Mirasierra Madrid

... everyone was out and about on a Monday. We checked out Plaza Mayor and Palicio Commerciales, then scoured for a grocery store open on the national holiday so we could cook dinner! We meant to have an early night but instead made some friends at the hostel, and one drink turned into 5 in the morning (we´re getting really good at that, not sure if it´s a good thing!) We had canas at a local place, ended up at some Irish tourist bar (free beer thanks to the Amercian exchange ...

... all over my legs, looks like i have the beggenings meningococcal or something!!! so havbetn done much here as we cant move, plus its a public holiday here today so everything is closed!!! Tomorrow we´re off to Cadiz ( a beach town!!!!) will be cooler there as we´ll have the breeze from the ocean.. if i have missed anything, Which im sure i have, trying to remember three weeks worth of things is pretty hard, please read Annas.. just look up benanna on this same website :) all my love.. xxxx

... Semana Santa, as people are here from all over Spain, and, in fact, all over the world. We will plan to either take a side trip to Toledo by train or tour the Prado museum here in Madrid. I'm recalling Kathleen's advice not to overplan....but to leave room for spontaneity. This is our first time out of our continent, best to get some in-depth appreciation of a couple of aspects, rather than to try and take it all in.

So, this album I am purely dedicating to the classic touristy sights around Madrid. Most of these pictures are from a walking tour I took with my architecture class; it was such a beautiful day, and it was soo neat to learn about the architecture and history of this beautiful city. I also went on a tour of the Palacio Real (Royal Palace ...

... their Russian past. That said, based on my initial conversations, although they all speak Russian, feel nostalgically about Russian culture, sing Russian songs on the bus, and see themselves as culturaly Russian, very few of them has ever been back to Russia. Once the tension over fish passed, the group retired to the garden for beer and conversation, nearly all speaking to one another in Russian, as I passed out under the happy influence of jet lag, exhaustion from teaching...and half an ambien.

... 9 at night), Irene and I started reading The Velveteen Rabbit, which I gave to her. I gave all of the girls books in English and I'm glad I did - they love them. ... Saturday.. ... On Saturday we went to the Recuerdo school (Irene and Marina's school) for sports. The girls play random games, basketball, football (yes, of course I mean soccer), and volleyball. During the games I walked to the nearest underground ...

... cramped hallways and rooms. Tiago is very organized in this way. He knows exactly how it's going to be and how we need to prepare so that these kinds of transfers are as painless as possible. He knows his stuff. We board the train and settle into our respective rooms. We spend about a half our in our room before Tiago asks if anyone in our room is interested in heading down to the bar for a drink. He doesn't have to ask me twice.

... to us. "EasyJet is not Easy." We remembered these words when we arrived in Madrid and learned that somehow, despite checking in over an hour early for a one hour flight with no transfers, they managed to leave my (Sara's) luggage behind. Air Madrid is one of the many budget airlines (like Easyjet) flying all over Europe these days. We paid around $50 for this flight, cheaper than the train. But budget airlines are budget for a ...

... and had a lot of great naps. We did go to the Museo de la Reina Sofia (the modern art museum) at my insistence, and I really enjoyed the things we saw there. However, we were generally feeling a little museum-ed and cathedral-ed out, so we opted not to go to the Prado and swarm around in front of Las Meninas like everyone else :) Generally, Madrid was big and loud, although it probably has a lot of character if you get to know it. Overall, Chris and I ...

... though was very fun, esp since we started earlier at cheap bar drinking $2.50 euro, grande Sangria´s. They were the hugest cups of alcohol ive ever seen. Holding close to one litre. Bed time did happen til 8am this morning after staggering around Madrid in search of food. So maybe no muesum today.Will attach photos soon as card is burnt. These have got to be seen to believe!