Day 18 - July 16th

  Madrid, Spain and Canary Islands
Wednesday, July 16, 2008

I've got to keep up with the Jones'!  I have to read...I have to study....but it's so hard to do it!  To this day, I still haven't made it to start reading for any of my classes....but at least I'm going to class, albeit physically only and not mentally! 
 
After class today, a group of us decided that we needed to give Madrid a better chance...we keep putting things off thinking that we have so much time while we're here so we weren't really going around and seeing what Madrid had to offer.  We know where everything is, we just need to get around and take a look at it!  So, we all took the Metro and headed to the Museo del Prado.  The Museo del Prado is part of the "Golden Triangle" of Madrid - one of the top 3 museums in the world!  The Prado was inspired by the opening of the Louvre in France.
 
Unfortunately, I wasn't allowed to take pictures to document my trip to the Prado but the art was truly beautiful.  I remembered my days in Art Appreciation class at UF (the class I forced myself to take so that I would actually appreciate my trips to Europe) and the fact that I appreciated more and more art once I knew about the artists and the conditions in which the art was created.  Besides the sheer beauty of the art: all of the shading to show lighting and emotions and all of the other intricate detail of the paintings, I wish I could have read more about the artists and creators of the masterpieces - but, it was all in Spanish.  Too bad the little Spanish that I know - comida, bano, por favor, etc. - did not reach the level necessary to translate the little plaques next to each painting.  If my Spanish improves a little bit in the future, then maybe I'll learn more...
 

Outside the Prado

The Ladies at the Prado

 

Outside a Fountain

After we left the Prado, I was exhausted and ready for din din - pray, pray that it's something good!  I can't remember exactly what it was - but I can assure you it wasn't the best, as always!  After din, I started my talking thing again...going around and running my mouth...it's what I do best! 
 
Then, after dinner, Sandy and Sahar dragged me out to go see some more of Madrid's night life - we were trying to find a Hootkah bar.  Sandy did some Google searches, but, honestly, we had no clue where we were going...we were just going out to Sol in the middle of the night to find this.  After walking down and around tons of streets and attempting to communicate with many people in the streets, stopping anyone who we heard speaking the slightest bit of English, we met someone in the street who directed us to the right place.  It's actually funny, he didn't speak English, but he was Arabic - and thanks to the fact that Sandy was bi-lingual, her Arabic helped us to get around!

On the way there, we heard some music coming out of this place called Sol y Sombra - we decided to stop after the guy outside said "Chupitos Gratis" (free shots)...so we said, fine, we'll give it a try!  We walked in, got our free shot and started to boogie!  (This explains my outfit...it was not in the plan.)  It was short-lived but we had fun while we were there!  They played many American songs...and it was funny, the Spaniards could tell we were American because we were singing all of the songs and they would watch and mock all of the dance moves that we made....ha, we started a new trend!  We were being silly, though (like holding an umbrella in the air during Rihanna's Umbrella) - hopefully they don't point us out as the creator of the moves...lol!
 

Chupitos at Sol y Sombra

Then we finally made it to the Hootkah bar!  Sandy and Sahar were happy - we made it!  They had their "Melon-flavored" Hootkah...and it was great!  Despite the fact that I burned my hand touching the burning charcoal on the top (I didn't know it was charcoal, I thought it was a cork...), we had a good time!  We met some Spaniards inside that taught us how to do some Spanish moves and were definitely making fun of us (we could tell even though we were having a good time)!  Then Reggae came on, I knew how to do that...then later Arabic music came on and Sahar and Sandy showed me some of the moves!  Yayy, I'm at least a little prepared for Janan's wedding...so excited!
 
All in all a great night...went back to the dorm and off to bed!