Madrid, Madrid, Madrid... (part I)

This past week we said goodbye to our dear friend Jessica as she embarks on a year-long stay in Madrid!

While our time with Jessica has been short, it sure has been great!

                          This is not Madrid, it's the Nubble Lighthouse in Maine ;-)  Sweet Jessica is to the left

We wish you all the best Jess!


Since many of you (and Jess) may soon find yourselves perusing the streets of Madrid, I have asked our world traveler Natalia Soares to fill us in on what not to miss when in Madrid...

My dear friend Gabby ( inspired by the journey of our dear friend Jessica to Madrid, Spain) suggested that I write a guest post about places to visit in Madrid, just in case you find your way there some day!  

I am a little biased as I believe every single place in Madrid is absolutely amazing, and there are so many places to go, and things to see, so you if you are there for a short period of time you should at least cover the basics which are: 

El Palacio Real :   It was pretty cool being in a real palace! They preserved one of the wings of the palace just the way it was back in the day. Down side: You can’t take pictures inside the palace.

Jardin Real :  To the right of the palace you will find a hidden garden! It’s very pretty, and there are free concerts there during the summer!

La Catedral:  Simply beautiful! ( but so is every church in Spain). 

Plaza Mayor: Located in downtown Madrid, Plaza Mayor is a charming spot with some tasty restaurants and bars with great sangria. 

El Prado  : Fine art pieces dated from the 12th century up to the 19th century.  It was amazing to see Velzaquez’s art in person, and so surprising to see that most of his paintings were life size! P.s. you need a whole day there to see all the beauty.

 Museo Reina Sofia :  Modern art museum, where I was finally able to see in person Picasso’s Guernica! Larger than any painting I have ever seen! Fun fact- you can take pictures in this museum (but not of Guernica)

Plaza de Cibeles : (In case you didn’t know, you can go in the white building where there is a free “Mirante” of the city from the top floor!) 

Gran Via: You will love it if you enjoy the clash of old and modern buildings.

Plaza de España: Here you will find the statue of Frederico Garcia Lorca, and the theatre! 

Plaza del Sol : Great for shopping, and it’s so beautiful! Down side: too many tourists, and be careful with Mickey Mouse, he WILL ask you for money. 

Retiro y Palacio de Cristal: A Spanish version of NYC's Central Park but even better! Great for reading and studying. 

And these were Natalia's top tourist attractions. Stay tuned for her post on Madrid's hidden treasures!

These are a few of my favorite things... and cliché is my forte.

Some links to the things I can't live without or prefer not to.

1.Thredup. What is a girl who loves clothes but hates (and can't afford) hefty price tags to do? Ladies and gentleman, it is my pleasure to introduce you to previously loved clothes!

(applause)

Seriously, thredup is super cool. Tons of great clothing for awesome prices. I've gotten really good items ( Charming Charlie, Anthropologie, Anne Klein, etc ) for $8-$20 bucks. Awesome. For a $10 off code, click here.

                                                                            

Forever 21 Sandals $6.49

Topshop Summer Dress $13.99  

 

Essentials by ABS dress $16.49

 
 

 

2. Pray More Novenas. Do you begin novenas with all faith and devotion only to forget all about them a few days later? Good. I'm not the only one.

 

 I began praying the Novena to the Sacred Heart of Jesus with this online community back in June and so far I've prayed their novena to St. Anne, a novena for religious freedom and persecuted Christians, and will end the novena to St. Monica this Wednesday on her feast day.

 

It is very simple. Sign up to join this prayer community and you will receive an e-mail with the prayers of the day each day of the novena. You can e-mail them your intentions and the whole community will pray with/for you.

 

 

 

3. Peddler's Daughter in Haverhill. I probably shouldn't advertise since the place is always packed as it is, but this really is a cool spot. Tuesday night trivia is the best and the food is pretty good. Either that or my standards are very low, not sure which one.  

Photo courtesy of Primary Design

 

 



4. Graze.  For about $6 a week you can have tasty snacks delivered to your home (about 4 snack boxes a week). You can also opt to receive them every other week.  They offer a huge selection of snacks, many of which are gluten-free or under 100-something calories.  Some of my favorites are the chocolate orange flapjack, triple berry smoothie (it's not a smoothie) and wholegrain banana caramel dippers (yum!).

 

Use reward code T7Q1G427P and get your first and 5th box free.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hello world!

So what better way to celebrate a summer full of joy and adventures than to start a blog?

 Let me start by stating I can't promise any brainy articles or theologically dense posts. What you will probably get are the musings and adventures of a 20-something Catholic girl in New England who happens to be a youth minister and who is at this moment two semesters away from becoming a teacher but is light-years away from the college life.

Who knows? Maybe in ten years I will look back on these posts and see just how much more awesome life has turned out! If that's even possible :-)

So on this inaugural post, I will look back on the best moments of aforementioned summer. Still there? Good!

                                                                                         photo courtesy of Jessica Jacques

 

1. The longest and most painful and most beautiful hike in the history of all hikes. Seriously.

Franconia Notch, NH

 

 

 

 

2. Fireworks on the Esplanade followed by the fun of running around Boston under the greatest flood since Noah.

 

 

 

 

3. Swing Dancing at Boston Swing Central and their lawn party. 

 

 

 

 

 

4. Plymouth and bocce and boats and burgers. The company was excellent too. (Woohoo Danielle and Davide!)

 

 

 

 

5. Morning mass at All Saints. Could have been every day but the way my sleep schedule is set up... I know. Lame.

 

6. "Summa Triviologia" at Peddler's Daughter with Fr. Peter. Our first night (see above).      

       Our most recent night (see below).

 

7. On that note, Fr. Peter and his enthusiasm and joy!

 And his serious trivia knowledge!

 

 

 

                                                                 photo courtesy of Bryan Carnahan

 

8. Mass at the top of Mt. Monadnock. AMAZING. You can read about it here.

 

 

 

  9. Florida. Warm Water. Joy.

  
 

                       10. Friends! The old ones, the newish ones, the brand new ones!

                                                   Thank you all for an awesome summer!
 

       Cheers!!!