The plan is to meet
at the round church at 8:30am. We're here nice and early at 8:15 to make sure
we're not late, because in the past we've been the late ones, but not today. I
hope that no one is late because then we might have to hurry to the train station
and that's not an easy thing with all our bags.
The (low-speed)
train to Madrid is about 2 hours long. All time that I would have listened to
my nano, but it's still here in Salamanca somewhere. I hope at least that
someone is using it and it's not just sitting broken on the side of the road in
the rain (oh yeah, and it's raining again). And I hope that someone appreciates
the doctor who quote on the back. I'm trying to remember if I put a sticker
with my address and email on the back of it, I know I did when I had my iPod
touch. But even if I did, the person who found it would have to care enough to
take off the case and then contact me. And it's not like there's an incentive
or anything. So I don't have Pentatonix for the train to Madrid.
The hostel in Madrid
is INCREDIBLE. The lobby is exactly like an Ikea display; you know. Those ones
that are really nice and cool but you can't actually live in. Well this hostel
is all like that. The rooms are nice too: just enough space to be comfortable
in, not too little, not too much. Nice comfy beds, private bathrooms, windows
that all open up onto the same courtyard so we can lean out of the windows and
yell at each other, many floors, clean stuff, all very nice. There are lots of
young people here, from all over the world, so we fit right in. The only thing
is that our bathroom door is see through, so is our shower. So Eryn and I put
up a towel in the door of our room.
17th century writers
all lived in the neighbourhood of letters, here in Madrid. Don Quijote was
written here. It's full of green spaces and trees here, which I really
like. And there are famous quotes on the
ground in metal along the one Main Street. There are trees along the side it's a really pleasant place, very
comfortable. You can imagine you're in a small village and to the capital city.
Like everywhere else, there are occasional cars and motorbikes pushing their
way through the crowd. They have to go very slowly along here. There are bikes
and buskers and everything you would imagine to be on this kind of a city
street. Restaurants line the street, with apartments above. It would be very
nice to live here, I think. Madrid is beautiful. There are bikes in groups and
crowds and hordes.
In the plaza de sol
(of sun) is where the twelve bells sound on New Year's Eve. On each gong, one
grape is consumed. So everyone, young and old, needs twelve grapes to eat at
midnight. Apparently there is at least one person in hospital each year because
of this tradition, usually elderly.
This plaza is the
centre of Spain. Protests happen here, all historically important documents
were signed here, and this is where you can get pictures with mickeys Mouse,
Peppa Pig, and Alien and Predator.
The symbol of Madrid
is a bear eating an apple of of a tree, and there is a statue of this in the
plaza. The bear has a golden heel, which is supposed to be good luck if you
touch it. I didn't touch it though.
There's another
plaza here, like a bigger version of the plaza maestro on Salamanca. Big statue
of Rey Felipe in the middle, equivalent of the bell in Salamanca. Everyone
meets here. There are buskers and people selling things and drawing portraits.
It's very busy, definitely a bigger city feeling than Salamanca. There's a fun
goat puppet with someone inside. It's great. There's a guy selling a small reed
thing (double reed- like an oboe) for two euros that you put in your mouth and
hiss into. It make a kind of squeezing sound, that can be birds or cats and
stuff it's cool, but now everyone is getting them so our group is turning into
a pack of birds. Selfie sticks and segways are everywhere. There's a Dora that
looks drunk and a fat Spider-Man. We can't stop laughing.
There's a giant
palace here, big gates out front and everything. A bit like Buckingham. 2800
rooms. Across from it is the cathedral of Madrid, one hundred years in the
making (finished 18th century). This is where the royal family gets married and
goes to church.
There's a boulevard
with statues of the old Spanish kings, which apparently come alive at night.
The area is surrounded by fancy gardens and parks, and really expensive
apartments. There's a big opera house down here as well, with carvings of
angels and cherubs playing instruments.
We had dinner at a
Mexican place, nachos and tacos. So good. A very small place for twenty three
of us, though. Nice and cozy. Now we're at a grocery store for five minutes,
I'm restocking on 90% chocolate. And dried apricots.
I appreciate that
there is a very obvious shelf right by the checkout for sexual health: condoms,
lube, etc. I like that they are not hiding it away somewhere, it's very
accessible. This is how to erase stigma around buying these things. Well done
Madrid.
Back at hostel, I
think we're gonna play some card games tonight. Tomorrow is a big day, the
museum, and more exploring.
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