Arrival in Madrid

Today was our first legit, full day in Madrid--hooray! For some reason I had expected Madrid not to be as nice of a city as Barcelona...but boy have I been wrong so far!

The areas of Madrid that we have explored (not even too far off of the beaten path) have already been much less tourist-congested. The architecture is much more classic and there are plenty of greenspaces, landscaping, and flowers; that's important to me!

We arrived last night after a 6+ hour drive across the Spanish countryside. Some of the landscape reminded me of traveling out West with my parents in high school. Ah, the good 'ol USA.

After we dropped our stuff off at our new apartment, we ventured to Plaza Mayor, one of the main, open-space plazas in Madrid. It was surprisingly similar to Saint Mark's Square in Venice. Like, shockingly similar!

Waiting for navigational memories to flood back, Dad finally remembered where Meson del Champinon was. It was a very cute and cozy restaurant that felt like a cave! I even tried a mushroom--it ended up being delicious, even though I usually would never like them.

The fun part was the singing and dancing going on all around us. Some older Spanish women were singing along to patriotic songs about Madrid and Spain--one of them got up and started dancing! One of the Spaniards sat down next to me and started explaining what was going on. Some of them (not the older women) went to high school together and met up once per year. This time they chose Meson del Champinon! He gave me some tips on where my family should explore in Madrid and some ideas for daytrips in the surrounding area (Segovia, Toledo, Salamanca, Cordoba).

Because the guy was friendly and sat down to talk to me, my parents concluded that he had a huge crush on me. I proceeded to explain that Spaniards are just like that! They have a different concept of personal space and body language. For example: one of the women was dancing all up on one of her friends while her husband had a drink next to my friend. At some point they started singing Another Brick in the Wall and it was hilarious.

The first two days in Madrid we have spent exploring and shopping. I am finally convincing myself that it is okay to spend some money, since I only have a little over two and a half months left. Most of the stores we have in Murcia, but we definitely don't have in the USA--shops in my price range like Stradivarius, Lefties, Zara (sparingly in the States), Pull & Bear, etc; names that I have gotten used to, but will definitely miss when I go home. My parents bought me a set of colored pens, highlighters, and a folder at Corte Ingles for school. I bought lots of post cards in Barcelona and some stamps here, so now I can get some correspondence done. Ahh, how I love writing letters!

We had some surprisingly cheap lunches and dinners--such a relief after over-priced and gypping Barcelona! Most of the restaurants are very classy and have even nicer downstairs/bar areas. Still, they are pretty inexpensive.

Baked potato stuffed with ham and cheese, topped with a dove egg

Tea bag came in a box!

Rainbow alcohol!

Some of the best pasta I have ever had in my life. They are filled with ham 'n cheese!

We walked around Madrid and did a wee bit of sightseeing. We didn't go inside any of the monuments and we still haven't been to the Palacio Real, but I think we'll get there tomorrow or Saturday.

Flowers and 'falls

Mom & me playing in the park!

Interesting signage

The Iberian Peninsula will always have a special place in my heart