The Rain in Spain

I was very tired when I got to Madrid the next day, after Porto. So tired that I forgot to text my friend Miriam that I was staying with to let her know that I had landed and that she should leave to meet up with me at our rendez-vous point. So instead I got on the metro and realized that I no longer had access to the internet. I didn't panic thinking they would probably have it at the station we were meeting at- they did not. I had to walk over to this nearby mall and heist the Starbucks wifi (they ended up handing me the password) and I eventually got ahold of Miriam. Honestly though? I was freaking out a little bit standing there at Starbucks with my mega suitcase and backpack and exhausted sweaty self.

So a little background real quick- Miriam is a good friend and fellow intern from my OPCW days. She's pretty cool and since she always said I should come to Spain I was like...imma take you up on that! It was perfect because I visited while her roommate was out of town so I had a whole room to myself. That's nicer than my current living situation.

Well, I was exhausted when we finally made it to Miriam's apartment so the first thing we did was get food. I was on a mission to be introduced to real Spanish food after I told Miriam last year that when I thought of 'Spanish' food I thought of Mexican food and she got offended by that. So we went to lots of places that she suggested and I got all my good eating done in Madrid and just did fast food in Barcelona. Yay-ah.

Ok, well anyway, here are some pictures of the first day and a half in Madrid. Oh and P.S. Something wonky and probably very fixable is going on with my computer memory but since I am incompetent and without friends here in New York I have not yet been able to rectify the situation. Therefore, being in the Harlem area, I did the ghetto thing and just took screenshots of my pictures for this blog. Sorry not sorry. Better done than perfect.

First Spanish meal. Wish I could remember what these were called but they were good!

I kind of wanted to just go home and sleep but Miriam was rip roaring to go and I didn't want to be one to waste limited time in a foreign city- so we set out to go to the Prada! Turns out that at night they have free entry for a couple hours. So we joined the line and it was around the corner and all down the block.Luckily, it went pretty quickly!

Waiting outside the Prada and learning the Spain Spanish way to pronounce 'Velasquez' 

Hands down my FAVORITE thing I saw at the Prada. I am in love with this statue and want to write a story based off of it. It is called 'The Blossoming of Love' and I just love the tenderness and rawness of the poses and the way that it is sexual in a beautiful rather than explicit way. I also love the reversal of gender roles in it with the man's head lower and staring up at the woman. It just really speaks to me.

This may be one of the most frumpy picture of me that exists. But come on- famous art! 

Outside the Prada was a pretty church.

It's hard to see but there is a sign on that building that says, "Refugees Welcome"
What a time to be alive. 

Madrid was beautiful and a very 'european city'

The founding 'bear eating from tree' fable statue thing-y

Honestly, I've just started taking pictures of Pokemon related things when I travel ever since Pokemon Go got so big.
 It's crazy how this is such a world phenomenon 

Because I think everyone wants to see my face this close

We walked a LOT that night. My feet were so tired!
But this is the beautiful Madrid Cathedral

Royal Palace- we went back the next day and went in

So, there is this Egyptian temple in the heart of Madrid.
Don't worry about it. 

Grainy gleeful selfie

We now come to MONDAY:

In the morning Miriam obliged me by taking me to this outdoor market I discovered online. This is the only picture I took around there. I was too busy buying an oversized sunhat and 1970's alarm clock

I also made Miriam take me to the Retiro-sporting my new hat and fan that I got from the market.
It was VERY hot there

Yay, me and Miriam! 

Then we went to this hole in the wall place to get tortillas.
And by 'hole in the wall' I mean that to get to this back room we literally had to duck underneath the counter where they had made a 4 x 4 hole in the wall.

And by 'tortillas' I mean Spanish tortillas- i.e. these beauties.
Apparently this is one of the best places for them in Madrid-Perks of being shown around by a local!

Then we took a tour of the inside of the palace. It was pretty cool! I feel like I know so little about Spanish history compared to the rest of Europe. This is a picture taken in the palace courtyard with the cathedral behind me

That's the other direction with the palace behind me. Apparently its the largest in Western Europe. Which I find surprising cause it kind of flies under the radar

Another view of the palace and gardens

Sunhat!

Aren't we cute?

That night I was tired of spending money so Miriam took me to this cool super cheap place where everything is between like 1-3 euros. I got a sampling of different little sandwiches which was yummy

They even had a chocolate bread and oreo sandwich so I couldn't resist getting that for desert.
It was good but very rich! 

So yeah! That was Sunday and Monday in Madrid! The next day we headed out for Segovia!