Hello everyone! Sorry it’s been so long since I have written anything, the holidays make a busy and lazy man out of me at the same time. Anyway, I wanted to tell you all about my trip to Madrid. Aimee got a ticket to Madrid since it was hard to get one from Senegal to Sevilla, so we took that as an opportunity to stay in Madrid for a night and 2 days. Here’s the story:
So I took the overnight bus from Sevilla to Madrid on the 21st of this month, arriving in Madrid at 6:30 on the 22nd. Aimee’s bus arrived at 9:00 so I had a little bit of time to figure out the metro system and get myself to the airport to pick her up. I got there very quickly and ended up sitting in the Madrid airport for a long time, around 2 hours I think. When Aimee’s flight landed, I went to the exit door and waiting for what seemed like forever. Finally she got in and we hugged for a while. I still can’t really recreate that feeling of seeing her after like 4 months of not seeing her. It was a bit weird to be honest, but I knew I was happy, nonetheless. It was just hard to believe that she really was in Spain.
We bought a few 2 day passes for the Metro and went to find our hostel and get some breakfast. After a bit of a metro ride, we arrived and dropped our bags off at the hostel, finding out that they were hosting beer pong that night, and that we get free breakfast and wifi everywhere in the hostel. This is me at the door of our hostel.
We went to this small cafe had some cafe con leche and a jamon y tomate tostada, and the Christmas lottery was showing on the TV. It was really interesting to watch. After our breakfast, we checked back into the hostel, got our things situated, and then left to do touristy things. Here’s the door to our place, it was really cute and homey.
Our first stop was the Prado Museum. Here’s a picture of me and Aimee at the doors.
On our way there we got some grilled corn on the streets and it was delicious. I asked the guy if he had mayonnaise since that’s how they sell them in Arizona, but I guess that’s only a Mexican thing. Anyways, here’s a picture of me with my corn!
We got into the Prado and checked our coats and bags, and went to see the fancy art. The coolest stuff was by Bosch. We couldn’t take pictures, so I had to sneak some. The best painting that Aimee showed me since it was her favorite was Bosch’s “The Garden of Earthly Delights,” and I got a really poor sneak picture of it. But the real thing is there if you click the name. Here’s my crumby picture:
After the Prado, we made our way to another museum, Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, where we saw some Dali and Picasso. Before getting there, we caved in on our hunger and got some Burger King. After a stop for burgers and coke we got to the museum. My favorite one there was hands down Picasso’s “Guernica,” since I have always liked his work. I was able to sneak a really nice picture of this one since it was surrounded by people.
After the museums, we were both pooped from our long day of travel, so we went back to the hostel and relaxed and planned the next day. There was some free leftover pizza at the hostel, so that was an easy dinner. Once beer pong started, Aimee and I played a few rounds and lost to the receptionist of the hostel. It was his birthday that night, so we played with him and his friend who came by with cake (more free food.) After peer pong, we went out to this really cool bar with our hostel guy and his friend, and got a little drink. After a bit of time there, we decided to leave for some good sleep, since we wanted a long day the next day. We found some late night pizza on the way home and went to bed.
When we woke up, we had some breakfast, showered and got ready to check out. They let us store our luggage so we can walk the city bag-free. Our first place was Gran Via, which is Madrid’s main shopping street. We were hoping for a busy shopping street, but since it was Sunday, there was nobody there and a lot of places were closed. However, Aimee ended up getting some shoes since her feet were hurting in the ones she brought. We continued down Gran Via to Plaza Sol, Madrid’s most famous plaza. In Plaza Sol, they had a big light tree, and as usual, the people dressed in costumes were out and asking for money. We took a picture with Minnie.
After Plaza Sol, we stopped at the Museum of Jamon (which isn’t really a museum, but rather a restaurant with really great jamon.) We ordered some jamon and beer, and I introduced this wonderful combo to Aimee. Here’s our snack.
After eating, we went to Plaza Mayor, which is another really well known plaza there. At that time, there was a winter wonderland type thing set up and it was really crowded. Aimee and I ended up getting a caricature done. It was very spur of the moment, but it turned out good. Here’s me while I was being drawn.
This is basically the finished product. He added a buff body on me and flowers in Aimee’s hand. It was a fun experience and now it’s hanging on my wall.
After Plaza Mayor, we walked by the cathedral, Palacio Real, and hung out in Plaza de Oriente. We really made it a plaza day. After a small rest in the sunshine of Plaza de Oriente, we went to Plaza de Espana, where I climbed the statue. Here’s me on top.
Our final stop of the day was this Egyptian temple that was rebuilt in Madrid, called Temple de Debod. It was really pretty because they had a large still pond in the front. Here’s a picture of that.
Our bus back was quite stressful, because after visiting the temple, we went to the hostel to grab our things and look up bus timetables, but the next bus was leaving in less than 2 hours and the one after that wasn’t for another 4 hours or so, which meant we had to leave very quickly and quite rushed if we wanted to be in Sevilla by midnight. So we grabbed our things and ran off. We made the bus we wanted to and grabbed some burgers to eat along the way. It was a great trip and a really fun time in Madrid. I would definitely stay at Hostel 1 Malasana again.
Thanks for sharing the experience.Sounds like an amazing time. Just think of the memories in the making.