Madrid: Rest Up

Hola Stranger,

April 13: Sunday

At 9 in the morning, Ricardo drove Sean and I to the train station. I will surely miss living with Ricardo, offering fresh orange juice in the morning, driving us everywhere, and drinking his gin and tonic watching TV series. But three days in Seville has been more than enough time for us to walk all over town. If we had stayed another day, I wouldn't even know what more to see, so it was perfect timing for us to head off to our next destination: Madrid, the capital city of Spain. Only two short hours and a long nap later, we had arrived. Because we had not booked out train ticket to Lisbon yet, Sean and I tried to buy it at the train station. We took a number and waited an hour...10 people had gone up by then and we were still 100 numbers away. When we tried to machines outside, it claimed that all the tickets were sold out already. Feeling helpless and rushed since we were awfully late meeting our Airbnb host, we decided to just leave and figure out the issues later. 

After getting lost in the metro system and asking for free WiFi at restaurants to find the apartment, we finally got to our place... hours after the set time. Our host only spoke Spanish, and with my broken Espanol, we were able to communicate (barely) and checked into our white and black themed flat. The apartment was kept in such a clean/organized/modern style that you would think you're living in a hotel.

A picture of the bedroom I stayed in. This lady loved pillows because there were at least 6 pillows in every room; I ain't complaining! Living with numerous fluffy pillows is a girl's dream, if anything, the more the merrier!

Since Abriel and Kenneth were supposed to arrive around the same time as Sean and I, we decided to wait at the apartment for them. By 5 pm there was still no response from the duo so Sean and I went out to get some groceries for the day. Sean cooked a simple pasta and pork dinner with a side of celery. By 8 pm I was getting thoroughly worried. The two guys had not sent any messages or phone calls to me and I thought they may have been kidnapped or hurt. As it reached 10 pm, I started panicking and was leaving worried messages on their FB and WeChat. What happened to them? Why aren't they responding back?!?! I felt like a nerve-racking psychopathic mother, freaking out that her kids had disappeared. A bit past 10, Kenneth finally went online. They're alive! And guess what? They weren't even in Madrid because they had messed up the date and thought we were arriving the next day. I KILL YOU!!! ROAR!!! *throat strangles* Feeling relieved, Sean and I spent the night watching movies.

April 14: Monday

Oddly enough, I woke up feeling quite nauseous and not in the best shape. Maybe it was from the late night movies or the travelling; either way, I laid in bed half the morning and waited for the troublemakers to finally get to Madrid. Once they arrived, we walked around the neighbourhood, and picked up some groceries again. Afterwards the boys went out into the town to explore a bit while I stayed home and rested. Sometimes, all it takes is a nap. Since we still had not decided how we were getting to Lisbon or where to stay at, we buckled down that night and booked the overnight bus as well as a hostel. Last minute planning: check.

April 15: Tuesday

We had to check out of the flat by 3pm, so I only had a few hours to see Madrid. What's the fastest way to see as many things as you can? Hello free walking tour! I'm back again! Crash session of Madrid in 3 hours? Yes please! This is the oldest restaurant in the world, Sobrino de Botin, dating back to 803. A miniature layout of what the interior looks like. Apparently the reviews are pretty good. Pity I didn't have enough time to try it.

The city itself is completely different from Seville. It's much more metropolis like, where the buildings look less historical, most likely due to the fact that Madrid only became the capital city in 1561 under the control of King Felipe II, simply because location wise, Madrid is in the dead centre of the country. Therefore, most of the structures were built after that time. Unlike most of the other downtown areas, Madrid didn't have as many sights to see. A huge portion of our tour was spent learning the history of Spain and who ran the country. I have to say, it was incredibly insightful and I probably learned more in an hour than I did in all of my socials 11 class.

And here, I have a picture of...a door. Now now, bare with me; there's a story to be told here. What you see is the door to a convent, where priests and nuns live. There are three doorbells, the first one is for God, so if you're feeling spiritual maybe you can ring it and someone will let you through. The second if you actually have something to do inside. And the last one, is only for one purpose: cookies. You see the nuns inside this convent makes delicious cookies. If you ring the last doorbell, a nun will answer "Hola?" and you simply have to say the magic word "biscotti" and you'll be buzzed in. Once you're inside, you head down this hallway and at the end you'll see a menu full of a variety of cookies, you make your order and your cookies will appear in a closed window on the side. The whole process, you will not encounter a single person so you feel like you're dealing with something illegal when really, they're just cookies. I cannot promise the above story's authenticity since I did not go in myself...once again...lack of time. But I trust the tour guide and if I end up in Madrid again one day, you can bet on it that I'm going back here to ring doorbell number 1 & 3!

The matching blue crew in front of the Royal Palace of Madrid, the official residency of the royal Spanish family, although they don't actually live there and only come for meetings. It tried to imitate the Palace of Versailles (but in my eyes, it is no where as grande).

Across the Palace is the Aludema Cathedral, a church with inconsistent architectural designs because it took hundreds of years to finish. We didn't go inside so I can't tell you too much about the place. Actually, we didn't go inside any of the buildings but nothing looked extraordinary so no loss there. I just wish I got the chance to try more of the food in Madrid. By the time the tour ended, we were running tight on time so we rushed back to the apartment.

Sean made some pasta with bacon and shrimp, the non-Italian way (meaning the pasta was extremely soft). I guess being in Rome for so long, my preference for pasta have now become very local as well. Nonetheless, it was yummy. Also, a shout out to the box of biscuits you see in the middle of the table. Those babies were my life on this trip. They're just slightly sweet and has a healthy crunch to it (I don't know why) and you can literally keep eating them nonstop. We had to buy a box a day because we ate them so fast. I wish they had them here in Rome...best biscuits I've ever had.

The owner showed up at 3 pm sharp and off we went, searching for a place to chill for the next 8 hours since our bus didn't leave until 11 pm. We went to the centre in hopes of finding a movie theatre to kill some time. Mission failed: the only movie theatre we found played two movies, both in Spanish. As much as I don't want to see Rio 2, now it's going to be in Spanish too? I'll pass, thanks. Four tourists looking for a place to chill...

Hola Dunkin Donuts! Thank goodness Sean brought cards because we played Big 2 for five hours there. I have to say, it wasn't too shabby. Time flies when you're playing cards. Donuts, coffee, sandwiches, biscuits and laughter was shared. All in all, I may not have seen a whole lot in Madrid, but it was enjoyable all the same. The thing that stood out the most to me in Madrid was its friendly people. Whenever you ask for directions, they will help you, and if they don't know it, they will ask for someone else for help for you. They'll lead you to the way you need to go and come back and check up on you to make sure everything is okay. This happened multiple times when I was there. Unlike other capital cities in Europe like Paris, Rome, and London where travellers are told that the locals may not appear amiable to tourists, Madrid is quite the opposite. They almost seem ecstatic that they're being asked for help, which makes the city that much more appealing.

Before seeing the bus, I was hoping that perhaps the seats would be slightly bigger and leans back more than the normal coach buses, making the journey endurable. But the second I saw our ride, my dream was crushed. This was your most stereotypical coach bus packed to its fullest with no extra seat to spare. Most uncomfortable 9 hour bus ride of my life? I think so. But not matter how unbearable I felt, I pitied the other three guys, especially Abriel, who sat right beside me and was the biggest built in the group. We forgot to bring water on the bus and in front of Abriel's seat, as if by magic, there was an unopened bottle. He debated whether or not to drink it but I told him to just take it if it's new. A minute after he took a sip, the quiet Indian man behind Abriel patted him on the shoulder and asked for his water back. We had completely forgotten that we had asked the man to switch seats with us and that he must have forgotten his bottle of water along the way. I don't think he saw Abriel drinking it because according to Kenneth, the water bottle owner unscrewed the bottle, was surprised at how easy it came off, intensely studied the cap and then drank from it. Hahahahahaha....awwwwkward.