The weekend plans

Photos

For you non facebook folks, I uploaded 17 pictures and they should be attached to this post. The other 250 pictures I took are on facebook, so for a full account of each city, go there. The pictures are from Lisbon and Madrid. Sights include places mentioned in previous posts.

Plaza Mayor

Last night myself and a few of my classmates met with my sister's friend from Ireland at the Plaza Mayor. Good times were had all around. The plaza mayor at night is a wonderful site, and it is so huge that it does not seem crowded. We walked away from the plaza mayor, through the plaza san angel, and that is where my familiarity with the city ended. We closed the bar down and headed out onto the streets of Madrid. The sight was amazing as people were selling food and beer up and down both sides of the street. It is safe to say that Madrid has no such think as an open container law. The police really don't care what goes on, as long as you are in order.

Class was from 9:00 to 12:30 today, and then we headed to the cable cars over the rose garden in Madrid. The cable car granted us awesome views of the city, particularly of the Palacio Royal. The rose garden has roses from countries all over the world. I negotiated a free glass (libre vaso de agua) of water from a local in Spanish while at the garden. I can understand much of what is being said, but speaking back tends to pose more of a challenge. I find that getting around Madrid is very easy if you attempt to speak the language. The locals like the fact that you are trying, and are more than helpful. After you struggle for a bit, some will continue on in english.

A new beer has been discovered: Estrella. I give it a grade of muy bien. Very tasty, and also available in the states. I also want to mention that all baseball games being played in the US in my absence does not count, unless the games favor the cubs. Sweeps are not a real thing, so keep dreaming.

The Official Weekend

Tomorrow morning we are off to Segovia, home of a castle and a Roman aqueduct. Two of my favorite sights to see. From Segovia we will be going to El Escorial, and then back into Madrid. Toledo is now official for Sunday. Barcelona was the original plan, but it was decided that we can see more for less money by staying around Madrid. I have swam in the Mediterranean before, and I must say it is rather pleasant, but at the end of the day this is a good choice.

On a side note, I found out that next wednesday is not only the night we are going to the bull fights, but the league championship soccer finals being played in Rome. I know that Man U is playing, but I can't remember who, Real Madrid perhaps? Either way, being in the city that night is going to be awesome.

Hasta

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Part of trip: Europe 2009

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