MY TRIP TO MADRID

About Madrid: 

Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is about 3 million, double the population of Toulouse.  It is the third-largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin.

Day 1 – 11^th April 2015 – Saturday

I went to Madrid with my family and I went there by car (It was 8 hours).  We stopped at Lourdes (for 2 hours) and went to the Grotto and lighted candles and took some holy water.  Then we went to Madrid.  In the night (10 pm) we reached there, had our dinner and then went to sleep.  It was a very long journey to Madrid, but I had my kindle to read all the way to Madrid!  My dad said the drive was very nice due to no traffic on high ways.

Day 2 – 12^th April 2015 – Sunday

We used the Metro for the next 3 days in Madrid.  On Sunday we first went to the Royal Palace and to the Garden behind the palace. The palace garden was very big and it has lot of mazes in it.  Next, we went to Puerta del Sol, where the famous clock is located.  

There is also the famous statue of Bear with a Madrono Tree and the Point of Kilometre Zero – which is the starting point of Spain.  We went to an Italian restaurant for lunch and to a Spanish restaurant for Dinner.

About the Palace:  This palace is the official residence of the Spanish Royal Family but the King Felipe VI and the Royal Family do not reside in the palace; they stay in a smaller Palacio de la Zarzuela outside Madrid

Day 3 – 13^th April 2015 – Monday

We went to the Plaza de Ciebels, where the Spanish football team celebrates when they win a football cup.  It has the Spanish Cityhall and the famous statue of Greek goddess on a chariot with 2 lions.

Next we went to the 

Puerta de Alcalá, a monument at the round about and to the Retiro park and spend some time at the lake and park.  It was very nice.  

We came back to the city centre and had Churros with hot Chocolate sauce at San Gines.  Monday night we went to the Gran via which is a central street, full of restaurants and shops.  

We had our dinner at an Amercian diner called Tommy’s Mels. 

Day 4 – 14^th April 2015 – Tuesday

On Tuesday, we went to the Plaza de Espana which has a big fountain and small shops.  Next we went to the Temple of Debod at one of Madrid's parks, the Parque del Oeste, near the Royal Palace of Madrid. 

Went shopping to Gran Via again and to Desigual (5 story exclusive Desigual store); we also walked around the streets of Puerto Del Sol, had lot of frozen yogurt and returned to hotel.

About the Temple of Debod:

The Temple of Debod is an ancient Egyptian temple which was dismantled, was taken to Madrid and rebuilt in Madrid.  It was originally built in Egypt during 2^nd Century, 2000 years ago.

Original Temple picture from Egypt, before moving it to Spain.  

Day 5 – 15^th April 2015 – Wednesday

It was my Mom’s birthday on Wednesday, we celebrated at the hotel room and then checked-out of the hotel.   Then, we went to the National Geography Store on Gran Via.  This store was interesting with lot of world maps, travel accessories, soft animal toys and dresses.   I bought a big Tiger soft toy which looks very real. Then we drove back and reached Toulouse at 9:30 pm.

My Winter Break Vacation

We did not do the usual thing of visiting a place during this winter break. We decided to stay in Toulouse. In fact we wanted to visit some places but as my dad said he has a problem with this passport, we decided to stay in France. He also said there is no point to travel anywhere in France as it was cold and Toulouse is more warmer than other places.

We still had a good time in the break. We did Christmas shopping for all of us in the family, My dad bought a new tablet, my mom bought some clothes, me and my sister bought some toys that we long wanted and some clothes as well.

My day always wondered whether he bought the new tablet for himself or for me and my sister. We loaded plenty of new games in the tablet (like minion rush, subway surfers, temple run, mr crab, pitfall) and started playing.

The other thing that I did during the break was to improve on my language skills. I read some books on French.

My father got to see me do some creative looming when he got me the rainbow loom set. I made some chains, bracelets, Christmas stockings, and so on. I had a good company with me, as my friend Aaryaa from year 6 joined me in this activity.

I long wanted to learn the "hoola hoop". Thanks to my dad, I bought a hoola hoop and also learnt to do the swings. I tried to teach my sister as well, but she did not try as she was not comfortable with it. She will perhaps learn this later.

I thought we may not have a good vacation but we really had a relaxing and exciting one.

Dune Du Pyla

Near Bordeaux, in a place called Teste-du-Bush at Arcachon bay, I went to a place called Dune Du Pyla and it is also called Sand Dune.  Its height is 110m above the sea level and it is in between the Atlantic ocean and a big forest.  It is the biggest sand dune in Europe and it is observed to be slowly moving inward into the forest.

I had lots of fun there because it was really sandy and very soft. When I was coming down on the slope of the sand hill, if you pushed the sand a bit, it flows like water.

 There are lots of sand dunes around the world like, northwest of India and in parts of the southwestern United States.

Dunes form when the sea wind pushes sand against an obstacle like grass or trees on the beach.  Over time, it becomes a small hill of sand.