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Jackson's Blog

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Sept 24, 2014. NYC.
We spent time touring the World Trade Center Memorial Museum although I did not stay in New York. I stayed in New Jersey in an apartment.

Deep Fountain

One World Trade Center. It cost $3.9 billion to build this (estimated April 2012).

September 28
I stayed in New York City before going to Barcelona. I was on a plane from (your time) 6 PM to (your time) 2:30 AM. I saw this funny pigeon in a water fountain at Newark Airport. Note to self: Only drink bottled water in airports. Also I watched Capitan America: The Winter Soldier while my family slept. I still am tired and forgot to eat breakfast. I dislike the airplane food because it tastes fake.

September 29th 2014:

There are three bakeries on our block. All of them are very good. I especially like their vast assortment of pastries. Our apartment is roomy. It has three bedrooms: one for my brother and sister, one for me and one for my mom and dad. We are near the metro that means we can go anywhere! Note to self: get up earlier. I can't go on to an app without seeing a Spanish ad. There is only one bad part about being in Spain: I don't know what anyone is saying. On the way to the zoo, I saw a flock of wild parrots. I could not get any pictures. There were peacocks roaming free at the zoo. I saw a hyena eating a pigeon that got in its cage. Poor thing. I saw a hippo yawn and do a belly flop into its pool. A cat followed me all around the zoo. It had a white belly and was grey with black stripes. It purred at me.

October 1st - today I went to the Barcelona beach. It's 70 degrees Fahrenheit here and my family hit the beach. The water of the Mediterranean Sea is salty and it hurts to belly flop in it. I surfed on my stomach and collected shells. We came back on a high note and every thing was swell until I got like 3 skype calls at 10:30 by someone unknown.

October 2nd - I went to the aquarium today. I saw some manta rays and I went in a tube that goes through a large shark tank. There were Octopods (I looked it up - that is the plural for octopus.) Also, there were two tanks with manta rays in them. One you could sit under and the other was a regular tank. In the apartment, the mosquitoes ate me alive I had so many bites on my left arm. I took some pictures of the sights that you might like.

Octopus tank at the aquarium. I think he was watching me...

Above: The view from inside the shark tank.
Right: A baby manta ray flying over top of us (that man-ta in the lower corner is my brother!)

October 3rd-4th On the third I went to the beach I did the same thing as last time but this time with... A SURFBOARD. On the fourth my family and I went to Park Guell. Gaudi was a famous architect and he built these cool benches that only used broken pottery. I Saw a ceramic salamander who was spewing out water and some sweet pillars

Left and center: Parc Guell designed by Antoni Gaudi; and right: a Gecko we saw on our walk home.

This is an ad we saw on the metro. What could it be?
email me with ideas: jtdjackattack@gmail.com
Best answer wins!!

Center: La Sagrada Famila is the main cathedral in Barcelona. It is also designed by Gaudi. It can hold 13,000 people! Everyone in Stoughton
could be inside at once!

Above is the view from the funicular. It is a box we rode that travels
along a cable strung high above the city.

October 5th 2014. Today I went to the Miro museum and saw a bunch of paintings. Other then that I went on the funicular today. There were a few cool pictures that we took (below).

October 7th. Today I went inside the Sagrada Familia. The architect Gaudi designed it. It's a famous cathedral with a very tall tower. I almost barfed up at the top. While there I prayed for you, the person in Spain who got Ebola, and anyone who needs my prayers. The front (not yet complete) was all about faith witch is hard to depict. The west is all about Christ's death which is sad. The east side is all about Christ's birth. Gaudi himself made the east side. He died in 1926.

This is real sunlight. This is the ceiling. It is supposed to look like trees. This is the staircase coming down from the tower. No railing!

This is the east facade designed by Gaudi.

October 10th.

Today was eventful. I started with school until 12:00 (curse you Brett.) Then I went to the Barcelona Cathedral (photos above), it was huge! It had a fountain that you could drink from as WELL (that was a joke.) Then I went to a chocolate museum with chocolate sculptures of everything from apes to Olaf. I got a complimentary chocolate bar. Brett walked into his by accident (another joke.) The other thing I did today was I had thick hot chocolate and churros. They tasted amazing. The last thing that happened was that I found out about a mini-Photoshop that comes with windows.

Roman Wall. It actually didn't move, despite the name.

Barcelona Cathedral. I have no comment.

Don't look at me like that!!

October 12th:

Today I rambled down La Rambla (photos above). We were told that there might be animals for sale in the stands, but there were none. I saw everything from cacti to People disguised as statues. There were MORE Gaudi buildings. This time it was a palace. I swear this guy is stalking me. My mom took the picture below that I photoshopped.

I was tired, so I made a chair.

I wasn't in this photo, but below is the rooftop of the Palace Guell by Gaudi on La Rambla.

My sister and I forgot to shave! ( pic is photoshopped)

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October 15, 2014
Today I went to Vienna! It is a nice city, also it's the capital of Austria. They speak German in Austria ( I do not speak any German by the way.) They have good food and sausages. Speaking of good food the hotel I stayed in was also a diner! The last thing I did on this day was I had dinner with some family friend I have no picture of today (I'm typing this as I 'm giving my mom a look.). I had schnitzel, which is breaded chicken.

October 16, 2014
Today I went to an Austrian palace called Schonbrunn. In it I saw lavish paintings, a room called the "rich room", and a original portrait of Mozart!!! (grammar boys: define lavish). There were also huge gardens to walk in. My brother found costumes. The pictures are below:

My family at the front entrance to Schonbrunn

Which one of them is real?

October 17
Today I went to TWO museums. One of them was the Leopold Museum. In it there were some paintings by Gustav Klimt and Egon Schiele collected by a man named Leopold. Shocking! In it I saw a few cool paintings but thats it. We ate in the Leopold Museum cafe. Then we went to a place called Zoom Children's meseuem. I was against going to Zoom because it was too childish. We took a printing course there and while we were waiting, we sat on foam-ish blocks that were unstable and waited for disaster to strike. In the course, I used the old technique of screenprinting. It seems ancient but realy is quite modern. Then I sat down on a type-writer and "wrote" a "story". On the way back my family got a scary looking picture of the metro. Pictures are below.

Me at Zoom!

News Flash! The metro is evil!

I am trying to drink my hot chocolate
peacefuly.

October 18th
First thing that happened to me today is I realised that I'm sick. I have a stomach virus. Regardless of my sickness I went to the Spanish Riding School. In Vienna! In it there were horses running and jumping. I even saw a horse stand on 2 legs and walk around. After that I went to the Royal Treasury. In it I saw a crown that fit my sister "perfictly". Then I went to a porcelain meseuem. It was realy just a shop! I saw a life size porcelan hawk I call Frank and a bowl with my grandma's dog's name in it Pictures are below.

When I asked if I could go in there, my mom said "Nay"

See, I told you she saw a crown that
fits perfictly!

See the name Lilly???.

Happy Halloween. That is all you need to know about the date. First things first, today I am going to the Magic Fountian witch is named because it has no powers (bad pun alert!)
Yesterday I had a fun day. We had "school" by school I mean my mom made up an excuse to go shoping. Constrction-smuction. Ater that we went to the zoo and saw a dolphan show. When we got back we had "school" by buliding basic machery, tools, and bows. because everyone knows that bows are so "advanced." Only thing that outdates the invintion is farming.

Fun fact! Did you know that cola means tail? That means I drink about a can of Coca-Tail every year!

Earlier this week I went to the park of the city. It is, you guseed it, in the city!!!111(one, one, one). In it we fed geese, popped bubbles and had a good time.

The day before that I went to the Barcelona Natural History Museum. I didn't find much enjoyment there, but I did get a good picture.

And a week ago today I had Churros with chocolate. Pictures are below.

Dolphins jumping over a wire at the zoo.	Goose feeding - first come, first served.	Master of all Dawns!
Is this real?	Roar! (Natural History Museum)	There goes my thought bubble!
I see you!	Wisconsin pride!	My brother is holding water and simultaneously disobeying gravity.

Events from the past week:
Halloween at the Magic Fountain
While you were trick or treating, I was at the Magic Fountain watching a performance. I got SOAKED. The Magic Fountain is a tourist event that happens on every Friday and Saturday .

A local Treat: Whiskey Cake
It isn't really made out of whiskey but looks, smells, and probably tastes like whiskey. But hey what do I know?

Moving around town:
While we were bored, my dad bought some jackets. My brother got to go to a park swarming with pigeons and my sister got a headache.

Graffiti
I have no comment on this. These pictures are self explanatory

Museum of the History of Barcelona
I found this one fascinating. It was so cool. I saw Roman ruins from 12 BC and a city 10 feet below Barcelona. Did you know that Barcelona's original name was Barcino but eventually became Barcelona?
The Romans settled Barcino so that they had access to the Mediterranean trade routes.

A recycled column used to support part of a building.

Another example of recycling: Here old blocks were used
to construct the wall around the city.

Vats which were used for washing and dyeing clothes.

The working section of town had been excavated: A textile shop, a fish processing shop
and a winery were all here.

Election Day

On November, 9, 2014 a new country could be born, Catalonia. A vote would decide this, similar to a vote for the president.

The country would be located inbetween France and Spain. A lot of the inspiration for this movement was from Scotland’s vote. The Flag would look like this:

The Catalonians want independence from Spain because the Spanish have been dragging the Catalonian economy down. We are talking billions of €s here! Catalonia is also so different that it just make sense for it to be a different country. Historically they were a different people, with different language and cultural practices. Catalonia was absorbed into the country of Spain hundreds of years ago. Their language and cultural practices have been repressed in the past and now they seek independence.

Madrid has made the vote for independence illegal and the Catalonians are trying to appeal. Because of this, there is an even bigger push to make it its own country. The Catalonian leader and president is named Artur Mas, while the Spanish prime minister’s name is Mariano Rajoy.

In the community itself I have seen more pro-independence then anti-independence. I see this in flags and rallies. We even had someone stop at our door to ask how we were voting. He stated that he was pro-independence. Last night we witnessed a protest called a cacerolazo, which is when you open up your windows and bang on pots and pans loudly to protest. I did notice however that my block has a lot of conflict. On my run I saw a Spanish flag and a Catalonian flag hanging from windows next door to each other.

November 8- Montserrat Monastery and Hike

Today I went over to Montserrat, which is about one hour from Barcelona. In the monastery, no one lives there but priests and monks. There is a holy sight called The Black Virgin. It is a sculpture that was found in a holy cave around 1200. It was supposedly made around the time of the Bible, but was actually made around the same time it was found. After touching it, we went up a funicular, which is a way of transporting up a mountain. The funicular is very interesting as it goes almost directly up, and almost directly down.

This is the Black Virgin

Here I am touching the exposed part.

After going up the funicular, we hiked back down the mountain. We got a great shot of me jumping in the air, and some pictures of me and my siblings.

We ran into some cute cats. Reminds me of my own.

These are some amazing views we got. Look at the background!

Some pictures of my brother and me.

Back in Barcelona...
We found a costume shop, stopped at the market, and found graffiti on the way out.

MADRID

We made a short trip to Madrid. It was 3 days long. Here you can see me at an outdoor tapas restaurant in a Coca-Cola blanket, drinking a Coca-Cola product, and no, I am not sponsored. Tapas are tiny little dishes that you can share. Our family usually gets 3 or 4 of them. My favorite tapa is chorizo, which is a type of sausage.

The next day we went to a The National Archaeological Museum, a history museum focused on the ancient civilizations in Spain. There were other displays too like ancient Greece and Egypt. My brother loved the Egyptian section. In the history museum, we found some Greek statues which were facing the wrong way, and an ancient bronze of a horse.

Very funny, Mom!

After the Archaeological museum, we ran around in the main park of Madrid, called Buen Retiro. There were several playgrounds, none of which I wanted to play on, but I was forced to play hide and seek with my younger siblings.

Hiding from the rain under a tree.

The first formal picture I have seen all day of my brother.

Ducks planning to shake their bottoms at me. This will re-occur.

Peacocks run around everywhere in Spain. And by everywhere, I mean everywhere.

A formal picture, one of the only ones I've got.

I have even more proof that cats are possessed, contrary to popular belief.

Say hello to the Rock Monster waking up.

This is one of the geese that shook it's tail-feathers at me.

Me trying to save my sister while my brother tackled her from behind.

My sister leaping.

Compare my sister leaping to me leaping...

Running through the rose garden

This is the Royal Palace in Madrid. This was what we spent our second day doing. We were not allowed to take photos inside, but we were allowed to take photos in these areas near the entrance. There was a royal armory that included flint-lock pistols, early cannons and of course, cavalry. My dad snuck a picture of a rare cello.

Front entrance to the palace

Selfie, the old fashioned way.

Art: My mom forces us to go to Museums all the time. Here we are at the Reina Sofia where we saw some famous paintings by Picasso. One of them was Guernica about the Spanish Civil War. The photos in the center and right are at the Prado, which is the Royal art collection. Here I saw Mona Lisa by one of Leonardo's students. This one is thought to have been painted side-by-side with the famous version by Leonardo that is in the Louvre in Paris. (Thanks, mom for helping me with the details :))