Criss-Crossed Travels
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Showing posts tagged madrid
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Day 6 - Arrival in Madrid!
Another short post today, didn’t get a lot done, other than get on a plane, get off a plane, get to our apartment, get some groceries and get some dinner!
But the food. Ohhhhh the food… (why is it that I will always pause for food??)
Lol but really, seeing all the fresh food in the market is SO AMAZING. Fresh fish, meat, fruit, juices, bread…….That’s definitely one things I feel like America seems to cheap out on: good quality food. Not even high-quality, just decent fresh food, or at least untouched by as many chemicals as they usually do. You can taste the difference a lot when you’re over here (even your digestive system notices. Sorry if that’s TMI. Lol.)
At the restaurant, me and my mom were super excited to have paella and sangria, so we indulged. I had paella de mariscos, she had paella con chorizo y pollo. The food was amazing (so much oil, that’s probably why! xD but delicious) and the sangria was just like juice!! Andddd that’s probably why we were woozy before the food even came out.
The waiter had fun with us. It was great. He even gave us complimentary anise shots at the end of dinner! I think they were anise and tequila? Something. It was kinda strong, but I didn’t really feel it much. Anyway, my mom and I had fun, I think we might try and go there again before we leave in a few days and I’m pretty sure my mom was super tipsy for the first time in decades. ;]
Ahhh, I think Spain will be fun. Tomorrow, off to the Prado! (I think? Yes, sure.)
Salud!
- C
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Dinner in Madrid tonight: Paella de Mariscos
Me and my dad shared this one, since mom can’t have shellfish. Super superrrr good! :]
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Mom enjoying her sangria and paella! She was definitely excited.
Cut to the end of dinner, that plate was completely FINISHED! :] -
Day 7 - (late post) Seeing Madrid and El Museo del Prado!
Woke up in a very sunny Madrid, thought it would be too hot to handle, but since I was actually feeling a bit under the weather, later on it turned out to be a blessing. Can I just say I love the architecture of this city? It’s so freaking beautiful. The small, cozy streets, the little windows and balconies with plants and flowers, wrought iron, fancy doors and windows….this is definitely what I love about Spain. London has it’s people and modern mixed with history, but I feel like Spain is more down to earth about that stuff, and definitely likes to keep everything fun and relaxed. (A lot like Italy, but I just can’t speak Italian, thus, I lean towards Spain!)
But anyway, in case you wanted to find us on a map, we’re located right near Plaza Sol. We took a maze of streets towards the Prado (and hit up Plaza Mayor), and I can’t even hope to tell you how we got there. Anyway, the Prado was pretty interesting, but I didn’t really recognize a lot, but I think one of my favorite pieces that I saw were the works Las Meninas (by Valasquez), and The Garden of Earthly Delights (and other works by Bosch). I think its because the first I’ve seen from my art history books, so it’s always fun to see a “celebrity” in person. And the second one is actually really cool. All of the different scenes and separate parts to it going on at once, all the symbolism, disturbing 15th century depiction of human suffering…..kind of freaky and cool. I suggest you look it up! (Also his piece called “Haywein” i think…)
Who knew people were messed up even from such an early century? (pfffft who would’ve guessed…jk)
And then after the Prado we went to the train station, bought our tickets for Toledo anddddd……… I’m pretty sure I got food poisoning. I didn’t eat much of a dinner. A roll? (even that didn’t last too long…)
But I’m all better today, but I should still probably watch what I eat….bleck yesterday wasn’t all that fun towards the last half…Anyway, on to today’s post!
- C
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Statue of Velasquez (said “Velath-queth” in a Spain accent lol) in front of the Prado Museum in Madrid.
I seriously love saying his name. ANY word in a Spain accent, by the way. Hahaha….
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And the lateness will have to continue….
because I am POOPED. SO POOPED. ETERNALLY POOPED.
Nah, I’ll be fine in the morning, but I am le tired and I need to sleep. Long day, and only now am I realizing that I may be really dehydrated. (Headache is sorta coming back…)
SO.
I will post today’s post tomorrow, and hopefully tomorrow’s as well so everything will finally get back on schedule! Hopefully? LET’S TRY ANYWAY.
(We might stay out late though, as our last night in Madrid, I think we might try to see Flamenco dancing at a restaurant…and hopefully the internet isn’t dead….)
BUT.
Anyway, off to bed and I’ll see you tomorrow!
- C
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Day 8 - (late post) Off to Toledo!
Woke up early and hopped on a train to Toledo! It’s a small town about 25 minutes from Madrid by train, and perched up on a hill surrouneded by old castle walls. The city itself is pretty hilly, and all the streets are small, and even have tarps over them for shade, and just as they were when they were first built. It’s a very very cute town, and I really would love to travel there again!
Toledo has the most beautiful cathedral. It actually ended up surprising me how big and beautiful it was, because you can’t really see it from many parts of the city (because buildings cover it from most sides). I would actually put its scale and beauty on par with that of Notre Dame. It’s THAT pretty and intracate. So much detail put into so many parts of it….
For example, there was an item that made me think the creators said: “Hey, Padre, we want to make a processional item. We’re gonna make it BIG. Like, REALLY BIG. And then, we’re gonna put it on an even BIGGER stand. It’ll be made out of gold and silver, and this thing will be hella pointy. On each point there’ll be a figure, and each figure will have tons of detail. Then, on the details we’ll print some MORE detail into the gold and silver. IT’S GONNA BE SWEET, PADRE.” (all in Spanish, of course)
Basically, I had a very successful day shopping in Toledo, which was nice, since we finally got to take it easy. Also, I got to have morsilla for lunch, which was an extreme win!! (for me, maybe not for all of you, but definitely for me!!) When we got back to Madrid, had dinner and then off to sleep!
Alrighty, now off to write today’s post! Thanks for reading!
- C
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Pictures from Toledo. I love love loved this city. Seriously, when you start to see beauty the minute you step off the train, you know this is a good city.
The streets are even smaller than most areas of Madrid (since Toledo is perched on a big hill) but that just makes it all the more cozy. Buildings and streets have more character, and so do the people because it’s a small town. Very quiet and less touristy than I expected.
I would love to go back!!!
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When we got back to Madrid, after dinner we walked around to scope out a place to eat for our last night. We ended up finding lots of places with beautiful tile work on the outside (such as this here).
This is actually a prelude to where we did end up eating dinner on our last night, La Villa Rosa. BUT, I won’t post about that until later tonight! :]
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Day 9 - (late post) Adios a Madrid
Today was my last day in Madrid. So sad to be saying goodbye already, when it’s only my second day! (the third was in Toledo, technically) Such a wonderful city, so much to see…
Another sort of lazy day, but let me tell you one thing, I finally did walk around in the sun and AY. HACE MUCHO CALOR. (ITS VERY HOT) Thank god though. Back in London I was all ready for summer and Britain was like: “Lol just kidding, gonna be about 72F today with wind… CHEERS.”
ANYWAY. IT WAS HOT.
So hot and sunny in fact, I got a nice, beautiful tan from my sidebag. No, really, my shoulders will be a nice bronze except that 1-2 inch of white where my shoulder strap was. Nice.
We walked towards the old Palace, and then through a bit of a park towards the Egyptian tomb. Yes, Egyptian tomb. Spain helped out Egypt this one time, and Egypt was so thankful they literally brought up an entire tomb to be put in a park. Pretty sweet. It’s got a fountain and everything. The park itself was a God-send, since with all the sun we needed all that shade! There were two different parks we visited, not sure of their names but one had the tomb, the other had a statue of Don Quixote.
Then we took a cool tram ride over a bit of the city (thought I might die), got a great view and got some more pictures and then back to the apartment to get ready for dinner.
Now, that other picture I posted of the front of that restaurant, Villa Rosa, is where we went. Oh my gosh. Probably one of the coolest dinner experiences of my life. Food was alright, sangria was good, but man, THE DANCING. So much foot stomping and clapping and singing…it was beautiful. Three dancers, but two were pros and did most of it. One woman, one man. The man was a true Spaniard. Ahhhh he was so beautiful I have some amazing pictures to show. (and illegal video I took SHHHHHHHHHH)
Day ended with me tipsy-ly hanging onto my mother (and she tipsy as well) as we walked back to our apartment (my dad close behind) and I singing in Spanish to her about the whores on the street waiting for clients. Really. There was at least one per tree on the boulevard. (That’s a lot, btw.)
Okay, off to load pictures and video. MORE LATER TONIGHT!
- C
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The royal palace in Madrid, Spain. Very nice gardens and architecture! Interesting to see the differences compared to others like in England and France.
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Hot hot hot hot day in Madrid, so can I just say thank god for the shady parks?
Shady like good shady, not bad shady. :P
![Dinner in Madrid tonight: Paella de Mariscos
Me and my dad shared this one, since mom can’t have shellfish. Super superrrr good! :]](http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lnvr6e6Jm61qm5shzo1_500.jpg)
![Mom enjoying her sangria and paella! She was definitely excited. Cut to the end of dinner, that plate was completely FINISHED! :]](http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lnvrbq84A51qm5shzo1_500.jpg)
![Good example of the cute little streets running every which way in Madrid. I really really love how this city looks. I love it’s style. :] All very warm. (Color-wise and literally!)
Streets are mostly cobblestone as well, and watch for cars!](http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lnzflf42dd1qm5shzo1_500.jpg)
![When we got back to Madrid, after dinner we walked around to scope out a place to eat for our last night. We ended up finding lots of places with beautiful tile work on the outside (such as this here).
This is actually a prelude to where we did end up eating dinner on our last night, La Villa Rosa. BUT, I won’t post about that until later tonight! :]](http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lo2mu4UMlF1qm5shzo1_500.jpg)
