"Es Fantastico!"

Today was [in a spanish accent] increible! It was both are first and last full day in Madrid and I don't think I would have wanted to spend it any other way. It was another long day, let me tell you. Edgar, Jinah, Lu, and I walked around Madrid for 12+ hours... my feet aren't too happy about this, but I sure am. It's impossible for me to describe, in detail, every aspect of today, but I will definitely try my best. 3:24AM or not, by golly, I'm going to try.

So, the day started with me almost sleeping in until 11AM, but I soon woke up and got ready as quickly as I could because I knew we were going to have a long day. Edgar and I met with Lu and Jinah outside of our hostels and walked to the nearest market to pick up some snacks to munch on during our adventure through Madrid. We decided to do this because it'd be a lot cheaper to have some snacks "to-go" than having to go to sit-down restaurants and cafes that charge you 12 euros a person, or something ridiculous like that. Anyway, we ended up buying some tangerines, bananas, bread, chocolate milk, and orange juice. This saved our stomachs for the rest of the day.

During our 12 hour walking fest filled with sightseeing, we visited and photographed so many amazing places in Madrid - at least, most of the tourist-y and historically famous buildings. Forgive me for my lack of spanish-speaking skills, it's really difficult for me to remember all the names of the places we went, but I took about 550 pictures today to make up for this.

We started walking early in the day, just before noon. It's like the farther south we walked, the more grand everything got. Here is a list of the places we saw today, in chronological order:

- Estadio de Bernadeu

- Nuevos ministerios (the governmental office)

- Fountains, fountains everywhere!

- the National Library

- Palacio de Cibeles

- Plaza Granvia

- Plaza Callao

- Plaza Santo Domingo

- Plaza de Espana

- the Royal Palace of Madrid

- the Catedral de la Almudena

- Plaza de la villa

- Plaza Mayor (where Lu and I got jipped while taking photos)

- Plaza del Sol (Protesting center)

- Puerta del sol

- Museo del Prado (we got a free ticket for one of the exhibits)

- Parque de el Retiro (big gate, puerta de alcala, boating!)

- Monumento Alfonso XII (rowing boat and thunderstorm scene)

- Palacio de Velacquez

- Palacio de Cristal (those ducks were really cute)

- Atocha station

- Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia

I know, we saw so many places. It's ridiculous! It a good way, of course. Other than snapping several shots of these places along the way, we had some pretty unforgettable moments. Lets highlight on some of these moments, shall we?

Plaza Mayor. This place is absolutely stunning! There was an archway that you had to enter before walking into the plaza; the transition from walking from the street, through the arch, and into this grand (in size and beauty) plaza left me in complete AWE. I believe the space was circular, and the buildings that surrounded the entry were so beautiful... aye! Red bricks, stones, raw everything... just breath-taking. Haha oh, so for the brief moment Lu and I got separated from Edgar and Jinah, we totally got jipped by some vender, or should I say "vender." We saw some cute cardboard stands where you can take a picture with your head on a artificial body - in this case, a fancy spanish dress - and decided to have some fun and take some pictures. As soon as Lu stepped up behind the stand to take a picture, this guy comes OUT OF NO WHERE and starts pulling Lu's hair back, putting a flower piece in her hair, and speaking spanish so fast, I could only interpret it as one long hum. We were kind of freaked out but didn't know what to do or say on the spot. Edgar, where'd you go?! But, to make a long story short, I ended up taking the same kind of photo as Lu but as soon as we stepped down and tried walking away, the man stared at us, rubbed his fingers together, and boldly told us we had to pay him. Street smarts, you kind of need this skill everywhere. It comes in handy everywhere and could help you get out of sticky situations... like this. Anyway, we found a couple euros in our purses and ran off to find Edgar and Jinah. Crazy times, ese. Oh yah, simone.

Parque de el Retiro. Oi dios mio, this is the largest public park I have yet to see in my entire life! This park is legit! It was such a happy place to be. On such a beautiful day as today, we were amongst crowds of people walking, talking with their family, friends, or lovers... there was so much going on in the park today, but what caught my attention were the BOATS. Right in front of the Monumento Alfonso XII, there is a relatively large lake area where people can rent a boat for 45 minutes and row around in the water. Once I saw those boats, I was hooked. We had to ride in the boats - and we did. Hehe. We were surprised to find out that it only costs 4, 50 euros for all of us to rent a boat for 45 minutes. Not too shabby. Anyway, we had a killer time. But it was also unexpected. Once all four of us sat down in the boat, we noticed that there were several large grey clouds in the sky. We heard there was a chance it was going to rain, but we didn't think too much of it - until we were about 10 minutes in with rowing our little boat - IT STARTED TO RAIN! It totally came out of nowhere. We frantically covered our belongings, shaded our heads with the one map we had in hand, and rowed as fast as we could back to the dock. We made it in time before it REALLY started to pour. And you know what? None of us had an umbrella. Yeah, that's right. And it was pouring like there was no tomorrow. We found some shelter near the dock and stayed there until the rain died down. It waited almost an hour, but that's okay. We took pictures to kill the time.

There were so many great moments today, but these were some of the most memorable. The cathedral, Catedral de la Almudena, we visited today was stunning... the interior was amazing. I just couldn't stop looking at the high ceilings, stain-glass windows, and detailed EVERYTHING. Just sitting in that Cathedral made me feel like believing there really is a higher being - that there is something greater and more to just this life. The exhibit we saw today in el Museo del Prado was pretty sweet, too. Although we couldn't take any pictures indoors, we were able to see artwork that is 500+ years old... epic.

Anyway, after all of of this and more (the only way I can account every single thing we did today is if I wrote a BOOK) we. were. hungry! So, we searched for food. It was already late at night, passed 9pm. But we were determined to find something to eat, since we didn't eat all day. After walking through shady alleys, passing a ton of Indian restaurants, and getting lost near the Atocha Station, we finally found a place that was open and sat down at a table. We ordered two dish-servings of Paella and this smaller dish with huevos, carne, and some papas fritas. Yum. It was pretty delicious, although the Paella was quite salty. (Yesterday's food was greasy, today's was salty - so whatever we eat tomorrow is bound to be spicy or sweet! Awesome.) Our waiter was Columbian and really nice. Edgar did all the talking, as always, haha. We had some great laughs about Edgar using ".... because I'm Mexican." as every answer to any and every question about him, passed around a 2-liter bottle of Coke, marked up our map, and discussed Mr. Palomar for tomorrow. By the time we finished eating, it was passed midnight. Yikes! I know, right?

We were lucky enough to find a metro station around the corner and went down to figure out what station we were at and how we were going to make it back to our hostel. We figured out how to use the metro pretty quickly and waited for our train. While we waited, we were hardcore tourists and took pictures of everything haha. After getting off at our last stop, we unnecessarily climbed three flights of stairs at a station that was closed - we were so tired! Haha thank the heavens the other station's esclater was working. OMG, but anyway. I love public transportation. The metro came and got us back near our hostel in no time at all. Once we got back on the street, we breathed in the fresh air and exhaled with deep satisfaction. Well, I did anyway haha.

We walked back to our hostels and had a few more laughs before we stumbled off to our rooms. My feet were hurting so bad. They still are, come to think of it... but I'm not going to complain! Because today was amazing and I will never forget it. Madrid, you were unforgettable today.

Pues... son las 4:46AM. Buenas noches!

PS: Tomorrow, we'll be flying to Alicante to officially start class - WooHoo! Also, Happy 30th Birthday to Sebastien of Simple Plan! Hehe.

PPS: Observations of today:

10. No one picks up their dog's doggy doo-doo.

11. Many people own small dogs rather than large dogs.

12. All cars have lights on the side.