On December 25th my mom, dad, younger sister, and grandmother came to visit me in the UK (my older sister wasn't able to come because of medical school commitments). We rented a car and had a great time seeing the sights in London, Bath, Oxford, Stonehenge, Stratford-upon-Avon, and Winchester. We also got a chance to see the English National Ballet perform The Nutcracker. We spent the rest of the time visiting family. We visited my paternal grandparents, one of my dad's aunts, one of my mom's aunts, and one of my aunts. To be completely honest, I didn't realize I had that many relatives in the UK until we started visiting everyone! My little sister and I spent New Year's eve partying with a couple of our younger uncles and aunts. Another highlight of catching up with relatives was finding out that one of my cousins has a baby girl, so I am an uncle!
My dad and my maternal grandmother flew home January 6th while my sister, my mom, and I headed to Madrid. People had warned us to be careful of thieves in Spain, and we took the standard precautions. We didnt realize what was going on at first, but on the metro the day we arrived two ladies got on the train with us, proceeded to bump into my mom like 10 times even though the train was empty, and then got back off before the train even left the station! Despite the thievery, litter, and general lack of convenience I am a big fan of Spain. The way everything shuts down for siesta takes some major getting used to, but its nice to have that change of pace once in awhile. I also have to credit El Museo Reina Sofia with what I think are my first steps toward gaining some sort of appreciation for 20th century art (at least of the Spanish variety). The rooms are organized around concrete themes that illustrate the development and context of different styles. The curators did such a good job that i could actually see what they were talking about! I am not going to claim to be a big fan, but at least I can now sort of appreciate what the point is.
Brussels' town square was nice, but the best part of the city was the food. The chocolate and waffles are as good as advertised, and the food in general is delicious. The first (and practically only) thing that comes to mind when I think of my time there is FOOD :)
No comments:
Post a Comment