Alright, let’s rewind to three Saturdays ago, my last day in Paris and then flew to Madrid that evening. Caity and I arrived in Madrid Saturday night and found my hostil, where Caity and I went our separate ways until the next morning for Easter Sunday church in all Spanish, definitely an Easter to remember!
Mexican food for lunch in Spain! Oh, how I’ve missed burritos!
Since Caity is in Madrid for school, class resumed on Monday after a week for Spring Break, so I attended class with her, just the same as I do when I visit her at LMU!
Caity in her snazzy skirt and heels for Flamenco dance class
Monday night I moved out of the hostil and farther north in Madrid to stay with a family friend’s parents at their apartment!
The view from the Del Rio’s apartment
Madrid’s City Hall
And Madrid’s old City Hall
Puerta de Sol! The center of Madrid. And yes, that is Mickey and Minnie Mouse you see. Sol tends to be known for lots of street performers, human “statues”, and daily appearances from Spongebob Squarepants, Smurfs, Puss in Boots, Hello Kitty, and many others characters.
Seeing as there is no huge monument stating “this is Madrid”, like the Eiffel Tower in Paris, I chose to take my Red Nose picture with the Bear and Madrono Tree statue is Sol, since it is the heraldic symbol of Madrid.
Pastries in Sol
Teatro Real, aka The Royal Opera House, across the way from the Royal Palace
The front of the Palacio Real de Madrid, aka the Royal Palace in Madrid
Infront of the Palace, with your everyday “matador” street performer in the background
Cathedral Almudena, across from the front gates of the Royal Palace
Inside the Cathedral, it’s so colorful compared to all the Cathedrals in England and France!
Plaza Mayor
Real Madrid and Barcelona futboler postcards!
Just a heads up, I know very little about futbol, so please don’t scold me if I get any of the following info wrong- I was in Madrid for the Real Madrid vs Galatasaray (a Turkish team) game in the European Cup Champions League, so the city was crawling with fans wearing jerseys and scarfs for both teams.
See the building between the plants? Yeah, thats one of the entrances to the Real Madrid Stadium that I can see from standing outside the Del Rios apartment building!
My view of the chaos after the game, with at least 20 buses lining the streets to take the Turkish fans back to Turkey. (Yes, Turkey is nowhere near Spain, futbol fans are dedicated to say the least)
Since the Metro is closed from 12:30am to 6am, Caity, Alex and I pulled an all-nighter in Sol at the different bars and clubs. Unfortunately, somewhere during all of our time walking in London and Paris, I hurt my ankle, which remained a swollen “cankle” my whole stay in Madrid, so I iced and wrapped it up, so I could limp around all night.
Marion (a friend we made during our time out) Caity and Alex, plus some guy who busted out every dance move possible, at O’Connell’s (that’s right, I went to Spain and drank in Irish pubs)
At about 4am, we left the bar scene for a chocolate con churros restaurant for a snack and nap to pass time while waiting for the Metro to open
After arriving home at 7:30am and sleeping through most of Saturday, Caity, Alex and I went out for a calmer night, in respect for our hangovers, for Sangria and Tapas
Sunday morning/early afternoon Caity, Alex and I went to El Rastro, a huge open air flea market on Sundays, where you can find pretty much anything your tourist’s heart desires, including my Real Madrid scarf!
In between sightseeing, school, drinking and homework, Caity and I would hang out at her host house and watch movies, specfically Harry Potter and the Sorcers Stone, and childhood favorites, Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen Passport to Paris and Winning London! Seeing a theme in our movie choices? Yep, we decided to reminisce on our travels from the past two weeks, only to be reminded how unbearably cheesy and wonderful Mary-Kate and Ashley movies are!
Monday afternoon I said goodbye to Madrid as I headed to Barajas Airport to fly back to London. Accompanying me on my flight was my good friend Nicholas Sparks, and my freshly stamped passport!
I arrived back to my flat with an Easter package from home waiting for me!
After getting into London late Monday night and a quick sleep, I limped off to Victoria Coach Station Tuesday morning to retreat back to my British parents in Coventry. Seeing as I’m (obviously) not in my home country, it’s not very simple to just drop into the doctor’s office to have them take a look at my swollen ankle, so we decided the best thing to do was take a rest period in Coventry, where I could work out a hospital visit if necessary Luckily, it wasn’t and my ankle is back to normal! Fingers crossed it stays that way since I still have visits to Italy and Portugal on my itinerary!
After being on the move for two and a half weeks in three different countries, two of which I don’t speak the language, this past week back in England has been lovely! Tomorrow I will head back down to London for a little more then a week before I take of to see my God sister in Italy! Also, my Aunt Janie, a flight attendant for American Airlines, will be in London tomorrow! So I will get to visit with a family member and explore London together, which I am quite excited for!
Adios for now!
Michelle
World Watching 