Dog Stencil

This was a great project, however it was rather tedious work with the X-acto knife and actually creating the stencils. but after that it wasn't that hard and it was pretty fun. personally mine got messed up and i had to go through and redo a few of the colors. To me this project was pretty successful, though it could have come out a little bit better, but in all this project was very fun and I look forward to more projects like this one!

Montjuic Castle

Castell de Montjuïc | Montjuic Castle

This majestic castle sits on the highest point in Barcelona and therefor was one of the first things we could see when drove into Barcelona on September 1st. The Castle was the site of the 1992 Summer Olympics which revitalized the city, spurring the economy and national pride. Montjuic Castle was also one of the sites that was used to measure and calculate the distance between the North Pole and Equator. Which was then used the calculate the length of the Internationally used and accepted meter.

Budget

Budget - $17,500

}Travel - $4112

}Hotels - $1474

}Transportation - $870

}Souvenirs - $150

}Food - $1650

}Entertainment - $1000

Total cost: $9256

La Paradeta Seafood Restaurant

Today was day eight and we were all a bit tired.  A great treat today was when we headed to La Paradeta for a nice long sit down lunch.  Our feet were very happy.  This cafe boasts local produce and seafood.  The neat thing is we were able to pick a variety of local fish to eat at a great price.  We walked through the line and selected out the fish we wanted, then the cook would prepare the fish right there.  It was so fresh.  then we walked over to a barista to order our drinks.  We were able to sit and talk while our food we picked out from a raw buffet was being cooked.  We all selected fresh shrimp as we were familiar with it and they sautéed in butter.  We all thought about eating crab, but we observed some other patrons struggling to open and actually eat it.  We were all just to tired.

DO! Hot Springs Tour

Pictures attributed to TripAdvisor.

We had a Wonderful day five at the local  hot springs outside of  Valencia. The scenery was gorgeous with majestic cliff sides and clear waters. The Tour guide from Do! was wonderful, he was entertaining full of knowledge about local history, and about how these hot springs had formed. The water was delightful at a very warm temperature.  We ended our visit with refreshing local fruit and fresh juices from a local road side vendor who had set up just across the entrance of the springs. The mandarin Clemenule were our favorite. We headed out for a nice relaxing lunch back toward the city.

Itinerary

Day One (26th)

• Take off Raleigh, NC 4:51p
• Arrive to Newark, NJ 6:44p
• Leave Newark, NJ 8:25p
• Arrive to Madrid, Spain at 10:44a
• Pickup the car from the car rental
• Drive to the Silken Puerta America hotel
• Crash in the hotel
• Eat dinner at the hotel's restaurant
• Buy some drinks
• Sleep

Day Two (27th)

• Eat breakfast
• Go to the Museo del Prado with audio guides ( $4.00 per adult)
• Walk the street
• Walk to the Cafe Central for lunch (13 minutes)
• Back to the hotel
• Eat dinner
• Go back to the hotel
• Pack up for tomorrow
• Sleep

Day Three (28th)

• Drive to Bunol (3 and a half hours)
• Crash in the Posada Venta Pilar hotel
• Go to the Tomatina Festival
• Go back to hotel to change clothes
• Eat lunch
• Go out for a walk 
• Buy tickets for tomorrow's match
• Eat dinner
• Sleep

Day Four (29th)

• Drive to City of Arts and Sciences in Valencia, Spain (30 mins)
• L'Hemisfèric and El Museu de les Ciències Príncipe Felipe buildings
• Go out to eat lunch at Valencia
• L'Umbracle and L'Oceanogràfic building
• Go back to the hotel in Bunol
• Eat dinner and drink some beer
• Sleep

Day Five (30th)

• Eat breakfast 
• Drive to Valencia for the Hotspring Tour
• All day Hot Springs tour with DO!
• Drive back to hotel
• Pack up for tomorrow
• Eat dinner
• Sleep

Day Six (31st)

• Eat breakfast
• Email home
• Drive to the Mestella Stadium in Valencia, Spain
• Drive to Valencia Beaches
• Go back to hotel
• Eat dinner
• Back to hotel
• Sleep

Day Seven (1st)

• Eat breakfast
• Drive to Gaudi Sagrada Familia hotel in Barcelona (3hrs 30mins)
• Look Down on the City from Tibidabo
• Eat lunch
• Go back to hotel
• Rest
• Dinner-Dos Palillos
• Sleep

Day Eight (2nd)

• Eat breakfast
• Go shopping
• Eat lunch at La Paradeta Restaurant
• Take pictures from the hotel balcony
• Celebrate Danny's and Angello's birthdays
• Sleep

Day Nine (3rd)

• Wake up and eat breakfast
• Email home pictures
• Go to the La Sagrada Familia
• Eat lunch at a local pub
• Go to hotel and take a nap
• Videogame session with hotel staff
• Eat dinner
• Go to sleep

Day Ten (4th)

• Eat breakfast
• Go to the Montjuic Castle
• Eat lunch
• Come back to the hotel
• Take a walk
• Pack up for tomorrow
• Eat dinner
• Sleep

Day Eleven (5th)

• Eat breakfast
• Drive back to Madrid (6hrs)
• Eat lunch on our way to Madrid (Zaragoza)
• Rest
• Go to El Sol night club
• Sleep

Day Twelve (6th)

• Eat breakfast
• Panoramic Tour Bus (GoMadrid)
• Eat lunch
• Back to hotel
• Email home
• Take a walk
• Go shopping (souvenirs)
• Eat dinner
• Sleep
• 
  

Day Thirteen (7th) 

• Eat breakfast
• Go to the Retiro Park
• Eat lunch
• Go back to hotel
• Pack up for tomorrow's flight
• Eat dinner
• Sleep

Day Fourteen (8th)

• Eat breakfast
• Drive to the Madrid Baraja Airport
• Return the car
• Take off Madrid, Spain (11:35 am)
• Arrive to Newark, NJ (2:30 pm)
• Eat some snacks in the airport
• Take off Newark, NJ (6:00 pm)
• Arrive to Raleigh, NC (7:54 pm)
• Get back to our homes 
• Sleep

Sports played in Spain

Soccer is the most played sport in Spain. Spain is known for "La Liga", the Spanish League. This league is considered to be one of the world's best competitions. Successful teams like FC Barcelona and Real Madrid participate in this competition.Other popular sports include basketball, tennis, cycling. We couldn't call our trip a vacation if we didn't go to a soccer match, so we did. We went to the Mestalla Stadium located in Valencia. That day, Valencia CF had to face Atletico de Madrid. Exciting match that resulted in 3-2, Atletico de Madrid won.

Mestalla Stadium

Spain is not only known for soccer. It is also known for having produced a number of tennis champions, like Rafael Nadal.

Rafael Nadal