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| With Pi <3 from Madrid |
Since my last blog, two things happened: (1) I went to Madrid, Spain and (2) I turned 21-years old. My 21st birthday festivities will have their own post following the conclusion of said festivities. Closing ceremony is my birthday trip to Paris this weekend sponsored by the Bank of John & Loreau Ebron (thanks again parentals). Your deductive reasoning skills should have led you to the conclusion that this post will in fact be about my trip to Madrid with Jared but if for some reason those skills abandoned you briefly, surprise! You’re gonna read about Madrid.
March 25th
Airport arrival at 6:19am. 7:30am flight. Easyjet. 1 carry-on backpack. No check-in luggage. 1 hour flight. +1 hour time difference. Touch down in Spain at 9:45am. Standard.
I arrived at Terminal 1 to meet Jared who had been patiently waiting at the airport for my arrival since before I got in the taxi at my apartment in Portugal (the schedule for catching a bus from Pamplona to Lisbon left few other options for him). He hugged me and again, all in the world was good. Luckily, I got myself a smarty for a boyfriend and he had already figured out the whole route to the hotel via the metro. I basically just held his hand and followed his lead - it was really nice to be led. Despite its intimidating size, the Madrid metro is pretty easy to navigate once you get the hang of it. We made it to our final stop within 30 minutes.
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| Teatro Real en Plaza de Isabel II |
The door was ajar and the whole building was very rundown and old and unkempt and I was doubtful that the room would be in any better condition. Jared and I had gone through an extensive hotel selection process while he was in Lisbon and though I didn't remember much about the looks of the place, I knew it didn't look like this in the pictures. But I was open to trying it. I was with my boyfriend and if nothing else we would have a great story about the time we stayed in a crappy hostel in Madrid. Plus, it would force us to stay out longer and enjoy the city to avoid our room.
After two attempts at asking the Spanish-speaking woman at the "front desk" (a.k.a. the nook in the corner) for directions to Conchita II, we found the right floor. [Side Note: I learned on this trip that Jared will ask a Spanish-speaker for directions and when they respond, instead of using his I-have-a-Spanish-speaking-mother skills to try and comprehend what they are saying, he just responds "OK" and then continues on to find the answer for himself. Jared said "OK" when the woman told us where the hostel was and since I hadn't been listening, I asked him what she said and this is where I discovered that he had no idea. I laughed.]
The man working at the hostel, Raul, conveniently pulled up my reservation and quickly decided that he and I were close enough for him to call me "Shevy." He then proceeded to lead us to our room by way of an elevator that I'm not sure was big enough for more than two people - sardines don't know how lucky they have it. We reached the bottom floor and to my surprise we headed for the exit. Once on the street I remembered that my hostel in Sevilla had two buildings and I assumed he was leading us to another part of the same residence - wrong. We arrived at another hostel on a street that I liked better at first glance. Upstairs, Raul knocked on the door and a rather stout, older woman answered. They were speaking in Spanish to each other so I didn't understand much but the one thing I did pick up at the end was their discussion of who was getting paid. In my head I thought, "We already paid online so shouldn't Raul already have the money?" I just ignored that for the moment.
Once inside the hostel she showed us the room and boy, oh, boy. It was super tiny and looked like a scene from a low-budget indie film set in the 70s. I was less than thrilled to be sleeping on that bed and showering in that bathroom but I was going to deal with it and do it with a smile. When I went to give the woman my passport and fill out the papers, she was having small talk with me about being from the United States and the fact that my birthday was 2 days ago and all of that good fluff. She seemed nice. When she started writing numbers and asked how I wanted to pay the 110€ fee, that's when I knew we had issues. I was sure that I had paid for the room online and she was sure she didn't receive any money. At this point, we weren't even in the establishment we reserved and now we needed to pay more? I was thoroughly confused. The woman called the other hostel on the phone and I was able to speak with a woman there who basically told me that they did not charge my credit card and that it was only used to hold the room and they would have charged me a fee if I didn't show up. I checked my Bank of America statement and she was right, they did not charge my card.
So now we have the option of whether or not to stay in that hostel. Though I wasn't sure how the process of finding another hotel so last minute would work, I was sure that I was not going to pay to stay there after seeing the place. I figured we could go look for something and if we didn't find another place we'd come back. The woman was trying to rush my decision and kept asking me, "Si o no?" and finally I just said, "No ahora," Boy did that set her off. [Side Note: Mom, Auntie Christine, Tamika, Monique, and Janel, this lady had to be related to that waiter from T.J.I. Friday's. He was so nice until we said we didn't like the dessert, which he must have made himself, and this lady was the same way. She must have laid brick, roofed the placed, painted walls, and decorated, the way she was acting. But from the looks of the hostel, there is no way we were to first ones to turn down a night in her fleabag palace.] She started waving her hands at us to take our stuff and leave but we had no problem complying. Soon enough we were standing on the street in front of the hostel just in time for it to start raining; with no place to go and no umbrella to shield us - where's Rihanna when you need her?
Mid-laugh from utter despair and faint hope, we began our march in the rain. We walked back toward the location of our original hostel and found a few options along the way. A really nice hotel called the Tryp only had one room left for one night and it was 170€/night. Moving on. We found another hotel which had rooms for two nights for 149€/night. Thankfully, the woman offered us a 10% discount which apparently took the price down to 139€/night. (She should really sue the Madrid public school district, if such a thing exists, because in reality she was offering us a 6.7% discount). Moving on again.
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| View from Gran Duque |
While we waited, we went downstairs to the cafe to grab something to eat; nothing special, but tasty nonetheless. Two scrambled eggs with ham, one croissant, and one pincho is all it took to get us fed, fat, and happy. We went back to the hostel and checked into our amazing room for a quick nap - uh oh, we don’t nap well. Of course we didn't get up and out again until 7pm that night totally missing the 3pm free walking tour we planned on attending as well as missing out on tons of time in the city. But we still made the most of the evening. We walked toward the Teatro Real (opera house) and Plaza Oriente along with the Palacio Royal. We also saw a few parks along the way and the Templo de Debod, which was beautiful.
March 26th
We semi-originally planned to go on the 11am walking tour the next morning. Joke. We were obviously kidding ourselves because there was no way we were going to stay up talking and Sporcling until 6am and then make it to a tour 5 hours later. We did however make it to the tour at 3pm. Go us!
Jared knew all about these tours so he had looked up where to meet the group and knew we'd be looking for a big red umbrella and sure enough the tour guide was there holding that cherry red Traveler's Insurance logo when we arrived at Plaza Mayor. Our tour guide's name was Jake (Ha-kay is apparently the pronunciation he is prone to receive in Spain). About 5 minutes into Jake's introductory speech, a woman on my left made some kind of noise and pointed across the group. We all looked just in time to see this platinum blonde Spanish woman attempting to get into an unknowing tourist's purse! You always hear about pick-pockets and things like that but it was crazy to actually witness it in progress. No one ran after her so I assume she didn't actually take anything but she sure would have if that woman had not called her out!
We began our tour like any other and I found the whole thing pretty interesting and we got to see so many sights around the city. [Side Note: It's strange that the shortest glimpse of something you used to do can make you miss it all over again. As soon as Jake started rounding everyone up and introducing himself while attempting to project over the ruckus around us, I immediately flashed back to the numerous tours I've given at USC and I missed it. I have always loved my job but I can't say I haven't enjoyed this break from work. It was so weird how instantaneously I felt the urge to put on my heels and walk backwards selling everyone on the wonders of being a Trojan. The same happens whenever I stumble upon a cheer video or see someone in a cheer uniform.]
About half way through the 3-hour tour we stopped to have lunch, which was much needed. Jared and I each got a sandwhich, a drink, and a fruit for just 2€ a person! (Gosh, I'm a cheap date) I had bocadillo de chorizo con una manzana y una Fanta naranja (sausage sandwich with an apple and orange Fanta). It was yummy; I was happy. While we were in line to get our food the craziest thing happened - the pick-pocket lady returned and tried to get another tourist in our group! The woman was right next to us with her purse strapped across her body and I guess the Spanish lady tried to unzip it and get something. Luckily she didn't but it was insane that she found us an hour and a half later and even crazier that she tried to steal from our group again... you'd think a girl would learn.
After the tour, we were surprisingly wiped and Sporcle was calling our name - loudly. So we went back to the hostel, said wassup to Carlos, my lover, and then went after those 100%s with a vengeance. After a few hours, V was no longer for Vengeance or even Vendetta; it was for Very hungry so we went out in search of some grub. [Side Note: I miss Grub! Now I'm salivating for cinnamon swirl French toast with raspberry butter... oh my lanta. Oh my lanta! I'm friggin' going to France tomorrow! I'm gonna find me some French toast in Paris!] We came across a pizza place nearby that seemed pretty basic in the middle of a high traffic area. I usually don't like thin crust but this pizza was great. We went for ice cream afterward where I indulged past my limit, as usual.
Upon our return from dessert, the Sporcling again commenced. [Side Note: I don't think any other couple in the world has as much fun playing Sporcle as me and Jared. Noteable quizzes: sports logos close-up (Vikings??), easy math (typing a number you hear is harder than it seems), TV channel logos (TNT!!), and the funniest was probably riddles. We just discovered these quizzes and Jared is so funny with them. My baby is a lot of great things and definitely a smart guy but he thinks wayy too literally for riddles. After the first couple he got the hang of it but there was still the occasional off-the-wall answer that put a smile on my face (4? huh??). Sporcle. Try it. You'll be hooked.] Amidst the Sporcle quizzes we did watch the Florida/Butler and Arizona/UConn basketball games. For the sake of my bracket in the pool with my office, I needed Florida and Arizona to win (or at least one). Of course they both lost and I was quite perturbed. March Madness is not a joke. I'll be ready for it next year.
March 27th
We planned to get up at 8 in the morning to tackle the list of things we still wanted to see on our last day. Huge joke. The plan looked so good when we were making it but since we didn't get up until 12:10 (check out was at 12) it's safe to say the plan had to undergo some serious reconstructive surgery. We still made it to Gran Via (think 5th Avenue plus a couple hundred years), the Metropolitan, Banco de Espana, the Prado, and Parque de Retiro. We did not go inside the Prado or inside the Palace (bummer) but here's what we did see:
Around 3pm we headed back to the hostel after having lunch at an Italian restaurant on Gran Via. My flight was at 5:20pm and I wanted to catch the metro by 3:30pm to give us enough time to get lost. [Side Note: I love holding my boyfriend's hand :) I get butterflies every time he grabs mine.] Saying goodbye to Jared is always unpleasant but this time I only had to wait four days to see him again because he's going to Paris with me =D I will see him tomorrow night in less than 24 hours... I'm so excited!
[Side Note: Auntie Christine - I just watched Army Wives and boo-hooed like a baby during the entire episode. I won't say anything more in case you're not caught up to the most recent one but it was definitely a tear-jerker for the record books. Monique - JS finale. Mañana, reflexiones después de la reunión.]
"You do that thing that makes me laugh, and just like that,
There you go making my heart beat again...
There you go pulling me right back in...
