Madrid in a day

Arriving at our hotel we found our rooms and started organizing. Being as disorganized as I am, of course I had to empty my bags completely just to find one thing I was looking for. We went to dinner that night looking for something quick. We found a small bar where we split a delicious risotto and had a few beers. That night we returned early to take showers and use Internet.

They next morning we woke up and went downstairs to find an enormous breakfast selection. There were dried and fresh fruits, cereal, meat and cheese, all different Danishes and types of bread, churros and chocolate, fresh squeezed orange and pineapple juice, and coffee. It was delicious.

We met our tour guide Amor to take a 4 hour bus and walking tour to some of the most important sites in Madrid. We went to a famous park and lookout with a statue of Don Quixote. The strangest part was seeing the iron fences covered in locks with names written on them and trinkets marking the spots where people would lock up their bikes regularly. We also visited the bull ring of Madrid and some famous Plazas. It was freezing! On a small break a few of us ran to a nearby coffee shop where I got the best cafe con leche (coffee with milk) on the trip so far... Which I don't know if it was just because I was so cold or if it was really that good. Haha

Returning to the hotel we prepared for an even longer walk with Les and Rod by bundling up even more. We took a three hour walk to see some things we had hoped to see before departing Madrid. The botanical gardens were one of our stops, but it was lacking in color being the off season. The train station a one of our neatest stops. the main entrance is a grand room with an interior garden of palm trees and a small modern restaurant in the middle for people to sit and wait on someone coming in or leaving. We also went to the Plaza del sol and ended in a square in the city before having dinner at a nice restaurant where Hillary and I were able to find our first vegetarian paella to split.

For dessert Kathleen and I picked up Chocolate with churros since I had missed them at breakfast. We then headed back to the hotel for a quick pit stop before heading off to the soccer game! We saw the Madrid team which is second seed play the thirteenth seed team. The streets were packed on the way there and people were covered in their teams colors. We decided to join in and all buy scarfs to support our team. THEY WON! It was a great time and very exciting for all of us to be there together enjoying Madrid together.

We woke up this morning and had breakfast before heading to the train station were we boarded the high speed train headed for our next destination. Here we come Barcelona!