Cold and gray Madrid but still a blast!
Our adventure began just like any other. Of course, we were running late and saw our bus pass by us! Thinking that we were missing our bus we started running just to see it turn around and stop at the stop again to change drivers!
We take the bus from Mondragon to Bilbao. As it was our first time in Bilbao and we had several hours before our train left for Madrid, we stopped for food! We ended up at a very nice place and got a 3 course meal for only 12 Euros! It was so good! But it took a long time, so naturally we were running late again!
Quinoa Salad, Fish with grilled veggies, Limonchello
We run to the train station to find out that our train isn't there and we are supposed to leave in 5 minutes. One of the security guards is waiting for us and tells us there is a problem with our train. He informs us that we must take a bus to another train station to get to Madrid. So we go to get in line for the bus, and stay there for the next half hour. After a while, we were getting impatient so we started asking questions. The woman at the desk told us we were in the right place, but we thought we would ask someone else just to be sure. Jillian took one for the team and decided to ask someone "¿Vas a Madrid?" to which he replied immediately "No!" It was really awkward but really funny. We spent the rest of the trip saying "¿Vas a Madrid?" and laughing at that man's response which was totally unexpected.
Eventually, they lead us to a train instead of the bus that we were waiting for. We got on the train for about an hour, then stopped and got on a bus for a while. It took us to another train station and we got on that train to finish our trip to Madrid. Our 6 hour trip turned into about 10 hours, but we made it to Madrid safe and sound. We arrived at our lovely Airbnb and met with our hostess, Ana. Shortly after, we all crashed after a long day of travels.
The next morning (Friday), we got up and started to explore. We took a bus to Plaza Mayor which was one of the most famous points of town. As we were looking around, we stumbled upon a very nice woman who was part of a company giving free tours of Madrid. We agreed to let her show us around Madrid for the next two and a half hours. We saw many things and learned about much of the history of Madrid. The tour ended with a free drink at one of the local bars! It was fantastic.
La Plaza Mayor
La Plaza de La Villa
La Plaza de Oriente
After the tour, we decided to keep wandering through the cold rain to see more of Madrid. We found our way to El Parque del Retiro. It was amazingly beautiful! There were ponds, statues and even a Glass Castle!
El Parque del Retiro
The picture perfect Glass Castle!
After walking around all day, we decided to reward ourselves with churros and hot chocolate from San Gines. Now this isn't your typical hot chocolate... This is just straight warm chocolate served in a cup for dipping and drinking! SO GOOD!!
Jillian didn't want to wait for the pictures! These churros were AMAZING!!
On Saturday morning, we got up and had breakfast. I had coffee, toast, and strawberries. It was so simple but I think it was the best breakfast of my life.
So simply... SOOOO GOOD!
Then we decided to visit the Royal Palace and the Cathedral across from it. Both were absolutely gorgeous.
The back of the Royal Palace
The Royal Palace gates
Such a beautiful Cathedral - finished in 1993 (took forever to build!)
Then we made our way to El Mercado de San Miguel. It is a gourmet market with all the best food in town. It was packed, just proving how amazing this place is! We got a few snacks including these mini ice cream cones. They were too adorable to pass up.
We started walking towards the museums and found a gelato shop on the way... and stopped for gelato.... after we just had ice cream... it's fine because they were both so delicious! WORTH IT!! Plus look how beautiful this gelato is!!!
My very first gelato!
After the gelato, we made our way to the Prado Museum which is a huge, beautiful art museum! It was amazing! My favorite part was seeing Las Meninas by Velasquez. I learned about it in high school Spanish class when we talked about art history.
We left the museum and headed to our next big adventure in Madrid. We went to see a flamenco show!!! WOW it was amazing. The guitarists, the singers, the dancers... All of them were fabulous! It was a great show at Casapatas!
Free sangria with our show! yum!
On Sunday, we got up very early and headed to the train station. Our train left Madrid at 8am and we made it back to Mondragon in the early afternoon. We had been contacted by a local man who invites the international students at Mondragon University over for dinner. We went to his house for a Pintxo Pote! The man, Juanjo, was very welcoming! The food was excellent! His house was decorated with mementos of his travels and visitors to his home. We met other international studetns from Poland and the Czech Republic. We played games, ate great food, and drank wonderful wine. It was a wonderful night.
Now it's back to teaching in Antzoula!
Agur! Ms, Peachy
