My Spring Break Adventure Part 4

After spending two days in Biarritz, we packed up yet again and continued our journey through France. We drove from Biarritz to Bordeaux and had lunch there and then from Bordeaux, we rode a bullet train to Tours which is in the Lorie Valley.

BORDEAUX 

 I don't remember why I took a picture of this building but it was incredibly long and cool.

Below is the top of a tall statue in the area where we stopped in Bordeaux. It was built for the Girondins who were the less radical of the political parties during the French Revolution. Their headquarters were in Bordeaux.

 This is the bullet train we rode. It was absolutely crazy getting thirty three people and all of our luggage off in just a few minutes. We had quite the system and managed it all with just about thirty second to spare. 

TOURS

We were pretty much in Tours to just get dinner and sleep before moving onto Paris. Essentially, it was a pit stop. All we did here was walk to dinner and back. We did detour a little bit and saw the old part of the city which was cool but it was dark and I knew that my pictures wouldn't turn out very well and it wasn't very memorable for me so no pictures from this part of the trip.

My Spring Break Adventure Part 3

       After our day in Burgos, we made our way out of Spain and into France. Of course, we made a few stops along the way.

BILBAO

       Our first stop of the day was at the Guggenheim in Bilbao. The building was amazing and the actual museum was quite intriguing but very, very odd to say the least. 

       My favorite part of the museum was this net thing filled with balls that was suspended that we got to climb through. The backstory of the piece was a little odd but none the less it was fun!

SAN SEBASTIAN

       After the Guggenheim, we loaded back onto the bus and headed to the Spanish coastal town of San Sebastian. I wished that we could have stayed overnight here because it was so comfortable there. We were there on a Sunday and it was uncharacteristically warm out so all these families were out in this main park area. The only stores open were ice cream/gelato shops so we ate gelato with tons of Spanish families in a park. It was a very cool experience. 

 Here is the beach at San Sebastian. I have no idea what is written in the sand. Some person kept writing it over and over. Most of our group went swimming while we were there and you can sort of see a few of them out in the water. 

This was just a cool saint statue that was on a hill near the water. We didn't walk up there but it looked like a cool statue.

       

       After San Sebastian, we headed into France. Crossing the boarder was funny for me because we just drove right through the check point (Got to love the European Union). 

Sorry for the bad picture quality but this was my first view of France.

BIARRITZ 

       We decided before we left that we wanted a rest day on our trip since we would be constantly doing something. So, we spent two nights in Biarritz and had a full day to do whatever we wanted.

 The Atlantic Ocean from Biarritz. 

 The lighthouse

 My first ever macaron. I played it safe and went with chocolate and it was delicious! So good in fact that I promptly went back and got three more.

These were, chocolate passion fruit, salted carmel and some other fruit one. I decided that the best macarons are traditional dessert flavors and the fruit ones are just okay.

My Spring Break Adventure Part 2

   
       After spending two days in Madrid, we packed up our things and headed to Burgos we stopped along the way in Segovia first though. This day was the only not nice day we experienced. It misted and there was tons of thick fog so when we drove through the mountains to get to Segovia we couldn't even see them!

SEGOVIA

 This is where a church used to stand, in front of the castle before it was destroyed.

 The castle. It was the inspiration for Snow Whites castle.

 Child sized suits of armor.

 The crest of Ferdinand and Isabella above their chairs.

 The ceilings were immaculate. 

 The thick fog and the pretty view.

 The main dining room is lined with statues of the former Kings and Queens.

 The river was used to mint coins.

 A cool old church.

 The main alter in the chapel inside of the castle.

 The castle was converted into a military training school so there is one big room full of cannons and suits of armor.

 The picture above and below are in a vault. The first was one of the original minting machines and the one below was a treasure chest of sorts.

 The moat. 

 The statue below is holding a book. Our guide told us that once a year it turns a page from the book and that if a page doesn't turn one year the world will end. They have a big celebration that day and gather to watch the page turn.

 An octagonal church. We did not go into this one.

 Below is the aqueducts that make Segovia famous. They were built by the Romans and were used to cary water to the noble family homes until the 1960's. No cement or substance like it was used when building the aqueduct so it is standing on its own. It stretches for just under a mile.

 The city of Segovia.

More of the aqueduct.

       After our stop in Segovia, we continued onto Burgos. 

BURGOS

This building is where Christopher Colombus met with Ferdinand and Isabella after his second voyage to the Americas. It is now a bank

The cathedral in Burgos.

This is a clock. Yes, it looks like a person. Every hour, for each ring of the bell, it opens it's mouth. We were there at 1 so we only got one chance to see the mouth open. It was very odd and very interesting.

This is where El Cid and his wife are buried. They are in the church. 

This is a statue that people refer to as the drunk Joseph. Again, churches there were built when people couldn't read so everything had to tell a story. Joseph looks like he is holding a beer stein (it's a lantern) so people decided that he was having a celebratory drink hence the given name.

I don't recall who was buried here but their tomb was really cool.

This is a painting that people believe to be the same person who is the Mona Lisa. It is in the same room as the tombs above.

This is a view that we got walking to the church. Burgos has a bunch of Sycamore trees.

 Colorful buildings in Burgos' Plaza Mayor.

       This concludes my third day of the trip and second stop. In Burgos, my roommates and my room started leaking. That was an adventure trying to communicate the problem to Spanish speaking people but really it added even more to the already amazing experience.