Juliacentralicious

Spain, Part 3: Madrid

We arrived in Madrid at around ten at night. After a quick change in the station bathroom, we went to stare at the map in the Metro station. Fortunately, a nearby guy came and took pity on us, and told us where the good clubs were, and that if we bought a ten-trip pass, it was cheaper. So we followed his advice, and rode to Sol-- the city center. And it was, of course, packed. Throngs of people everywhere, just walking around. We finally found a club, and started dancing. And we didn't stop until they closed, at around 2.30. Fortunately, we were in Madrid-- there were still at least ten clubs nearby that were still open. So we moved on. Finally, at about 6.30, this one closed as well. Fortunately for us, in our wanderings, we had already found a chocolate cafe. Not like we could miss it now: the place was filled beyond its capacity. After a battle to secure seats and two cups of chocolate, we found out why: Spanish hot chocolate is a whole other matter entirely. It is amazing. It's like-- really rich pudding. The people at our table were a nice French couple, and they shared their churros with us.
So of course, once we found our hostel that afternoon, we napped. In fact, we napped until the next morning. To our dismay, we discovered that the Prado is closed on Mondays! Fortunately, the Park de Retiros is right next door. After wandering through it a bit, we stumbled across a sort of pool-- with boating! So we rowed around, until it started raining. After finally maneuvering to the dock again, we took flight to pick up our bullfighting tickets and try squid sandwiches. Then tapas. Then Burger King, because we were still hungry, but also running low on money. Finally we headed over to the bullfighting arena.
It was a regular circus: some protesters, some people who yelled at the protesters, some police who just stood around calmly. I won't go into the details of the fight-- there are pictures, and there is blood, so you are warned. The whole thing had the air of a football game: a band played, people cheered. It was very interesting to watch, though. I can certainly respect anyone who stands in the path of a charging bull. We even got to see one of the matadors get a little trampled before he managed to get away (and was then carried out of the stadium to deafening cheers).
And then our time in Madrid was almost over: a little more dancing, a little more hot chocolate, and we managed a train back home.

Pictures here.

posted by Julia @ 7:27 AM