My 145 Day Journey: Madrid: Parks, Palaces, and Parties

I swear I study. That statement is aimed more at my father than anyone else! I just thought I'd make that point before I continue with how the past weekend went.

My travel buddy, Erin, and I planned our trip to Madrid rather fast, buying our bus tickets somewhat last minute. I had arranged to stay with Susana, Dave's señora from when he studied abroad, and the woman I stayed with when I first arrived in Spain. On Thursday, I dragged my rather heavy bag all the way to FCEYE for my last class so we could leave right from there once class was over. Our bus was scheduled to leave at 6pm, but the two of us managed to walk all the way from the business school to Plaza de Armas, where the bus station is located.

The bus ride was 6 hours long, which might sound long to some, but I'm pretty used to it since that's about how long it takes for me to drive to Purdue from Kent. The ride wasn't bad at all, there was satellite TV onboard, and there were rumors of WIFI, although I was never able to actually connect. So, Erin and I turned to my computer, which had a couple seasons of Grey's Anatomy on it for our entertainment on our ride. By the time we arrived in Madrid it was 12:30, and it took us another hour to figure out how to navigate the metro, and then get to the apartment. When all was said and done, it was 1:30 in the morning, and Susana had stayed up to welcome us. (She's amazing!) Since her apartment is undergoing a re-painting project, we occupied the couch and a mattress on the floor for the first couple night. It was a comfortable sleep, and I can't complain when I'm surrounded by wonderful people!

Our first day in Madrid, Erin and I more or less bummed around the city. Our first stop after taking a bus was to Sol, an area of Madrid filled with tourists, shops, food, and history. After some window shopping, we ate lunch in la Plaza Mayor, followed by ice cream on a walk to el Parque de Retiro. Enjoying the views, and people watching, we walked around to see the Palacio de Cristal and plenty of people out and about. Our only set plan for the day was to go into the Prado. So, being frugal students, we waited until 6pm, when we could enter for free and could walk around for a couple of hours before close. The museum itself is beautiful in it's architecture. The paintings inside are also beautiful and have plenty of history in them (for more detailed info, ask my brother who studied in the Prado.) I enjoyed the sculptures and paintings until things started to blur together, and then we decided it was time for us to head out.

The night ended early, after walking around at the Prado we went back to Susana's, where she made dinner for everyone. I failed to mention earlier that during the weekend it was a packed-house. There was Susana, Sufiyan, and Eric, (all mentioned in previous posts), as well as Sufiyan's girlfriend, Erin, and myself. It was fun to have the hustle and bustle of a packed house, and there was always someone coming or going. That night we just talked with Susana and Eric, and decided the best decision was to go to bed since both Erin and I have been trying to get over colds.

On Saturday, our only set plan was to go to the Royal Palace. So we headed out around 12 or 1 and decided to eat lunch first. This time, we enjoyed the mercado de San Miguel. Here, we walked around to the various stations and made a meal out of smaller meals. This included, pigs in a blanket, croquettes, sushi, and a smoothie. All in all, a great experience of a place to eat. Navigating seas of people while eating sushi with chopsticks is not an easy task. After eating, we headed to the palace, where we ran into a few girls (for the second time this trip) from our same program in Sevilla, also visiting Madrid. Unfortunately I wasn't allowed to take pictures inside the palace, so I couldn't capture the grandness and nobleness (did I just make that word up? oh well) of the palace. Personally, my favorite part of the palace was the armory. It's just amazing how much effort they put into weapons, and armor for both men and horses. Also, they had displays of armor of just one prince that had about 10 different styles. Impressive. After the palace, we did a little window shopping, but soon headed back to siesta at Susana's. The siesta lead to enough energy to get some of my homework done (see, I study!), and for the second time, Susana made everyone dinner.

Eric had mentioned the first day that we got there that he was planning on going out with some of his friends to a discoteca, Kapital, on Saturday night. We figured there isn't any better time to go out than with actual students in Madrid who know their way around town. The club, we were told, was 7 stories, and had been around for a little while. Seven floors, sounded somewhat intimidating, but naturally I was up for the challenge! Around 11pm, Eric, Erin, and I left for Eric's friends' apartment. On the walk/metro ride over Eric and I "botelloned" which botellón is when you walk around town while drinking. (Some Spanish-lingo for you.)

We got to the apartment, where about 6 guys and an RA live, and all the guys finished watching the Real Madrid soccer game then got ready to leave. Around 1am, we left the apartment, and headed for Kapital, where we got in just in time to get a deal on the cover charge. The club really is 7 floors too. I'll let my pictures do most of the talking, but basically, there was one main floor, and 6 terraces that all overlooked the main floor. Each floor had it's own music and theme. One was more for the hipsters, others was hip-hop (you could enjoy some fantastic 90s rap). On the top floor, Eric and his friends had a VIP booth area where we were able to come and go whenever we wanted. On the main floor, there was a stage that always had a male and female dancer, wearing something scandalous of course, dancing to the music, with a large screen behind them. On the first terrace, there were also 2 platforms for two more dancers to show their moves. Every hour, this woman would come out and do an act, whether it be acrobatic moves from a hanging ring, or twisting and climbing her way up a rope. It was all very impressive. Kind of like Cirque de Soleil meets nightclub. Definitely worth the cover charge to get free drinks, dancing, and a show! Erin and I were out at Kapital until 4:30am, and got back to Susana's around 5. That night we had to sleep in Eric's room because of the painting in the other room, and Eric ended up on the couch. Somehow the constant puzzle of where we would be sleeping over the weekend worked out fine!

Sunday was very laid back. We woke up at the crack of noon, and went out to lunch only a couple hours later. Our goal for Sunday was mostly just to get some homework done. I had a presentation on Tuesday (which I nailed FYI), and another presentation on Wednesday, and plenty of papers and worksheets to accomplish, so we decided that we would probably need the entire day to get a dent in our workload. Our lunch was at a diner in the same neighborhood as Susana's apartment. It gave us energy to get that work done! Much later in the night, Erin and I took Susana to dinner to thank her for letting us stay with her for the weekend, especially when half of her apartment was being painted. The dinner was fabulous, and it was nice to get out and talk with Susana. Also, I got to eat my first red meat since being in Spain. If you know my family in the US at all, you know that we like our red meat, so this was a huge deal for me. It was so good! We got home from dinner around 11:30, and we packed our things, since we had to be out of the apartment by 6am to catch our 8am bus back to Sevilla.

Monday was la Día de Andalucía, therefore no one (in Andalucía only) has class or work. Erin and I spent 6 hours of our Día de Andalucía on a bus, but at least we got to see how a number of different towns were celebrating the day. The weather was great on Monday, so there were plenty of families walking around, people cycling, rollerblading, etc. Basically, it was everyone enjoying the climate and people of the area. Both of which are amazing!

This week only has 3 days of classes, and until today, I hadn't even had time to unpack from my weekend. But now, I am unpacked from Madrid, and repacked for my upcoming weekend in Barcelona. This will be our last weekend warrior trip for a while, which I'm pretty excited about because I miss Sevilla. Also, I am physically exhausted. But I feel like I've been cheating on Sevilla with other cities, so next weekend (other than a day trip to Cordoba with the program) Sevilla will get my full attention. After Barcelona and a couple weeks off, I'm planning on making a trip to Lagos, Portugal with a group of friends that I haven't gotten to spend as much time with because everyone made their travel plans before really figuring out who our new friends were.

So tomorrow night, after no more than 3 night in Sevilla, I will be enjoying Cataluña! Hopefully I'll be able to get to the next blog post more promptly than this one. Enjoy the pictures!

P.S. Only 100 days until I come home. Should I be happy or sad? Hmm...