Blogs from Madrid, District of Madrid, Spain, Europe
May 24th 2012
Hola! I am finally in Madrid! Today has consisted of a 4 hour flight from denver to philly, then an 8 hour flight from philly to madrid, followed by sitting on the floor of the airport with my new companions for almost 3 hours until we were finally picked up by ISA staff and boarded onto a bus to the hotel. We are staying at Hotel NH Nacional and it's extremely nice but the rooms are really strange... Our room has two twin beds, made seperately but then pushed together to look like one bed. It also took me 10 minutes to figure out how to work the light switch, and after becoming extremely frustrated decided to go ask. This was not a blonde moment, for those of you judging me right now, and nearly everyone ... read more
May 21st 2012
An account of my journey to get to the other side of the world.. On my way to Auckland airport at 9.30pm Tues 15th May, 11hr flight to Kular Lumpur taking off at midnight. 3 hr wait at Kular Lumpur airport - massive #starbucksfail, worst coffee ever. My (Dad´s) backpack goes from showing signs of fragility to a shoulder strap breaking.. will have to carry the 9kg in front of me from now on. 13hr flight to London, sooooo happy - a row to myself! Save my feet from further puffiness (even with the flight socks). Another 3hr wait at Heathrow airport to fly on to Lisbon, Portugal. I arrive in Lisbon at 10.30pm - the same day I started from Auckland, indeed I have gone back in time. 7hrs light sleep in a Lisbon hotel ... read more
Reencontro com a Carla em Madrid
Published: May 25th 2012Europe » Spain » District of Madrid » Madrid
May 15th 2012
Cheguei em Madrid ao meio-dia. Com as instrucoes para o hostel, fui em direcao ao metro. E como caminhei pelo metro, pois tinha que trocar tres vezes as linhas para chegar no hostel. Eh um contraste incrivel se comparar com os meios de transporte que usei no Marrocos. Senti saudades dos gritos dos Marroquinos nas estacoes de onibus. Fiquei pelo hostel, tomei banho de chuveiro, caminhei pelas ruas perto do hostel, me sentei num banco em um parque, mas nao fiz muito nao. Foi uma tarde e noite de descanso. No outro dia, tomei cafeh, que estava incluso no preco da acomodacao e fiquei esperando a Carla. Foi bom reve-la e abraca-la, faziam cinco meses que havia visto a minha irma de alma pela ultima vez. Caminhamos pelo centro, tiramos fotos, conversamos, e rimos, como rimos... ... read more
Semana Dieciseis- Madrid and Tibidabo!
Published: May 14th 2012Europe » Spain » District of Madrid » Madrid
May 14th 2012
Hola! After a week of reviewing for finals and trying to gain some color I took an overnight bus to spend the day at the Capitol of Spain, Madrid! Arriving at 9 AM, we had the whole day ahead of us to explore the city and enjoy the amazing 90 degree weather. Right away we started at the main plaza, Puerta del sol. With it's lively characters (literally, Mickey and Minnie) beautiful fountains and fish designed Metro entrance, it is one of the most unique spots in Madrid. At part of the Plaza is the 0 KM mark, the exact center of Spain which was one of my favorite spots. On the way to the Prado Museum we passed many statues, and one really great one of Neptune in the center of a roundabout. Getting to ... read more
PHOTOWALK AROUND MADRID: What's With Siri?
Published: May 20th 2012Europe » Spain » District of Madrid » Madrid
May 6th 2012
I only meant to walk off all those chocolate bars I ate. Perhaps even contemplate a little after visiting a convent. No camera strung around my neck. Today I'm a local enjoying Madrid's gardens and parks. I tried talking to Siri but she just kept misunderstanding every word I said. Have you guys tried this? When I left Manila, my iPhone4S was just a week old. Thought I'd have plenty of time to get acquainted with my new mobile while basing myself in Madrid for the next 10 weeks. Siri and Me Too old for gadgets? Naaaah. I love new discoveries. Food, places, AND GADGETS. I hate reading manuals...... I just tinker away. (Don't start reminding me about our IKEA do-it-yourself assemblies) What I love about this new phone is its camera. I never owned a ... read more
Going Cheap On Day Trips from Madrid
Published: May 13th 2012Europe » Spain » District of Madrid » Madrid
May 6th 2012
A weekend in Barcelona. Semana Santa in Sevilla and Cordoba. They didn't come cheap, especially for babes from the Tropics where our currency struggles against the Euro. What's Cheap? When Westerners go RTW, their $, € or £ will go a long way in Asian countries. Not so with Asians (with the exception of the Japanese, maybe) on holiday with their hard-earned savings in local currency. In our case, we easily spend quadruple or more over what we would otherwise pay back home. Like a canned soda costs 4x what it costs from home. So it ain't easy to take off from my "nest" in Madrid without budgeting for it. Since transport and hotels take the lion's share of expenses, I lined up a few day trips from Madrid. Out in the morning or noon, back ... read more
March 26th 2012
Today is our third and final day in Madrid. The morning of our first day here we toured the royal palace of Madrid and people watched in a buzzing plaza. There are musicians, human statues, and all kinds of entertainersto see! My favorite was listening to a man musically play on kitchen pots while watching a group of boys perform soccer tricks outside the national theater. This truly is the city that never sleeps! We went on a pub crawl and at 4am the city streets are as packed as 4 in the afternoon!! (No worries: we were out with our hostel's hype girl/guide). We had a blast crawling with some people we met from New York, Canada, Argentina and Spain- who helped me with my Spanish, too. We covered our bases and tried Spanish sangria, ... read more
March 26th 2012
We are enjoying spain! The culture is so different than the States, everyone dresses in nice shoes, scarves, jewelery, and nice pants where ever they go. I havent seen anyone but Americans dress in 'comfy clothes' and a hoodie. I have been trying to taste a variety of Spanish food and drinks. So far this is what i've tried - tuna and tomatoe empinadas, tapas, paella, risoto with *cooked* red meat, the 'special' sandwhich at a local hole in the wall authentic spanish cafe which had three layers of toast, asparagus, cheese, bacon, ham *which is more similar to broschuto *and lettuce. my favorite so far are the tuna empiunadas and paella but everything is delicious!! for drinks ive tried sangria, mojito, beer and wine. not a fan of spanish beer and wine but their sangria ... read more
La vida... una mezcla de vino, lengua, sol y alma
Published: March 11th 2012Europe » Spain » District of Madrid » Madrid
March 11th 2012
There’s sunshine in the streets of Madrid these days and the rays work miracles on restoring my energy to enjoy life lived in the city. I have been living in Madrid for six months now, and I can truthfully say that I no longer get nervous at the thought of having to hold a legitimate conversation with someone in Spanish. And while I can now actually pick up on humor, sarcasm and a sense of someone’s personality through the way the speak, as far as small talk goes, I’m still as terrible as usual. English or Spanish, it doesn’t matter. Trying to think of something to talk about in awkward situations, or perfectly normal situations for that matter, will be the end of me. You can’t imagine the kinds of purely elementary conversations I hold sometimes. ... read more
SANTA MARIA LA REAL DE LA ALMUDENA
Published: March 11th 2012Europe » Spain » District of Madrid » Madrid
March 11th 2012
I don’t know about you, but I have always been a fan of the monarchs – be it the British, Swedish or Bhutanese. So when Prince Felipe of Spain, chose to marry Letizia Ortiz Rocasolano on May 22, 2004 at the Cathedral of Almudena, the church not only added another milestone event in its history, but it also increased dramatically the number of tourists and aficionados (like me) who wanted to take a glimpse of the cathedral where the Royal Weddingtook place. The Virgin of Almudena (Virgen de la Almudena) is just one of the two patron saints of Madrid. The other one is St. Isidore the Laborer (San Isidro Labrador). The Cathedral of the Virgin is located at Calle Bailen, 10. It is situated next to the Palacio Real. In fact, its main entrance faces ... read more
