Madrid, Spain: Hora de divertirse

Synopsis: Ed is looking at potentially working in Spain and has a friend there who will host us. I am taking spanish classes, so what better way to test my progress? Let's do it. I am in the middle of my keto diet experiment. This is gonna be hard with all that delicious spanish food.

Trip Overview:
Day 1: Head down to Charleroi at 5AM. Arrive, and I've forgotten my passport. Thankfully, they let me through with my belgian ID. We get to Madrid and Ed whips out his Spanish that he learned in one month of visiting Spain. I say "gracias" about 4 times, just so they know I know what I'm talking about. We meet up with Diogo, our host and Ed's friend, and drop off our bags. Time to walk the city a bit. Head to El Retiro Park, and on such a lovely day. From there, go to Puerta del Sol and walk around. Madrid is having a garbage strike so there is trash everywhere.

Night 1: Starting to get dark so we walk from Plaza de Isabel II to Plaza Mayor, to Almudena Cathedral and the Royal Palace. Lots of walking, and we are tired and hungry. Diogo takes us to an interesting restaurant where I have a zebra burger. It's only 11PM and Ed has friends all over town. We go to meet up with another at a cafe, as they catch up and I people watch.

Thoughts: I speak decent Spanish when ordering my food, its just when they respond that I struggle. One lady yelled at me in english like I was a child, "just sit down, and i'll bring your food". Haha, I speak English fine! Also, glad I took my photo with the bear at Puerta del Sol today, because it was way too crowded every other day.

Ready to get to Spain for some fun

Diogo and Ed

Headstand in Retiro Park

Some random local female supermodels begged us to let them take our photo, and then they sent us a copy

The bear at Puerta del Sol

The garbage strike was evident

In front of the Royal Palace

Ed knows so many people around the world

Day 2: We walk around other parts of the city. It's a fairly nice day so there are many people and tourists walking around.

Night 2: Ed wants to see the Romania soccer (football) game and so we head to a sports bar. There are 30+ tvs in the bar with people eating dinner and hundreds other standing around them, drinking and watching four different games. None of the tvs are showing Ed's game. Ed goes and smacks some people around and they put the Romanian game on. Then the satellite signal goes out, so we still don't get to watch the whole thing.

Thoughts: Just like many of the other European cities, Madrid has a nice blend of original architecture and modern buildings. You'll see a brand new mall, and then next door is a 8 million year-old church.

Plaza de la Independencia

You DIDN'T switch to Geico and save a bunch of money on car insurance???

Plaza de Colon and the biggest flag I've ever seen

Enjoying an afternoon coffee

This sports bar was really cool

Day 3: Hop on/off bus today to get some historical and relevant information about the city. We pass by a bunch of places I would not walk to, but would like to come back to see one day, like the Prado Museum and the Real Madrid Football Stadium. We go by Mercado San Miguel and it is a madhouse. So many tapas to try and spanish food for sale.

Night 3: Ed really wants a discounted jacket at this store, so we camp there for awhile. He gets the deal he wants, I wake up from a nap inside the soccer goal in the store, and we head out. We walk around the city a bit and then stop at a pretty cool restaurant. We spend quite awhile there before moving to another bar. We head back a little after midnight.

Thoughts: It is so difficult being on this diet. I am trying the food, but not really letting loose and eating everything and lots of it, like a normal tourist. I have 12 bags of pecans and dark chocolate pieces for snacks, that I brought with me. Already down to one bag.

My hop on/off companions

Mercado San Miguel

I won a trophy for most American tourist

Day 4: We get up in the morning and head to the airport.

Thoughts: Neither of us are ready to leave...

Final Thoughts: I need to go back. And my spanish is better now, so I need to go back to that cafe where the lady yelled at me and impress her. Also, I want to see the Prado museum and maybe watch Real Madrid play FC Barcelona.