Trip to Madrid (Day 3 & 4)

Woke up again around 9:30 and got ready to go! We headed to a new breakfast spot and had churros and Cola Coa. This morning we decided to add in a special kind of churros that was simply a fatter, longer churro, that is only found in Madrid.

After breakfast we wondered on over the the Capitol of the Capitol. There we also saw the Alcala Gate and some other nice statues and fountians such as the fountian of Neptune and the statue of Sancho Panza. So that was cool! 

The Capitol

Statue of Sancho Panza

Street Walkin'

Also, when walking up the street near the Capitol building we passed Spanish actor Eduardo Gomez Manzano. But that man looked fierce and in a hurry so we just kept on walking. However I have only been in Spain for what not even a month and I am already seeing famous people!? I'll take it!

Lunch time! We ate at a little place buried deep in the side streets and alleys and it was a pretty standard meal. I had spaghetti and meat sauce, chicken, and papas fritas (which are basically just rectangularly cut potatoes and are served with every meal). For dessert I had a piece of almond cake and it was GREAT! It was served cold. Honestly, I think all desserts should be served cold! Pie, cake, cupcakes, tarts COLD I tell you!

Then we hiked on over the La Puerta de Sol which is the equivalent of Times Square in the "this is where the ball drops on new years" way, except for the fact that in Spain instead of a ball dropping they have a huge really important clock that, when it strikes midnight on new years THOUSANDS of people gather there and eat 12 grapes, one for every month of the year, for good luck in the upcoming year.

Then guess what time it was? Siesta time! Fast forward to AFTER siesta. We walked to this little shop near La Puerta de Sol that is kinda famous in Madrid. Its called Gaimo Espadrilles, and there they sell these shoes that are hand made and AWESOME! When you get to this shop you look into the display window and pick out what type and design you want. Then when its your turn to approach the very special counter you tell them your shoe and size and you try them on blah, blah, blah. Well I got these bad boys! I feel so cultured! Oh and they weren't even expensive! They were €10.95 which is the equivalent of $14.77. Not bad at all, especially considering they were HAND MADE!

After the rest of the fam finally made their grueling desicion of what shoes to get (I just got the first ones I saw and love them to bits!) we headed on over to the Royal Palace. It was a really nice and elaborate palace and I am sorry I don't have any pictures of the inside because photography was not allowed, but just imagine lots of porcelain and palacey things and you get the gist of it.

After that experience we passed by the opera house of Madrid (Nicole and Mari, I think we are all thinking the same thing right now ;)), and it was MASSIVE! We didn't go inside, but the outside itself was incredible! We kept walking and came to a restaurant where we sat and had something to drink, in my case water. Once we were all hydrated and stuff we went off to find another restaurant to eat at. Not quite sure why we didn't just eat at that one, but we didn't. I think we were looking for some specific one, which we never found, and ended up eating at a little pub type place.

Ana and Roman order us some food and we ate. What we ate I did not know until after eating it, which I guess is just our unspoken agreement here. We had, chicken wings in a really good Spanish sauce, croquetas (this time cheese and ham), and cow... Intestines. That was quite literally a lot to swallow. It was tentacle like and not something I plan on eating again any time soon.

Once we were finished eating we headed home. Stopping for ice cream (this time I had THE best chocolate of my entire life with little chocolate bits mixed in)! When we got to the apartment we watched The Voice (La Voz in español). Halfway through I decided it was time for bed. Night!

(Day 4)

We woke, we washed, we dressed, we packed. We then went to THE bakery of Madrid La Mallorquina. This time we ordered cool stuff because we were at THE bakery of Madrid (duh)! I had Mungi (I think that's what its called) which was basically the pastry we call elephant ears, glazed and with some kind of fruity creamy filling on top. It was the perfect last meal of Madrid.

Then we headed back to the apartment, gathered our bags and hit the subway (metro) to get to the car and start the trek home.

About an hour into our trip we stopped for lunch. I had chicken (I know that sounds lame, but the chicken here is amazing! Plus its the only thing I can guarantee I wont regret ordering!). I also tried everyone else's food! I had the kidney of a cow, rabbit, and steak, all of which were pretty good! Then for dessert I had Arroz con Leche for the second time this weekend! It was amazing, again.

Finally we reached home and here I am telling you about it! Madrid was awesome and I certainly hope I will be seeing it again soon!