Chicas! What’s up!?

Tuesday, August 23rd The train arrived in Madrid at 8:45 AM. After a solid four hours of sleep, we sleepily threw on our backpacks and sought out a place for breakfast. We ended up at a random tapas bar, which wasn’t particularly for desayuno), but I got a café and jamon y brie on toast. Mmm. So good!!!!!! I am definitely used to the quality of food in these countries. Every bite of everything tastes so good. I think I have gained like 5 pounds on this trip…Typical, since I’m such a foodie. I am literally eating my way through these cities, it is borderline terrifying. After the meal, we went to our hostel, but check-in wasn’t until 1 PM, so we dropped off our bags and killed time in the Plaza de Sol (people watching). Oh! Just a note-- We had literally just missed the International Youth Celebration (Catholic) and the Pope was there, so everyone was wearing the tshirts and stuff. Anyway, Madrid was busier than usual because of that. People also probably assumed we were there for JMJ with our backpacks and all. Funny because days later I saw on facebook that one of my 3rd cousins had flown into Madrid for the celebration, so it’s possible we were there at the same time. When we were able to check in, we went back to the hostel, got way too excited by the wifi, showered, and napped!! SIESTA!!!! One of my favorite things about Spain. Dinner was set in La Plaza Mayor. We stumbled upon a tapas place ( had to) where they had a great sangria + tapas deal. Just like Porto, another super charismatic guy reeled us in…he was Cuban. Commentary for a moment: there was a notable South American presence in Spain. I mean, I really don’t remember seeing so many South Americans last time I was here! Every other person was from Guatemala, Cuba, Dominican Republic, etc. While at dinner, we got harassed by someone for money (typical) and also were victims of a mime act. We were suckers for the mime, though, and ended up giving him a euro. There’s something to be said about La Plaza Mayor at night. The buildings glow, and the people gather there just to enjoy it. Street musicians play their part, cafés are lit and serving food late into the night, and strange vendors sell touristy junk souvenirs. We spent a few hours soaking up La Plaza de la noche. We attempted going to a discoteca that hostelworld.com recommended, but it was a fail because we couldn’t find it, and we were tired. It didn’t matter though because the evening was absolutamente perfecto.