Monday, January 28, 2008

Sunday in Spain

We heard from H on Sunday. They went to several sites. H told us that the area is beautiful and the weather has been fantastic with day time highs in the mid 60s. Apparently people dress up a little more when they go out at night and t-shirts and jeans are not doing it for H. She did buy a new top on sale!

They toured

El Valle De Los Caídos (Valley of the Fallen, a monument built by prisoners from both sides in the Civil War under orders from Franco.

Felipe II’s monastery- palace of El Escorial, one of Spain’s most famous sights.

The Alcázar,a fortress, a royal palace, the site of Philip II's wedding to his fourth wife, Anne of Austria, and more recently a military academy. In the upper part of the city, the oldest foundations have been identified as Roman. Documents indicate that a fortress existed on this site by the early 12th century known as the Alcázar, an Arabic word for a royal residence. The palace was enlarged in the 13th and 14th centuries and again during the reign of King John II (1405-1454) when towers were added and the East Tower and moat were enlarged. Under Philip II (1558-1598) major alterations were made; slate roofs and spires on towers were added. From 1764-1862 the Royal Artillery College was housed here. A fire in 1862 destroyed most of the structure, which was rebuilt about two decades later in a more romantic style than the original building.

The Roman Aqueduct, one of the greatest surviving monuments of Roman engineering, is about 2950 feet long although the section where the arches are divided in two levels is about 900 feet. It is made of rough-hewn massive granite blocks, joined without mortar or clamps.

Saturday, January 26, 2008

Spain update

this weekend there is no itinerary
but i will tell you when we start doing stuff
we wont see mrs michael till monday

anyways i slept for 13 hours last night
fell asleep before dinner!

haha anyways elena whats to go so i will write more later
plus i'm buying a calling card today

H

Friday, 1/25/08 Spain!



Hey guys!!
its one thirty here in spain. got here about an hour and a half ago. I love it here this city is absolutely gorgeous, as is the entire country. Elena is very very sweet and her mom is also a lawyer! their apartment building is so cute i will be sure to take pictures, though i havent found out where my camera card would go yet......

anyways, got here safe, didnt lose anything yet so things seem to be going good.

talk again soon!

Hannah

Friday, January 18, 2008

Such Possibilities

As our addition nears completion and the weather skirts in and out of warm and cold,I get a yearning for spring and the special color of green seen in the tips of leaf buds and the tops of crocus and tulips breaking through a hard crust of dirt.

I came across this blog today and loved reading it. When is the last time we sang out loud - 80 some rounds of hungry like the wolf? Well probably never, as that wouldn't be my first choice but you get the idea. http://orangette.blogspot.com/

Why don't my links work?

I remember driving all over Harford being goofy and laughing and saying Jim Beam me up, Scottie. It was when we were handling great personal tragedy with a little hair of the dog. A brother was missing and we were all filling in the gap. Everyone really tried to get along then.

A visiting priest last Sunday quoted from three of the four Star Trek series in his homily and brazenly used one of Eddie Izzard's routines without crediting him. H called him on it, though and he admitted being busted.