Madrid

Hola! My sincere apologies for letting 2 whole weeks skate by without updating this blog. I honestly can't even give much of an excuse other than I've been busy, and when I haven't been busy I've been at the river attempting to enjoy whatever little bit of sun that sneaks out behind a cloud. It has been constant rain here in Seville (the most they've had in 30 years) so when we see some rays we enjoy them :) Now, enjoy my post about Madrid and my next one should be coming soon!

February 25th (the day I started writing this)
On Thursday of last week when we boarded our huge bus bound for Madrid I was more than ready for the 6 hour ride. It had been a very long week full of exams and I had just finished my History of Spain one and was certain it was going to be my worst grade of them all. So when I found my seat I was a little disappointed that I wasn’t sitting with one of my friends but some Spanish girl. I guess that’s what you get for having the 5th ticket of 5 people, that would mean you are the “odd one out” quite literally. So with a sigh mixed with exhaustion and a bit of frustration I climbed over Miss-Effortlessly-Beautiful-Spanish-Girl to my window seat. Ah, the window seat. Now that was something to be happy about. I loved sitting by the window because that meant I could watch the plains, hills and mountains roll by and when that had lulled me into a sleepy state, I could smash my coat up against the window and have a lovely little sleeping spot.

And thus, the trip began. Having lent my ipod and headphones to our friend Travis only to receive my ipod and half of my headphones back I was ecstatic to find that the sole earbud still intact worked! So I settled in to watch the scenery while listening to a wonderful array of tunes. (Thanks for downloading all the music Paigey. I would seriously still be listening to the Spice Girls if it weren’t you. That alone leaves me forever in debt.) Problem, Miss-Efforlessly-Beautiful-Spainsh-Girl was trying to talk to me. None of my friends were much tuned in so there was no hope for a translator. My brain was fried so I was forced to shrug and say “no hablo espanol.” Gosh I hate saying that I feel like such an idiot. She smiled at me and then repeated in English, “Would you prefer this seat or are you ok by window?” Of course, she would be beautiful, kind and intelligent. Man these Spanish girls really can’t give us a break! I then smiled back and told her I was just fine.

And I was. I was more than fine with my window seat and my ipod on shuffle. Life was great and I was more than aware of it. I love taking trips because it reminds you of how lucky you are. That you are granted this time away from your schedule to see something different, experience more and hopefully gain some sort of earthly knowledge that I feel like each of us is ultimately searching for. While I do feel lucky looking out my balcony, sitting by the river, or even just walking to school, there is something about the excitement of travel that strengthens the flame in me that is constantly burning, reminding me that I am one of the lucky ones. This is what I was thinking about along with every other odd-ball thought that crossed my mind while I sat on the “sociobus” that literally looks like a caterpillar. I think I slept once it got dark enough and I realized I couldn’t see the sights out my window anymore. For me, its like watching a movie, you keep your eyes glued to the screen because you don’t want to miss anything but once the credits come on you can finally close your eyes. So I slept and sleep felt good.

When I woke up to the slowing of the bus I tried to see where we were but all I saw were streets and lights. We pulled into the bus station where we all scrambled out and proceeded to stand in front of the bus like “wait, you’re really just going to leave us here?” We had no idea where we were so we started calling the few people we knew that were studying in Madrid and Laura pulled out the information she had received from the girl we would be staying with, Claudia. Claudia is Laura’s cousin’s girlfriend’s sister. Yeah, you might have to read over that one twice haha. But the sisters are both from Spain, Julieta now lives in Denver where she met Laura’s cousin, but Claudia is still in Spain where she lives with her boyfriend, as we were soon to find out.

Once we figured out where we needed to go we went down in an elevator to the metro where I was educated on the metro system. You have to buy a little ticket and slip it through a slot to have the doors open and let you through. After jumping that hurtle we then had to find which system to take (there were about 10 maybe?) and this proved to be a task. It may sound simple, but I promise you if you were arriving late at night you would’ve been a bit confused too. We somehow found our system and got on for the long half hour ride that actually wasn’t that bad.

Confusion.


We're heeereee!

Next we had to get off and find Claudia’s street. Thank God Katrina’s friend Rachel gave us directions and was even nice enough to meet us on the street or I promise you we would have wandered around in the rain for hours. So BIG thank you to Rachel! We were number 47 and we found 45 and looked across the street to see 46 and 48 so it had to literally be like right where we were standing but there was no door. I jokingly (ok, kinda seriously) started knocking on the bricks like the wall was going to open up to Diagon Alley… I can’t believe I just admitted to that or how much Harry Potter has influenced my life. We finally gave up, called Claudia and she met us out on the sidewalk. We literally only had to walk like 15 more feet to find the right door.

The next 10 minutes consisted of the awkward introductions that come with meeting someone you will be imposing on for the first time, plus the lovely addition of a language barrier since Claudia’s English isn’t too great. Her dad, who lives in Barcalona, was in for the weekend and his English was very good though. There were 2 apartments, one on the second floor and one the first. (Fun fact: in Spain they don’t count the first floor like we do. They have “ground” floor which is what you walk into from the street and then up a floor is the 1st an so on where as the first floor is the ground floor for Americans. Get it?) The apartments are pretty much identical expect that the 2nd story one used to be owned by her grandmother so it is really nicely furnished and well kept. The 1st story one is where Claudia and her boyfriend live and it appeared that they had just recently moved in. Katrina and I left Tricia and Laura to their nice big room with two beds and Nick to his own room with his own bed to head downstairs where we realized we would be sharing a bed in a room full of boxes. However, we were not fazed and were just happy to have a free bed! They were unbelievably gracious and we were so grateful for their kindness. Plus, in our apartment, along with Claudia and her boyfriend, there were two other residents, two little kitties who were so cute! I called them “my girls” or “mi ninas” and we had many a conversation about the meaning of life.

Note the girls waiting for us on our bed.

Having found where we would later rest our heads, we decided we could go ahead and head out for the night. So, with a quick freshen-up routine (I have drastically changed the meaning of that since I’ve been in Spain) and a minor outfit change we went out into the drizzling Madrid night. Rachel, Katrina’s friend who helped us earlier, was at bar right down the street so that was our first location. There we met a few of Rachel’s classmates and ordered a couple of drinks. The drinks were only 2.50 which is a great deal so we were careful to consume a decent amount in fear that our next stop would be the regular prices of an 8 euro drink… so brutal. To arrive at our next stop however it would not be the usual trek through cobblestone streets, in Madrid, they take the Metro. So we found our new favorite form of transportation and learned that if you were quick you could squeeze 2 people in for the cost of 1 ticket swipe (granted there were no security people around) and we used this tactic quite often. You could buy just one ticket that will be scanned once before death, or the 10 scanner one that has a life of, go figure, 10 scans.

On the Metro, one of Katrina and Rachel’s friends did something I had honestly wondered about. What if someone just started dancing in the Metro? What would the reaction be? Well, this kind young man not only danced, but he danced with/on the pole. It was absolutely unreal to witness and I was a bit worried to be associated with him but at the same time, I was laughing so hard I couldn’t be anything but happy to be experiencing it. Oh, and to answer my question, Spanish people did not act as expected. In fact, they didn’t even really act at all. They were completely unfazed. Either this type of thing is common in Madrid, or they realized we were just dumb Americans, my money is on the latter.

I began to feel sorry for the pole.

Our goal for our next location was to meet up with one of Nick’s good friends who is studying in Madrid, Dave. I have also been friends with Dave since high school, but he and Nick went to school together and have remained close so, I guess they’re better friends ☺ He and his friends, which included another friend from high school – Pete, were at some Irish pub that we were quite sure we wouldn’t find but somehow, miraculously we did. They place was small and really packed but it was lots of fun. We managed to get a few free shots. One from the owner who complemented Laura on her pony-tail (surprisingly this is not the first time she has been complemented on the hairstyle). We also made friends with the bartender who is from SLU (just like Dave) and she lived with one of my friends from high school back in St. Louis. It is really such a small world. It was weird being in a bar, in Spain and with 3 guys that I was friends with in high school, 2 of who dated my good friends back in the day. Luckily, at the time I was a bit preoccupied to have such a large revelation. After we all hit the point in the night where all you want to dance we decided to do just that. So, I figured we would take the Metro to the discoteca. Nope, Metro closes at 1:30 which in hindsight makes good sense for a plethora of reasons. Don’t worry, I won’t list them ☺

Nick, Dave and Pete

After taking a taxi to one of the main plazas we headed for a place called “Joy.” Seriously, what better name for a discoteca? Hah but we found that the line was hugely long and the cover was like 12 euros. Umm.. no thank you! So we wandered down to another place called “The Palace” and decided this would suffice. The place was really fun and we danced, danced, danced. One of my favorite aspects was that there was basically a stripper on the main stage at all times. Ok, they weren’t strippers, on Thursday nights at least, but they were busting some moves on stage. Every half hour it would switch from a guy dressed as a cop (in solely a little blue vest, pants, aviators and a cop hat) to a girl who was wearing similar attire. It was unreal, we couldn’t stop laughing at them but they must have been getting paid well for how seriously they were taking their job.. hah Once we got our fill of dancing we headed back to our apartments. It was a bit weird for Trina and me to wave goodbye to the majority of our group as they headed to their swanky pad and we went to our mattress on the floor. It was even weirder when we realized we had to do our goodnight-bathroom-routine in Claudia’s bathroom which is right outside the bedroom she shares with her boyfriend. I felt bad like we were going to wake them up, but I guess we didn’t!

Waking up Friday morning was hard and we all groggily decided to head to the main plaza, Plaza Mayor, for some lunch. We hopped on the Metro and when we arrived we had to refrain form giving in and eating easy, greasy, American food at McDonalds or Burger King. We barely made it through the temptations but managed to find this little place with “kebabs” which was not what you and I would think of when first hearing the word. I’m not even sure how to describe it but if you remember the one post I have with the picture of me attempting to bite into a huge wrap, it was that but smaller (thank goodness, although I probably could have eaten the big version) and we got a fountain coca light which was beyond glorious!

Plaza Mayor was a major hot spot during the day and night

Tricia was certain this was a real statue although we all tried to tell her it was an actor or "live art" as they call it. As soon as this picture was taken the man pushed the can with his broom. Trish was shocked.

These people painted themselves in mud and would only move if you dropped some coins in their jar. It was amazing how many people actually stopped, threw in some coins and watched them move. Not even dance. Just move. The coolest thing they did was hold hands...

You're a grown man and this is your job.

Disney World?

Trish just couldn't get enough of these things.

The clouds were rolling in while we were heading towards The Palace of Madrid

There she is boys and girls. My summer house.

Once the sky started to look like it was going to unleash a thousand drops of water we decided we should find the Royal Palace of Madrid. We asked for directions and entered just as the first few drops started their gravitational journey. The palace was unbelievable and I was really worried that I wasn’t going to be able to read anything about the rooms since they would undoubtedly be in Spanish, but there was the English version underneath so I was a very happy girl. We wandered around inside for literally about 2 hours and just had so much fun. You weren’t allowed to take pictures so we only have a couple that we tried to take but then we saw one guy get taken aside by the security when he was caught snapping a pic. This deterred any sort of sneaky photography we were thinking about taking. I think they took him in the back and roughed him up because I saw him bleeding later on.. Just kidding ☺

When we emerged the skies were looking much brighter!

The gardens outside the back of the palace

Climbing around Don Quixote. Nice place to pop out Trish :)

After we got a taste of what it would be like to live like royals we toyed around some parks and took pictures of the gardens and statues and came to the conclusion we wouldn’t mind finding a prince, or princess for Nick. Tricia informed us that she still, legitimately believes that she can marry a prince. Majority of women break free from that fairy tale at the age of 10 so kudos to Trish for hangin in there. When we arrived back in our neck of the woods we were hungry again but we decided we were going to be savvy and grab some goods at a grocery store. So we got some bread, some salami (never before have I imagined I would like this stuff and I’m still not certain I do) some cheese, chips, fruit and of course some alcohol and went home feeling victorious.

That feeling of victory was greatly dampened when I caught my reflection and I badly wanted to shower. However, we didn’t have towels yet so I was forced to nap first (please catch the intended sarcasm in that). Waking up a few hours later, Claudia was home and gave us towels. I was ecstatic to hop in the shower. It wasn’t quite the to-die-for effect Granada had but it was still a warm shower with a clean towel and I was very content exiting the bathroom. I should tell you that we were not only sharing the bathroom with Claudia and her boyfriend (I never did get his name..) but the kitties had their litter box in there too. One big family restroom! So when I went in to shower the girls followed and tried to shower with me but I told them it was inappropriate.

Trina and I went upstairs to the other apartment where we sat in the kitchen and ate our “homemade dinner” and then we suited up for another night out. Dave invited us to a friend’s apartment to drink before so we took the metro there and the apartment was really nice. I couldn’t believe that college kids, studying abroad could afford such a nice place! The girl who lived there, Melissa, even made us take our shoes off which made me think the place must be expensive. However, I soon found out that she had us take them off for a drastically different reason. We were there for no longer than 20 minutes when we heard a knock at the door and it was 2 angry Spanish men and 1 very angry, old Spanish woman. They began yelling and all of the boys that were there went to the door. The girls and I stayed partially hidden down the hall but we could hear all of it, not that I understood much. The crazy old Spaniards were absolutely furious at the “raging party” we were having. Let me tell you, there might have been some John Mayer on really quietly and we were not talking loudly, it was very low key. The old woman picked up a shoe and started banging in on the ground saying that is what it sounds like. We were so confused. Clearly the shoes were there because we all took them off so what could she have been talking about? Then one man at the door pushed one of the guys in the apartment and shoved him up against a wall and apparently he hit Melissa as well? I missed all of this because I had absolutely no idea what was going on but I knew enough to not want to be apart of it. I guess they ended up shutting the door and Melissa was very upset (understandably) and asked us all to leave. It was unbelievable. They were talking about how all Americans are rude (except they used some Spanish profanity that I’m not sure of) and clearly did not like America. In reality, it was out of line and ridiculous but mostly just sad. Such a contrast of cultures, generations, language.. the list goes on and on.

Metro ride to meet up with the boys.

Plaza at Night

We packed up quickly and left for a bar. A few of us found a table and squeezed in the back, ordered some drinks and all of 3 minutes later the boys sitting by us leaned over to ask where we were from because they were also from the states. One of them was from California and I wanted to say “Oh wow really? You could have fooled me! So many Spanish guys wear graphic T’s, flat-bill hats and skater shoes.” He looked rather ridiculous. The guy he was with on the other hand stole my heart. He was this cute blonde guy from Connecticut and his name was Helias. We started talking but my friends were under-thrilled and made some excuse to get up and leave. We said we’d be back and Helias looked at me and said, “You’re not really coming back are you?” Who calls someone out like that with big, sad, blue eyes? I felt terrible so I promptly confirmed that we were indeed going to find our friends but that we would be back shortly. Yep, complete lie.

So when we bumped into him later I felt even more terrible and made some excuse to which he rolled his eyes but didn’t walk away. We talked for a while and although Helias could use a few pointers as to what is appropriate “bar talk” it was enjoyable. He shared stories of his parent’s divorce, his dad’s new 25 year old wife who is a huge feminist, but then again so is Helias’ dad.. (what?) his worries about his little sister and many other such things that made me want to make another excuse to ditch and hug him at the same time. Laura repeatedly stated that I was talking to a nerd, which was probably spot on, but when we finally went our separate ways he took a smidgen of my heart with him.

Awkward smiles all the way around!

It was a magical evening that ended with fireworks. And when I say fireworks I mean a bar fight where the guy waited for our friend Pete outside and attempted to jump him when we left. Then the cops were looking for Pete? Not quite sure, but it was far too much excitement. When I got home and told the girls my tale while their tales twitched, they started singing “first comes love, then come marriage…” I was going to tell them to grow up before I remembered that they’re only 6 months old, so I cut them some slack. Girls will be girls I supposes.

The next day was a very big day for me. We woke and struggled to pull ourselves together in order to meet Tricia’s cousin, Diego, who has been living in Madrid for about 2 years. He was going to take us to lunch for some good Mexican food and we were all beyond excited! We hopped on the metro and had a bit of confusion. Diego has Tricia’s sense of direction, thus we took a few different trains and got off at the wrong stop before having to scramble back onto the same car. The metro was super crowded and we were all smashed together holding on to each other’s shoulders and laughing at the impromptu “surfing” we were doing. Not great for a hangover.

Once we found the right spot Diego led us to a cute little restaurant where we had great nachos with guacamole and the works! We were very very very happy campers until it came time to pay. I reached into my purse for my wallet to find that it was not there. My heart dropped. I furiously dug and dug as if I was actually carrying the magic Barney bag with a black hole at the bottom. Nope. It wasn’t there. I searched the floor, outside, everywhere all the while knowing it was gone. Diego said it was probably on the metro and while I definitely didn’t feel anything (These people are professionals) I had to concede that that was the only possible place. We were so scrunched on there and when we got off and got back on my bag must have swung to the back because I ALWAYS keep it in front of me. I am such an overly-aware person. I don’t walk down aisles in Target (pause for the pain it causes me to live without one) when there is a man that looks suspicious. I would get on the metro and immediately scope out who I thought might want my bag, who was looking at me, who seemed too interested. This is literally how I had been for the past 2 days and I was in shock that this could happen to me, but happen it did. There was a moment when I went outside the restaurant to look for my wallet and I asked myself “Do I want to cry or not?” I chose no since crying is messy and I am not a cute crier. Plus, on the bright side I still had my passport, my license and another debit card so it wasn’t the end of the world. Yes I lost my student ID, by debit card, a Starbucks gift card, my bus pass home and 70 euros but as Nick put it, “At least they didn’t get you!”

Despite the large damper that my ‘charitable donation to the city of Madrid’ (that’s how I’m looking at it) caused I put on my game face and we hopped back on the metro. It was kind of an odd feeling because although I clutched my bag tightly the entire time, I realized that it was now pointless for there was nothing else valuable in my purse. I started checking all the trashcans in the metro in hopes that the “person in need” would have snatched my money and discarded my wallet. No luck. So I focused all my energy on our next destination, The Prado.

When we approached the vast art museum we saw a huge line waiting to get in. I guess we weren’t the only people who thought it would be a good Saturday evening outing. So we found the back of the line (literally there were hundreds of people waiting) and were pleased to see that it was moving relatively quickly. When we reached the front and Katrina handed the guy enough money for both of us he shook his head and explained that it was free. Apparently on Saturdays after 6 it’s free! We had arrived at about 6:10 and that was why there was such a huge line. I liked to think of it like God decided to give me a little kickback for my donation ☺

Please note the line

We approach the line apprehensively.


The Prado is an enormous museum full of amazing art in every form, painting, statues etc. The place was absolutely gigantic and luckily Claudia’s dad warned us that if we went there without direction we would wander for hours. So he wrote down a few artists we should try to see and we grabbed a map to figure out where they were. We found Velazquez right away and stood in awe at his painting Las Meninas. Katrina and I had taken a class together last year where we learned all about him and the very painting that we were now close enough to touch. (I really really wanted to)

Velazquez's Las Meninas See how he painted himself into the picture and the King and Queen are in the mirror?

It was completely unexpected and I began to look at the ancient artwork around me with a lot more respect and awe. I also couldn't believe how massive these paintings were. They were probably 10 feet tall. I truly had no idea paintings were so large. We saw Goya, Greco, Bosch along with tons of other artists who’s names I swore to remember but now find that they are just out of grasp. We probably spent about 2 hours there and I literally could have stayed all night. I left promising that this would not be the last time I was there and that someday, maybe with more friends, family or even in old age I would come back and further explore. Let’s hope I can keep that promise.

We traveled home and on the way wandered in and out of some “supermercados” in search of another homemade dinner. After much deliberation Laura, Katrina and I decided we would brave the personal-pan pizzas and hope that the microwave worked while Tricia and Nick opted for sandwiches. We all showered and ate our mismatched feast at various intervals during the process. Claudia and her dad came home and started making dinner together singing, laughing and talking. It was really sweet because they clearly enjoy each other. It made me miss my family.

During the getting ready process I tried to include the girls since they’ve been feeling a little dejected lately due to our busy days and nights. However, getting their advice on what to wear was like asking a cat to talk! The one thing they were both very adamant about was that I should not wear a feather headband and that I should leave it at home for them to try on… Such kitties.

Oh ninas. How I miss you.

Back to reality. After a few eventful days and nights, we decided to stick close to home and go to a bar near by. Laura’s brother studied in Madrid and when she and her family came to visit him he took them to this really cool “Cave Bar.” We had no idea if the bar even existed but as luck would have it, the “Cave Bar” was on our street! So we wandered in to literally a cave. It was dark and had stalactites from the ceiling and little crevasse here and here. Plus, when you ordered the specialty drink it came out of the ceiling! (One of the drinks translated to “Panther Milk” – Don’t worry Katrina was careul to get one) We settled in for the night and enjoyed the excellent opportunity for people watching.

Soo cool!

Nick being a diva


At one point Nick had to go to the bathroom so I pointed to where I thought one was. There was a huge group of people in the way so he had to squeeze all the way through only to realize that he was looking at a wall. We had sent him through an enormous group of people into a corner… He was not happy but the Spaniards highly enjoyed it and started clapping and laughing. It was so funny! They even took pictures with him like he was a celebrity. Haha

As usual, Tricia, Nick and Katrina were ready to head to another bar or find a discoteca while Laura and I were trying not to yawn. So we went our separate ways and in hopes to reduce the commotion of coming in late I decided to just sleep in the upstairs apartment with Laura and Trina and Tricia could share the downstairs bed when they got home. Oh, and Nick would of course had his own bed. But in typical fashion, there was confusion when they stumbled in later. So when it was time to get up we were all complaining.

Our bus home left at 1 so we wanted to leave the apartment by 11:30 in order to save enough time to talk to the ticket booth and see if I could get another ticket. I was actually very stressed about that. We threw all of our belongings in our bags, thanked Claudia for her hospitality and kissed the girls goodbye.. que triste (how sad) and headed back out into a similar drizzle that we arrived in.

We took our last metro ride and realized we were cutting it a little too close in order to make our bus (typical) When we finally found the right desk to ask about my ticket we had to wait in line and when Tricia tried to explain to the lady what happened she clearly did not care. She told me I had to buy a ticket for the 2 o’clock bus but that I should be able to get on the 1 o’clock one if there was a seat open. So with 2 minutes to go we rushed to the bus and the driver wouldn’t let me on. He said I had to wait till the very end to make sure no one came to sit in my seat. I wanted to say well if someone is sitting there then it’s a stolen ticket or it’s the robber himself! I was starting to get a little nervous but he finally let me on and I found my seat next to some guy who had already stolen the window.. boo. As we drove off, I waved goodbye to the largest city in Spain, my high school friends, Helias, the girls, the metro and my wallet. It had been an adventure to say the very least.

I thought I would maybe sleep on the way home but Laura had lent me her book and I opened it without reading the back or checking the author (sorry mom ☺) so had zero idea as to what I was about to delve into. The book is called “Have a Little Faith” written by Mitch Albom who also wrote “Tuesday’s with Morrie.” Although I had no expectations, this was definitely at the far end of the spectrum for possible plots that I was assuming would evolve through the pages. I started and finished it on the bus, it was that good. I don’t want to get too philosophical and preachy but I highly suggest that you grab this book. It was especially good for the Lenten season and I like to think there was a reason I happened across it when I did. I have reread pages and thought about concepts since then multiple times and plan on reading the book again before I leave. It was just a highly enjoyable ride home, which may sound odd considering I lost my wallet and the equivalent of 100 dollars, but I’m even more certain that there’s no such thing as a bad day over here for me, plus it was rainy out and I was curled up reading a great book that only further confirms how blessed you are. What could be better?

Another bonus was that I got to see all the views that night had kept hidden from me on the way there. There were some really cool windmills that were huge and reminded me of Don Quixote which was fitting since I’m in Spain. There was also a point where we were going through some mountains, the grass was a really rich shade of green and it was foggy out and (get ready for a Harry Potter reference) I totally felt like I was on the Hogwarts Express. I won’t go into too much detail but it just had a certain “Harry” feel. (Papa, Julie you guys would really understand ☺)

Windmills in the distance. Look at those clouds... Could totally be bringing dementors.

Well folks this might be the record breaker for longest posts! Everyone always tells me to just write shorter blogs but I just have so much to say and would rather give you more information than not enough. You know me, always trying to out due myself! Hah Which means my next post about Morocco should be epic! Get excited! I’m going to start typing it rigggggght…. Now. Adios!