We got to our hotel in Madrid, Hotel Tryp, in the early afternoon. The hotel was really nice, had a good buffet, and we were able to choose our own roommates. Perfect for evening debauchery…
After lunch, we all got back on the bus and headed to the Palacio Real where the royal family used to live and Almudena Cathedral. We couldn’t take pictures in the palace, but I snuck a couple in…
Unfortunately for us, the weather in Madrid was pretty horrible this weekend, so it was raining almost the whole weekend. This was not the most ideal weather for the walking tour we did of Madrid after leaving the Cathedral.
After months of dealing with Bilbao rain, my umbrella was pretty much shot. It’s like Katt Williams says about winter coats in Chicago: You have to get your umbrella for Spain, IN Spain. After a quick stop at everyone’s favorite Spanish department store, El Corte Ingles, for a new umbrella, Dayna and I went to the Museo de Reina Sofia. Everyone else was pretty wet and tired from the day. At the Museum, we were able to see Picasso’s famous Guernika painting.
After the museum, we returned to the hotel to celebrate Unofficial! That Friday was Unofficial Saint Patrick’s Day at U of I and we would have been remiss to not celebrate in Spain and share this Illini holiday with our fellow students :P Before leaving Bilbao, at one of the Chinese stores in Las Arenas, I was able to find a green feather boa, a green furry headband, light up green ears, and green silly string (all of which will be seen again for Unofficial 2011!). There were green feathers all over the halls of the hotel from the boas Katie and I were wearing.
We were also able to share Unofficial with our teachers! That is my teacher for pretty much every class Ana and another teacher, Francisco, wearing Katie and my light up ears.
The next morning, we went to Segovia, an old town a few hours outside of Madrid. The drive went through the mountains where it was snowing! Segovia is known for its aqueduct, which is believed to be from the 1st or 2nd century AD! What is so interesting about the aqueduct is that it was made with just good engineering. There is no cement or anything holding the rocks together. They are just placed so precisely that they have been able to stay together for years!
Nothing in between!
For lunch, we had a Segovian specialty: pig ear soup. Ew. Everything besides this (and a metal screw someone found in her bread) was good though!
Later that night, we met one of Morgan’s host brothers, Diego, who lives in Madrid. He invited us to come to his friend’s restaurant that evening. We met some... interesting characters that night, but had so much fun. My favorite new friend was a random mannequin in the restaurant wearing the restaurant owner's uniform from his days in the Kosovo War. We got along quite well...
Juan, who owned the restaurant, was great. He was hilarious and made us lots of food (croquetas, fried eggs, fries, etc...) I would recommend going back to his restaurant, but it is no longer there lol. It was a fun night with great food, salsa, talk about “ladyboys,” and other random, hilarious events.
The next day, we went to the Prado Museum. It was a really nice museum, but everyone in the entire program was extremely tired from staying up late the night before. After the museum, we went to Parque del Retiro, a park in the middle of Madrid, before getting on the bus to head back to Bilbao. I would have taken pictures of the park, but my camera broke! I was cameraless for a good 2 weeks. I am glad that my old camera had a great last night in Madrid. It took some hilarious pictures. R.I.P.
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