Last Days in Madrid

iQue tal amigos!

Currently we are on a train from Madrid to Bilbao (home of the Guggenheim). The train ride is beautiful as we get to enjoy the view of the country side… er at least I do (Michelle) because I again lack the ability to sleep on public transport, unlike Rachel who has mastered this skill artfully.

Last night we went out with a giant group from our hostel to check out the Madrid nightlife but came home relatively early in order to get enough sleep for our 6am wake up call to get on this train…our “early” bed time did not pan out quite as planned as we were awoken countless times by our joyful roomies as they stumbled home and soon after began snoring at unimaginable volumes. Did I mention one guy fell straight out of his TOP bunk? Yep. That happened. Haha. Right about now is when I desperately wish I had Rachel’s sleeping skills….(except she can’t seem to be able to have uninterrupted sleep at night so I guess it balances out the same)

Instead, let me tell you about our last couple of days in Madrid!

Thursday we went with another girl from our hostel named Anne-Marie (she is from Montreal) to check out some more museums and see the sights. We explored Plaza Mayor, Palacio Real, the Cathedral, The Basilica de San Francisco, the Arch de Toledo, and spent a couple hours in Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Renia Sofia (which holds Pablo Picasso’s Guernica). Needless to say we were pretty tired after all of that and we could barely feel our legs from walking all around the city. And yes, it was raining again but it didn’t stop us one bit. Our siesta was well embraced that day. For lunch, we ate at some cafeteria next to the Museo- Renia Sofia and Michelle had a Calamari baguette and I (Rachel now) had the Jamon Serrano baguette. I would have to say, proscuitto is way better but jamon is still delicious.

For dinner, we decided to hit up a popular tapas bar called Le Tigre. We ended up getting 4 other people in our room (one Canadian, one Aussie, one from Wisconsin, and an Irish) and 4 others (a Venezuelan, two Brits, and one from Chicago) from another room to join the fun. By the time we got there the place was PACKED. Le Tigre is this small bar with minimal bar tables and even fewer seats and heads of a boar and moose hung above your heads. Most people are standing around, shoulder to shoulder, (some butt to butt) while enjoying their drinks (Sangria, Mojitos, or Mahou-Spanish beer). The drinks were cheap and came with an array of tapas- croquets, tortilla, chorizo, patatas in some spicy sauce, and queso over bread - gratis. Le Tigre had a very fun atmosphere even with the mounds of second hand smoke that was being inhaled (a huge change from our highly regulated California air).

Friday we decided to take it a little bit easier. In the morning we got a cup of café con leche which almost makes Michelle want to start drinking coffee regularly, aaaalmost. Then we went to Plaza del Sol and did some shopping. Two observations: is it really necessary to have 5 of the same stores within the same 1 mile radius? I.e. H&M, Zara, Bershka, Lefties. Apparently so. Also…if you plan to visit Spain, beware of street vents. These things are not your typical small grate on the side of the roads like in the states. These are massive grates that blow large amounts of hot air upwards… note to travelers: avoid these vents if you are wearing a dress….enough said.

After some shopping we headed to Parque Retrio (a massive park located behind El Prado with large expanses of grass, lakes, trees, benches and walkways) since it did not rain…until we left... The park is gorgeous. We read there for a while and enjoyed siesta time under the trees and taking in the beauty of the area. We also had an extended siesta back at the hostel and then decided on having a good dinner on our last night in Madrid. We were recommended to try the Paella in this area about 5 mins away from our hostel. We ordered Seafood Paella, Patatas in Garlic Aouli Sauce, Fried Calamari, and Sangria. The food was delicious, however not cheap (12.5 Euro per person) and I (Rachel) have not had Paella before so we will have to wait till Sevilla to compare.

The train that we are taking to Bilbao is called the Renfe Alvia. It travels up to 150 km/hr and is fairly new actually. However, the transfer from the metro to the train station needs some work which could be easily fixed with a couple of signs or even a few more arrows (what Rachel means to say here is that we silly Americans got l-o-s-t).

Now..maybe it was due to the lack of sleep and the deliriousness of the past couple of days, but Michelle decided to use the end of an one-time use toothbrush to stir her yogurt once we were on the train because we didn’t have any utensils. She then proceeds to brush her teeth with the other end…with yogurt. I (Rachel) couldn’t stop laughing and the couple who were sitting directly in front of us (who probably thought we were odd tourists to begin with) were too because well, if you can’t see why then I guess you just had to be there to witness it. Later the same couple brought us, from another part of the train, 5 sporks, with a face that said “oh you silly tourists.”

Unfortunately we hear it will likely rain when we are up north in Bilbao and San Sebastian but lets pray the weather man is wrong! Funny… September traditionally has 6 days of rain a year. We happen to come for all 6. We can’t say it has put a “damper” on our trip in the slightest though. The beauty of this place is hard to mask, that’s for sure!

Until next time… adios todos!

<3 Rachel & Michelle