Aranjuez: Visiting one of the Royal Palaces and Gardens

A friend and I decided to take the "tren de la fresa" which is the Strawberry Train! It was such a cute experience, we took an old train from the 1800s about an hour and a half outside of Madrid to one of the spring palaces of the Spanish. We were entertained by people dresses in 1800s style clothing, they gave us strawberries from Aranjuez, we got a tour of the Palace and got to go to 3 museums. It was a wonderful day to spend in the spring Spain sun, and the flowers which you can see below are nothing compared to how beautiful they are in real life! 

Flores. 

Me in front of one of the fountains in the Palace Gardens.

Have you ever seen hydrangeas like this before? Unbelieveable....they were gorgeous. 

The facade of the Palace, Spanish flag atop it. 

Me in one of the rose gardens in the jardines de Aranjuez. 

Believe it or not, this floats!! I saw a rare collection of Royal Boats used for leisure in the parks and down the river...this one is caked in gold and is super ornate used by the king late 1700s. 

Local kayakers underneath a bridge leading to the gardens. 

This is me posing in front of the train, it was so old and filled with families and kids...such fun. 

Two of the ladies dressed up that handed out strawberries and gave a great performance. 

One of my strawberries! Aranjuez is known as the "Plant City, FL" of Spain for its strawberries.

Inside the old train. It was super cute because leaving and entering the station, everyone outside the train for several miles kept waving and smiling as the train passed. It only rains once every Saturday during the Spring so to have rode on it my last Saturday here was lucky. 

Some highlights in Madrid from the end of the Semester

Some of my favorite recent Madrid moments. I get too sad talking about leaving Spain so I'll post soon after I leave my reflections on everything. 

Small series of pictures with me and my friends riding burros (donkeys) in the campo (countryside) about an hour north of Madrid. Group shot below. 

Me on my old donkey...the "White Knight" of the group. Blonde like me, hahaha. 

Some of the countryside views of Spain while we were riding...

My friend Ana and I warming up by the cookpot after our long ride. It was in the Sierra (basically snow capped mountains) so we froze! 

Country potatoes from the kitchen of the woman who ran the farm. Don't worry Granny yours are still my favorite!!!! 

Me at the Real Madrid futbol (soccer) game...tickets are expensive but you can't NOT go to Spain and not go here...it is so much fun!!! I'm wearing my Real Madrid scarf as the game let out after the Real Madrid victory against Getafe. 

At Retiro over a little brook where there is a huge bridge connecting to the rose gardens. 

In the middle of the Parque de Buen Retiro where icecream never tasted better and kids never looked cuter....everyone just enjoys their days here in the sun or in their boat or playing with their families. One of my favorite places to spend time in Madrid. 

Looking up at one of Spain's biggest monuments, which is actually a post office. Haha. 

Outside the Prado Museum, the pride of Spain and where I have spent countless quality hours. For art class we actually go here to look and study the art for each class. So cool. 

At the final dinner/dance together with our Art Professor, Jesus. 

Me and Alejandra, my flamenco professor. She is a professional dancer from Mexico and is truly beautiful to watch dance, and her boyfriend is one of the most famous in Spain. 

Main train station, Atocha. I use it all the time and it's like our Grand Central or Union Station.

The view outside my window...there are only 4 skyscrapers in Madrid and they are about a two minute walk from my apartment. I call them "mi estrella norte" (my north star).