Royal Wedding

Just like the rest of the planet, Spain was pretty excited about Kate and William's wedding. I had an exam that morning so I missed the beginning, but I watched the second half with Ana, my host mom and we drank wine and ate sweets to celebrate! When my host dad came home (during the balcony kisses), he made so much fun of us for being so into it, lol!
Anyway, during all the boring parts of the wedding (i.e. almost the whole thing), Ana told me all about Spain's own big royal wedding back in 2004, between Prince Felipe and Letizia Ortiz. Letizia was a journalist (periodista, in Spanish), leading to headlines like "¿Una princesa periodista?" when they were dating and engaged. Apparently the royal family was against the relationship at the beginning since Letizia was divorced (they had disapproved of his previous girlfriend since her parents had been divorced, so you can only imagine how shocking Letizia's situation was for them). But they got married anyway - just like a Hollywood movie!

Also, pressure is on for Will and Kate to produce offspring as ADORABLE as Letizia and Felipe's daughters, Leonor and Sofía. Here's a video of the princesses after Spain won the world cup last summer:

Our Own Tour de France

After our stay in Paris, my parents went to London and Meredith and I traveled around Northern France. We rented bikes in the Loire Valley and rode through the gorgeous countryside.

We visited two chateaux in the valley:

Chateau de Chenonceau

Chateau de Villandry

We also went to Mont St Michel in Normandy. There were way too many tourists crammed onto such a small island, but it was still really cool!

Oi, Oi, Paris

For Spring Break/Semana Santa, my parents and I went to Paris and met up with my friend, Meredith.

Due to the dangerous combination of my mom and her camera, four days in Paris resulted in almost 1000 photos. Here's a sample...

French flag, beautiful buildings, bikes, baguettes...
we must be in PARIS!

Soaking up the sun by the Seine

Cafes on every corner!

We, of course, hit up all the touristy sites, starting with Notre Dame Cathedral!

I had Hunchback of Notre Dame songs stuck in my head all week

View from across the Seine

Family photo

with Meredith

The Rose Window

more stained glass

Me, Mom, and a PIGEON! (that's my, "please get this
thing off my head" face)

We tried so hard to get a jumping photo, but we
never got one with both of us in the air, he he

Sparkling at night!

Arc de Triomphe!

The Louvre

We didn't go inside the Louvre, but we did go to the Musee d'Orsay!

waiting in line for an hour to go in the museum

Shakespeare & Co Bookstore

The Moulin Rouge

Sacre Coeur

One of my dad's favorite places in Paris was Luxembourg Gardens:

Apparently you can't walk on the grass in Paris - we did once and a
police officer told us to get off - oops

my favorite pic of the trip!

Crepes and coffee!!!!!

Mom and Dad come to Spain!!!

My parents came to Salamanca last week - it was my dad's first visit to Spain and my mom's first to Europe! They spent two full days in Salamanca, where I pretty much just got to show off the city to them. Photos:

Puente Romano

In front of the cathedral

One of the super touristy shops on Rua Mayor

Ice cream in the plaza

The garden by the cathedral - my mom's favorite place
in Salamanca

We met up with my friend Lisa for lunch (her mom taught my dad to swim!) and then had coffee with my host family.

Lisa

with my host mom, Ana

Ana, Luis, and Nicki

Before leaving for Paris, we stopped in Madrid for a whirlwind day of sightseeing!

Royal Palace

Puerta del Sol

Plaza Mayor

No visit to the Plaza Mayor is complete without a Fat Spiderman sighting

Rockin' the Madrid metro

Parque de Retiro - Madrid's version of Central Park

To top it all off, FREE admission to the Prado Museum!

I'll write about our Parisian adventures later this week!