I may not be able to sing its praises enough. Maybe it is because of the friends I was with, maybe it was the much needed hustle and bustle after a while of chil... whatever it was, I needed it. I felt like a new person. I felt rejuvenated and happy to be in Spain.
You know for a while, I wasn't so happy.. I know, boo hoo, poor Jan. Her life is so rough. But for real. All I wanted was for it to be June and for me to be back on a plane to the US of A. I was really struggling as to what to next year, having the opportunity to renew my grant and teach another year. I think I have it figured out... but i'm not going to say just yet. You know me, I am the queen of changing her mind, changing her plans. But anyways, being in Madrid renewed my spirit and my love of Spain. So I am soaking it all in. This is my chance.
Anyways, back to Madrid. Jess and I took the AVE, the high speed train on Thursday night to Madrid. It gets you to Madrid in 2 ish hours as opposed to the 6 in car. It was night, so we weren't able to take in the countryside, which is gorgeous by the way, and instead enjoyed a movie. We got to our hotel and settled in for the night, making plans to meet my friends in the morning for some sightseeing.
The next morning, we met up with Erin, our Unofficial Tour guide, along with Paul for the weekend. I just love these two. We are friends from a while back. We go back to a study abroad trip to Argentina, the best time of my life... seriously.... and have remained friends and lovers of Spanish all this time. So we meet erin who shows us some main spots and takes us to get Churros and Chocolate. A special treat of a breakfast... it was delicious. Think hot chocolate syrup and sugared doughnuts. A dream come true.
After breakfast, we met up with Paul. He knows so much about the city. We saw the oldest building, went to the Puerta de Alcalá, Parque Buen Retiro, lunch, El museo de Sofia Reina, which houses the Picasso painting, the cutest neighborhood I ever did see, complete with a 50s syle American Store with pancake mix, goobers pb&j, etc. A wine and bookstore, an English bookstore and cafe/bar, vintage shops... I could go on and on. It was calling my name. Jan... Jan... move here! I almost listened. Maybe some day.
That night, Erin took us to a restaurant where the basement is sandy. It is super trendy and really cool. We weren't able to eat down there due to growling bellies and too long of a wait, but they did let us take a peek. The ground is covered in sand, and all I could think was of my dad's beach party.. a story I loved to hear when I was younger. I thought it was the coolest thing ever and someday I would have the same beach party... trying to follow in my daddy's footsteps.
and yes, if my thoughts had font, it would look like that. secret: sometimes when I think of a word, the word is spelled out in my head... weird or normal?
The next day we were out and about again... after plans to go to Salamanca dissolved, we went back to Malasañas (my neighborhood) and went into the vintage shops, the bookstore, a papershop. We lunched in the cutest cafe EVERRR.. and just took it all in.
That night, we went out with Erin's roommates, a very nice group of people... she got lucky with them... but we were so tired we were kind of a bust... Sunday was off to the market.
more on that later. I must get the apartment cleaned and ready for my sisssster to come!! I am capital letters EXCITED!! I absolutely can not can not wait!
beeeeeesitos!
xoxoxo
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