So I got to the Madrid Airport around 12 and had to wait til 4:30 til Kevin arrived which wasnt bad because I had lunch and wrote 8 pages in my journal all about Berlin. Also when it was time for Kevin to get in I realized I was in the wrong terminal so I had to do a mad dash over to Terminal 6 while I was in Terminal 1. Luckily I got there in time and had to wait. I seriously wish that terminals in Europe were the same as they are in the states. It makes you feel like a celebrity. People wait outside the terminal gate and there are gates that people have to walk around. It was so great to see Kevin and have a little bit of home with me.
We took the metra to the Way Hostel which was one of the best hostels I stayed at. We got in the front door and the receptionist was so friendly. I dont remember his name but anytime he saw me he remembered mine. He told us of a Tapas place to watch the game but since we were early and it wasnt the type of atmosphere we were looking for we just had steak fillet tapas with fanta which was our choice of soda over there.
Then we wandered around to try and find 2 Irish pubs to watch the Spain game and somehow stumbled upon it. The bar Dubliners ended up being our bar that we would go to every night to watch the game and get a bucket of Heineken which is 6 bottles in a bucket. The Spain game was amazing. David Villa hit 2 goals and the place was electric with Spanish pride granted there were definitely Americans there that had never seen a football match that was not Kevin and I who know football. After the game which Spain won and the whole bar was screaming Villa's name and the cow bell behind the bar was rung. We went back to the hostel where we passed out.
The next morning we got our free breakfast of corn flakes or toast and Nutella- Kevin's new breakfast and waited around for our free walking tour which was really good. We learned about the symbol of Spain a bear eatting berries from a tree which is represented in the main square Platza del sol where protests go on and on New Years Eve for every time the clock strikes you eat a grape which if you complete means you will have good luck for the year. We also saw the palace which is the largest in Europe. The interesting thing about the palace is that it was taken over by the french who thought it was ugly and to try and get on the Spaniards good side they threw a huge party with wine and once the celebration was over the Spaniards smelled smoke and saw the palace to the ground however all the things that were inside the palace were taken out before hand which is why the Spanish have an interesting relationship with the Spanish monarchy. Next to the palace is the church of Madrid which the front is really really plain and ugly. Like you see Notre Dame and its gorgeous same with Westminster Abbey the churches that symbolize their country and then you see Spain and its a total disappointment however the back of the church looks beautiful which is why the church called Almudena is sometimes what men call ladies in Spain meaning that your ugly in the front and nice in the back which is not a complement.
Behind the Palace are huge massive gardens where the king use to go hunting however today at night this turns into the red light district and in the day in the distance is an amusement park. In Madrid near the palace is a bridge with class high walls it isnt for decoration its to prevent suicides because thats where most people committed suicide and they put an end to it when someone put a bullseye on the ground with concrete. All around Madrid there are signs on houses with numbers these numbers go back to when they use to do a census and where they heavily taxed people which is why some houses in Madrid look like they only have 3 floors however they end up being 5 because back in the day when they taxed people they would count windows .
Then we went to the newer side of Platza del sol which is more modern and has more of a french and roman look. The streets are bigger and sidewalks wider. At the end of del sol is Cibeles fountain representing Earth where if Real Madrid ( a football team) wins the league or a trophy the captain kisses the statue and puts a Real Madrid scarf on her. Then down the way there is a fountain with Apollo who represents wind and then there is a fountain of Zeus who represents water however the artist commissioned to do the project was tired and wanted to go home so when the king asked where was fire he said that the fire lies within the Madrid people for the passion and love they have for the city.
After the walking tour we went to get some food and then went back to the hostel where we took our own siesta. When we woke up we went to get some dinner to watch the 1st half of the Argentina game and then returned to our hostel to watch the 2nd half where we found signs all over the place that said Important Note: All Argentinians watch the World Cup; Somewhat minor Note: The receptionist is from Argentina; What to take away: Don't disturb the front desk from 20:30-22:30
Argentina won and the game so the receptionist was in good spirits. After the game we waited around the hostel for the pub crawl which was one of the best pub crawls Ive been on and to prove my point Kevin went on it twice. It cost 10 euros but the 1st bar we got free drinks for an hour- either a beer or sangria which totally didnt have any alcohol in it. Then the rest of the other bars we got a free shot. Met some great people on the crawl and both Kevin and I ended up back at the hostel at 3 which is semi normal for people in Spain. They start parting at 12 and go all the way to 4 or 5 am in the morning which is insane because then they wake up at 9 to go to work but maybe thats whats so nice about the siesta at 2 .
The next day Kevin and I went to the Palace and only had to pay 3 euros each. I love having the student discount and they really give discounts. For instance if you want to see an opera in Madrid students have a 75% discount and lets be honest in the states student discounts are no where near $3. We got an audio tour and toured the palace which surprisingly had a lot of carpet in rooms for a place that gets severely hot over the summer. Also the rooms had many different themes like oriental , french, ect but no matter what room we were in there was some intricate clock fixture. Then we went into the Armory and pretty much called it a day from there. We walked back from the palace and ran into some guys in US jerseys who apparently had been in South Africa watching the game. We heard the vuvuzalas on their iPhone and it is seriously deafening in the stands. We showed them to Dubliners where we watched the US game where Donovan scored the goal and the place erupted into the loudest cheers I probably heard so far on my journey in Europe. Kevin and I got lunch there and some drinks to enjoy the game then we went back to our hostel to take our siesta and then went back to Dubliners to watch the German game and had Nachos for dinner which the Germans won and surprisingly in a different setting than their home country they are not as crazy as they are in their own country.
The next day was art museum day and I actually got Kevin into art... well famous modern artists. We went to the Reina Sofia which we liked better and is for all modern art and named after the current Queen Sofia. It was probably the smartest day to go to the museums because it was 92 that day and all the museusms are air conditioned. WE spent about 3 hours at the Reina Sofia mainly looking at Picasso, and Dali. Then we went to the Prado and mapped out what we wanted to see and spent about a 2 hours there and skipped out on the free hours which is a plus because then its not as crowded.
After the museum we had some ice cream in the park since I slowly was getting a sore throat and just chilled out. Then we chilled out at the hostel where Kevin decided to go on the pub crawl again and we actually met someone who kindof knew our cousin and then I met some guys that only knew 1 person who went to UD and it was Jimmy Lynch who I KNEW to some degree. That night there was a thunderstorm which I missed but Kevin got wet and of course enjoyed the pub crawl again
The next morning it was off to Barcelona where we were going to take a 10:30 train. We got our tickets the day before at the train station which has a jungle inside it and a mass amount of turtles in the ponds. Anyways our train was delayed an hour because the workers had gone on strike so our train was attached to the train that was leaving at 11:30 which made our train number 17 instead of 7 also known as the 2nd to last train. But it was a fast train and we got there at 3 about an hour before the Brazil Portugal game. I'll tell you the rest in the Barcelona journey so just read on
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