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Published: February 24th 2007
Amazing
Downtown Madrid¡Hola! ¿Que pasa?
Well I am now back in Utrecht after an amazing 5 days in Madrid, Spain! We had such a great time... cheap shopping, sunny weather, friendly people, and plenty of tapas and sangria!
The cheap flight that we got to Madrid was with RyanAir (one of the cheapest smaller European airlines) and they only fly out of Eindhoven, Netherlands, which is about a 50 min train ride south of Utrecht. It was a bit of a process getting there since our flight was so early. We had to leave our place at 5am (in a cab since the buses don't run that early)... then take the 50 min train ride to Eindhoven (which we almost missed).... then a bus ride from the Eindhoven train station to the airport.... then the 2 hour flight... then a 1 hour metro ride from the Madrid airport to the city centre!!! AUGH it was exaughsting after 3 hours of sleep! Anyways, we finally made it and it was beautiful! We spent some time wandering around trying to find our hostel... with the 4 girls relying on my spanish skills to get us around! Those spanish courses finally
Fountain
In the Reina Sophia courtyard paid off and we were able to find our hostel! It was impressive.
The city was really beautiful... super old buildings, statues, fountains, museums, and TONS of shopping! I think every 3rd store was a shoe store - no joke! Within the first 2 hours that we were in Madrid, each of us had bought at least 1 pair of shoes! haha. We stayed at Cat's Hostel which we found online and it was perfect! It was right downtown in all of the action, and the building of the hostel is actually an 18th century Spanish palace!! It was so nice. The hostel also had a chill out area with cushions and a fountain, internet, and a full bar that was really cheap! We would hang out at the hostel bar, meeting other travellers, then we'd all venture off on the town. We met such awesome people - Italians, Spanish, Americans, New Zealanders, and even some Newfies.
The food there wasnt great tho, and we had problems finding good places to eat that werent very expensive. I think maybe I am still just used to eating meals for $1 in Asia! I still am trying to
adjust to how expensive it is in Europe! When we werent shopping, we checked out some of the sites, including the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sophia. Its a huge modern art museum that was really cool.... it had tons of amazing Pablo Picasso pieces!
Anyways, friday morning came too fast, and I'm now back in Holland! I miss Spain already but it is nice to be back here in Holland.... even tho I keep speaking Spanish and have to get back into DUTCH! Back to school on monday which I'm not looking forward to. Apparently I need to change up my schedule AGAIN because of some mix ups and the fact that some arent going to transfer back to Canada. Hopefully that will all work out...
Hope all is good in Canada!!! MISS YOU!!
(Click on the pictures to see them bigger)
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Jillian
non-member comment
I Love Lindsay Saunders Like I Love Jesus
Hi Darlin! So happy I could be the first comment on your blog! Your pictures look amazing! I am so happy for you that you get to experience all these amazing places! I am so jealous! I can't wait for some girl chat...I am going through some serious Saunds withdrawl no doubt!