August 18th early in the morning we drove down to Brussels airport in Belgium to catch my flight to Valladolid, Spain. The drive sucked because we almost got in a car accident when a semi hit a dog right in front of us. It was really disturbing as we saw everything and not a great way to start my trip. We recovered by the time we reached the airport and I bid adieu to my mom as she was returning to Canada before I returned to Utrecht.

view of Belgium from the air... if only I could have stayed to enjoy some good Belgian beers!

In Belgium they speak either Dutch or French and it's split across the middle.

First glimpse of Spain. The weather was weird as a large storm broke over the Pyrennes and it was raining in Valladolid.

The landing was exciting because the runway was small for the plane and not built for rainy weather. Everyone cheered for some reason and I was stoked to be in Spain.

This is Tyler at the 'Barbieri International Hostel' in Madrid. He's from San Diego and is taking a 1 year spanish course. We partied a bunch together and visited the Prado museum. The hostel was clean and safe and is in the Chueca district which is a short walk from most places.

Some building on the 'Gran Via' which is one of the main drags in Madrid. Nice road for a walk

Me in front of the 'Palacio de Communicaciones' on the 'Gran Via'

One of the roundabouts in Spain with a huge fountain in the middle

the 'Dos de Mayo' monument to all those who died in the various battles for Spain

these streets would be fun on a motorcycle

A few people from my hostel and I visited the Prado Museo in Madrid. It houses art from the 1100-1600 and 1600-1850 eras. This painting is "THE ANNUNCIATION" by Fra Angelico (1387-1455)

a gruesome painting of the crusifiction of christ

A piece of 'The Resurrection' by Spanish painter Raphael. I think the child has a demon which is being exorcised, checkout his eyes.

the same painting with a view of christ above the child and the saints

a painting from David and Goliath... pretty gruesome stuff. I think it might be Michelangelo's painting from the 17th century.

a painting depicting Noah's arc, I forget the artist

"Cristo Crucificado" Painted around 1632 by Velázquez (1599-1660). Possibly one of the most famous painters in the world he was born in Seville, Spain.

"Las Meninas" (The Maids of Honour) Painted around 1656-57. The most famous painting by Velázquez. You can see the painter in the left of the photo as he paints the king and queen. Note them in the mirror on the wall, however the queen is on the correct side in the mirror but the wrong side in real life. The child is the princess with her aids and who is the man in the background?

"THE MARTYRDOM OF ST. PHILIP" by de RIBERA, JOSÉ (1591-1662)
Spanish and Italian Schools. Baroque
17th Century
Hall 25

Sculpture of Hermaphrodite, I tried to get a photo of the other side but the guard stopped me for some reason. Look up the story of Hermaphrodite if you're interested. In short he's the son of Hermes and Aphrodite and has the genitals of both sexes after an unfortunate incident with a nymph who prayed to the gods never to be seperated from him. They took her literally.

I also forget who did this painting but it's pretty freaky.

screwed this photo up with a stupid frame by mistake... my camera likes to switch modes in my pocket... still a nice statue in front of the 'Palacio Real' *

I want a pad like this

the main courtyard... a tour of the palace is possible but costs about 8 euros and I had toured enough buildings after my 3 hours in the prado museum

this building was huge and is located right next to the 'Palacio Real'

Me in front of the palace, a girl from western US named Nicole took this pic and we ended up hanging out for the day eating Tortillas de Patatas (tasty potato and onion in egg) and drinking sangria at the Plaza de Santa Anna (main clubbing district and a nice place to hangout).

the metros were a great way to get around, 3 days for 12 euros. The stations are really hot and watch out for picpockets.

Arturo, a Portugese guy whom I met at the hostel in Madrid. He tried to teach me some Spanish.

Tyler, another dude from the hostel. He is a Stanford Psyc student with a thing for the poet Lorca. We partied at the clubs in Madrid and hung out together, hopefully I'll run into him again someday in Cali.

August 20th at about 7am. Walking to the train station after my two night stay in Madrid on the way to Barcelona.

so many statues in Madrid

mandatory motorcycle photo... not many sport-bikes in spain, lots of scooters and smaller versions of our bikes

'Estacion de Atociia' (train station). Check it out... it has a jungle INSIDE the station... how cool is that?

On the train to Barcelona. It had everything: tons of legroom, non-smoking cabins, on board movies and music, and it went 205kmph! My favorite train of the trip.

My first night in Barcelona I wandered down the Gran Via which is filled with thousands of people almost 24/7. This is the "Batlló House" by famous architect and artist Gaudi.