Espana!

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Paella, Tapas, Sangria, Parties and futbol all come to mind when one conjures up images of Spain, and I had told myself that I would try to experience it all over my weekend in Madrid. And surprisingly, I did!

I flew from Paris CDG into Madrid Friday night, and due to a delayed flight, didn't arrive in Madrid proper until close to 1am. Checking in to the hostel Poul had reserved, I was met by Mario, who was very friendly, but who did not speak any English and so with my limited Spanish, conversation beyond "Tango uno reservation(o?)" y "donde estas los banos?", was rather difficult. But we managed and I eventually found the room. Poul was out and my phone decided that it didn't want to work in Spain, so I got ready for bed. And then Poul called, I got dressed again and we wandered around a bit catching up on what we've been doing with our lives since we last saw each other almost four years ago. With time like that between conversations, there's two answers, "everything", or "nothing". It was rather hard to walk the middle ground of what we've done without getting carried away but without just leaving it at "school, work", though I think we managed quite well.
The next day was Saturday and Spain's national holiday. It was also the 30th anniversary of the Spanish constitution, and people were ready to party! Not so much early in the morning, but there were definitely large numbers of tourists, both Spanish and foreign, out in the streets of Madrid all day. As it was a national holiday, the museums were free, so Poul and I took advantage of that and visited the Prado, one of the most famous museums in Spain, and the world, often listed along side the Louvre and the Brittish Museum as one of the top museums in the world. We spent the morning ambling alongside Velazquez, Goya and El Greco, and even , to my surprise and delight, Hieronymous Bosch and his "Garden of Earthly delights". It was wonderful, I love museums, being surrounded by art makes me feel so cultured and superior to regular people, and it's even better when I can do it all for free! After our lovely ramble through the Prado, Poul and I walked to the park de Buen Retiro, just a few blocks behind the museum, and wandered around along the wide paths until we found the "Palais de Cristal", a large glass and metal building built to host exhibitions. Just as we were leaving the Palais, Allison, a fellow Chico State student I had contacted before arriving in Madrid, called me too meet up so that Poul and I might stay with her that night, as our youth hostel, and all the other ones in Madrid, was full and Poul and I wanted to be able to sleep somewhere. I had sent out an email to all the Chico State students in Madrid in a desperate attempt to not be homeless Saturday night, and Allison was nice enough to respond and open her lovely apartment to two traveling strangers for the weekend. Turns out we should have met in Chico, knowing many of the same people as we do. It was actually quite fun to meet a fellow Chicoan abroad and name names, every other name meriting a "Oh my gosh! You know her? I went to high school with her/ I had a class with her/ I party with her all the time!" and the such. It's Chico, everyone knows everyone by 2 degrees of separation, and yet somehow Allison and I had never met before. No matter, we're friends now, better late than never, right?
We got our stuff and brought it to her place, which was large and spacious and Spanish, nothing like what you find in Paris, as in, I could stretch without hitting the walls. After dinner at a Thai place together, we wandered a bit seeing the hordes of people out and about in Madrid. For some reason a lot of people, almost the majority, were wearing bright and bizarre wigs of one sort or another, the kind of wigs where the wearers head looks as though it is on fire or is part of a japanese cartoon. I guess that's what you do on independence day in Spain, "wig" out! Sorry, I couldn't help myself. Seriously though, what's with the wigs? I still have no idea, we decided to pass on all that though and headed back to Allison's to get ready to go out for real. Spain is known for it's partying and I have always wanted to be able to go out and really dance the night away in Spain. The last time I was in Spain I was too poor and stressed to really take in the parties, but this time my stuff was safe at Allison's, I had money for drinks and cover, and I had the clothes and makeup ready to go! We got dressed and were out the door around midnight, the perfect time to start experiencing the Spanish night life.
We started at a bar that had ridiculously cheap and enormous drinks, though perhaps I only think things are cheap because compared to Paris prices, everything is cheap! We stayed there dancing and drinking with a group of Italians until the bar closed at 3, when we rolled on down the hill and were ushered into a club. Well, Allison and I were ushered in, through a different entrance, somehow avoiding a cover charge and the long line waiting to get it, and were immediately pushed on to the dance floor where we danced until 7 in the morning with various Spaniards doing their best to try and pick up on us. At 7, the lights came on in the club and the music quieted down. We could finally hear the lines the guys had been trying on us, and they finally figured out that I don't really speak any Spanish what so ever. And so I talked with a guy in English while Allison flirted away in Spanish, when the guy I was talking to said "Do you want to see a futbol game?" Well, yeah, I'd love to, if tickets weren't 80 Euros a piece! Turns out that wasn't a problem, "my dad owns the club, if you girls want to see Real Madrid play Seville tomorrow, give me a call and I will reserve some seats for you." What? In Europe, they call teams "clubs", I didn't really believe it, his dad owns Real Madrid? It sounded too good to be true, but hey, why argue? So I just took the coaster he had written his number on and said hell yes we were interested in seeing Real Madrid! We eventually said good bye to all the guys and got a ride home from Luis, Allison's interest of the night, and ended up sleeping until 3 the next day.
Upon waking and realizing that we had slept away the greater portion of the day, Allison and I called the guy from the bar about the tickets. He told us he had reserved us two seats, all we had to do was go to gate 49 and tell the guards to call control and say that Sara and Allison had arrived. Cool, assuming it would work. It sounded too good to be true, but definitely worth a shot. Poul and I did some exploring that afternoon, eating calamari sandwiches and Paella, both Spanish classics, for lunch while trying to get some Christmas shopping out of the way. Apparently the rest of Madrid was also trying to get some Christmas shopping done, because the stores and squares where packed. We got Allison a little something for being such a wonderful host, but other than that we didn't find too much. I guess I'm just going to have to spend Paris prices on gifts for my family, ah well. We met Allison and David at Plaza del Sol for dinner before Allison and I took off to claim our seats for Real Madrid.
It was a cold and rainy night, but we were excited as we attempted to hail a cab. As it was rainy, the queue for cabs was quite long, and all seemed to be occupied, luckily the man in front of us gave us the next cab, probably due to the fact that we're girls and Allison is in a wheelchair, which makes the metro and other forms of transportation rather difficult. We were very excited, and hoped it would all work out as he said it would. Seeing Real Madrid, at their stadium in Madrid, I'm not sure how many soccer fans out there read this, but it's kind of a big deal. The stadium boasts 80,000 seats, 70,000 of which are held by season pass holders, and the remaining 10,000 sell out fast for a price of 70 euros or more, so for us to have the chance to get seats at all was pretty darn cool, let alone for free!
And so, shortly after 8pm we rolled on up to the gate he had given us and told the gate keeper that Allison and Sara had arrived. I wish I could say he opened the gate and ushered us in to our exclusive box seats where we partied with Spain's elite while drinking sangria and cheering for Real, but I can't. We told him seats had been reserved, he called control, nothing, we called our guy, they called control again, asked us who our guy was. We didn't really remember, so we just handed them the coaster he had written his name and number on, classy, I know. They looked at the coaster, looked confused, whispered among themselves, called control again and we were in. Our seats were pretty amazing, not box seats with famous people, but still pretty darn good. We were in the first level, right under the awning, so just as close as we could be without being in the rain and with heat lamps near by. There were screens up near us so we could see instant replays and close ups of all the hard-bodied Spanish soccer players, which is always enjoyable. I think we were on the Seville side, as people were wearing red and cheering at all the wrong moments, like when Seville made goals, but it was fine, there was still a majority of Real fans so it was fun, and very thrilling when goals were scored. Unfortunately Real lost. I never really know what to do when my team loses, I mean, I just spent the last hour and a half cheering for them, urging them to play better, stronger, faster, jumping out of my seat, and then... nothing. All this energy builds up, and then... then there is nothing to do with it. I mean, my team lost, what do I do now? I see why there are riots in some countries, if everyone is this invested what else are they going to do with all that energy? I guess it's good for the bars though, as you drink if you win, drink if you lose, so as usual, the alcohol business always wins.
We headed back into Mardrid proper a bit dejected, but still excited that we got to see a game. We took a bus and then started walking just to find somewhere warm and dry to sit and call Poul and David to see where they had gotten to. Apparently they hadn't gotten that far, and Poul met us at the overpriced cafe where we were having ridiculously overpriced orange juice (sure it was fresh squeezed and delicious, but 3 euros for a tiny glass? Come on Spain! You're supposed to be cheaper than Paris!) We wandered a bit in the rain, and as stadium hot dogs don't hold you for very long, we headed to a little restaurant cafe and had paella and sangria until it closed.
The next morning I said my goodbye's to everyone and gave Allison the Thank-you box of chocolates that Poul and I had bought her the day before. Poul and I gave her the box, not just me, that would be selfish and mean-spirited, and she appreciated it, because come on, who doesn't like chocolates? And they said "Merci" on them, so every time she eats one she can know we're grateful for having a place to sleep. David walked with me to the Metro as he had grocery shopping to do and we conversed as much as we could, considering his English is about as good as my Spanish, but we said bye understandably enough. Two euros and half an hour later I was at the airport checking in for my return flight to Paris, though not quite ready to leave Spain, I was still thoroughly satisfied with my weekend away.

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Photos

Boys will be boys
In the Airport there were video game terminals, all being hogged by middle aged men.

Christmas Market
The Christmas market in Plaza Mayor, slightly different from those found in Paris.

Plaza Mayor
There used to be bull fights here, but no longer. This is the central plaza of Madrid.

Some fountain
Really just an excuse to put a picture of me in here.

Park
A large park in Madrid

The same park
Yup.

Statue
it commemorates .. someone.

Me an' Poul
In the park.

The big lake
You can rent boats and row around.. how romantic.

Me again
On the other side of the big lake.

Palais de Crystal
This is a large glass house in the park, empty now, but I think sometimes there are exhibitions held within.

And more Palais
It was just so pretty!

Green wall
Allison said "It's the grass wall!" She sounded so excited about it I took a picture.

On the street
He was playing the glasses! I liked the way they were lit up, and it sounded pretty.

Modern madrid
The Christmas lights here are much different than those in Paris, this street blinked at you as you walked down it.

Christmas trees, Spanish style
Again, Spain is too Avant guarde for normal Christmas trees, so they do this instead.

Those guys we met
These guys got us into the club.

The streets of Madrid
in the rain.