Day 34 - August 1st
Trip Start
Jun 28, 2008
1
34
42
Trip End
Aug 08, 2008
Madrid,
Spain and Canary Islands
Friday, August 1, 2008
After our exam, I hung out in my room for a few...trying to take a siesta...but then I realized I was just too excited to sleep! Shajine came home from her test and I accompanied her to Puerta del Sol to greet her mother and brother who came in town to visit her. We headed over to Sol...she was soooo excited to see them, (and I would have been equally overjoyed if my Momma and Sis (and Daddy, of course) decided to come visit me!). We walked them around a little bit, showing them the 0 km mark (the center of Madrid...where all the roads meet) and then ate some McD's before we walked around Sol a bit more and then back to the dorm.
The wonderful Bashley that she is helped me to repack once I weighed my bags and realized that one weighed a total of 59 pounds! Thank God I was smart enough to pack another one inside the big one for emergencies of this sort...
After packing, Bashley, Sandy, Sahar, Chantel and I headed on the red line to Retiro park...a classic in Madrid. This quaint little park...excuse me, it's not little...is filled with statues, places to hang and enjoy the peacefulness of the world around you. As we walked in, we were greeted by Mickey Mouse who quickly stuck out his hand and asked for "moneda" after we took a picture...we thought, Mickey in Disney World doesn't do this! They're traumatizing children! So we walked around the park a little bit more and then decided to go on a row boat adventure in the middle of the park.
Since only 4 people could fit in each boat, Sahar and I went together. Well, we didn't realize that rowing was a "skill" - we thought we were just supposed to move the oars and we would get to where we needed...ugh, that was wrong. As soon as we were pushed off the dock, the only place we went was in circles. (It brought me back to that time that T and I went canoeing in undergrad...oh, the memories!) But, we learned together and eventually we made it into the center...that is, after we hit a few walls...
It felt so peaceful on the water. It was hot, but the heat disappeared...maybe it was the pain in our arms from rowing...or maybe it was just the coolness coming from the water. Regardless, we enjoyed our time out there, took some pictures of the statues and each other then raced the other row boat back to the starting line.
The jury is still out as to who "won"...but Sahar and I think we did...first, we had less people...less people who had never rowed before...second, we made it back first but there was another boat in our way that prevented us from being able to get out first. Regardless, it was fun.
We hung out and talked on some of the benches, did a little bit more walking through the park, took some pictures, watched Bashley do some of her level-11 gymnastics in the grass and then headed back to the dorm. Definitely a great night!
When we finally made it back, Sahar was kind enough to take me on a walk to Moncloa to see the view of the city and the beautiful sunset. It was one thing I HAD to see before I headed out. Long walk out there...but it was beautiful. We sat there a little bit longer and talked on the benches before we started to head back to the dorm. On our way back, Sahar wanted a little bite to eat so we stopped into this place called "Bocatin" to pick up a little bite before we headed back. Sahar said it was great so I decided to try it --- oh my goodness, it was fabulous! For 1,20 Euros, this sandwich was a bite of heaven. I ordered 2 more (and a Fanta, of course) before we headed back. In the best Spanish that I could, I told them that we were leaving tomorrow to head back to the states and that we were sad that we found this food so late...it would have been our spot every night when the food was bad in the dorm...
When we got back to the dorm we got ready to head out to Club Ananda for our final night here. When we finally made it to the club, we argued with each other for a little bit outside because it was supposed to be free...it was supposed to be better...well, not really arguing with each other, arguing with people outside. We ended up getting played by these Spanish girls outside who were really using us to get in free, but that's how it works! Regardless, Ashley, Chantel, Christelle, and I decided to head back to the dorm...house music was just not my cup of tea. We said our goodbyes...and that was it!
Once back in the dorm, Ashley let me use her computer to do a couple of things before bedtime (my computer was already packed) and then off to bed...
