El Río Pisuerga y el Palacio Real

Today we had our first "lazy" day.  Every one slept in and we met in the plaza to hang out and wander around. In the morning, we took a walk alongside the river in Valladolid called Río Pisuerga up to the "beach"...aka: a sandy-ish spot along side the river where people lay out to tan. Definitely NO going swimming in this river though. It was perfect weather for walking around today though. Not too hot but not cold. Tomorrow is suppose to be a scorcher though :/

We walked by this bar next to the beach, and outside they were cooking the most DELICIOUS smelling paella ever. It looked SO good too. We will definitely be coming back here.

Cotton wood pollen is ridiculously out of control here. This is in an area where there are a bunch of cotton wood trees, but usually on days that it is windy in the city, it looks like it is snowing or something because the cotton is flying everywhere! Ayyye, my allergies! :/

Dangerous children's playground...

Gas stations: pumps randomly located on sidewalks in the middle of the street. Very strange...I was wondering why we never saw any actual gas stations around.

Iglesia de San Pablo. A BEAUTIFUL cathedral across the street from San Felipe's Palace

We went across the street to go into the palace because on Sunday, admission is free from 5:30-8:30. We walked around and looked at the architecture and viewed the exhibits of the military uniforms and weaponry they had set up.

Another crazy ceiling in another crazy palace

Uniform hats from over the centuries

 A very old bike used by the...messengers?

The ceiling of the room with the weaponry...crazy...

Center courtyard/patio

The view out the bathroom window :)

For the little boys?

And for the little girls...

Just some guy balancing on a box on a pipe while spinning a soccer ball on his head and juggling torches...the usual in the streets of Valladolid :)

Sangria from a cafe in the center of Campo Grande...dining with the peacocks :)

Oh yeah, I almost forgot the highlight of the day!
After a lot of organization and a long battle with the Plaza Mayor WiFi, we have booked out flight to BARCELONA this weekend! I'm SO excited!
During dinner, my host dad helped me set up some bus tickets to get to the airport so we are all good to go! Who doesn't wanna take a 3 day trip to Barcelona?! :D