Madrid (Days 1-3)

Day 1:

I arrived in Madrid at 7am this Sunday. It was early... after a 7.5 hour flight or so, I was exhausted. I didn't sleep on the plane and didn't sleep well the night before I left. When I got off the plane, I followed the signs for the baggage claim... when I finally got my checked luggage, I perplexedly asked a couple of airport security (?) workers where I needed to go next. Although I had been watching the other passengers from my plane leaving the baggage claim, I had made the assumption that we had to go through customs. After a couple of minutes attempting to converse with the staff (in both English and Spanish... another worker even came over to try and help, but they didn't understand what I was asking I guess), they pointed me out the exit.

I made my way over to the Cafeteria where we were to meet our Resident Director, Kepa, and luckily a couple girls were doing the exact same thing. After waiting several hours, we were on the bus and headed to the Hotel Regina. We had lunch, walked around a little bit, took naps and later went out for dinner with the group (I actually tried duck!--not that good though haha). We were so exhausted that when we finally got back to the hotel we went to sleep.

The exact center of Spain

delicious raspberry sorbet and creme puff type pastry

Day 2:

Yesterday we went to El Palacio Real and had a lot of free time to wander the city. El Palacio Real had beautiful rooms and art work, but we weren't allowed to take any pictures inside (like the Museum and Monastery that we saw today). For lunch, a couple of other students and I met up with a Madrid study abroad student who showed us a great tapas restaurant that the locals go to, El Tigre. We each ordered a small glass of cider to try (alcoholic) and were a bit shocked when the bartender proceeded to hand us 4 large plates of tapas (and it only cost 10 euros for everyone!). We also went to a Chocolateria for Churros and cafe con leche earlier, apparently the best in Madrid.

Last night, we went out to eat at this cute little Belgian restaurant that is known for their mussels. 2 other girls and I shared them and we also drank some Sangria (pretty good). Although I was debating the idea of going out last night since I was still exhausted (and we had to be up at 8:30 this morning), we all decided to go clubbing... on our way to a club called Dream (one of the girls had heard of it), a promoter from a bar stopped us and offered us free drinks though, so we decided to take him up on the offer...it was at this bar that a girl Kelsey and I tried absinthe. Though it was strong, I didn't mind it too much. We also went to a club called Moon Dance afterwards (because another promoter stopped us and offered drinks also). It was really fun and they played a lot of classic hits (like Grease) and contemporary music like Lady Gaga. Although it was a Monday night, there were so many people inside...which I learned were mostly other Europeans (we met some guys from Holland and a French guy and I even met a guy from Sevilla... I got really excited and told him that we were going there on Wednesday, but he apparently goes to school here in Madrid). When I realized it was 3am, we decided it would be an awful idea to stay out until 6am like the natives do and dreaded waking up at 8:30 this morning.

Statue near El Palacio Real

El Palacio Real (this side hold all the Armory)

a cute little man playing the accordion... he was so happy! haha

a headless person..

Churros and cafe con leche

a really busy street during ciesta (the time that Spaniards usually eat lunch and then nap)

our free tapas at El Tigre

The cute Belgian restaurant we went to last night

us with our Sangria

our nice waiter with the gin Molly and I had

Day 3:

On our last day in Madrid, we visited the monastery, El Escorial. Other than the monks that live there, they also have a boarding school that kids can go to until they are 18 (but it costs 1000 euro per month!). We had the funniest tour guide; he cracked jokes whenever he could and made it an enjoyable experience (unlike El Palacio Real, where I was pretty bored). For example, because we have so few boys in our group, he called Gabe and Amit the "Don Juan's" of our group. When we got back to Madrid in the afternoon, we also visited El Prado Museum, where we saw the works of Velazquez and Goya. I thought that I would be bored out of my mind visiting an art museum, but because our tour guide knew so much, she held my interest by explaining the background of the paintings. Since we had to wake up very early the next day, we decided to have dinner (we went to a tapas bar) and stay in the rest of the night. Our waiter was extremely rude, possibly the worst I have ever had. He left the table before Caitlin even got to order anything, and then when we had to pay, he stood over our shoulders and watched us count the money. I almost wished they got tipped so we could give him a bad one! haha

El Escorial

the students playing soccer during their recess.. so cute!

behind the garden of the monastery

El Escorial

I still got my starbucks :) but even more expensive than home!

botanical garden

pretty sunset view from the garden