Grand Tour, Day 10: Eiffel Tower, Catacombs

We woke up early because we had to get to the Eiffel Tower early, so we would not have to wait. We got there, and the tower was taaaal! There were two lines, so my dad got in one, and my mom got in the other one because we didn't know which one was better for us. My mom had to go to the bathroom, so I stayed in line and waited. Soon after that, my line started moving, so I had to get out because my mom was not back. I went to my dad's line. Then the line we were in started moving, and my mom still was not back yet. We were almost at the front when my mom came. It turned out that the bathroom she went to was closed, so she had to go to another one, and that one had a line. My dad accidentally brought his pocket knife and had to hide it.

When he was done hiding it, we got in the elevator and went to the second floor of the Eiffel Tower. You could see all of Paris from there. Then we went down the stairs. It was at least 300 steps!
After we climbed down, we went to the "Empire of the Dead."
 
The Empire of the Dead are the catacombs. We had to wait for a long time in line! When we finally made it in, we went down a long spiral staircase.  Once we made it to the bottom, we went down a long hallway. 
Then we went into a room that told us about the history of the catacombs. That room led us down a hallway with skulls and bones on either side of us.
It was kind of spooky. There were skulls everywhere!


Once we got out of the catacombs we went to the Luxembourg Gardens. While we were there we got ice cream. I got raspberry and mango. It was good! Then we went to the Pantheon. We were going in, but my dad thought it was too much money.

After that, we went to Notre Dame Cathedral to wait for Tio Gerardo. He took us to two islands. Then we went home.

Here is a list of my favorite things I did today:

1. Eiffel Tower
2. Catacombs
3. Ice Cream
4. Walk

Grand Tour, Day 9: Destination Paris

We woke up and had to leave from the house that we were renting out by 10:00. I only had 20 minutes to get ready. We barely made it. We walked with our luggage to the beach and went to eat breakfast at a restaurant. One of the waiters spoke Spanish and told us that we could eat whatever we wanted, so I ordered nutella with crepe and milk. The milk we got was warm, so we asked them to make it colder, and they brought us a fresh glass with a little bit colder. But it still didn't taste good, so I drank some of my dad's orange juice. The restaurant had a cage with birds, but the cage door was always open, so if the birds wanted to go, they could. But they never did. Before we left, I wanted to go to the bathroom, but when I tried to get out of the bathroom, I thought you had to push the door to open it. So after ten minutes, I was going to yell and say that I was stuck, but first I leaned on the door just to think of what to do, and my mom slid the door sideways (it was a sliding door, not a pushing door), and I almost fell down.

After we left the restaurant, we took a walk along the beach. Then we went back to the restaurant to get our bags. Then we went to the bus stop and waited for our bus. The bus did not come, so we thought that we were going to miss our train. Then a different bus came, and we got on that bus instead. Phew! We made it to the train station. After that, we got on our train and went to Paris. It was the first time we were in first class! After six hours, we finally made it to Paris! We saw the Eiffel Tower from the train station! After we got off the train, we saw Tio Gerardo. He is fluent in French, Spanish and English. He and I spoke some about this and that in Spanish and English.

Then we went to his house by subway. His house was a tiny, 4-room apartment. Well, actually it was a five-room apartment because there was a bathroom for taking a shower and a bathroom for going to the bathroom. There was a pull-out couch in the living room and a bed in the bedroom. My mom and my sister slept in the bed, and my dad and my brother and I slept on the pull-out couch. There was a balcony, and I went on it so I could see Paris. I only went on it at night because we were never at home in the mornings, except when we woke up. 

Here is a list of my favorite things we did today.

1. Walk

2. Subway

3. Train

Grand Tour, Day 8: Hendaye

Emilio writes:

Now I am writing about the 8th day. We woke up really early so we could catch the subway. Once we got to the train station, we got on the train and looked at the sights. After about four hours, we changed trains in San Sebastian. Then, for three hours, we rode to Irun. Then we got in a taxi. The taxi driver said he wasn't allowed to have six people, but he broke the rule anyway. He dropped us off at the house that somebody was letting us rent. We only got the bottom floor. We ate lunch at the house, and then we went to the beach. My dad told me not to get myself wet. Nina told me that she was going to pretend that she actually fell in when she didn't. She asked me not to tell, and I didn't until now. Then I accidentally on purpose fell in, too. So then my parents let us get as wet as wanted. The water was really cold, so we didn't stay in long. We didn't bring any towels or a change of clothes, so we couldn't stay long.

After that, we went home and took a shower. Then we went on a walk to try to get to St. Anne's Point. All the ways were closed, so instead we went down to the beach and got a cheese and tomato sandwich to share. It was goooood! Then we went to a restaurant by the beach. It allowed you to have a dog inside. I saw one lady with her dog, and I was surprised. I ate pizza and a little bit of Nina's Nutella crepe. Then we walked around for a little bit by the beach. The tide was so high that it flooded the first six steps of one of the ladders down to the beach. Then we went back to the house and went to sleep.

Here's a list of my favorite things I did today:
#1. Beach
#2. Train.

Grand Tour, Day 7: Madrid Sunday

Emilio writes:

I woke up and waited for my cousins to come. Once they did come, we played. Nina, Rita, and Uxue tied my leg to a door and held me hostage until lunch. Then after lunch they tried to rob me of my clothes. Luckily, they did not.

Then we went to an art museum called La Reina Sofia. It had modern art. The most memorable work of art was called Guernica, and it was painted by Picasso. It was complex. It was hard to look at one thing because there was so much stuff to look at.

Detail from "Guernika" by Picasso

After we left the museum, we went home.

Sunday was almost our last day in Madrid. Here are some things I've noticed about the differences between living in Ada and living in Madrid.

In Ada, we ride in cars, and in Madrid we walk, take the train, take the subway, and ride on the bus.

In Ada, we have a big, two-story house, our own bedrooms, and early bedtimes. We don't have to be quiet in the afternoon because people don't take siestas like they do in Madrid.

In Madrid, we live in a small apartment, we have to share bedrooms, we go to bed later than we do in Ada, and we have to be quiet in the afternoon because people are taking siestas. In Madrid, there aren't any stairs in the apartment, but there are stairs to get to your apartment.

The thing I liked best about living in Abuelo's and Abuela's house was that they had so many good places to lie down.

Grand Tour, Day 6: Madrid Saturday

Emilio writes:

I woke up early and went to breakfast with my mom and her parents. I got orange juice and bread with jelly.

Then we went and walked around Madrid. While we were walking, we saw the house where my dad lived when he and my mom were boyfriend and girlfriend.

When we were walking on the street where my dad lived back in time, we saw a man selling many different things, and my dad thought it would be a good idea to take a picture of me and him in a mirror. I thought it was a good idea as well.

In the picture above, I am standing in front of the church where they found the skeleton of who they think is Miguel Cervantes, the author of Don Quixote.

While we were walking, we saw people wearing Barcelona and Alaves jerseys. There was a big game that day so that's why everyone was wearing jerseys. The big game is Barcelona and Alaves in the Copa del Rey. Alaves had a band playing. Pablo got a hat and gave it to me. It had a Copa Del Rey band on it.

After we got home, I watched Castaway in Spanish. Castaway was a good movie to watch in Spanish because they didn't talk that much, so I could easily get what the movie was about.

Then we watched Barcelona vs. Alaves. I was scared we were going to lose because Alaves got off to a good start. But my worries were unfounded because we scored first. The first goal was scored by Lionel Messi. Then Alaves scored on a free kick, which tied the game up. Then Neymar scored, which put Barcelona up by 1. Then Alcacer scored and Barcelona took a 3 to 1 lead. And that's how the game ended. We are the champions my friend!

Here is a list of my favorite things I did today:
1. Watch Barcelona play in la Copa del Rey
2. Being in Abuelo's and Abuela's apartment
3. Walking around Madrid

Grand Tour, Day 5: Madrid Friday

We started off the day by going to El Prado art museum. In the museum I saw 48 masterpieces. We stayed there for almost 5 hours! My favorite paintings were "The Third of May" and "The Three Graces."

"The Three Graces" (1635) by Peter Paul Rubens

"The Three Graces" is in a humongous room, and there is no crowd. "The Three Graces" is a painting of three servants of Aphrodite without any clothes on in the forest. "The Three Graces" was done by Peter Paul Rubens. I like "The Three Graces" because it is about Greek gods, and I had been learning about Greek gods for a long time.

"The Third of May" (1814) by Francisco Goya

"The Third of May" is in a small room and is right next to "The Second of May." "The Third of May" is a picture of soldiers about to shoot a man with his hands up who has bodies lying around him. "The Third of May" was done by Francisco Goya. I like the message it sends about how it's wrong to shoot people. It makes me feel sad.

After the museum, we went to my cousins' house and played with them for two hours. Then we went to a plaza. Once we got to the plaza, Pablo, Gimena, and I played soccer for a little bit. Then Gimena talked with the grownups, and Rita, Nina, and I played soccer while Pablo also talked with the grownups, and Uxue skated.

Here are some traits that I've noticed:

Gimena is lively and energetic. She played soccer with Pablo and me.

Rita is strong, energetic, and smiley. She played soccer, picked me up, and never frowned. She was still energetic when she was sick.

Uxue is serious, tough, and energetic. She skated around the whole time we were in the plaza with them, she takes judo, and she fell down twice and got right back up.

Grand Tour, Day 4: Madrid Thursday

On our fourth day, we went to the Plaza de España. In the Plaza de España, we took a picture with a statue of Don Quixote, who is a character in a book who think he is a knight. Don Quixote was written by Miguel de Cervantes. Cervantes gravely injured his arm in a war with the Ottoman fleet.

After we left la Plaza de España, we went to an Egyptian temple. It was built in the 2^nd century. Spain got the temple because the Egpytians were building a dam in the Nile River. The temple was going to flood, so they gave it to the Spanish.

After we left the Temple, we met Abuela, got on a skylift, and went to a park called Casa de Campo. We walked for a little bit, and then we got back on the skylift.

When we got back to Madrid, we got ice cream at an awesome place called Palazzo. I got blackberry flavored ice cream and orange flavored ice cream. It was good!

Then we went back to Abuelo's and Abuela's house and stayed there for a little bit. After that, we went to a famous museum called El Prado. My favorite paintings were "The Seven Deadly Sins" and "The Garden of Earthly Delights." They are both by Hieronymus Bosch. I like these paintings because there were big and weird things are happening in them. For example, in the image below from "The Garden of Earthly Delights," you can see: a witch with an open butt and trees for legs; two giant ears with a knife in between them and an arrow going through both of them; and a knife in midair with a pink disc on top of it and a knight lying down on it and being eaten by six creatures.

"The Seven Deadly Sins" (below) is in a big room with other Bosch paintings. There is a glass case that is covering it and you look down at it. We met Tia Gimena in that room.

The image above shows gluttony, one of the seven deadly sins.

Here are my favorite things from this day:
1. Eating blackberry and orange ice cream (by the way, I am not a glutton for eating too much ice cream)
2. Seeing the paintings in El Prado
3. Riding on the Skylift
4. Walking around la Plaza de España
5. Seeing the Egyptian Temple

Grand Tour, Day 3: Segovia

Emilio writes:

We woke up and got on a train to Segovia. In Segovia, we got in a taxi and went to the castle. It was the first time we rode in a taxi, and we rode four in the back seat. Every time we turned, we fell on each other.

The taxi left us off way below the castle. We had to walk up a whole bunch of steps to get to the castle. Then we climbed 152 steps to get to the top of the castle's tower. We could see all of Segovia from there.

After we went to the castle, we went to the Cathedral. The streets were more narrow than they are in the United States, and the houses are closer together.

We were supposed to pay to go in the Cathedral, but we did not. The whole time we were inside I was scared we were going to get caught.

After we went to the Cathedral, we went to an old Roman Aqueduct. It was long. It had 166 arches. When they built it, they did not use any cement. It was pretty tall.

Here is a list of my favorite things I did today:
1. Castle
2. Train
3. Aqueduct
4. Cathedral

Grand Tour, Day 2: Madrid Tuesday

Emilio writes:

We woke up and took the metro (subway) to the center of the Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal). The center of the Iberian Peninsula is called la Puerta del Sol. Then we went to Plaza Mayor. In the Plaza, we saw a big head that looked like Beethoven’s head. Then we saw a street performer in a funny costume. We paid him a few Euros and went on our way. After that, we went to get ice cream at a little café. I didn’t get ice cream, though. I got a Twister. Then we went to a market and looked around. After that we went to the Royal Palace. Then, after we ate lunch, we went to pick up my little cousin Uxue and played in the park near her school for a little bit. After that, we went to her apartment and saw Rita who was a tiny bit sick. Their apartment had five rooms: two bedrooms, the kitchen, the living room and one other room. They also had one bathroom and a bar that you could do pull-ups on. I tried it. I didn’t do very well.

They had food waiting for us when we got there: olives, bread, chips, and rice crackers. I liked the crackers and the bread best. We stayed at their apartment for around two hours, and I played a board game with Pablo, Gimena and Uxue in which you move according to the colors on your die. While we were at their house, I kicked a ball into the patio of the apartment building, and I had to go with Gimena to get it. Then, I threw it up to their balcony where Nina, Uxue and Rita were waiting, and Uxue caught it. Then we went to Abuelo and Abuela's house.

Here is a list of my favorite things I did that day:
1. Play with Rita and Uxue
2. Riding on the Metro for the first time
3. Seeing the Royal Palace
4. Being in la Puerta del Sol

Grand Tour, Day 1: Madrid Monday

Emilio writes:

When we finally made it to Madrid, we got off the plane and got our luggage. Then we saw our grandparents. When he first saw us, my abuelo cried for joy.

It was awesome being in another country.

We went to my abuelos’ house, and then Pablo stayed with Abuelo while the rest of us went to a bakery. At the bakery, we got a croissant and a baguette. Then we went home and ate our food.

After that, my abuelo, my mom, my dad and I went to Atocha, the main train station in Madrid. We went there to get tickets from Madrid to Hendaye. There was a rainforest in the middle of the station, and I saw whole bunch of turtles.

After we got back from the train station, Pablo, Nina, my mom, my dad and I went to the houses where my mom and dad lived when they met.

After that, we went to El Retiro. El Retiro is a park. In the park, we saw the Crystal Palace. Then we saw the school that my dad taught at when he met my mom [see image below].


Then we went back to El Retiro, and I got a Twister at a food stand. The Twister is a twisty Popsicle-like thingy that has three different flavors on it. I liked the Twister, and I got it many times after that. Here is a list of my favorite things I did that day:
1. Bakery
2. El Retiro
3. The houses where my mom and dad lived when they met
4. Atocha
5. Airplane

First* Flight

Emilio writes:

After we left my grandparents’ house, we drove with my grandfather to the DFW airport. When we went inside the airport, my grandfather drove to his house in our car. At the ticket counter, we checked in our bags. Then, we went through the metal detector. After that, we walked around the airport for a long time. Finally, we got on the plane.
It was amazing! It was the first airplane trip that I remember. I really liked being on top of the clouds and seeing all the patterns on the ground and all the rivers.

When we got off, we waited for three hours to get back on the plane from Atlanta to Madrid. We ate at the Panda Express. I had fried rice. On the plane, I ate, tried to sleep, and ate. I watched Ice Age: Collision Course and The Beatles’ Experience. The first flight was way better than the second flight because we didn’t have to sleep on the first flight.

Season Eleven, Game Eight (Last)

Emi's second game of the day is our last game of the season. Our opponents have not brought a full side, so we play on a smaller field and they ask for and get volunteers from our side to put on yellow pennies and play on their side. Three minutes in, Emilio intercepts a goalkeeper's kick and sneaks one into the corner.


Eight minutes later, he is fouled on a breakaway.
The free kick is good.

19 minutes later we're in the second half when Emi launches a long one that sneaks through the goalkeeper's wicket. That's #3 for Emi.

13 minutes later, Emi scores his fourth.  I barely get it.

Two minutes later, I am ready for #5.

Three minutes after that, Emi bounces #6 off the keeper's hands.

And that's a wrap. In nine U12 games, Emilio scores 21 goals.
If you count Emi's U14 call up, he had 23 goals in ten games this spring.

During his fifth grade year, he scored 54 goals in eighteen games.
During his fourth grade year, (playing up a level), he scored 5 goals in sixteen games.
During his third grade year, he scored 13 (they only played 2 games in the spring).
During his second grade year, he scored 85.
During his first grade year, he scored 44.
During the spring of his kindergarten year, he scored 44.

Total goals in 5.5 seasons:  241.

Season Eleven, Game Seven

The last game of the spring season. Emi whiffs on a great crosser by Anthony, but seconds later, he uses his head when he gets another opportunity.

Two minutes later, Emi pounces on a goal keeper's kick and makes Blue pay for not getting on the ground to block his return.

Somehow this game gets close in the second half. With minutes to play, we're only up by 1. When Emi goes into the corner, Coach Jerreld yells "look! look!" Emi makes a nifty turn to escape into the corner and promptly delivers a great cross. Sadly, it does not produce a goal. Ken Forshay is watching the game with me and praises Emi's work on the play. 11:11 a.m.

One minute later, Emi serves Anthony on a give and go, but nothing comes of it.

Three minutes later, Emilio capitalizes on Blake's midfield work and delivers the game's final goal--Emilio's third. And we win 6-4.

Through seven U12 games, Emilio has fifteen goals. The rest of the team has eight.

If you count Emi's U14 call up, he has seventeen goals in eight games.

Intracity Practice

We were told there would be a game tonight, so Emilio wore his uniform. We got a practice against Ada's other team instead.

Three Beatles

On the ride back from OKC last night, Pablo and Emi and I play "name that tune" for a while and then end up just singing Beatles songs. When we get to the house, I learn that Emi can play most notes on the recorder, which means he can use the same Beatles fake book I use to play Beatles songs on the piano and accompany me as a I pound my way through Beatles tunes. Pablo uses my back as a drum, until I get out my Moroccan bongo, and he plays that. We stay up late.

Season Eleven, Game Six

A Saturday noon home game against Madill United gets a late start.

Early in this one, Emilio's hard shot ricochets up and out of the hands of the Madill United keeper, and we take a 1-0 lead.

Madill United almost immediately equalizes the score. Then Emilio takes advantage of an aggressive keeper and delivers a fine turn and shot to o give us another lead.

Emi goes out near the end of the first half, and we end up tied 4-4.

Early in the second, Emilio takes a throw-in from Gareth, deftly dribbles through a wicket of four defenders, bypasses Coach Brock's increasingly insistent and familiar demands ("Pass! Pass! Pass! Pass!") and delivers a strong shot to the near post to give the Spartans a 5-4 lead.

Two minutes later, Emi takes a strong shot from the edge of the box. And we have a 6-4 lead. Emi has four goals.

Emi escapes two on the baseline and pushes a crosser past the keeper and Xander moves it softly across the line.

United scores an equalizer late, and we draw: 6-6.

Through six U12 games, Emilio has twelve goals. The rest of the team has five.

If you count Emi's U14 call up, he has fourteen goals in seven games.