Madrid: Parte dos
Trip Start
Jun 24, 2008
1
2
17
Trip End
Ongoing
Madrid,
Spain
Thursday, June 26, 2008
So, I woke up around 8am, dressed and went down for breakfast. The breakfast was free. It was set up buffet style. There was a lot of food, but the plates were rather small. Then, I remembered that Spaniards don't eat big breakfasts, so I knew this was normal. I had some meat, eggs and fruit. I went back up for seconds, I had yogurt, cereal, and a pastry (which there were a lot of, it seems that Spaniards love their pastries). Over all, I didn't notice any big difference in the meals that were available.
There was a scheduled excursion to El Prado, the famous art museum in Spain. I, however, skipped it. I still hadn't gotten my luggage and I couldn't stand the idea of staying in the clothes. Plus, I knew that Madrid was hot and the clothes I was wearing didn't seem like they'd be very comfortable in the heat. Later I learned that no one was allowed to take pictures, so I wasn't too sad that I missed it. I am not huge into art.
My luggage arrived around noon. I showered and changed, it felt nice. I wasn't sure if the groups were going to be back before we had to meet at the royal palace (El Palacio Real). So, I thought it'd be fun to find my own way. In retrospect, not such a good idea since I wasn't accostomed to the map and I wasn't sure what the names of the streets were, no street signs on corners.
It was very hot outside and no breeze to cool me down. In the end, I did a lot of walking in a pair of flat shoes I'd bought for Spain, (and when I saw "I bought" I mean "My mom bought for me"). I actually thought my body felt pretty cool for it being so hot outside, then I touched my back: it was drenched in sweat. Hahaha, I was really surprised, but what could I do?
Eventually, after a lot of backtracking, I ended up at El Plaza Mayor. It was very pretty, I was about to take a picture when a young guy (around my age) came up to me asking (in spanish) if I knew how to get to La Puerta del Sol. I said no and he asked if he could use the map I had out. I said that I was trying to get to El Palacio Real. He said he would come, or he'd just been there or something. We started walking in the direction of the palace, I told him I had to meet my group there, attempting to let him know that I wasn't in Madrid alone, hahaha. After some conversation, I learned he was from Peru and staying in Spain for a bit. Then, he asked me if I wanted to get a beer or some sangria. I declined and then after a few more minutes and asking for directions, he told me how to get there and said he had to go or somehting similar (he didn't speak English). I think he was just trying to pick me up from the first moment, lol.
Anyways, I made it to the palace around 40 minutes early. My heels were beginning to hurt, I took of my flats and discovered that the both of my heels had big callouses on them. As there was nothing I could do, I put them back on and sat on a bench. A woman came by and gave me a flyer for a Flamenco show. Then, an Asian woman asked me if I wanted a massage. I said no, and for some reason, she started giving me one anyways. I didnt' catch what she said, but she just picked up my arm and started rubbing it. I was so surprised, I just sat there and tried to think of a polite way to get away. Her partner was setting up chairs for more massages, right in the middle of the park. I quickly realized that the woman spoke no English nor (i'm pretty sure) Spanish. Finally, I said (in Spanish) I need to go. She looked confused and I just walked away.
I walked to a small cafe called Cafe Juan Valdez and got a sandwich and agua. Finally, I met my group at the palace. I could only take pictures on the outside.
Courtyard of Palacio Real
It was very beautiful on the outside. The inside is just as gorgeous. Every room we were in had a totally different design. There were 2 china rooms with decorations from the "far east." The dining room was awesome: very large room, long table, around 120 seats.
Courtyard of Palacio Real
The king (Juan Carlos) doesn't live in the palace, he lives in a smaller palace somewhere else (didn't catch the name). El Palacio Real is used only for tourists and very important events. The coolest thing I saw there was an armory museum. On display was all the different types of armour the Spanish have used over the centuries. There was even armour for children. I loved seeing the famous helmets Spaniards were known for
(http://www.kidscostumesandmore.com/images/costumes/spanish-conquistadors-helmet-15312-j.jpg). Again, we weren't allowed to take pictures, bummer.
The group came back to the hotel and rested. Then, around 10 of us went to the
Plaza de Colón, where they were showing the soccer match between Russia and Spain on big TV screens outside. This game was to decided which of the two teams would play Germany in the final game for the Euro Cup, a competition which occurs every 4 years. The main Spanish news stations were there and Juanes performed! (very famous latin singer from Colombia)
Juanes!
. Most of the people in the Plaza were my age. And 99% of the people were wearing red. I, who was wearing none, felt very out of place. But we got a hold of some red and yellow face paints and painted the flags on ourselves. Oddly, the the Spanish players themselves were dressed in yellow while the Russians wore red(imagine the communists jokes in the US if anyone cared about soccer), so it took me a few minutes to figure out which side was Spain.
Plaza de Colón craziness
There were a lot of people in the Plaza. And everyone was screaming "PODEMOS!" which means "We can." I guess it's the big catch phrase of the games for Spain. Everytime Spain scored a goal, people threw up their hands and screamed and hugged random people.
Plaza de Colón
The feeling of anticipation was crazy. After the first goal, one kid climbed up a tree and started waving the spanish flag around. 
Boy in tree waving flag
During half time, they played a really cool commercial, it was an ad for Nike: http://youtube.com/watch?v=0fZpJ6G9QuI&feature=related (the men in the commerical are the stars of the Spanish team). The last guy literally wrote on his arm "Pass to the next level," but I think it's suppose to signify "Take it to the next level." That's all I can make out from the commercial, but it still looks really cool. I don't think it's a commercial you'd see in the U.S. First, we'd need a sports team where the majority of people could recognize the players faces anywhere. These soccer players are adored. It seems that soccer matches between countries is seen as the fierce battle. Some other weird ads include the players turning into half robots to defeat aliens or something (made me think of "Transformers" and "Iron Man"): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pmjBDvZL9nc&NR=1
In the end, Spain beat Russia 3 to 0. People went crazy in the plaza and after we all paraded down the streets. The police were all lined up the streets and surrounded the main fountain so that no one jumped in it. Cars were honking everywhere in celebration. Spanish flags waving everywhere. At one point we ran into some other Americans, who were shirtless and had the Spanish flag tied around their necks like capes, and they started screaming "Americans love Spain!" which made everyone around laugh.
Parade
Our group had dwindled down to 4 people, including myself, and we walked around looking for food. Celebrations everywhere.
Ended up back at the hotel at around 11pm. I showered and went to sleep. My heels(from which I peeled the calloused skin off) were still very red and raw from the earlier walk to the palace.
Casualites of sweaty feet and flat shoes
Other things I noticed this day: I kept reading that Spaniards dress very nicely all the time, like they're always going out. This is definitely not true in Madrid. I never saw anyone in sweats, but I saw some people walking the streets in less than fancy clothing. And I saw a lot of women in skanitly(and some rather sloppy) cut tops. It's basically what you might see in New York in the hot summer, but it wasn't what I expected after what I'd read about fashion in Spain. I'm relieved to see that everyone isn't always dressed up. It just goes to show me that you can't just because this book or that traveller says one thing about a country, doesn't mean you should swear by it.
Also, thanks to my very intelligent world-traveller friend, Adam, I know why I didn't get a stamp in my passport (and why no one else did either). Here's something from the e-mail he sent me about it: You entered the EU in Frankfurt, just as you'd enter the US in New York/Atlanta/DC/etc. When you fly from New York to Cleveland, you don't go through immigration or customs as it's a domestic flight, just as you don't do that from Frankfurt to Madrid as it is a "Schengen" aka within the EU. Thanks Adam!
