España Dos

So this is technically the second part of my Spain blog since I did already post about the first day. We will try to keep it a little less extensive than the Italy blog since that got a little ridiculous...

Day Two of our adventure in Spain consisted of some sight-seeing in Madrid. Friday morning, Irene came by and picked up me and Talia and we went into the city to drop off the car. We then took the metro into the center of the city. The metro system in Madrid isn't too complicated and by the end of the trip, we were pros at it. Well Talia and I at least, Irene was already a pro. Anyway, the first thing we saw when we got into the center square were a bunch of tents set up because the people of Spain are in the middle of protests and such against the government. I don't really know the details, but it was calm when we were there. The first thing we did was walk to see a couple of the important buildings in Madrid which all have long complicated Spanish names that I don't know. However, in the ten minutes that it took to walk to said buildings, we passed more street performers than I think I've ever seen in my entire life combined. People were doing all sorts of things, from playing water glasses to being dressed up as an invisible man. Some of them were cool while others were just annoying, such as the guys who walked around with weird things in their mouths that made squeaky noises when they spoke. Some were even creepy, like a man who crouched behind a stroller with his head poked through and his face painted up like a baby's and a baby doll body attached to his neck... Regardless, it was interesting to see.

After being touristy, we walked the streets of Madrid and did some shopping. And you know what they have in Madrid? DUNKIN DONUTS. This was a big deal, though we didn't actually visit it until the last day. But we did shop and eventually stopped for lunch. We went to a really cool little restaurant that has this huge menu of 100 different kinds of sandwiches that you can get. But all in mini, so you pick out three or four, each for under two euros. We each got three different ones. I had a smoked salmon with cream cheese, tuna, and hamburger. And I paid less than five euros. AND we got free water, which definitely a plus. AND the bathrooms were FREE. AND it is illegal to smoke in public places. I love Spain. Anyways, lunch was super yummy and then we were back off to shopping. One of the main streets is... Well... The hooker street. I don't really have a lighter way to put it. Basically, you walk down the street and there is prostitute after prostitute leaning against a tree, wearing a ridiculously short skirt and ridiculously high heels and a ridiculous amount of makeup, waiting for a ridiculously desperate man to, well, give them some business. I will never understand those women... Once again, anyways... My goal for the trip was to find my dress for the Bal Rhéto here in Belgium (basically, Prom) and I totally succeeded that afternoon. It's very pretty and very me and I'm very happy with it. I even got 10% off because I was foreign! I'm not going to describe it, you all will just have to wait for the pictures!

After we were all shopped out and tired, we took refuge in a park across town. On the way there we passed a TGIFridays. Not a joke. I was amazed. Once we got to the park, we just crashed in the grass and chilled out for a couple hours, exchanging stories and eventually falling asleep. I'm pretty sure my camera almost got stolen too, but Irene saved it, thank goodness! After we woke up, we decided that it was ice cream time and went to find a good ice cream place. I got cookies and cream, which is not easy to find in Belgium, and we just relaxed again for a while.

Eventually it was time for me to get back to Alcala. Talia stayed with Irene that night. But we took the metro back to the bus station and I caught a bus back to the house, though I was a little lost and had to call Susan who had to send her daughter to the bus stop to get me. That night, she made a special kind of fish for dinner that I had never had before. Susan said that she had never eaten it either before being in Spain. Therefore, we don't know the name in English... But regardless, it was very good. We ate it with those shrimps that you have to dismember yourself and salad, along with the same cheeses. A nice variety of food that I wish I got to eat more often in Belgium...

That night I went to bed semi-early because the next day, Talia and Irene and I were off to Barcelona for the weekend! But that, my faithful followers, is for another post. Goodnight all!