Weekend of Joy in the dirty City

Hola!



Hi everyone! Oh my gosh, I can't believe that it I have already been living here in Spain for more than two weeks! Well, I really wanted to share with you my weekend. I had the best weekend of my whole trip, despite being in a dirty and busy down town area. Last Monday, I began the countdown to Friday; school would be out (both my classes here and my on-line class), my friends and I would be traveling down to Madrid together, and ANDREW was flying into Madrid that very morning! Pretty soon, Friday was upon us, I could barely pay attention all day in my classes, and even ran out of class to answer my ringing cell phone call from Andrew! He had made it safely to Spain and was running errands with his host mom from four years ago that he had surprised at her house!! (He had no where else to go, he couldn't check into the hotel for another five hours) After school, I ate a quick lunch, and Visi (mi mami) was glowing and smiling all day at the prospect of my date with Andrew! "Hoy es el DIA!" she kept saying, unable to stop smiling. She kissed be goodbye, then one more time, and I headed for the bus. After our 2.5 hour bus ride, I parted with my friends and attempted the interweaving metro lines with surprising success. ( I basically prayed the entire time that I wouldn't get lost). At my stop, I ran I up the hill and easily found the hotel, and ran into the lobby. I WAS SO EXCITED! Andrew and I had only talked on the phone for the last ten days, and couldn't wait to see each other. The hotel attendant asked me Andrew's birthday to get the key, which is hard to remember,as well as to say in Spanish when you are in a hurry. But finally, we had a joyful and happy reunion! We laughed and cheered and hugged at the moment we saw each other.
That evening, Andrew and I toured the city of Madrid which was bursting with people in every street, music, attractions, things to do and see. There were many free movies in plazas on big huge screens, and many street performers. Andrew still knew the city pretty well from the last time he visited. We ate Paella for dinner, which was fantastic, then went on a special date for Champinones and the best Sangria in town at a little place called, "Las Cuevas." (The picture with the green background right below) So romantic!



The top picture to the left is us in the Plaza mayor of Madrid, the central point of the entire capital. It is completely enclosed on all four sides and is quite a site to be in the center of the tall walls all around you. It is always buzzing and full of people from around the world, meeting, eating, having fun and watching the performers. Let's just say Spain is VERY different from home!
Saturday was full of fun an excitement that if I tried to tell you all, I would write a novel, so I'll tell you basic highlights. We got to the Prado Museum at 830am, and saw all the classic art of Spain, (alot of jesus, the diciples, kings, queens, bible scenes, popes, etc.) my absolute favorite being, "Las Meninas," by Velazquez"--->.

After a while, they all began to look the same, so we went straight to the Museum, "La Reina Sofia," after a quick starbucks break, and we stood in AWE of the amazing paintings we encountered. it was pretty exciting, and I liked the Reina Sofia much better than the Prado. It was full of Dali( kinda a freaky guy, but excellent just the same), Miro, Goya, Velasquez, and we stared at La Guernica, by Picasso for about ten minutes (This was the painting I was most excited to see while in Spain! It had quite a presence, two guards and a rope blocking close proximity)


Right after we visited the BEAUTIFUl Botanical Gardens of Madrid, and a few other land marks of the city, but pretty soon our dogs were barking so we needed to get our Siesta and FAST! That night, we met friends from school in the Plaza Mayor (easy landmark) for dinner and topped it off with Helado.

On Sunday, we went to Retiro Park. This Park is enormous and we could barely get though the whole thing once without having our feet drag. (story of our lives, eh?) This is the place where all the Spaniards do what they do best; lounge around with friends. They had boating, and fountains, etc. This picture is the Crystal Palace by a Coi pond

That night we met up with some great friends from home, Aaron and Kelly, and had SUCH a fun time! We were so excited to meet up with them and looked forward to it all day. We happened upon an amazing Flamenco club that night, which felt we were in the true essence of Spain; Sitting in a dark room with a glass of Sangria watching talented dancers stomp, twirl and clap around the stage. Here's a short video I took


Afterwards, we went to "Las Cuevas," for a second night in a row for some Champiniones (stuffed, boiled mushrooms) and more Sangria. We were sad to say good bye to our friends, but it was a great night! That night, we took a taxi home becuase at that time, all the metro lines were closed. We LOVED TEH TAXI! It was the biggest luxury of the weekend! (seriously, it was amazing to ride in a car, and arrive just were you need to be without stopping, and only 5 Euro!)


Phew! So that's all for now, that was a big blog and I am forgetting alot, but it was a big weekend! Hope you enjoyed it, and I hope to talk to you again soon!

Much LOVE!

XOXOXOXOXOXO
Amy