Madrid, Dia Dos

---

Good Morning, Everyone -- Bonus -- Wendy and Adrienne are blogging together as we prepare to go to Toledo. First, Wendy ...

When we left the hotel on the first day, we saw a woman who, as we have become accustomed to seeing in Europe, was provocatively dressed. Adrienne and I have gotten used to exchanging looks when we see women dressed this way, our signal that 'the woman is dressed like a prostitute.' In Moldova, we exchanged this look quite a bit, as nearly all women dress this way.

When we returned to the hotel, it caught my attention that we saw three women sitting on the same bench but not interacting with one another, and yes, they were dressed like prostitutes. Suddenly it hit me! They aren't just DRESSED like prostitutes; they ARE prostitutes! I shared my observation with Rachel and Adrienne after we had gotten some distance away; their eyes and mouths opened wide. When they themselves looked, they agreed.

After some discussion on the first night and next morning, we decided to not change hotels, as the aforementioned activity hasn't bothered us, and the hotel location is exceptional. We can walk to everything in Madrid, close to La Puerta del Sol, and security here is good.

And, since we can walk to everything, yesterday we took in quite a bit ... breakfast at Stabucks, Plaza de Espana, Palacio Real, Plaza Oriente, Catedral de Almudena, a great and cheap lunch, Plaza Mayor, and La Puerta del Sol.

And now, here's Adrienne ...

I actually debated on putting out the information on the working girls near our hotel, as I thought my mom might catch a plane and retrieve me right away. But then I remembered I'm 36 years old, and not on a college Spring Break trip, plus she knows I wouldn't put myself in an unsafe situation. Not usually, at least.

In just 2 nights here, we have already picked out our favorite prostitute. We call her "Tranny Annie" because she looks very...ummm...manly. She hangs out on the corner behind our hotel, so when we lean out the window we can keep an eye on her.

When we first arrived in Madrid, I still had stars in my eyes from Paris. As Wendy mentioned, I absolutely loved Paris. Even when we were just walking down the street, I was enjoying myself. I adored everything about that city. So Madrid had a lot to live up to. And at first, I was a bit disappointed. Although our hotel is in a great location (and surrounded by Starbucks) it is not a very picturesque area--it seemed pretty dirty and run-down to me. Retiro Park, which we visited the first day, is quite lovely and peaceful, but even that wasn't enough to help me see Madrid in a positive light. So after the first day, color me a bit let-down.

But yesterday, Day #2, we REALLY got to see Madrid, and it is such a lovely city! As we walked to Palacio Real and got off our street, I was amazed at the beauty of the architecture and struck by the number of parks and fountains. We did so much yesterday, and all had a great time. So I am much happier about Madrid than I was yesterday.

We have also discovered that I have bionic eyes. No matter how far we are from a statue or plaque, I am somehow able to read what it says (although I can rarely understand it).

Last night we stopped for tapas at a bar our guidebook recommended, famous for its croquettas de bacalao (cod croquettes). I'm not the biggest fan of cod or fish in general, but these things were amazing. The downfall of this experience was our waiter. To call him gruff would be generous. He spoke in an angry tone, and his words were so garbled that our fluent translator, Wendy, couldn't understand a word he said. He actually argued with her (we think) about what we ordered. And when we asked for another beer, he picked up our empty glasses (they were muy poquito) and slammed them on the table. We were actually frightened! In fact, we were so scared that when he came back after that, we would sit up straight in our chairs and lean as far back from the table as possible. Wendy complained about him on the way out; the host smiled, told her the guy had been working there a long time, and he apologized and told her that we shouldn't take it personally. He asked us to come back another time, and we might just do that.

As Wendy mentioned above, we are off to catch a train to Toledo today. I can't believe that this time next week I will be in Austin! What a trip this has been!

Shout out to my mom, who is getting a new knee today! I know everything will go well!

---

Comments

[John Logan]

Prostitutes and Starbucks
I'm getting a feeling that there must be a connection between the number of prostitutes and the number of Starbucks around your hotel. I guess one gets you up at night and the other gets you up in the morning. As to gruff, burned-out waiters, come on! You live in Austin, home of the gruff, burned-out waiter! Next time, just pop outside and get him a hooker. That's a nice tip! Or maybe a cup of coffee.....

[Joanne]

Toledo is BEAUTIFUL! You'll love it! Are you going to the Alhambra in Granada, too? That place was amazing - I could imagine myself living there, back in the day ;-)

[Wendy and Adrienne]

We are staying in Madrid
Unfortunately, we aren't going to make it out of Madrid. I have been to Granada twice before, and remember being enchanted by it. We are already talking about going to Barcelona next year. Myabe we'll hit Granada and Sevilla then as well.