and see them!

When we arrived, the weather was kind of crumby, but the clouds parted for us as the sun set, and it was beautiful! We took a million pictures and enjoyed the scenery before returning back to Amsterdam. 

That night, we got Thai food for dinner, because everyone knows that Thai food is always cheap and always good- no matter what city you go to! A beautiful cinema was right next to our restaurant, so we looked up what they were showing. "Gone Girl" had just come out, so we decided to see it. It was phenomenal. I highly suggest seeing it if you haven't yet! 

Following the movie, we headed back to the hostel for the night and left Amsterdam early the next day. It was sad to say goodbye to such a beautiful place (with such amazing food!) but we missed the kids and it was time to return to Spain. 

DAY 60: Anne Frank House, Canal Cruise, and the Red Light District by LIZZY!

Going behind the Bookcase into the Frank family hiding space

This post is written by the classiest girl I'll ever know, Elizabeth Laura Appleby: 

October 18^th: Amsterdam 

After the night out, we allowed ourselves to “sleep in”. We woke up around 8 and made our way to the (free) breakfast. You may have picked out that we look for 2 things when it comes to hostels: cheap and free. This one provided free wifi and free breakfast… we were sold. We waited in a decent line for a breakfast that included sandwich meats, rolls, different kinds of fruit, cereal, NORMAL!!!! milk, and coffee. We ate as much as we could and went to rent bikes, which was on our checklist of must-dos in Amsterdam. The bikes were bright orange with interesting baskets to fasten our belongings onto. We got on the bikes and followed the canals to the Anne Frank house. We parked the bikes right in front of the house, and then saw the line… We walked to what we though the end was, and found that it continued for 2 more blocks. 

The Diary of Anne Frank

I had just finished reading The Diary of a Young Girl, and visiting the house was another thing on our checklist. So, after finding the end of the line, we began our 2-hour wait. We have gotten really good at waiting in lines… but at this point we had played Harry Potter character 20 questions so many times that we couldn’t possibly think of any characters we hadn’t done (and we know a disgusting amount… that’s what listening to the books-on-tape for 15 years will do to ya), so we have moved on to 20 Questions-Anyone-You-Can-Think-Of. I grabbed us some hot chocolate and we played for the next few hours… it really does make the time fly! We made friends with two girls behind us, and chatted until we reached the door. 

The pasted photographs Anne put up in her bedroom

The Annex was amazing, almost exactly as I had pictured it. It was surreal to be in a place where such an incredible story took place. The size of the rooms, the darkness, and the steep staircases took me by surprise. We winded our way through the rooms for about an hour and then stepped back into the Amsterdam light. Right next-door was a bagel shop (which is a big deal for us, considering our favorite restaurant is Burlington Bagel and you can’t find a freaking bagel in Spain). We sat on the edge of the canal and happily ate our mediocre bagels. 

As we were finishing, we saw that a canal boat tour was about to leave. We decided to take a tour, and got tickets at a nearby convenient story. It was a sunny day, so we hopped on the boat and listened to the audio guide speak almost every language you can think of. We traveled through the canals until we reached the Amsterdam harbor. The boat began making a really loud beeping sound and we realized that we were in trouble. The driver made his way to a dock, and tied us to a large metal pipe. He didn’t bother telling us what was going on, so Dee and I took a nap in the sun. After an hour of sitting there, people began to get pretty angry. Some carefully scooted along the tube, climbed up the deck and left, others hopped on another boat. Although frustrated, we were not in any hurry, so we waited another 20 minutes for the boat to be fixed, finished the tour, and hopped off.

Stuck on the canal cruise in the Amsterdam harbor

View of the canal in the opposite direction of the Red Light District

 At this point it was pretty late in the afternoon. We ditched other plans, and decided to go see the Red Light District. Another must see in Amsterdam. We navigated our bikes through the streets, and found our way there. Many people told us that we would be scared and lose our appetite by what we would see, so we were ready for anything. I have to say that it wasn’t as bad as I expected… although it was disturbing seeing the girls “at work”, there weren’t as many as I expected… maybe they were busy? We saw a woman sitting on a stool in a small room waving and winking at us. Behind her was another door, presumably to lead her customers to a more private area. Next to this woman's booth were many other booths- except they were all empty. (I wonder why??) Dee and I considered sitting around and timing how long each "session" took in one of these booths, but decided that might be a bit rude. 

Everything in this area seemed to have a theme (I’m sure you can imagine…) including postcards, t-shirts, posters, aprons and condoms. Other than the women behind the windows, the street and canal were actually really beautiful. We didn’t stay long, but we saw enough. 

At this point, the sun was starting to set and we were getting hungry. After stopping for some wine, we made our way towards our hostel, where we had seen an Italian restaurant that had caught our interest. We have made it a goal that we eat at an Italian restaurant in every European city that we go to… and this seemed to fit that goal. We (by accidentally) cut a couple waiting for a table and sat down. Apparently ordering just tap water is not an option, you HAVE to pay for a drink, so we opted for diet cokes and quickly ordered a pizza and a piece lasagna to share. Both were good, the lasagna definitely beat Paris’s, and we headed back home to get ready for another night out. 

After some wifi time, somehow one of our bottles of wine shattered all over the lobby floor... slightly embarrassing, especially since the sign on the door reads “no food or drinks allowed”. After

Us and our drunken friend....

showering, changing, listening to our favorite Britney Spears songs, and drinking some wine, we set off for the bars. We sat back and people watched as we enjoyed some drinks. The night was pretty uneventful besides making friends with some Dutch guys and watching a drunken older man hit on everything that moves, including us, multiple times. He even paid for a polaroid to be take of us, as long as he got to be in the picture! As you can see, he was a bit smashed. It was a pretty funny night, and although we did not get to dance, we had a good night enjoying Amsterdam’s night scene. 

DAY 59: Amsterdam

Like our trip to Paris, our flight to Amsterdam was at 7:30am, but unlike our trip to Paris, we did not sleep through our alarm. We took a taxi to the airport with plenty of time to spare and stepped on the plane bound for what has now become my favorite city in Europe. 

First off, let me just say, that as soon as Lizzy and I got off the plane, English was the first language we heard spoken by almost everyone around us. As we got into the city, we heard more Dutch being spoken, but almost EVERYONE SPOKE ENGLISH!! It was heaven on earth, I’ll tell ya. 

Secondly, I was immediately struck by the height difference. I am 5’6”. Very average height for a woman in the United States. Lizzy, on the other hand, is 6’ tall. Not so average for an American woman. Lizzy one time told me that her family got themselves extra tall toilets for a Christmas present for themselves. Definitely not average. 

What I’m getting at here is that while in Spain, I felt tall. Most guys were a few inches taller than me, but not by much. Lizzy was the tallest person in almost every room. So when we went to The Netherlands, I yelled, “LIZZY!! We are among your kind now!!” For the first time since middle school, I was once again the shortest person in every room, and also the only brunette. 

Anyway… upon arrival, we caught a bus into the city center. We had directions from the stop to our hostel 5 minutes away directly next to the Vondelpark, which was Amsterdam's version of Central Park. 

The hostel, named StayOkay hostel, was one of the best places we have stayed in so far. A 24 hour desk, free wifi in the lobby, free breakfast, and bike rentals, we were extremely happy. Our roommates for the first night were a few German girls who were incredibly nice as well as an older Scottish woman (who didn’t smell too good…) but was friendly enough. Lizzy and I both had some difficulty understanding what she was saying, but we hoped that was just because she was missing some teeth and not a reflection on all Scottish accents. (Otherwise, we would have some problems when we went to Scotland after our 3 months in Spain were up…)

After we locked up our stuff, we went for a walk around the city. We didn’t exactly have a big plan set for Amsterdam. Paris had all of these different monuments and historically significant buildings that we HAD to see, but Amsterdam wasn’t like that.

Directly out the front door of the hostel was an entrance to the Vondelpark. 

FUN FACT #39: The Vondelpark was open to the public in 1865 and is 120 acres. 

The Vondelpark is GORGEOUS! This is really my kind of park- it is very overgrown with really old willow trees and lots of bike paths and ponds. We walked around for a long time until we came out of the other side of the park to find a lovely little cafe. Starving, we ode red a couple of turkey sandwiches that literally changed our lives. This was the first sandwich I had had since arriving in Europe that wasn’t pre made and sitting in a display window for hours on end. It was on homemade brown bread with tomato mayo. If I could marry this sandwich, I would. It was that good. Lizzy and I still talk about it. A truly magical experience. Like if I sat in front of the Mirror of Erised, I would see myself eating that sandwich. It was that good. 

After lunch, Lizzy and I got lost in Amsterdam. Not the least bit stressed, we walked around aimlessly shopping enjoying the sights. 

FUN FACT #40: Heineken Lager Beer was first brewed by Gerard Adriaan Heineken in 1873 in the Netherlands and is still brewed there today. 

Stupidly, we didn’t realize that Heineken was made in The Netherlands until we got there. There were so many Heineken signs and restaurants everywhere!! We grabbed dinner and some drinks at one and hit the hay early.  Big plans for tomorrow!

DAY 54: The One-Man Cathedral

So today we went on a little excursion into the surrounding areas of Madrid with Alvaro and Angela. 

Alvaro mentioned a cathedral that was being built on the outskirts of Madrid made entirely of recycled materials. He was kind of laughing when he told us about it- he said how the one man who was building it became famous for his work a few years back when he was featured in a soda commercial. Since then, the man has had a few documentaries done about his work and his story is known throughout Spain. 

Angela kind of laughed about the story- neither of them had ever been there before. They knew where it was located, but insisted that this was a really weird thing to see and they weren’t sure if it would be worth the trip. I mentioned the idea to Pilar and Luis, who also laughed, and said they had not been there either but were eager to check it out. Apparently, this is one of those rare and strange oddities that everyone is intrigued by, including

us! So we decided to go.

So this Sunday morning, Alvaro, Angela, and Lizzy came by my place to pick me up and we were on our way to the One Man Cathedral!

FUN FACT #36: Justo Gallego Martinez was born in 1925, which now makes him 89 years old. In 1953, he joined a monastery, but was forced to leave in 1961 when he contracted tuberculosis. He made a promise that if he recovered from the tuberculosis, he would build a cathedral on the tract of land left to him by his parents. His prayers were answered and he has been constructing this cathedral ever since!!

The town that the cathedral is in is called Mejorada del Campo and is definitely not the kind of place you would want to walk around alone at night. The town was DEAD while we drove around looking for parking- but that is typical on a Sunday in Spain. 

Personally, I wasn’t expecting much. A small church with some stained glass or something. Nothing compared to what we actually saw. 

HOLY GUACAMOLE THIS PLACE WAS GIGANTIC!! 

No joke, it’s actually the size of a real life cathedral. 

FUN FACT #37: The outer dimensions are 20x50 meters (or 65x165 feet). The main dome is 131 feet high and 40 feet in diameter. 

So ya, this thing is pretty freakin’ big. 

The four of us honestly were in a bit of shock by the whole thing. It’s free entry, they just ask for donations at the door. Angela, and architect, was pretty concerned about the support beams and the materials used to hold everything up. Yet for some reason, we still thought it would be chill to walk around the balconies and rooftops of the whole cathedral. Typical. My Grandma would have had a heart attack. But I think my Grandpa would have volunteered his services to help make it structurally sound. That is totally something he would do. 

Anyways, we laughed and explored for a while. I couldn’t get over how the man painted some frescos on the walls, and yet didn't have coverings over the dome yet. His building methods are definitely a bit unorthodox. 

He even built a crypt under the church! Which seems a bit odd as I’m assuming no one is buried under there yet. Maybe he means it to be for himself… I mean, he’s gettin’ up there. 

After we made a few donations and got back in the car, Angela and Alvaro told us they wanted to take us to lunch to a city called Alcala de Henares. 

FUN FACT #38: Alcala is the city that Miguel de Cervantes, the author of Don Quixote, was born!

When we arrived at the city, we immediately knew that there was some big event happening. Many of the streets were closed down, we didn't see many people, and there was ZERO parking. Sure signs of a fiesta!

Every city in Spain has it’s own holiday, it seems, and this one was to celebrate Cervantes. Although Alvaro and Angela were a bit disappointed that we wouldn't be able to easily walk the streets and see the sights, Lizzy and I were pretty excited to see the festival. Everyone was dressed up in medieval garb and had their own tents selling things like smoked meats, cheese, and arts and crafts. The city was packed with people, and there was food everywhere. 

Alvaro and Angela paid for our entry into Cervantes’ original home, which was pretty cool. It was one of those very traditional Spanish homes with the courtyard in the middle. All of the rooms were kept in original condition as much as possible which was very cool. One room had puppets of Don Quixote characters, which immediately prompted Lizzy and I to sing, “High on a hill was a lonely goatherd, Lay ee odl lay ee odl lay hee hoo!!” 

After we had some food and walked around a bit, we hopped back in the car and headed back to Madrid. We had a really nice relaxing only adult day, saw some interesting sights, and enjoyed great company. 

Birthdays, Toledo, and Full Days of School

DAY 32: LUCAS’ BIRTHDAY-

While we were in Paris, Lizzy’s Lucas turned 8! When we returned, he had his birthday party. His closest friends (which included my Lucas) were invited to his home for lunch. I took Jaime and Marta home for lunch with me, after which we picked up Paloma and met the party in the park. 

There, Lizzy was locked in an intense water balloon battle with her 9-year-old boy Danny. So of course, I offered my services in trying to peg Danny with a water balloon. Sweet succes. 

Angela hung up this cool game between two trees. She filled these balloons with rice and other stuff and attached them to the string between the trees. She then blindfolded one boy and gave him a stick. The point was to pop the balloon and spray everyone with the rice. A very strange form of a piñata, but the kids had fun!! 

Afterwards, we ate cake and taught the kids how to play Kick the Can (of course). We had so much fun and Lucas had a great birthday. 

DAY 36: TOLEDO-

The weekend after Paris, we decided that we wanted to take a day trip outside of Madrid. Alvaro mentioned Toledo, which was only a quick ride on a speed train. Randomly, Lizzy looked at me and said, “Hey, wouldn’t it be fun if we did a girl’s day? Let’s bring Anna and Marta.”

The parents of our families were so skeptical about the idea. “They are going to get so tired, you won’t be able to see what you want to see, blah blah blah.” But once we get an idea into our heads, we just need to run with it. 

So we left early on Saturday morning with plenty of snacks and water packed with our girls in tow and set off. This was the girls’ first speed train ride, which was really fun to see how excited they were. 

Girls on the Trolley Ride

When we got to Toledo, the girls immediately saw a trolley tour ride around the city and they just HAD  to go on it. Eager to please and do something unbelievably touristy for once, we bought tickets and went on the tour. Each of the girls got their own headphones, which they plugged into the trolley to listen to the history of Toledo (kids version, of course). It was a fun ride, and the girls thought they were so cool, it was hilarious. 

FUN FACT #33: El Greco was born in Toledo, Spain. One of his most famous paintings was one of the view of Toledo which we saw while on the trolley ride with the girls. Although Toledo is much more developed now than it was when El Greco painted it in 1596, it was a cool thing to see.

When we got off, we were back in the main square where a very nice homeless woman was making giant bubbles for the kids for money. So OF COURSE Marta and Anna set off running for these bubbles. I swear, they must have been sticky for days afterwards. But the woman even let the two of them use the bubble maker and make their own bubbles! We gave the woman some money and set out to find the Toledo Cathedral. 

FUN FACT #34: Toledo is known as “The City of the Three Cultures” because of its historical co-existence of Muslims, Jews, and Christians.

Of no great historical significance, I will not go into detail of the Toledo Cathedral, other than it looked a lot like many other cathedrals I have seen in that it was unbelievably beautiful. We gave Lizzy’s phone and camera to each of the girls, and they ran around taking pictures of every brick and cross in the building. 

When we left the cathedral, we went and found a restaurant to eat lunch. We told the girls they could get anything to eat that they wanted, which definitely gave us even more brownie points. After lunch, we got GIANT ice cream cones and the girls went back to the bubbles lady. 

We convinced the girls to walk around a bit with us, and we found hillside with an escalator. And I mean, the longest line of escalators that took us up the back side of Toledo. Obviously, the four of us went alllll the way to the top, and then allll the way to the bottom. Which took us about 15 minutes. YOLO.

A short day, we returned on the speed train back to Madrid. The girls regaled their families with tales of the day, which pretty much consisted of how much fun they had playing with bubbles. Here we are, trying to culture them, and all they care about is bubbles. Classic. 

FIRST WEEK OF FULL DAY SCHOOL:

So this is now how the day works. 

8:00 AM The monsters awaken.

8:00-9:00The monsters attempt to eat breakfast, brush their teeth, make their beds, get dresses, and pack their backpacks. Which essentially means that I run around with Pilar telling them to do all of these things about 20 times before they actually do them. 

9:00 Pilar takes Lucas, Marta, and Jaime to school in the car. I walk Paloma to the nursery school (2 blocks away) and drop her off. 

9:15-9:30 I walk to Lizzy’s house and meet her oustide. 

9:30-10:30 Lizzy and I walk 2.5 miles through Retiro Park to Sol where we are taking Spanish classes. 

10:30-11:30 Class

11:30-12:30 We walk 2.5 miles back to Lizzy’s house and buy bread for the kids. 

12:45-1:00 Pick up the 6 kids for lunch.

1:00-3:00 Normally, we all have lunch at Lizzy’s house, but occasionally my kids and I take the bus to our house and back for lunch. 

3:00-5:00 Kids are back at school. Pilar picks up the kids from school at 5, I pick up Paloma at 4:30. 

4:30-? Pilar usually stays with the kids for a while at school and makes sure they get to their respective basketball practices, music lessons, etc. while I play with Paloma until they come home. 

6:00-9:30 Kids do homework, take baths, and play with me until we have dinner. Then its time for bed! Then we do it all over again tomorrow.

DAY 57: MARTA’S BIRTHDAY-

I swear, this girl has been harassing me about her birthday since the first week I arrived. 

“Deanna, you going to be at my birthday?? Please??”

So of course, I went. She invited maybe 5 friends and a few of her cousins to an ice skating party outside of Madrid. Walking into a hockey rink again was like heaven on earth. 

FUN FACT #35: I was 14 when I got my first job. I was the pro-shop/concession stand girl. I sold skates for public skating and dreamt of one day driving the zamboni. To this day, my whipped cream spirals on top of hot chocolate are nothing short of LEGEND- wait for it… DARY. 

The skates here were not exactly prime. They were more like ski boots, with plastic and buckles instead of leather and laces, but the smell of the ice was magical either way. We had fun skating around. Marta and Lucas were actually quite good! Luis had to help Jaime quite a bit, and even Paloma went out on the ice!! We had a really fun time and Marta had an amazing birthday. 

Day 30: The Louvre, Sacre Coeur, and a Trip Through Time

Back in the 1950's, my Grandfather was drafted for the war in Korea. Fortunately for him, he was accepted into the U.S. Army band and was sent to Austria. So my Grandmother, the adventurous young lady she was, decided to go with him. They lived in Salzburg, Austria (yes, that's where the Sound of Music take place) for a little over a year.

Of course, while they were there, they were able to take time away from the base and see a bit of Europe. To this day, my Grandma says that their excursion to Paris was a truly magical trip. And as any of my cousins can tell you, they like to tell one story in particular of their stay there.

Their first night in Paris, my Grandparents accidentally booked a hotel that far exceeded their budget. When they checked in, my Grandpa was surprised when the front desk clerk gave him the key. It was attached to this giant ostentatious metal star that weighed about 2 pounds with the name and address of the hotel on it.

"Why do you have this giant star attached to the key? It's so heavy and a paint to carry around," said Charley.

"Because people lose their keys all the time sir, this makes sure people remember to return it. But you would be surprised, many people forget to return it all the time," replied the desk clerk.

My Grandparents laughed, "What idiot would forget to return this thing? It's HUGE!"

They spent one night in that hotel before finding another a few blocks away for half the price. And sure enough, when they returned to Austria, my Grandpa found the giant ostentatious metal star in his pocket. That idiot forgot to return it.

So to this day, that metal star key resides on the workbench of my Grandparents' house. Seeing as I was about to go to Paris, I asked my Charley and Muriel for the name and the address of the hotel, just to see what the place looked like for myself!

Cut back to present day...


Lizzy and I had a few more things on the list in addition to Hotel Edouard VII, so we hit those first.

#1. The Paris Catacombs

I read Edgar Allen Poe's "Cask of the Amontillado" in 8th grade, and following being totally creeped out by it, I became fascinated by the idea of the catacombs. There are many in Europe- most in Italy, which was where Poe's story was based. But I had heard about the Paris Catacombs and I convinced Lizzy to try to go see it.

Unfortunately for us, the line was about 3-4 hours long. And although our 20 questions game is still fun now, we were unwilling to test it at the time for such a long period. Whatever, maybe we'll see them in Italy! Annoyed, we got back on the metro and set off for the Louvre.


#2. The Louvre

Surprisingly, this line was not very long. So we hopped on and played our game- no longer with Harry Potter characters. (Not because we were tired of it, but because we had used every character in the book by then...) Lizzy picked a rather difficult one for me- Santa Claus. Let me tell ya folks, that one ain't easy. But then I did Big Foot for her, so we were even.

From inside the Pyramid

FUN FACT #27: Did you know that you enter the Louvre THROUGH the glass pyramid?? Because I definitely didn't.

So we entered the pyramid- which is actually way cooler in real life than you would think- went through security, and then down, down, down the escalators into the main entryway of the museum. Here, there are the ticket counters, bookstore, gift shop, and cafe.

First off, I must say, that I regret the time we spent in the Louvre. And not because we didn't enjoy it- but because we did not budget our time wisely enough as well as we did not do enough research on what we really wanted to see.

We started off in the Sully building. Immediately, we were greeted by the old foundations of the Louvre that are kept there for display.

FUN FACT #28: The Louvre was originally a fortress to protect Paris from Northern invaders.  In 1190, King Phillippe Auguste  began the construction of the fort. In 1364, Charles V started the Louvre's transformation from a fortress to a royal palace. Over the years, the project was abandoned, taken up, abandoned, and taken up once again, most prominently by Francis I in 1546. Francis I actually gathered most of the Louvre's main acquisitions including the Mona Lisa. It was he who was close friends with Da Vinci and received the painting upon his death.  Many years later, it was finally used as a royal residence by Louis XVIII in 1624. His son, Louis XIV, The Sun King, continued the financial support of the building, but moved to the Palace of Versailles in 1674.  Louis XIV, XV, and XVI all worked to keep the palace running and began converting it into a museum. After the French Revolution, the government turned the palace into a full time museum which opened its doors to the public in 1793.

How we do museums...

I won't bore you with our aimless wanderings of the Louvre except for a few highlights. Our favorite parts were...

Napoleon III's apartments. Much like Versailles in grandeur, this place was far less crowded. It was pretty cool to walk around in and enjoy the ridiculousness of the rooms.

FUN FACT #29: For a brief period, the Louvre changed its name to "Musee Napoleon". Why, you ask? Because Napoleon Bonaparte was a pompous jackass.

The marble statues section was probably what we spent most of our time in. They were unbelievably fun to look at. My favorite part was when I found a rather creepy head sculpture of a man. I remarked to Lizzy, and we agreed that his smile brought the word "pedophile" to our lips. Upon further inspection, the subject of the sculpture turned out to be Voltaire.... Awkward....

Old creep... I mean, Voltaire...

Stupidly, we did not really plan out our visit, and after walking around the Egyption and Greek Antiquities for was seemed like forever and then getting lost in the paintings sections, we grew exhausted and went on the look out for Mona. It took us a while, but we found her, surrounded by a solid 200 people trying to take selfies.

A couple weeks after we were there, Beyonce and Jay-Z went to Paris.
They looked to cute together with their picture in front of the Mona Lisa. Adorable even. And I will bet BIG money that they were able to reserve the room for 15 minutes for the two of them to take their adorable picture with Mona without having to be surrounded by hundreds of people. Either that or people just got to their knees and bowed down as they walked by in order to allow them to take this picture unhindered.

The Mona Lisa in all her glory

For us mere mortals, we had to throw some 'bows here and there to get to the railing surrounding Mona, which is a solid 10 feet away from the actual painting which is still surrounded by 2 inch thick bullet proof glass. (Side note- how did Beyonce and Jay-Z get behind the railing? It must be good to be the Queen B.) So we took our pictures briefly and got the hell outta there. Beautiful painting, but a pain to see.

Following Mona, we booked it out of there. We took our touristy photos in front of the Louvre and hit the road. Next on the list...

#3. Sacre-Coeur

Inside Sacre-Coeur

Sunset Sitting

Now originally, this cathedral had not been on our must-sees of Paris. But Pilar had told me how beautiful it was, and its prominence in both views from atop Notre Dame and the Eiffel Tower did make it look like a cool place to see. Tired of walking, we took a cab to the cathedral, and man, was it worth the visit.

FUN FACT #30: Sacre-Coeur did not begin construction until 1875, which makes this cathedral rather new. What is interested though is that the hill on which it was built (which is the highest point in the city) is called Montmatre, or "Mount of Martyrs", originally to commemorate St. Denis. This hill has been a sacred spot since pagan times. It was originally called "Mons Martis" meaning "Mount of Mars" because the Romans built a temple to Mars and Mercury. Classic Christianity- taking pagan things and making them their own.

So Sacre-Coeur rests on this hill top over looking Paris- and boy does it have an amazing view! People were sitting on the steps leading up to the Cathedral looking down on the city and enjoying the sunset. Ironically, there were men selling beer to people as they sat and enjoyed the evening. We took a quick tour about the inside of the church. Holy Guacamole, this place was so cool! The giant dome was adorned with a huge mosaic of Jesus who looked not only down upon the people in the church but also seemingly out the door to overlook Paris itself. It was an unbelievable place, and we enjoyed taking pictures and becoming friends with a nice Australian couple who
took our picture for us.

Us on the steps of Sacre-Coeur

#4. Moulin Rouge

Moulin Rouge is located at the bottom of Montmatre, so we walked down the giant staircase that led up to Sacre-Coeur down into the 18th arrondisement.

FUN FACT #31: Moulin Rouge opened its doors in 1889 and was the originator of the dance known as the French "can-can".

Tickets to this place are like a million dollars and you need to book them FAR in advance, so we didn't actually go inside. But we got a pic of the famous windmill and continued on our way.

#5. Duck

We kept walking and at this point, it was getting kind of late. We
found a random and beautiful cathedral (only in Paris, am I right?) and right next to it a rather classy restaurant and bar. We knew that while we were there, we had to eat some classic French cuisine. I checked out the menu, whose prices were not unreasonable, and Lizzy and I went inside. We had roasted ruck with garlic potatoes and a honey vinaigrette salad. My mind was blown. Then we proceeded to get chocolate crepes, because I mean, we're in Paris, and I almost cried by how good they were.

Our waiter drew pictures of us on his notepad and gave them to us. Like, is this real life?




#6. Hotel Edouard VII

We found the cathedral we were next to on the map and realized how close we were to the hotel that my grandparents stayed at! We hopped in a cab for about 5 minutes and BOOM we were there!! Rather different now I expect than when my grandparents graced this hotel's halls, I can see why they could only afford to stay a night. This place is SWANKY. But I got my picture at the front door and asked for a business card from them and we were back on the metro to get back to Aloha Hostel.

We hit the hay and woke up early the next day to catch out flight back to Madrid. It was a truly magical weekend, but we were glad to be back in our own beds and back with the kiddos.