Hotel Tryp Diana Madrid

... hero turtles can paint - my fave was probably raphael. I´m not too bothered about doing everything in madrid in the next couple of days cos I´ve got so long here. Feels much bigger than the andalucian cities we were in, bit like a more compact version of london. It´s definitely gonna be strange living in a place this big, though obvioously the metropolises of alton and durham have prepared me for this experience.<br><br>Hasta luego!

... realized that even if I didn't understand, I'd still be able to go see the place. So I went back and told him that I'd like the ticket. He then informed me that the guy that came in right behind me took the last ticket. Bummer.<br><br>I went backt to the hostel and waited for Wiz and Rebeca to arrive. They finally did, and we got them settled, and I moved into our new room, just two doors down. Then we got ready to go explore. We first took ...

... train from Barcelona a few days before. It joined such luminaries as The Kings House in Albania, which I discovered by accident after taking advice from a helpful man called Denis and "that little pizza place I like" in Belgrade. One day I'll write up that list fully. Nevertheless, the sun was sinking in the sky and I decided it was time for beer. I began at O'Neils Irish pub, sinking a Heineken as a Spanish woman screamed "I'll ****ing leave you!" repeatedly at ...

... ex girlfriends went to Lovett. The private school in Marietta. Crazy. Hmm... 6:30 comes and goes. Now I'm starting to get worried again. Finally the bus arrives at 6:45 and we are on our way. We all check in and we still have almost and hour to kill. I get some breakfast and my Spanish friend joins me, than the California guy. We all chat about our travels. The ...

... for those Benedict Arnolds. I went to El Corte Ingles, which is the monopoly of a department store here (seriously, there exists NONE other) and its Macy´s caliber. So i stroll in there, find some classy sandals, cuz only the classy type will do, and asked the dude in a suit to fetch my size (which around here is size ´Grizzly´...seriously, they never have my size on display, they give me a look, jump in their forklift and head to the back to ...

... probably thinking we were honeymooners and giving us our peace and quiet. The only place we saw in Madrid was a huge market square just down the road which was surrounded by three storey buildings all in different colours. We sat in the square and tucked into traditional paella and a huge jug of sangria. Drunk as loons we stumbled back to the hotel, very relaxed and happy thanks to the aforementioned sangria.

... lay down the beat, entrepreneurial individuals sell beer, people relax in the sun and an assortment of twirlers and jugglers practice their skills. We had great weather and relaxed soaked up the laissez-faire attitude so unique to Espana. As if we hadn't had enough excitement for one day, the crew invited us out for tapas later on. Met up on Gran Via (close to our first hostel) at 10 pm (early by Spanish standards!!!) and headed to a jam packed, smoky ...

... a haven for deals and pickpocketers. Thus far I haven´t heard of anyone being robbed, but apparently about 70% of the students are during their stay. Not too promising. I´ll finish posting pictures soon, but this, my host dad-guy´s computer, is old and it would take forever to move the pictures onto a disk. Thanks for the emails; I know it takes me a while to get back to you, but I love getting them. Hasta la vista.