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Published: October 9th 2009
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Before my flight to Madrid, I meet Oscar in the airport in Buenos Aires. He lives in Madrid and offered to show me around the city. Cool! I have a local to show me around. This trip is getting better all the time.
Hostel
I'm finally in Europe! Mind you, I get here very early in the morning and need to wait outside my hostel (
Hostel One) for an hour because no one is answering the door bell. Good thing it's not very cold or I would be freezing my butt off. Guess, I shouldn't have came to Europe at the end of April. Mind you Spain is actually warm so it's not that bad.
The hostel is quite nice. Big lockers, comfortable beds, free Internet, and a very clean place. It helps that the owners are Argentinian. A big plus is the hostel is in the centre of the city, so the tourist sites, clubs, and restaurants are nearby.
A guided tour
I meet up with Oscar two days after I arrive and start my tour of Madrid with a visit to
Museo Nacional del Prado (or the Prado Museum). I love art and it's great that Oscar is with me. He really
loves art and knows a lot about the paintings in the Prado. It's like I have a personal art tour guide. He takes me through the Prado, showing me all the famous and important paints and explaining the significance of each one. It's great! I couldn't have asked for a better tour guide.
After spending a few hours in the Prado, Oscar and I grab some drinks and get free tapas as well. He then shows me around town. As we walk through the city, he points out all the interesting buildings and explains the history behind them. I really think he should be a tour guide in the city. He would do a very good job.
We don't actually stop for lunch until about 3pm (Spanish time...reminds me of Argentinian time). I'm starving and Oscar is taking me to a place that serves up authentic Spanish food. For lunch, we have snails and Paella and we wash it all down with Sangria. Mmmmmmm...the food is delicious. I love Spanish food!
After lunch, Oscar and I walk around a bit more before parting ways. We are going to meet up for dinner as he wants to take
me to another one of his favorite spots to eat. I can't wait! If the food is as good as it was at lunch, it will be a fantastic dinner.
At dinner, we sit down on stools in a very crowded restaurant (
Taberna Maceiras). The atmosphere of the restaurant is amazing. Oscar orders food for us and the food is even better than it was at lunch. I love having a local show me around. I really need to make friends with locals more often.
Drinking and Clubbing
After dinner, I head back to the hostel to change my clothes. I invite people to go clubbing with me. Aditya is the only one who takes me up on my offer. We head to an Irish bar to meet up with Oscar for drinks before heading to the club. At the bar, we meet a French bartender who is currently living in Madrid and trying to become the top bartender in the world. He is teaching the staff at the bar how to make cocktails. For all his troubles, he is getting free drinks and we are too. We hang out at the bar for a few hours before
heading to the club. The line up for the club is very long and unfortunately for us, we aren't allowed in. We were standing in the wrong line. There are two lines: one for members and the other for non-members. The line for non-members is even longer than the line for members. The line also looks to be more than an hours wait. That's a little nuts considering it's already 3am. We head back to the bar and get a tip from the French bartender about another club to go to. We go there but don't stay very long as the music isn't very good. After heading back to the bar and finding it closed, we decided to call it the night at 4am. Not a bad night if you ask me.
A Few Days Left
The remaining days are more or less the same: drinking, karaoke, clubbing, and watching Champion's League Football on TV. I never thought I would get into football, but watching good football is like watching a good hockey game. It becomes addictive.
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Wendy Fong
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Yummy snails
Mmmmm....I love snails. Haven't had them in years! Was it fresh? How was it?