| Story of my Europe tripAfter I finally graduated, me and my mom went "backpacking" to Europe.
Why the quotation marks, you ask? Because we used suitcases as it was easier to drag around.
So here is my recap of the trip, city by city, if you are interested:
Toronto:
Had a 5 hour layover in Toronto and went to the CN Tower. Unfortunately didn't go up the tower as it did not seem to be worth it: 22CDN+tax (which is more than the leaning tower and the eiffel tower  ). We shouldn't use so much money before we even reach the first stop of our trip. Although I didn't see too much of Toronto, and you can call me biased, but I still think Vancouver is the best city in Canada~
Madrid:
Finally, after ~16 hours of flight (bad Air Canada tickets), we finally arrived in Madrid. The weather wasn't good and there were a few rain drops. First place we went after dropping off luggage at hostel was go to Plaza Mayor. The statue you see in the picture is of Philip III who was responsible for the construction of the square. For more history about the plaza: http://www.madaboutmadrid.com/guide/2003/10/plaza_mayor.html
Lunch at a cafe in Plaza Mayor. I forgot the spanish name of it; it is like a fried squid sandwich, recommend by Rick Steve's Best of Europe 2006.
Palacio Real. For more history about the palace: http://www.madaboutmadrid.com/guide/2003/10/plaza_mayor.html
Catedral Ntra. Sra. de la Almundena: cathedral across from Palace Real
Tapas for dinner
Puerta del Sol: the center of Madrid
Breakfast: chocolate and churros at Chocolateria San Gines. You dip the churros into the hot chocolate.... mmmmmm, it was good!
Parque del Buen Retiro
Rowing a boat at the park. I know, you must all be thinking, finally, proof that Olivia actually was there.
Lunch after tiring 45 minute boat rowing: paella.
Then it started pouring so we went to Museo del Prado.
No, I did not photoshop out her clothes, these are a famous set of paintings by Francisco de Goya, The Clothed Maja and the Nude Maja.
The architecture was very nice throughout all of Old Madrid. The overall feeling it projected, in my opinion, was one of the best I felt. All the buildings were nice, clean, and fitting of the style in Madrid.
Dinner at Cerveceria Santa Ana (I think). Their refreshing white house wine at price of 2 EUR was the best.
Overnight train to our next destination. Seeing as we would only ride one overnight train in our whole trip, we splurged for beds. The two bunks are on each side at the top. You can already see the door on the right side of the picture, so you can imagine how small the "room" is. I had to stand outside to take the picture.
After 8 hours on this slow moving overnight train, we arrived at our next destination.....
To be continued.... I think...
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