Primero Dia

Hey everyone,

So we got up at and have breakfast at 8:15 this morning, and it was still dark. I found out the reason for the time difference between here and London for example where the time should be is the Spanish people believe in being up all night so they have changed the time zone to make it easier for all the night owls here. We drove about 40 min outside of Madrid to see the Monastery of San Lorenzo. It is the location of where all the Queens and Kings of Spain are buried and the former fall residence of the King and Queen. Very simple, after being to other castles throughout Europe I was surprised how simple it was. After that we headed over to the valley monument where the unknown soldiers are from the Spanish civil war as well as the grave of Franco. It is a controversial issue still as to what side many Spaniards think were correct, as Jamie said the day Franco died half the country popped a bottle of champagne the other cried. The basilica connected to it was made of stone with little art or decorations. A very creepy church at least I thought so. The location of the monument was amazing though, it was in the mountains that were snow capped all around us. I walked over to Plaza Mayor after lunch got a new hat, since its in the 20s and super cold. We had dinner as a group tonight again in the hotel, I think they are trying to give us American food and we would all rather Spanish food. We had hamburgers, get this of HAM and french fries. I have realized that my Spanish isn't up to par I will admit that although I am slowly starting to understand more and Jamie is trying to force us all to speak Spanish to one another, but we are trying to ease into the dropping of the English language. That is all for now. :)

Adios!