Madrid - Monday Feb. 23

The hostel said there would be a free walking tour of Madrid in the morning, but when we got to the meeting space the only people we found were other confused girls staying in our hostel. The seven of us decided to go take a tour of Palacio Real instead.

The Palace was impressive - ornate fabric wallpaper, silver and gold threaded tapestries, priceless works of art, etc. To be honest, it was so gaudy I thought it was ugly, and some of it gave me a headache. I'd say the Gala Dining Room was my favorite because it was grad but a little more subdued in color palette.

The best part of the self-guided tour came when we entered the room with the stradivarius violins. They are among the most famous and prized treasures in the Palacio Real. Casey mentioned off-hand that violins, even the most fragile and precious, need to be removed and played on occasion or else they will become ruined. At that exact moment a group of men, decked in protective suits and gloves, marched into the room, carrying with them cases for the violins. They ushered us out as quickly as they could. Apparently they were going to play them that very day!

After the Palacio we walked to a Museo del Jamon (Museum of Ham) to get a baguette and some cheese for lunch. I again had a chance to practice my Spanish when we ordered - I guessed at what cheese to buy, but it turned out really well. We made our way to Parque del Retiro, my other favorite place in Madrid (it's up there with el Prado). We ate in the park and then spent a few hours meandering around the grounds. The boat house as probably my favorite part. The building is grand, but what is really cool are the boats you can rent for 5 euro. They're nothing special - just a simple rowboat, but they looked like so much fun for a date, parents with children, or just with friends. We didn't get one, but such a wide variety of people use them! The weather was perfect for it - so warm and sunny. I was also really impressed by how such a large public space could be so well maintained.

Museo del Jamon!

We walked through the Crystal House in the park, which had some great, funky crystal art. Then we moved to a bunch of cherry trees where we had a siesta. The rose gardens were still pretty too, even though they're not in full bloom yet, and I really like the fountain of the "Fallen Angel." It's the only public statue dedicated to Lucifer in the world.
We spent a significant amount of time in Parque del Retiro, which I'm very glad for - it was time well spent. That night we decided to go out, and Amanda called her friend Joel who is studying in Madrid so he could meet up with us and possibly show us around the city a bit. He and his roommate Brandon brought us to a tapas place in Plaza Mayor that was good, but nothing special. We had some sangria and shared patatas ali-oli.

Next they took us to Dubliners. There are a ton of Irish pubs in Madrid. It was kind of funny to go to an Irish pub in Madrid - but I didn't think we'd stay there all night! We were in Spain - I wanted Spanish nightlife! We had a decent time there all in all, but afterwards things became difficult.

On the way back the guys took over leading the way. Jackie thought it was wrong, but they wouldn't listen to her and she didn't want to argue. Truth be told, I had no access to the map and don't have the best natural sense of direction, so I couldn't really argue either way. Eventually, though, things got uncomfortable as they led us into some rather sketchy parts of the city, and we all realized they had been wrong. Turns out they study outside of Madrid and don't know the city that well. They still wouldn't listen. They didn't speak the language well either. It was 2am, my limited knowledge of the language was all we had, and we were lost in a foreign city. The guys and Amanda wouldn't stop being loud or pulling out the map. Eventually we ran into a really nice Australian guy who led us back in the right direction.

Joel and Brandon ended up being huge jerks, and Amanda was all upset at Jackie for "emasculating" them. She could have cared less about the fact that our safety was in danger. Overall, Amanda was incredibly dumb and I don't think we'll be travelling together again. Still, her behavior was the only bad part of my spring break. I still would do that trip over again - it was fantastic otherwise. More later...