We arrived in Madrid the next morning and checked into our hostel. When we arrived, we heard of some terrible news: a terrible plane crash had occurred that morning. I later got some concern from friends/family regarding my well-being. They didn't know I had gone by bus. Oops! I guess I should provide more detailed itineraries to people next time... Anyway, we were extremely tired, but couldn't exactly check in yet. We stowed our luggage in their luggage room and went to an art museum nearby -- the Museo de Prado. We ate breakfast outside, and then headed into the museum. We were sooo tired from the previous night's bus ride that we could barely concentrate on the artwork there. I don't even remember what we saw! I just remember sitting on a bench and almost falling asleep like a bum in the art gallery! After finishing the art gallery, we walked over to a beautiful park -- el Parque de buen retiro. It reminded me of central park, but with more pruning and gardens of flowers. There was a small lake in the center, where people paddle-boated amongst the sea of gold fish. Finally, it was time to check-in, so we trekked back to the hostel and took a nap. After our siesta, we made our way to the Palacio real, the royal family's palace. We sat in the square for awhile, taking in the scenery, while some kids nearby were racing across the square. It was cute! We also found a random restaurant and went into try some paella for dinner. We watched a bullfight on TV. I never knew how gruesome it was! A good bullfighter kills the bull as quick as possible and as painlessly as possible. The fight we watched involved the bull fighter missing the bull's heart when the sword came out. =S On the way back, we took in the night-time ambience. Of the pedestrian-filled streets. I really enjoyed the vibe! There was also some guy who put on a display of toilet paper in the vents!
The children play in the windy vents, after a man tucks toilet paper in various spots. It was quite a spectacular show despite the weirdness. (The vent also smelled funny)The next day we embarked on a free tour of Madrid. We saw many of the major sites by daylight and were let off in the downtown area on Gran Via (one of the major streets). We headed back to the hostel for our daily siesta and later prepared for dinner. In the evening, we went to the Plaza Mayor to take in the sights and sounds of Madrid.
August 23rd -- Madrid cont'd
Joey really wanted to see a bullfight so we went to the bullring to see what we could do about that. There were no shows that we were able to watch, so we just checked out the bullring (Plaza de las Ventas). We then made our way to la Puerta de Alcala (in la Plaza de la Independencia), an arch near Gran Via. Joey was hungry so we walked up the Gran Via and stopped in the McDonalds. We walked through the shopping district around Gran Via and headed back to the hostel. Later the night, we embarked on a pub crawl to the Dubliners (Irish Bar) and Sol y Sombra (with the free tour crew) and our roommates from the hostel.
August 24th -- Madrid cont'd
This morning, we went to El Rastro, a flea market. There were so many people! I hate being in crowds, so we just made a walk-through avoiding the crowded stalls (probably where the good stuff was). We stopped by a Chinese-run tapas bar (it was just coincidence that it was run by chinese people). Joey had a beer and we had some chinese tapas. We continued walking and later randomly found ourselves at el Museo de Arte Reina Sofia. It was bittersweet as it was free that day, but we had arrived about an hour before it was closing. We quickly toured as much of the art museum as we could, and saw some Picasso and Dali works. I wish we had more time to check out the museum! It was so much better than the Prado museum. Oh well! We then found our way to Estacion Atocha. This was the infamous train station that was victim to the bombing a few years ago. This is the most awesome train station ever! There is an indoor garden, home to a forest and a pond full of turtles!!!
We were on our way home, when we randomly saw a living wall beside a bank. It was pretty cool since I've never seen an outdoor one!
We stopped by at the Parque del buen retiro and just chilled there for awhile. There were families having picnics, a group jamming (which we enjoyed listening to), and children playing everywhere. There was supposed to be a drum circle according to my guide book, but I guess we didn't find it. I ended up taking a nap in the park because it was so nice! Joey wanted a beer, so we found a tapas bar near our hostel and they had some awesome tapas! That evening, we went to a Churerria with John and Shane, Joey's roommates from the hostel, and I introduced the churro to Joey. It was soooooooo delicious! We chilled in the hostel for awhile until it was time for us to leave for the airport for our red eye flight to Paris.Wow, catching up on blogging is taking much longer than intended! However, I must finish before school starts! Only 12 days left of our journey!
No comments:
Post a Comment