I haven’t been posting in a while, but now we are on part 2 of our sabbatical tour, so I will get to posting regularly.

Guess were we are right now:

a. Spain

b. Spain

c. Spain again (:

Answer: That’s right, we are in Spain! Madrid, Spain, to be exact. And MAN is the weather good over here. Since April 5 we have been wearing nothing but short(s) sleeves. We live in the center of the city, right near a big park. It’s called El Retiro, and it has a lot of playgrounds, sculptures, lakes, and buildings. It even has the only statue of a devil in the world! It has a giant building made out of glass called the Palacio de Cristal. It was built to house plants from the Philippines, which was at that time a Spanish colony. Now it is not a greenhouse, it is just a place where people come and look at its beauty.

We also went to the main square. It is called the Plaza de Mayor. There is a lot of commotion. It is very old and has cobblestone streets. I ate a traditional Spanish dish called a paella. It is rice with seafood, such as calamari and shrimp. It tastes really good.

Next stop: Palacio Real de Madrid. It is very big (and old). It was built in the 18th century and it is the official residence of the royal family. There is also a big garden called the Jardines de Sabatini. There are a lot of hedges for playing hide-and-seek, and we did exactly that. My Mom was trying to find me and Evan, and she sometimes hid, too. We had lots of fun. There were lots of performers throughout Madrid, and there was a group of teenagers who showed tricks with soccer balls. They were good! It’s Spain. Everyone knows how to play soccer.

It was a great start to our stay is Spain.