So, here are some pictures of our hostel. We stayed at Hostel Bahia Madrid.
The sign for the hostel was attached to our pattio...
Tiny but cosy and just right. We had a private bathroom!
Our little patio. We were right in Sol, which is the most happenin' part of Madrid...or at least that's what I got from it. Lots of shops and bars and clubs and shops and bars and shops. Did I mention shops? I didn't buy anything but I was very tempted to at some points...
My first coffee in Europe. It was a cute little place. Darn, I didn't take a picture of our breakfast. Churros and chocolate. It's quite a popular favorite of the Madridians. It's not what you're thinking, Denise! Wait...you probably know because you were also in Madrid...anyways. The churros aren't covered in cinnamon. But they are deep fried and you are given a cup of very very thick and rich hot chocolate. You dip the churros and when they're all gone, you're supposed to drink the chocolate. Too much for me, especially since I also had very delicious and strong Spanish coffee.
Ah, my first street performers. They are literally on every street corner and in every metro station. And then they come right up to your table and stick out a little coin purse. Stuart explained that there are a severe lack of jobs in Madrid and many people take to the streets performing whatever they can think of. I have a few more pictures of street performers...
Then Stuart wanted to show me Plaza Mayor. Umm...I don't really know much about it, sooo...click here for a link to it's Wiki page if anyone is interested! Haha. But what I do know is that it reminded me a lot of Venice's San Marco Square (Gmom, Eric, Julia...tehe).
See???
And pretty artwork on this building...
Ok, and here we have typical TAPAS! When one goes to a bar or even an outside cafe and orders a drink, the waiter then usually brings tapas. Pretty much it's finger foods for while you're drinking. And your group gets one plate or every round of drinks. If there are only two of you, awesome, if not, then you won't get much unless you order more. Now, traditionally, if the tapas are brought out automatically, they're FREE! If you ask for tapas, then you have to pay for them. Stuart and I went to a couple bars with very little luck for tapas. We only got them from 2 out of 4 and the one place only gave us a crappy plate of chips. But the other place we went to gave us sliced meat on delicious fresh bread and then cheese and olives on bread. mmm....delicious. But at the place where we only received chips, I worked up my guts (mainly because I was getting hungry) and ordered an anchovy sandwich. And anchovy sandwich. I'll say it again: an anchovy sandwich. It was delicious. No lie. I have fallen for anchovies. haha.
Ok, this isn't really anything special. We were on our way to the palace when I saw this. I guess they're working on facing the building, so to hide anything "unsightly" they put up a "painting" of what the finished product would like like. haha. I just found it amusing.
A pretty church I saw along the way to the palace...
The Royal Theatre in front of the Royal Palace and then the Royal Palace! The king doesn't live in the palace anymore...but it is know for being one of the largest palaces in Europe, larger even than Versailles in Paris!
The Royal Gardins...some kids were playing in it...
See, what'd I tell ya? They're everywhere! The first pictures is a guy who was pretending to be a statue (like what we saw in Italy again!) and then he started doing Charlie Chaplin moves. Haha. It was cute. And then the second picture is a girl dressed like a fairy statue. The third was two guys and I'm not sure what they were trying to do, but they were dressed up like wrestlers. We sat down to watch but it was too slow and they weren't really doing anything, so we just left.
Woop woop! Then some archaeology! We went to see the Temple of Debod, an Egyptian temple dedicated to the Egyptian goddess Isis, taken stone by stone and rebuilt in Madrid.
See? Very pretty...
And there was an Amber dog swimming in the pool! Just like Amber! Aw, I miss my puppy.Uh, ok, well...this takes me half way through the pictures of day two. Oh my gosh. And it's getting awfully close to midnight, so I think I'm going to stop there and maybe post more tomorrow. I'm going to go to bed. I think I'm going to try to make it to a little walking tour tomorrow morning with the Goethe Institut. Oh, and I finally got to go to the grocery store today! Kaiser's Supermarkt! haha. I actually bought a fair amount of food and lots of fruits for only 38euro. I was happy. I was afraid I'd spend more. eek! haha.
Ok, bedtime....
Ok, bedtime....
1 comment:
you know where plaza mayor was...if you had walked out one of the exits and walked straight down the street for a few blocks you would have stumbled on the hostel we stayed in. wow you stayed in Sol the tour we went on told us that that is where the big new years celebration in Madrid is at the line 0 or whatever!!! I remember so many things from your pictures lol!!! You know the statue in Sol there is a guy on a horse or something it has some sort of electricity so that birds can't land on it, but some resist it and they still do lol!!! now I have to go to my revision.
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