I made it here!

Hello all,

I made it to Madrid on Tuesday morning at 8:00 AM Madrid time. Shannon, another Temple student and the girl I sat next to on my flight, and I took a cab together to the hotel. After we wandered the city for a while until we could check in. Today, as a whole group (there are 26 of us), we went to San Lorenzo de Escorial. The church/monastery/school/ palace there (all in one building built by King Phillip II in honor of his father King Charles I in the 16th century) is the burial site for all (every single one) Spanish king except two. It's about thirty minutes outside of the city. Saint Lawrence (San Lorenzo in Spanish) was grilled (literally) for his faith in the Roman period and so the symbol of the grill is all over the building.
The Spanish eating schedule is vastly different. Breakfast is a little snack (a bread roll or something of that nature). Lunch is late (around two) and dinner is later (nine is really early) but the meals are HUGE!!! They serve 'table' wine with both meals. You have to add a soda water to it otherwise it tastes funny, but wine is like getting a glass of water at an American restaurant. It's no wonder there is a specific time of day devoted to napping in Spain each day. We've participated in that both days as well.
We are headed to Segovia and Avila tomorrow and Toledo on Friday. Saturday were going to Palacio Real and the Prado in Madrid before heading to Oviedo on Sunday. I will try and post again sometime soon. Hopefully when I get settled in Oviedo I will be able to post some pictures of what I've been up to.
Also Happy Epiphany (tomorrow)! The coming of the three wise men is a very big celebration in Spain and there is a big parade today. This is when the kids get their gifts. There are Christmas decorations all over the plazas in Spain.

~Ana