Drums, Bikes and Hidden Doors

Hola, Familia!

Here are some more photos from our Spain trip. I will focus on the beginning of the trip! Frank's hobby is looking for deals on airlines. He's good at it.

CANADA. Usually, because of the deals, it means that we do not fly direct. The flight over took us to Montreal, Canada. We love Canada. Our lengthy layover allowed us to get out of the airport and walk around a bit.

Montreal Skyline

look closely...ALSO the Montreal skyline!

We hiked around town, where the university was spread out. We hiked to the top of "Mont Royal," which is actually where the city got its NAME! Isn't that cool. There was a great view of the city.

Kara wanted to photograph a reflection in her glasses, so we experimented :)

looking for lunch

these make a loud crying sound! He hung
out by the exit of the armory, So all
the tourists could take pictures :)

We also saw a raccoon...kind of odd since they are nocturnal, but he was rummaging around looking for some lunch. I crept up as close as I dared, and took a few pictures. He completely ignored me.

Cathedral grandeur

armory museum pieces, photo-bomber: Kara

Palace 

EASTER SUNDAY When we got to Madrid, we had just enough time to put our bags in our room, then we headed downtown to the city center.

 It was Easter, and their final procession would take place in the Plaza. They held parades and processions every day of Holy Week, and we got there for the last one.

just one of the cars parked on the street...?!

studying the (gasp) PAPER map!

banner at the procession

drummers...everybody is a drummer...

Bubble Man entertains after the show

It was all drums, representing the earthquakes and tumult that occurred on the day of Jesus' crucifixion. Here are some images of the square.

Some very cute small-version drummers ( the youngest was 3! ha-ha!) come out at the end, and they were filming it for a television channel. By the end it was feeling pretty warm, and I felt bad for them, in their heavy robes and multiple layers.

the Little Drummer Boys

PALACE TOUR. The next day, we were able to visit the Palace Royal, and the armory next to it. I like the audio tours because they give stories to go along with the ornate, extravagant rooms and intricate details of the decor.

I liked the small-ish door in the back corner of one room--sorry, no pictures could actually be taken in the palace...lame in my opinion, but there were SO many tourists, they probably didn't want people taking even LONGER to go through.

Anyway this little door in the back was painted and wallpapered EXACTLY like the wall, so you had to look for it! That was for servants to come in quietly, and not have to walk through all the guests to bring the royalty their _(whatever they wanted)__.

Another room had all the beautiful tableware and cutlery used to entertain. One set had an un. bel. ieve. a. ble number of dishes in the set: 21,000 or something like that.

We walked a lot, like we usually do in a city, and we took subways and buses. I had called ahead to see if we could join any groups at the temple, on Wednesday morning, and was told that yes, there was a group coming in at 11.

We went to the Madrid Temple, and it was neat to interact with those doing work for their families there.

Well my allotted blog time is up, ha! By a long shot, but I do like going through these and editing along the way.

Hope your weekend has been good!
Love, Kari

for rent! Bike around Madrid