¡Bienvenidos a Madrid!

Disclaimer: I am writing this blog post after being awake for 28 hours, and I am a zombie but I am trying to stay awake until my class in 6 hours, so I figured this would be a good way to stay awake, I just hope it will make sense to everyone.
OKAY! So Thursday evening I tossed in the keys to my old crappy apartment and moved my things in to the new one! The previous tenant was in the process of packing and moving all of his stuff out, so things were really hectic and I just dropped off my luggage before heading to Rachel's apartment to sleep on the couch before waking up at 5:00am to head to Madrid. I was so happy to be ditching the old house that I was literally skipping to turn in the keys. Anyways, I made it to Rachel's and went to sleep really early to try to start off on our trip well-rested. We met up with Catherine at the metro stop by the bus station at 6:00am and headed over to buy our tickets to leave at 7. Unfortunately, as a consequence of under-planning, I didn't consider the fact that a bus that early would be filled, but it was....and the next 4 busses after that. We got tickets for the 11:30am bus, and sat in the station for the next 5 hours looking like zombies, and staring and everyone walking by. Once we got onto the bus, we quickly learned that it was actually an 8-hour ride, not 5-6 like we had anticipated. We had 3 stops, and got into Madrid at 7:30pm. I just plugged into my ipod and watched the scenery change as we left the city. There was a large variety of landscape between Barcelona and Madrid, from small towns in the hills, to desert-like stretches. Here are a few pictures to show the difference:

Although we were really tired, we had all managed to sleep at least a little on the bus, and we ready to go explore the city after we checked into the Hostal Pop. The hostel was perfect for what we needed. It was really cheap, we stayed in a room with 6 beds, all packed with other international student travelers, and the room had a shower, lockers, two toilets, the hostel had free breakfast every morning (well, Wonderbread and cornflakes), and two kitchens and a common area with games and a plasma tv. We spent almost no time at the hostel, we were out within 20 minutes of waking up, and came back only when we were ready to crash, but it worked really well. Here is my bed:

We went out that night with two of Rachel's friends from the pre-ILP in Cadiz, Justin and Paul. We all went to a cozy tapas bar where they know the owners. Immediately the waiter brought us a complimentary plate of shrimp and drinks. We let them do all of the ordering since they know what's good, and we had white asparagus, a plate with like 5 different forms of Jamon Iberico (ham) and cheese, and croquetas (fried balls of cheese and ham pieces), and lots of sangria. Unfortunately I didn't like any of the food choices, but at least I tried them all. Afterwards we all walked down to La Plaza del Sol (exact center point of Madrid? Or Spain? It was in some informational video in highschool Spanish class but I couldn't remember) and them on to Plaza Mayor where we got gelato. Here is the Plaza del Sol:

And here is Plaza Mayor:

We were so wiped out from traveling all day that we went back to the hostel to sleep pretty early. The next day we met up bright and early at the Museo del Prado, an amazing display of some of the most world-renown works of art. We were probably in the museum for a good 4 or 5 hours, and didn't even see every room. Afterwards we went to a Thai restaurant and somehow sat there for about 3 and a half hours, before walking around the botanical gardens across from the museum. Then we went back to Rachel's friends' apartment and got pizza and hung out for about 8 hours before heading home around 5am. The next day we were up at 11am and walked EVERYWHERE in Madrid. We saw Gran Via, the main shopping street of the city, we saw the Plaza Mayor and del Sol again, to see what it was like during the day, we went to the Palacio Real which had closed two hours earlier, we went through side streets and to the Mercado de San Miguel, and saw all kinds of street performers and vendors. Here are some pictures from the day:

The street of our hostel

Plaza del Sol

Museo del Prado

Botanical Garden

An amazing opera singer with quartet and two generous audience members

Inside the market

Like La Boqueria but classier and MUCH more expensive

After walking through the market, we had plans to meet up at the Palacio Real, and gradually made our way across town. On the way, we passed the basilica and church which were in mass at the time, but we sneaked in long enough to take a picture and hear a piece from the choir.

The ceiling of the basilica

We had some time to kill, and passed this outdoor cafe with a beautiful view over the hills that we just couldn't pass up, we were here for about 2 hours until it started to rain.

The Palacio Real, unfortunately closed when we visited, but I will definitely be coming back to see the interior.

On the steps of...a big building, I think it was connected to the church but I'm not sure. These steps look directly at the view of the previous picture. 

After the rain started to come down hard, we found a cute smoothie cafe place and sat inside for the next 6 hours discussing everything from the flaws of the UC system, to immigration, to the future of the planet. We eventually had to part ways to head to the bus station, but we had a fantastic weekend with great foods, great sights, great conversation, and great company.

I got back to my NEW apartment this morning at 7:30am and unpacked everything. I am in LOVE with this place, it is everything that I wanted and I immediately feel so at home. I wish that when it comes time to go back to the U.S. I could just transplant this room along with the balcony and view back to California. My roomates were so sweet and bought a big plant to go in my room since I said I like lots of plants, and they made my bed and bought new candles and incense for me, and everything was so immaculately clean too.

My room!!!! My king-size bed, desk, sofa, trunk coffee table, closet and balcony

The other side of my room with my dresser, the plant they bought me, cushion seats, and my balcony! 

How sophisticated! I even have a globe on top of the worn-in trunk table

The sweet puppy Layla! She followed me around the house the whole day as I unpacked

She's so cute!!

So basically I am in love with my new situation, and I am so happy that things played out this way, and that I have ended up as I did. I went grocery shopping as soon as I settled in and bought a few things for my room too. It's so nice to finally feel that sense of permanency! I have kept the big doors to the balcony open always and the fresh breeze and city noise is so peaceful and comforting. Also, the light shines directly in through my window, so once I was settled I made a cup of tea and sat on the floor in front of my window just soaking it all up.

This weekend I have a five-day break because Tuesday is some holiday, so I don't have class from Thursday afternoon to Wednesday afternoon. It would be a great weekend to travel, but between just spending a weekend in Madrid, and buying lots of new things for my apartment, I can't swing a 5-day trip. However, this weekend in Catherine's birthday, so the group of us will still plan plenty of fun things. We will just have to discover the free delights of Barcelona--if they exist.

I hope everyone is doing great! Lots of love!!!! Meghan