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Hotel Regina
This is the hotel we stayed in for most of the trip. As we step off the plane we proceed to baggage claim to retrieve Erika's luggage. The three of us head out to the exit of the airport surprised to find that getting a taxi to our hotel is going to be a lot easier than we thought. An attendant directed people through a wait line and then assigned each person/group a taxi, definitely not the every man for himself situation that usually occurs in big cities. As we get into our taxi Erika uses her Spanish to conversate with the driver to tell him our destination: Hotel Regina. About half an hour later we arrive to the hotel and pay our driver ten euros each which included a tip. We converted our money the day before in the JFK airport only to find that the U.S. dollar wasn't in good shape in terms of conversion rates much to our dismay. Despite this we felt confident in the necessity of this first purchase.
We met Cesar in the lobby of the hotel and knew that what we needed next were naps and showers. After fulfilling those needs and getting settled into our hotel room we met up with the rest of
The Square
The main square in downtown Madrid that became a staple for navigating downtown. the group whom arrived periodically throughout the morning. Around 4:45 p.m., which didn't feel like the correct time (hello jet lag) we met up with our tour guide for a tour of downtown Madrid. She showed us the main square and proceeded to lead us down streets and alleys for what seemed like hours. Every now and then we would stop and get a brief history lesson on an important building or structure. Many of these places such as the Parliament and the Royal Palace were places that we were going to visit in depth on a later day. However, one place that we did visit was a convent where nuns still live and even work the "sweet shop" downstairs. This consists of a lazy susan wheel that fully rotates so you can place an order and then the nun on the other side can put your order of candied almonds back onto the wheel without every being seen. I never really knew anything about convents or nuns until our guide told us about the building and the purpose of viewing rooms where nuns could visit their families. Overall the whole history behind this lifestyle and purpose of the convent
The Convent
Our lovely tour guide showing us how to use the lazy susan wheel to purchase sweets from the nuns. was very interesting, however, I felt that it would have been better to learn the vast information she provided on a later day when we weren't all consumed with jet lag.
Nevertheless, we were starting to get a taste of Spain. I was immediately enamored with the beautiful architecture that almost every building consisted of. It was interesting for me to see these buildings and structures because I had taken an art history class earlier this school year and could recognize the styles and columns present. I never thought that I would actually see these things in real life outside of my text book. I was starting to realize where I was and how lucky I was to be there and have the opportunity to do and experience things most people cannot in an entire lifetime.
Later that night we started to get hungry and ventured out to dinner. Cesar had informed us that most restaurants do not open until at least eight or nine at night so we waited until about ten to pick a place. Leaving it up to Phil, the only boy on the trip, he decides to pick a place just around the corner
The Group
Our group on the first day at one of the fountains we visited on our tour. of our hotel, The Wok. It was a modern asian inspired atmosphere with various cuisines including sushi and stir fry. We all ended up ordering completely different food and laughed about our first dinner in Spain. As I ate my Chinese dish, Emily ate Cantonese, Erika ate Japanese, and Phil stuck with classic Thai noodles, we joked about how cultural we were being despite the fact it was no where near authentic Spanish food.
Deciding that we would be more adventurous with our future cuisine choices we called it a night. As I got settled into my bed during the early hours of the morning I thought about where I was and what I was doing with my life. This whole trip seemed like such a fantasy when I considered it last year and still felt slightly surreal. Letting my jet lag take over I surrendered to sleep and wondered what tomorrow would bring.
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