Happy February! (And all about Madrid)

Wow, Europe has some pretty amazing cities, and Madrid is definitely one of them. Although getting there wasn't so pleasant (we spend approximately 17 hours on the bus, each way because of course the bus drivers have a union and they have to stop every 2 hours for at least 30 minutes... don't you love European "unions"?) So we left Thursday at 6 PM, and ended up in Madrid around 10 AM the next morning and our hostel rooms weren't ready yet, so we went sightseeing all day. I love Madrid especially because I could understand what people were saying. Day one was spent touring the Palacio Real, Cathedral de la Almudena, Plaza Mayor, Teatro Real and a really good churros con chocolate shop. You get a plate of churros and a mug full of thick chocolate ganache to dip the churros in. And, since it was the weekend before lent, Madrid had a weekend-long Carnaval extravaganza. We happened to stumble upon the parade, and there were hundreds of people dressed up in Medieval costumes... very different, but it was really neat to watch.. My camera was acting up a bit, and it was eating batteries like none other, so I only got one picture. Hopefully I will be able to snag some pictures from the others that went on the trip The hostel was much better than the one in Ireland; this one had single beds and en-suite bathrooms which we thoroughly enjoyed. The breakfast was also very good, we had big rolls and chocolate cereal and hot chocolate with cinnamon. And it was right next to McDonalds, which we definitely took advantage of. And Starbucks was right across the street, I could have sworn I was back in Texas (even with all the Spanish speakers!) So we crashed out around midnight, and got up Saturday morning at 8 AM so we could hit up the flea market. We ended up getting a bit turned around, but found a really cool indoor grocery market place that had tons of fresh food. I used my wonderful Spanish-speaking skills and got directions to our market, and we were on our way (again). It was awesome, the people had lots of clothes, shoes, jewelry, undergarments and more to sell... It was like a giant garage sell, but most of the stuff was new. I bought 2 nice scarves for 2 euro each, and they're handmade. The market is called El Rastro, and it is the most famous flea market in all of Spain. People apparently come from all over the country to shop and sell their goods. So I noticed in Spain that people will do anything to make a buck. For instance, there were people who had little microphones who would sing in the Subway station (without music) hoping for a few euros. There were also people playing all kinds of instruments all over the city. And, the strangest thing of all was the people who painted themselves to look like statues. Seriously. They were covered in mud and posing. Some were painted in silver paint or copper. There was also this crazy old man who had an umbrella turned inside out, his hair all a mess, and his tie thrown over his shoulder and he would run into the "fake wind" and then pose like he was being blown away. Very peculiar. The second night I found out that the street of our hostel led to downtown, and we were walking back and apparently the opposite end of the street is where the pimps and their prostitutes hang out at night... it was a shocking experience, at first we thought they were dressed up for Carnaval like the rest of Madrid, but that definitely was not the case. The rest of Saturday was spent at the Botanical Garden, Palacio de Cristal (Crystal Palace, looks just like the one at Magic Kingdom in Disney World), and Parque del Retiro. Madrid is such a lively city, but it also has some of the most beautiful parks I have ever seen. We also had a very Spanish lunch, and we found a yarn store called El Gato Negro (the Black Cat). One of the girls on the trip knew how to knit, so we bought some yarn and some needles (agulas--new Spanish word for me) so we could knit a scarf on the long journey home. I really love scarves, but not the cold. That night we went out to a little Italian restaurant and shared a pizza and chicken marsala. It was some of the best Italian food I have ever had. We also made a pit stop at the gelato store, and had some awesome gelato. I also was able to hit up the grocery store, and I found taco seasoning (yay!) and crystallized vanilla that's made in Spain, and also some Spanish chocolate. Sunday morning we went to the Museo del Prado, Spain's largest art gallery. They had lots of art there, from Valesquez to Picasso. Then it was time to head back to Grenoble. I had a really nice bus ride back, and met lots of new people this weekend. I met about 5 French people from school and they told me where to find the Scrapbooking store in town, and apparently there's a really nice bead shop too, so I'll definitely have to check that out soon. I also got to spend alot of time with 2 girls from the US who hang out with my other roommates, so that was good. And, I practiced knitting, although it's not my greatest talent by any stretch of the imagination. All in all, Spain was wonderful... and I got to ride in the Metro, my first experience in the underground world. It's a whole other city under there--it's super underground... like 100s of feet. Pretty intricate public transportation. I think I pretty much covered my weekend, check out the amazing pictures below :) Oh yeah, and Mickey Mouse is stalking me... he was in Madrid!