Day 22 and 23: tour Madrid and Aranjuez

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I’m going to put yesterday and today together because both entries are relatively short/I want to catch up.

Yesterday we did one of the free tours of Madrid, but first things first, we had a super long convo with our buddy Miguel because he had to tell us all the important things to see in Madrid lol. He took our map and literally drew all over it, putting giant Xs on everything we had to do lol. Too adorable. We also talked about Canada and what life is like back home – and how cold it is in winter hahaha, he thought we were crazy. He talked about how he plays the violin, about what he’s doing here in Madrid (lessons and just playing on the street with some friends) and he asked about music and culture back in Canada... we’re like uhhhhh not so much...? That’s why we come to Europe :P And of course to end off he wanted to add us on FB lol. Oh what a convo.

On with the tour – it was just ok this time around, which is kind of a bummer. The guide wasn’t really super upbeat or anything... he was really nice, but a little too chill. The history of the city/country is always interesting to learn about though – I didn’t know the political history here, so that was fascinating to hear about how young their democracy is here.

Not much else to really say about the tour... we did the main areas: Sol, Mayor, Opera... and yeah.

After the tour we did some shopping – we just kind of wandered around the Sol area and wandered through a department store. In the process, we totally set off an emergency alarm – apparently one can enter staircases but not exit them... ahem. Oops. We just stood there like SHITGUYYYY – some security guy came to get us and we slinked off. Silly tourists we be. Oh, and to add to the tourist look, I had to buckle and buy a big floppy hat because the top of my head is getting close to a burn, and nothing is worse than a burn on the top of your head. I be stylin’.

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Good day today! We took a day trip to Aranjuez.

First things first, we melted in our room last night – we had to close the windows because there was a bunch of very loud and rowdy Italian boys in the lobby area. Le sigh. It wasn’t hot falling asleep, but half way through the night it was like an oven. Oh well, hopefully it’s quieter tonight – windows are staying open.

Anyway! We took the train up to Aranjuez, about an hour south of Madrid. The city has a really beautiful palace, so we spent quite some time just wandering around the grounds and taking a bunch of photos as we always do.

There are also a few gardens, so we went into the smaller one and spent the afternoon reading. We’re silly too – I like the shade so I don’t burn, and Em likes to take in the sun, so we sat opposite each other in the middle fountain area haha.

My bench was a lot busier... people kept wanting to sit in the shade so I had to deal with a bunch of families and kids. Sand. Everywhere. Ugh. But on the plus side, read about 85% of my smaller book that I brought – all in one sitting. (Mom, that book you got me, the funny diary of a first year teacher one, SO GOOD).

Em went to explore the larger park area while I continued my lovely book. Unfortunately, the sun decided to move places... ahem. I was so engrossed in my book that I didn’t feel my knees cook. Yes. My knees. Not my legs. My knees. I have horribly sunburned knees now. I am the queen of stupid sunburns. (Em got a burn on part of her legs too – apparently the Spanish sun does not care for our legs)

After Em came back from exploring the park area, we just grabbed a drink and sat in the courtyard area of the hostel planning out stuff for tomorrow. Our buddy Miguel also joined us for supper – he really is never far away anytime we’re at the hostel haha. Oh my.

So yes, easy peasy day today. Really poop ending to the day though – got an email from the university who managed to lose my paperwork... again. For those of you keeping count, this is the 5^th time in 4 years they’ve managed to do that! Bravo. Braaaa-vo.

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