Hola! It's been an interesting day to say the least. We slept in, moved to a new apartment only to find out that the people who were supposed to move out today hadn't left yet, and put our stuff in a single bedroom to share for the night. So within 3 days we will have slept in 3 different rooms. I am hoping this time it's actually permanent. But, all that aside everything became somewhat normal for the rest of the day.
After moving, my roommate and I walked to Plaza Mayor (aka the Spanish equivalent of Piazza Navona) to get an early lunch because we slept in too late for breakfast. Much to our desire, we found a place called Tapas y Cafe which serves-you guessed it-tapas and coffee. But, they also had a lunch menu. And while European food has been amazing so far, it was even better today to be able to put a real hamburger in my mouth. Mmmmmmmm so delicious. Pair it with patatas fritas and a pitcher of sangria, and it was the perfect lunch! After lunch my roommate had to do some work for her job so I set out to explore the neighborhood and "get lost."
I love living in downtown Madrid. Everything-literally everything-is so close! And the shopping is to die for. First stop was the Apple Store because I was in desperate need of a new phone case and charger cord. Check! Then I just kind of wandered around before finding this amazing placed called Mercado de San Miguel. You must go. MUST. It's this amazing tapas market set up like an indoor farmers' market, with vendors selling different types of food, drinks, snacks, etc. And it's somewhat cool on the inside. It's just a short walk from my apartment and I've already decided that it will be where I do the majority of my shopping while I'm here. The fruit was so fresh-the fruit juice and lemonade even better-and of course I fell in love with the French bakery section. I decided to wander around until I found a landmark that indicated I was at or near my street; after a few minutes and stop at a cookie shop called La Cure Gourmande, I headed back to the apartment to rest.
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| Even better than the ones in Miami. |
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| Minions are so popular here that the movie is coming out a full week earlier than the States! |
Life in Spain is different than America, France, and Italy. For one thing, it starts a few hours later. People will sit in a restaurant and eat tapas/lunch around 2pm and not end until 4 or 5, which is a big cultural difference-not bad, though. But, because it is a generally later culture here and it is so hot (average high this week is 102 degrees with dry heat), people tend to stay in rather than go out in the afternoons. So, while I enjoyed walking around my neighborhood yesterday I recognized more English than Spanish among the people on the street. I got home around 4pm to sit down and rest, soaking in the air conditioning after a hot outing, before a Spanish student companion picked us up to go see Temple of Debod, an Egyptian temple that was dismantled and rebuilt here in Madrid. It's quite lovely; the temple itself is quite old but also very small. We finished the visit in a little less than an hour, which meant more time for exploring. My roommate and I decided to walk a little more around the neighborhood, of course getting lost in the process, before I took her to Mercado de San Miguel. We each got a glass of sangria and sat on the steps of the marketplace, watching as the Spanish culture slowly started taking over after tourists began leaving. Despite the sun not setting until very late here, the Spanish come out around 8pm to start their night. We sat outside for a little bit with our drinks, soaking in the culture and really good music before walking back to the apartment and feeling a general sense of mastery of the neighborhood area.
But, the fun never ends. One of the benefits of studying abroad in such a popular city is that you are bound to know at least someone in the area, and for me I am even luckier to know two! As soon as I got to Spain on Friday, I connected with two of my sorority sisters who are here at the same time. Because one's program ended Friday and she is leaving Tuesday and the other one's program starts next week, we decided to get together for dinner and enjoy some "sister time" here in Madrid. We met at an Italian restaurant called Gino's near El Palacio Royal around 9:30pm (can you tell the culture is later here?) and sat and talked and ate until almost midnight. It was so much fun being able to reconnect with them, and we are planning to get together one more time the three of us before one of them leaves Tuesday. Even though it won't be the same not being all together, at least I have the other one to spend time with when we both have a little down time...and possibly a weekend adventure away!
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| Bliss found thanks to selfie stick & GoPro. |
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| "Someone say something funny so we can laugh." |
Sorry for the lateness of this post; I got back from dinner last night after drafting and fell right asleep. Needless to say it was a great first day in Spain so being worn out is not necessarily a bad thing. Still getting used to the later sense of culture here but hopefully I will glide into it no problem this week. Can't wait for another fun day today and classes to start tomorrow!
Hasta luego!
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