miracle in madrid

Hello all again! So last week, I went to visit my friend Sara from UCLA! She's studying in Alcala, which is 30 min outside of Madrid. This was my first holiday on the continent all by myself! It wasn't too bad getting to the airport by myself, but HOLY MOLY was it rough coming back! First of all, I've learned that if I'm by myself, I've got way too much time to think and what's worse is that I'm a nervous traveller. At least I made it home in one piece! This is amazing, since I thought I would miss my flight so I ended up RUNNING to the gate (only to find that all planes board late) and I also left my purse on the train that brought me back into London. Thank God that I was the last stop, so my purse was sitting right there where I left it. PHEW

Anyways, Sara and I went to Toledo on Saturday:

The city's raised on a hill, so there are AMAZING views everywhere you go!

The beautiful interior of the Cathedral, one of Spain's most famous
We found this playground where we ate are jamon sandwiches! Basically the Spanish diet consists of ham, sausage, chocolate con churros, and basically FAT (how do they stay so thin?)

More great views!
Synagogue!

Toledo's also famous for its mazapan- MARZIPAN! I had this for the first time :9 We bought it from these sweet old nuns at a convent. Marzipan's really good, but I ate so much I thought I would be sick. Ugh.

We tried to go shopping on Gran Via (the biggest street in Madrid), but it was a MESS! Clothes on the floor, spilt drinks, and tons of people queueing to pay- Oxford Street isn't even like this at its busiest. We went to the Cuecha district, where there lots of cute botiques and we got TAPAS!!! (finally!) I got my calamari and other appetizers!

Calarmari!!!
'Museum of Ham'- there was TONS of ham, sausages, and ham-related things in this restaurant

Plaza Mayor
Plaza del Sol, the heart of Madrid

The next day, we had a 'cultured' Madrid day. We went to the Reina Sofia, where I got to see GUERNICA!!! This was so cool- the painting is HUGE! All around the room, they showed the different sketches and studies Picasso did in preparation for the final painting. We got to see lots of Dalis and Miros too! Then, we walked a bit to the Prado. After seeing Las Meninas, we whizzed through the whole museum in an hour. Sara showed me the paintings she had learned about in class, and I recognized one from my history book about the Spanish Civil War! It was really cool, but I can't remember the name of it right now...The outside of the Reina Sofia- glass elevators!!

Statue of Velazquez in front of the Prado

Afterwards, we went to Parque del Retiro, a really beautiful park. Since it was a Sunday, all the families were out rowing boats and watching magicians and performers on the promenade. SO cute! I think this was my favorite part of Madrid. There weren't any clouds either! We walked to the Plaza Mayor and looked at a bunch of of little touristy shops. They had these cute aprons that made you look like a flamenco dancer! :)

Entrance to the park
The lake in the middle- gorgeous!!
Another pretty fountain
Rowboats!!
Scary dangerous playground

Plaza Mayor in the daytime... crazy performers!

We went to the west most part of town and saw the Cathedral and Palacio Real at sunset! :) SO PRETTY!Cathedral

View from the Palace gates
Back of the Palace
Plaza de Espana- the famous statue of Don Quixote
Me trying to tag along with them
Pretty fountain... one of many in Europe

After we got back, Sara gave me a short tour of her small town! It's so cute and doesn't have any tourists (besides me). Cervantes, the author of Don Quixote, was born here, so that's the main draw for tourists. We got candy from one of the local shops too :9 (more eating lol)

Me hanging out with Don again... this time in front of Cervante's birthplace
The main street
At first I was pretty shocked that they had Benetton, but it's actually UNDERCOLORS of Benetton!! O_O

I went shopping on Monday by myself. I spent so much money, but I spent it on this that I need: boots, coats, tights (since it's FREEZING here). I also got some gifts for people... I'm still not sure how I'm going to take all of this back with me. I also got to walk around Palacio Real, the Royal Palace! It was BEAUTIFUL! Chandelier after chandelier after chandelier... And they let me take pictures too:

The front of the Palace
Walking up the grand staircase

One of the many painted ceilingsI want this carpet!
And this couch-thing

Looooong banquet table!
Stradavarius (sp?) violin and viola... there's also a cello and a bass!
Asian influence?
The Royal Armory

So after going through my pictures, I took a GAZILLION in the Palace, so I won't post them all...but these kind of give you the gist.

The BEST part of the trip was EATING!!! The most delicious food I've had in Europe is surprisingly in Spain, not Italy. We had marzipan and tapas the first day, then on the second day, we had falafel, gelato, AND churros con chocolate! We were SO FULL ^_^Eating 2-3 hours later (siesta), wasn't that bad, but I always made sure I had extra snacks in my bag. I hate putting up pictures of what I ate, but Madrid deserves it:

They give you a pita with a ton of falafel, then you fill it up at the buffet! There's cous cous, cucumber/tomato, fried califlower (my fave), sauces, olives, and lots more.TADA! It's so rare to get so many veggies for such a cheap meal!
Churros con chocolate!!!Chocolate so thick, a spoon can sit on it!
Fresh from the oven :9

OH! Roomate update: She's really nice to me now, my other flatmates and I aren't sure why, but I'm not complaining :) She even thinks I'm cool!? Who would have thunk!