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Published: November 23rd 2007
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Happy late Thanksgiving!!
We arrived to Madrid yesterday around 3pm. The airport was such a hassle; we couldn't find our baggage claim, walked around the airport 10 times, no one spoke English. Took 3 different trains to get the hotel, FINALLY got settled in at like 5pm. I think we were both kind of grumpy and tired at that point! In any case, we met up with Greg (whom I met traveling in Munich) at 7pm and headed out on the town. We are staying in Puerta Del Sol, which is a pretty central location with lots going on. The main plaza has some pretty fountains and statues, and is bustling with people. I think most of our night was spent wandering and bar hopping, and getting lost. However, we did pop into some cool spots and got a good feel for the city. Hit up an Irish pub to close out the night, complete with a big screen tv playing the Cowboys vs. Jets game. Rick, your team should be ashamed of themselves! We settled in for the night at about 2am and boy did I pass out cold, and didn't rise for a good 10 hours later. Jessie
managed to make it to our free hotel breakfast around 10:30, but I was in desperate need of sleep!
Today (Friday) was a great day. We got a late start, but decided to do one of those sightseeing bus tours. Yes, I'm talking about the double-decker uber-touristy ones. The ones that I make fun of. Oh well, we got to see quite a bit, and despite the fact that the metro subway system here is quite awesome, we tend to get confused on the streets and this bus tour was great because we could hop on and off anywhere we wanted, and didn't get lost at all.
The architecture here is quite elaborate and breathtaking. Nothing is simple; nothing underdone. We went to some palace with an adjacent beautifully landscaped garden area, admired grandoise sculptures and later headed into some picturesque parks. I won't even bother trying to get into more specifics, as I would have to look at our map guide to remember the names of what we saw. Oh, we went to the Prado museum too, but just stayed outside.. will probably go in tomorrow, along with the Reina Sofia museum. There is an Andy Goldsworthy
photography exhibit which I'm psyched to see. Goldsworthy is known as an "earth artist".. and if you don't know what that means, look it up!=) I don't know if you remember "The Gates" exhibit by the artist Cristo in Central Park a couple falls ago? Goldsworthy is similar to Cristo in that he makes art in nature, but on a lesser scale and he solely uses nature as his medium, whereas Cristo juxtaposes synthetics with organics. Very cool, I've been a fan of his for awhile!! Also, supposedly the Reina Sofia museum offers free admission on Saturday afternoons... score!
We also went in some gorgeous Catholic church. I'm amazed at how incredible these cathedrals in Europe are, especially the ones in Munich. When it was chilly and I was getting tired from walking around for hours upon hours, I would pop in and sit in the pew to relax and reflect (and warm up) for a bit... very peaceful. Besides, I haven't been to church in a long time, so does this count??
After the cheesy tourist sight-seeing tour, we ate an awesome tapas dinner at some cafe in Puerta Del Sol. I ate the best spanish olives
and manchego cheese, mmm and red wine, and Jessie had some of that fancy spanish ham too, and crusty bread and marinated mushrooms.. afterall, when in Rome... haha. Our waiter was fun too, he laid down that classic European charm that you'd espcially expect in Italy. He had us blushing, even if he was almost old enough to be our young grandpa, hehe.
So now, we are back at our hotel relaxing for a few hours. People in Spain go out VERY very late, so again... when in Rome, or shall I say when in Spain.. you should go out very late, as that Spaniards do. Around 11 we are going to head out to a cafe and have dessert and a glass of wine, THEN at midnight we have reservations for an awesome flamenco dancing show at this bar/restaurant that my co-worker recommended. One portion of the show runs from 12:00 to 12:45, and then another portion goes from 1:00 - 2:00 am. I also believe that there is another show starting at 2:30 going until 4something. Craziness... but now you understand why they have middle of the day siestas here. Europeans definitely know how to LIVE life, unlike the slave-driving Americans. Did you know that Italians take the most vacation every year, with 42 days a year, and we take the least, with a measely 13. Pitiful!
Anywho, I took many more great photos today. Can't wait to share.
Ciao for now=)
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