Semana Santa

Alright so for Semana Santa (Holy week) my parents came to visit me and we went to Vienna and Prague. They left Chicago on Thursday April 2nd and arrived in Madrid on the morning of April 3rd then they took a bus to Burgos to meet me. We visited the Cathedral, my school, my dorm, and walked around my the historical center. I showed them my favorite places for cafe con leche and we had some churros. Overall, it was a very good day. The next day we took the bus to Madrid in the morning. Our hotel was in an amazing location right in then center next to Puerta del Sol. We went to some museums, El Prado and La Riena Sofia. We also walked around the park, El Reterio, because the weather was AMAZING, super sunny and warm just like my entire vacation (great luck). Then we walked to Plaza Mayor and through Sol. The next day we got up and went to see the Royal Palace and just as we were leaving we heard tons of noise outside and saw a huge processional leading into the Cathedral (it was Palm Sunday) and at the end of the processional were the King and Queen of Spain. Then we walked back to our hotel and got a cab to the airport to go to Vienna! We arrived in the evening in Vienna got checked into our hotel (my bed was a couch covered in sheets). Then we walked to the Cathedral and got dinner (the food in Vienna and Prague was AMAZING). The next day we made our way to the Hofburg complex, on the way we saw this really famous chandiler maker's shop and stopped inside, really pretty. We went to the The Imperial Silver and Porcelian Collection, the Sisi musuem, and the Imperial apartments which was all really cool but a bit of informaiton over load. We took a short break for some ice cream! Then we went to the Imperial treasury which is also in the Hofburg complex. The evening we went to this show, which turned out to be super tourist and horrible. The next day we went to the Spanish riding school in the Hofburg complex to watch the morning practice because there are no shows during Holy week. On the way out of the complex we walked past the parlament house and another government building (the name of which I cannot remember). Then we went to watch this clock that has figures that move with the minutes and at noon there is a procession of all the figures, so we watched that. Then we went shopping and afterward we went to the cathedral, including going up one of the towers (the smaller one for two reasons 1) it had a lift, 2) the taller one was closed). That evening we went to the Opera, which was AMAZING! We saw Arabella and there were little screens that had the english translation of the script. My two favorite parts were when, the man guy (the one Arabella falls in love with) says right after he got a letter, he was attacked by a she-bear...but no worries he got away hehe. The other part was near the end when Arabella came downstairs to talk to the guy she loves and says that she couldnt sleep or drink her glass of water knowing he was all alone. Pretty amazing stuff hehe but the signing was out of this world. Ohh and my mom and I sat in the 3rd row and my dad in the 5th, super cool! The next day we went to the Schonbrunn Palace, the summer palace of the Hofburgs, which is a bit outside the city. We walked around the beautiful gardens to The Gloriette, which is this crazy pretty stone building where Queen Maria Theresa had her breakfast when she stayed here, which was a lot because it was a wedding gift for her from her father. The grounds also include a Zoo and a maze. We had lunch at the Gloriette and then walked back to the Palace and got a guided tour through the rooms that are opened to the public. The other rooms are rented by people as apartments. The next day we took the train to Prague, it was about 3 to 4 hours long. After we got checked into our hotel, we took a walk around and stopped at the Communist musuem which was enlightening beyond the actual material that was displayed. First of all, it was pretty much a collection of junk in a very dingy couple of rooms in the same building as a casino and with a McDonald's right nextdoor. Also, a lot the information talked about how the communist regime used propaganda to stay in power but the whole musuem felt like a lot of propaganda in the other direction. Overall though, it was a very interesting experience. Then we continued walking to Wenceclas square which is very long and narrow and filled with shops. At the one end is the Czech National Musuem and at the other is the road that leads to the Old Town. After dropping by our hotel for a jacket, we headed to the Old Town square. On the way we pasted this crazy bar outside of which some guy (definetly American) said very loudly to another man "I thought 2 grams ususal cost..." It was ridiculous because the guy basicly announced it to the entire street hehe. In the old town square there was a dance show going on. The rest of the day we simply walked around the square and popped into some tourist shops. The next day we had a guided walking tour. It started up in Prague castle where we walked around and saw the different buildings including the palace, the Cathedral, the Basilica, and the Convent. After walking around the Castle grounds we walked back down the hill and walked through Wallenstein Palace grounds which have the Czech Parlament building in it. Then we walked across Charles Bridge which was crowded with people and had beautiful statues on both sides. We walked past the New Town Hall building and through the old Jewish quarter and to the Old Town Square and then to Wenceclas square where our tour ended. After lunch, we headed back up to Prague castle to go into the Cathedral because the line was too long earlier in the day. After the Cathedral, we went into a musuem called the Story of Prague castle which had very interesting arftifacts dating to well before the Middle Ages. Then we went into St. George's Basilica and from there through Golden Lane and into the Mideval dungeon which had old tools for torture. The next day we went up the Astronomy Tower in the Old Town Square. After that we went on a tour of the Municipal House, which was very beautiful. And then went next door to go up Powder Gate. The next day, Easter, we went to church in the Cathedral at Prague Castle, the Cathedral was so empty and the service was obviously in Czech so I understood none of it. After Church we walked through the Castle gardens which had been closed the other day we were at the Castle. Shortly after that we went to the airport and took our flight back to Madrid. We arrived in Madrid very late at night, went to the airport hotel and went to sleep. The next morning, I left for Burgos and my parents left to go home.