¡vamanos a cádiz!

This blog is going to have capital letters, yes! We said adios to the Tryp Rex hotel in Madrid at 7:30 this morning so I’m back on my laptop and hoping that the free WiFi becomes reality when we get to Cádiz. Right now we’re on the bus on our way to the city where we’re going to spend the next four weeks studying, traveling, windsurfing (hopefully), living with our host families and seriously boosting our Spanish abilities (another hopefully!)

Just had quite an interesting experience… we all woke up and groggily stumbled off the bus after the first three hour leg of our trip into the most random gas station/restaurant/who knows what complex I’ve ever been in. You could satisfy all your needs for food (including the Spanish equivalent of Twinkies, called Bimbos, and their version of spam… did NOT purchase that for my lunch today), DVD (they had Doug’s 1^st Movie and I got really excited and seriously contemplated buying it), fox pelt (not joking), Zorro hat (once again, not kidding), hunting knife, huge hocks of Iberian ham and so much more. Amy and I got our caffeine fix with one of the best cafés con leche I’ve had so far on this trip before trying to figure out where we were on a map of Spain. We still have quite a ways to go… we’re on the bus until 7:30 tonight.

I guess I should recap on Madrid! I think I actually may have enjoyed that city even more than Barcelona, although it’s a tough call. We got there after a long bus ride on Thursday and went out for tapas after meeting up with Professor Santamaria and her family. Ironically, the restaurant we ate at was called Los Angeles… Amy and I were amused and laughed at the fact that she’d traveled halfway around the world to eat at a restaurant named after her hometown. We posed for a picture outside of course. We then went back to the hotel and crashed for the night… only to be awoken to the sound of madrileños singing in the streets. At 5:45 AM. We laughed, tried to understand what they were saying for a few minutes, then conked out again.

Friday morning we woke up and went on a tour of the Congreso de los Diputados. Our tour guide walked us through the Salón de Conferencias and Sala de Ministros, teaching us about the two Cámaras (houses), el Congreso de los Diputados and el Senado, of Las Cortes Generales. We saw the constitution signed by Rey Juan Carlos y Reina Sofia and then had an awkward group picture taken in the huge Salón de Sesiones with all of us in our Davidson t-shirts and athletic shorts posing in front of the elaborately adorned podium. Our tour guide made sure to point out all the bullet marks in the walls of that room from attempted golpes de estado/coups de’tat that have occurred through the years.

After that we moved on to see El Prado Museum which houses the works of Velazquez, Goya and El Greco. We saw Las Meninas and El Segundo de Mayo and once again got to wear the funny headphones for an audiovisual tour. But this time pretty much everyone in the museum was a) sporting the same nerdy gear and b) tourists like us. So it was alright. Despues de esté we girls walked to Salad Co. (a restaurant we had scouted out the night before). But don’t let the name fool you; it was more like the Spanish equivalent of a Golden Corral and we all quickly became big fans of the all you can eat concept as we made multiple visits to the pizza and pasta, ice cream, fruit and coffee stations, basically ignoring the whole salad portion and the restaurant’s namesake. Then we returned to the hotel where most everyone took advantage of siesta time… I on the other hand still haven’t mastered the concept yet. I’m trying though. Posiblemente in Cádiz. Instead Anna and I went running in the Parque del Retiro which was only a kilometer or so down Gran Via, one of the main streets that runs through Madrid. It was so cool to run through the park and see the Crystal Palace, lots of statues, the little lake with rowboats and the Plaza de la Independencia. While Amy and I are going on a coffee tour of Spain, Anna and I have decided we are on our version of a running tour of Spain. It really is a great way to see the city. Okay our bus driver is about ONE FOOT from the tiny toy-like car in front of us… I think we’re about to take them out. Oh nope, we’re good, we just passed them… no blinker though. Spanish driving certainly is a different experience. Watch out when I come home Mom, you’re not going to want to drive with me anymore, I may acquire some bad habits over here J.

Saturday (Fourth of July) proved to be an interesting experience. That morning we went on a tour of the Plaza Mayor and the surrounding streets and plazas. The tour was informative but honestly after a while we had more fun taking pictures of the tourists on the tour with us. Amy captured some epic pictures of our new German friend with the beer belly stretching on a bright yellow Vespa. But don’t worry, we did learn all about the history of Madrid and the Hapsburg influence on Madrid in the 16^th and 17^th centuries. We just mixed in some other forms of entertainment along the way, hence the pictures. Then we had the rest of the day on our own and we saw the Palacio Real, a beautiful cathedral (Pacious and I almost snuck upstairs to play the organ… we figured that might have been frowned upon though, so we thought better of it) and ate lunch along Calle Atocho. Amy and I ended up walking all the way to the Reina Sofia museum and were pleasantly surprised to discover that admission was free after 2:30. So we got to see Guernica and Salvador Dali’s paintings for free. Then as we were leaving the museum a man was playing Pachabel’s Canon on his violin right outside. And there was a Starbucks right next door. Many sonrisas (smiles) resulted from this perfect travel moment.

And although we did not experience the conventional American traditions that come with celebrating the Fourth of July… there was indeed a gay pride parade going on in Madrid. Right outside of our hotel and all up and down that main street. I think that the general revelry, flamboyantly dressed spectators, and buses decked out with blaring music might have made up for our lack of fireworks and red white and blue. We all leaned out of our hotel windows all afternoon, gawking at the scene before us and taking pictures and videos. Quite an experience. After dinner in the hotel some of us ventured out to sample the churros y chocolate that Madrid is so famous for. We went to the best churro joint in the city. It’s been there since 1894 and let me tell you, they know what they’re doing. We sat outside at little café tables and chowed down on the delectable fried amazingness that is a churro, all the while dunking them in chocolate and then just resorting to drinking the leftover chocolate after we ran out of churros. Although Pacious did utilize Sydnor’s empty water bottle to take some chocolate to go when we all declared that we couldn’t finish it. We are such Americans… the locals at the table next to us were staring at us. But we didn’t care. I think he ate it for breakfast this morning…

So that is Madrid! Lo siento for this being the longest entry ever. I think we have about an hour left until we stop in Medila which is known for its Roman ruins and its intense heat. More awkward tan lines to come. I’m excited. Until next time! I hope our host families are nice and orientation goes well tomorrow morning!!