Marvelous Madrid!

So sorry it’s been forever!  Madrid was definitely a good trip… it’s amazing how much we were able to do in such a little amount of time!  We left Thursday night on the last metro so while everyone was drinking and heading out, we were all bundled up with our backpacks ready for an adventure! The nightbus wasn’t that bad but I was sitting on the window seat and couldn’t stretch out so my knees starting aching… but other than that, it was good!  We were able to get a night’s rest and get ready for the day!  We finally arrived in Madrid after about 9 hours and we decided that we wanted to spend a day in Toledo!  Toledo used to be the capital of Spain so it has some cool buildings and what not but it’s mainly little streets and tons of ceramics!  It was SUPER cold that day, was not prepared for that!  We saw the Cathedral, which is, no doubt, the prettiest cathedral that ever exists and it was amazing!!!!  At first we were hesitant to pay the 7 € and go in, but we decided at the last second and I’m so happy we did.  The detail is incredible inside and it was HUGE!  I'm getting married here, by the way.  I already put my name on the list because it's such a long wait... The treasury was the coolest and included the La Custodia de Enrique de Arfe, measures over ten feet tall and was used in the annual feast where the center holds the eucharist.  It contains about 6,000 pieces of silver, gold and gems and is said to contain the first gold that Columbus brought from the New World!! So cool!  Check out these pics!

Toledo!

Gorgeous organs

Altar... no big deal

The Monstrance of Enrique Arfe

 On Saturday, we wandered allllll over the city!!  It was really cold but the worst part was the wind!  Sometimes it was so bad that we actually had to stop walking and hide ourselves.  We did all of the touristy things and walked to Catedral de Almudena, Palacio Real, Plaza Mayor, Plaza Puerta del Sol, El Parque de Retiro, etc.  We went to the Reina Sofia museum of modern art and that was really cool!  It was really interactive and they had a lot of videos and really weird/different things as well!  We were starving for lunch and did some wandering and somehow ended up buying a 15 € lunch but it was definitely the best tortilla and patatas bravas I have had so far in Spain!!!   On Sunday, we went into Palacio Real and that was super cool!  We weren’t allowed to take pictures and they were super strict!  But it was cool to see what it was like… very decorative, very gaudy but I liked a lot of it!  The coolest part of it all was the armory they had too!  It was a museum of all of the armory for the men, women, kids, horses, everyone!  Seeing the jousts and all of the metal was so cool… it made me wish Heath Ledger was still alive and want to be in A Knight’s Tale :)  Very cool though, it is a MUST see!  We also got the famous churros before we left (yum) and I got to stand in the middle of Spain!!!  Because we were with Pavel, Mica’s friend from Czech, we were able to see so much!! (He’s very responsible and knows what he’s doing)  We must have done so much walking that I was limping by the end of it, but I’m fine now! :)

El Parque del Retiro

Us three in front of the Palace :)

Which one is real??

Holy churros!

All in all, I loooved Madrid!  My FAVORITE thing was that they spoke Spanish!  That sounds silly but it was sooooooo amazing walking everywhere and being comfortable understanding everything and knowing what was going on..  In Barcelona, Catalan is so confusing and the accents are so strong, it’s so difficult!  So that was definitely a good break!  Madrid is a very cool city and there is SO much to see!  I did like their street signs better than Barcelona… 1 you can actually find them because they’re big and 2 because they’re pretty and ceramic and have a picture.  This is because back in the day nobody could read!!  Their dogs in Madrid definitely were NOT smart like the ones here… they were like real dogs.  They were pulling their owners and doing normal dog things but the second we returned to Barcelona, I noticed the difference! (funny I know)  And their street performers are a lot better!!!  Some are seriously weird, like crying adults dressed up like babies in strollers and these weird llama things, but the others were so skilled and good!  And we pretty much met the whole Disney cast :)  I am SO jealous that they have good water there!  Apparently it comes from the mountains so that it tastes amazinggg… just like filtered water!  Madrid was very nice and I loved it a lot but I definitely am glad I chose Barcelona to study!  Madrid is just good to visit :)