Hotel Auditorium Madrid

... and contorted bodies. I loved it! After this I had enough though and headed home but not before a quick pit stop for food since I would not eat for a long while. I found an indoor farmers market where fresh vegetables and fruits lined lettuce beds on display, mini bars served drinks and tapas with numerous customers leaning and eating with friends, as well as tables filled with appetizing cheeses, breads and deserts. I could not afford or understand the process ...

... Score one for Deena. We were going to meet Liz and Lauren at the Metro stop by El Rastro at 10:15, so we set out right after breakfast. However, after a while, we got a text that Liz overslept, so we should start walking around, and they will meet us when the get there. Upon first entering the market, Kaitlin and I were looking at all the stalls, really paying attention and relaxing. We turned the first corner, and were met with a view of stalls as far as the eye could see ...

... out I had in Madrid or the many friends I met there. So I think this entry is just going to be a personal affair to remind me of some of the detail I might otherwise forget. Don't feel left out you wouldn't get the jokes even if I tried to explain it all. Pierce and Patrick the canadians, Pierre and Alex the canadiens, the russian, the two greeks, that german girl, lots of people and I don't remember any names! Afternoons drinking and playing cards in the park ...

... and her niece. We simply begin conversation about lots of different things. Jeez, I can barely remember; we probably talked for about 2 hours. Topics included Barack Obama, dressing in Spain vs. the US, taking the metro, cell phones, wearing hats, drinking alcohol, etc; etc; I felt like my Spanish was decent, but my ability to comprehend the native speech off the tounge of Maruja and Rosa was really tough. I probably understood about 40% of what they were saying ...

... la Sardina....muy chistoso, pues la gente se viste de luto y lleva una sardina ...de verdad...una sardina....pues cuentan que hace mucho tiempo un Rey llevaba sardina para comer pero en el camino se le hecho a perder, enterró la sardina para esconder el pecado...y así se hizo la tradición de enterrar una sardina para librarte de tus pecados....hacen un desfile, bailando por la calle hasta llegar a un río y enterrar la sardina ...

... I feel so disoriented" and it was true. After getting out of the market we decided to go back to our room and have dinner and sleep before trying again in Madrid. Next morning and take two on Madrid; heading out the door at 9am, the streets were barren allowing us time to adjust to the crowds that would inevitably show up. First on the agenda was the Prado museum and then Anna Sofia. Being Sunday both museums were free, making the crowd ...

... pig legs hanging in about every bar in the city for people to buy. What we have usually is like rice or noodles with pork in this yellow sauce that I don't really know what it is, but I know it has olive oil and garlic in it, two things that are staples here in Spain. It makes me feel like I'm eating unhealthy though because everything here is either fried or cooked with a ton of oil so that's interesting. Valentina is not too big on the vegetables and fruit ...

... it's up to the viewer to decide but Guernica has become one of the 20th centuries most unsettling indictments of war. So I really really really wanted to see this painting. The Guernica exhibit was closed for refurbishment. Due to open on June 6th (next week). I almost cried. Still I decided that while I here, I may as well see the other stuff the Reina Sofia has to offer so I paid the €3 to enter. Once inside I felt that since a lot of the artwork was ...

... Big Ben´, which seemed to be a haunt for the prostitutes that roamed the streets nearby. We headed upstairs which was empty, and watched all the comings and goings from above. It was a very eventful meal - a woman collapsed and paramedics arrived to save her, and there was a big cat fight too. While we were there we met a delightful transsexual prostitute by the name of Christina (by night she called herself Gabriella). She was staying ...