I arrived in Madrid at around 7:00 am local time. We caught a cab to downtown Madrid to our hotel. We were all really worn out from traveling and all felt really dirty from being in flight for fourteen hours. We all took showers and took our time getting ready for the day. We stayed in a place called the High Tec Hotel, and we had a suite for five girls. It had two floors- our first floor had a bathroom, chairs, and a computer with a desk. Upstairs were five beds, a tv, an exercise bike, and another bathroom. The staircase was a little sketchy, but for the price, the room was worth it (something like $45 per person between 5 people).
We managed to get out by about 11:30 and had the goal of getting to the Plaza Mayor. Due to lack of sleep and disorientation, we took a while to get adjusted to where we were. We wandered down a lot of side streets and had to stop a lot to check corners for street names. While wandering we saw a lot of pretty chapels, and eventually we wandered to the Palacio Real. The Palacio is really large (of course), and the fountain and gardens were really pretty. We kept running into a group of Spanish tourists throughout the day. One of the weirdest things in Madrid we saw were street performers (?) which were people in complete costume and full on makeup that stand still. I think its for people to pay them money to take pictures with them. In front of the palace there was a guy in a devil costume and a girl with her face and hair painted white in an angel costume. Later in the plaza there was a guy in an old army costume and a guy that was painted like sand. There was also a creepy old Spanish man in a Winnie-the-Pooh costume that kept taking his head off.
Eventually, after what seemed like a long amount of walking, we found the Plaza Mayor. It wasn't quite what I expected. Mostly, the square is filled with tables under umbrellas that are served by restaurants around the square. There was an Arabic music group playing in the middle of the square that we couldn't see but we could hear. I was starving and everybody was exhausted so we found tables by a little café that served ice cream, sandwiches, and salads. I just got a salad and water to settle my stomach and rehydrate. When we sat down in the square, our exhaustion definitely set in more. We realized that we had only been walking around for an hour and a half although it seemed like we had been wandering for two to three hours. Lindsay A. started losing her ability to form sentences because she was so tired, so we all decided to go back to the hotel.
I didn't want to sleep for too long, but the other girls crashed for at least four hours. I took a small hour nap and spent the rest of my time reading and checking email. Our fifth girl finally arrived- she had taken a later flight than us and had gone through Chicago and Heathrow (the rest of us went through Philadelphia and then straight to Madrid). The other girls started waking up and getting put together. We finally headed out for dinner at about 8:30 pm. We found a restaurant in the Plaza del Sol called Lateral. At first we walked around the plaza looking at the menus for all the restaurants, but we ended up going back to Lateral because they had really agreeable prices and the food looked amazing. We were told the wait would be 45 minutes, but the list of people waiting was really long, and people in Madrid love to take their time ordering courses, sitting at their candle-lit tables, drinking their wine under umbrellas outside. We were getting really hungry, but after waiting for so long, we felt that we should stick it out. Finally, at approximately 10:15 pm, we got a table. Some girls who thought they could just sit down and cheat the list got kicked out of their chairs so we could be seated since we had waited. Everybody ordered different things, but the food was amazing. My first course was an meatball appetizer plate. It came with toast and a few meatballs. It looked like meatballs and gravy, but the sauce was not a gravy but something more like a marmalade. The second course I ordered was something called ham croquettes. At first glance, they look like a large version of jalapeno poppers, but the cheese and mix of ham and other things inside was amazing. I had too much and shared with the rest of the group and it was agreed to be the best item of the night. For dessert, I ordered crepes that were custard filled. The crepes were great but it was all about the custard inside. I'm only accustomed to pumpkin custard so this was so completely different. It was a very solid custard that tasted a lot like caramel (not flan though). We enjoyed our time at the table since we earned it after the long wait for the table. We left around 11:45 to walk back to our hotel. It was a quick walk back to our hotel, and some of the girls just crashed. I didn't feel like sleeping right away, but fell asleep right away as soon as I went to bed.
We woke up at a decent hour in the morning and got ready for the day. I packed up before we went out to breakfast. We went to a place called Pan y Company which was on the Gran Via (one of the major streets). I had coffee (much needed and very delicious) and a little breakfast sandwich they offered. The best and worst part is that the price in Euros make you think that everything is cheaper (although I paid what would be the equivalent price of the same thing in the US). We went shopping at H & M briefly where I got a summer dress since I'm the only one that didn't bring one. We went back, packed up, and caught a cab to the train station. We bought our tickets to Salamanca and had lunch. I went with Lindsay A to get a SIM card for her phone so she can call home and was happy with my ability so far to understand what is being said. Except for the old European architecture, the landscape reminds me a lot of Montana- very flat, kind of desert-y. The train ride was interesting- there were some very annoying, immature, rude teenagers that have yet to learn manners- they were being rude about where they were sitting (we were assigned seats, and they refused to move from them, and there were girls sitting across from Lindsay A. and me who were obviously whispering about us to each other). Some of the sights on the train ride were amazing. We saw a castle on a hillside in the distance.
We arrived at Salamanca and went by cab to our host mother's house. Her name is Esperanza, and she is an adorable woman who is very very friendly. There are two girls from the UK, a girl from Chicago, and two girls from Singapore staying in the house, but we all have two bedroom rooms so I'm with Lindsay A, of course. We took naps for a while, but later in the evening, we went to watch people coming out from the church across the street after a wedding. Everybody was very nicely dressed. The street that the house/flat is on is made of cobblestones, and there are cafes right outside. The street is literally full of tables with umbrellas. It's so pretty, and the Plaza of Salamanca (not the actual name) is about a two minute walk away- or so we're told. Pictures to come later!
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