AC Aravaca Madrid

... goodbye to it.

After the failure to get to Toledo, decided to just hang around down town and check out the festivities in the Sol and Plaza de Mayor.

Had dinner in an amazing seafood restaurant called Mariescos by Anton Martin Metro. Highly recommend it. But have to be there around 8:15pm to line up for the 8:30pm opening. If you can a bit later, no chance you would get in.

... lass (www.couchsurfing.com - a world-wide network of fellow vagabonds who are happy to host travelers for a night or two when they're passing through). Indeed, I myself have hosted a half dozen young lasses from Austria, Germany, Ecuador, Costa Rica, Russia and... Kansas! So now it's my turn to couch surf on the other side of the globe.

Stay tuned...

... guy would not let me pay for dinner! They said it was a tradition in Spain to treat a guest to a meal, so after some convincing, they let me buy the beers! Pablo explained the difference between traditional Spanish tapas and Pintxos that I had in San Sebastian in the north of Spain. Pintxos are essentially tapas laid on a large piece of bread, where traditional tapas normally do not come with bread. We had a great time, staying out very late, but it was all well worth it!

... through many Plaza's. We went to Plaza DE Mayor, which is where there was a lot of various entertainment, people dressed up in ridiculous outfits, like the guy from Darth Vader, dancers, and many more interesting costumes. After we walked around and viewed the entertainment, it was a beautiful, sunny day outside, so we decided it would be nice to sit outside and eat a nice lunch. Therefore, we ate at this one restaurant, where all five of us ordered Spanish Paella ...

... we walked by a grate! Barcelona has the longest walks when chainging lines on the Metro - feels like you are almost walking where you want to go! Madrid is loud. Our hotel is nice, but the walls are thin and traffic is pretty loud until around 3AM. Smoking is still alive and well in Spain. Tomorrow we head to Seville on the fast train - should be fun! Anthony & Kaylyn

... while we chatted the about our experiences. Laura does not actually live in Madrid, but a small city called Alcala. It is a fun place especially because there are a lot of young people. After getting settled in a changed at her apartment (which she shares with many international students including a Romanian, Greek, and Spaniards), we went to a restaurant for tapas. These are just small snacks, which was good since it was already so late at ...

... out and all the fighters would taunt it with their pink and yellow capes. Then a man on a very padded horse came out and would have the bull attack him and when close enough, would stab the bull in back. Then the main matador comes out and stabs the bull 3 times with small spears. After this time, the main matador avoids the charges of the bull with a red cape while holding a sword. This was ...

... in the "exclusive shopping district" of Salamanca. Very clean rooms -- smallish, but certainly no smaller than all my recent hotel rooms in New York! -- with modern facilities and bathrooms, a decent set of TV channels (including CNN International and "Richard Quest"), and very expensive mini-bar and Internet access. The whole setting reminds me greatly of Santiago, where I was last October. But that's like saying that a parent looks like his or her child ...

... was used repeatedly throughout this castle. Room after plaza after courtyard had water features of various sizes. One contained the Lion's Court Fountain. It consisted of a ring of lions spouting water from their feline mouths. For me the nicest fountains were those that more subtly trickled over stone walls or sat perfectly still in imitation of the cleanest mirror. Maybe this part of Spain was not always as dry as it seemed nowadays but the fountains made a pleasant contrast between ...

... that we needed to see this bullfighting thing the Spanish were so famous for. To Make a judgement call after we had experienced it in person. Never hurts to try something once I figured. With a neutral attitude in mind I ended up finding some thing out that I never knew about myself, I really don`t like bull fights. After the first bull was brutally killed I had a few unexpected tears down my cheeks. Don`t regret going but it was definatley an intense ...