We arrived in Madrid on Wednesday and it has been interesting. Our hostel is pretty shabby, and the walls are covered in grafitti-esque artwork. The place is rowdy enough that I cannot sleep at night, but dull enough that we haven´t met anyone who speaks English and wanted to hang out with us. We´re both ready to move onto the next place (Rome). The halls leading up to the hostel smell like dead fish, and I have yet to figure out why or where the rancid smell is coming from.
Other than that, Madrid has been a bit of a let down. We wanted to see a bull fight, but there wasn't one while we were here. Then we wanted to see the Spanish Opera but it was dark the night we tried. We then tried to go to a movie, but they had all started by the time we got to the theater.
However, Madrid wasn't all that bad. We saw the Royal Palace, which rivals Versailles (according to our travel guide: Rick Steves). The intricate decor and extravagant furniture made me feel like I was royalty just standing there.
We encountered an interesting situation while touring the palace also. A young security guard who was on duty stopped us to ask us something. He started to ask us how our tour was going and if we were understanding what we saw. We said yes and he asked us (in very broken english/spanish) if we wanted him to show us some palace artifacts. (side note: At this point we didn't know that's what he was asking us, he just motioned for us to follow so we did). He took us through a couple rooms and tried to describe what some of the artifacts were used for. We pretty much just smiled and nodded. I understood about 60 percent of what he was saying and would translate for Val, but other than that we were clueless.
Pretty soon, (oh, did I mention that he's only about 5'0 and has a curly spanish mullet?) he tried to tell us that he was getting lost in our eyes and blond hair because he never sees girls like us. This phrase was obviously lost in translation.
A few minutes later he asks our names and for "dos besos" (2 kisses). As the Spanish tradition is two friendly kisses on the cheek, I complied. Then Val did too. At this point we were thinking "oh crap, what have we gotten ourselves into?" He then proceeded to invite us out to dinner and dancing (all of this is happening in Spanish so I'm only understanding bits and pieces). I quickly responded with a lie: Vamos a Rome en cuatro horas. (We're going to Rome in four hours). He still didn't take the hint and tried a little harder, but Val and I scurried out of the Palace at that point, looking back to make sure he wasn't following us. It was all in good fun, but it's amazing what you can get yourself into when you don't really understand the language.
The walk back to our hostel from the palace included a side trip to a monastery where we bought "dulces" (cookies) from some nuns. We buzzed the nuns who let us in to the convent. We then followed the signs to a lazy susan where we told her what we wanted and she wheeled the box of cookies around the lazy susan and then we wheeled over our 7 euro. That was really interesting, and the dulces were DELICIOUS!
Later that night I turned around on the street to someone saying "what's up guys?" It was Branden, a kid we met at our Barcelona hostel that we went to see the magic fountains with one night. I love that small world feeling. It was great to see a familiar face in Madrid. That's all for now loves!
p.s. I started this post when I was in Madrid but got kicked off the internet at the cafe so I am finishing it in Rome. Rome updates to come later.
p.p.s. We leave tomorrow (Sunday) but we haven't decided if we're going to Venice or Cinque Terra. I'll let ya know when I find out!
Other than that, Madrid has been a bit of a let down. We wanted to see a bull fight, but there wasn't one while we were here. Then we wanted to see the Spanish Opera but it was dark the night we tried. We then tried to go to a movie, but they had all started by the time we got to the theater.
However, Madrid wasn't all that bad. We saw the Royal Palace, which rivals Versailles (according to our travel guide: Rick Steves). The intricate decor and extravagant furniture made me feel like I was royalty just standing there.
We encountered an interesting situation while touring the palace also. A young security guard who was on duty stopped us to ask us something. He started to ask us how our tour was going and if we were understanding what we saw. We said yes and he asked us (in very broken english/spanish) if we wanted him to show us some palace artifacts. (side note: At this point we didn't know that's what he was asking us, he just motioned for us to follow so we did). He took us through a couple rooms and tried to describe what some of the artifacts were used for. We pretty much just smiled and nodded. I understood about 60 percent of what he was saying and would translate for Val, but other than that we were clueless.
Pretty soon, (oh, did I mention that he's only about 5'0 and has a curly spanish mullet?) he tried to tell us that he was getting lost in our eyes and blond hair because he never sees girls like us. This phrase was obviously lost in translation.
A few minutes later he asks our names and for "dos besos" (2 kisses). As the Spanish tradition is two friendly kisses on the cheek, I complied. Then Val did too. At this point we were thinking "oh crap, what have we gotten ourselves into?" He then proceeded to invite us out to dinner and dancing (all of this is happening in Spanish so I'm only understanding bits and pieces). I quickly responded with a lie: Vamos a Rome en cuatro horas. (We're going to Rome in four hours). He still didn't take the hint and tried a little harder, but Val and I scurried out of the Palace at that point, looking back to make sure he wasn't following us. It was all in good fun, but it's amazing what you can get yourself into when you don't really understand the language.
The walk back to our hostel from the palace included a side trip to a monastery where we bought "dulces" (cookies) from some nuns. We buzzed the nuns who let us in to the convent. We then followed the signs to a lazy susan where we told her what we wanted and she wheeled the box of cookies around the lazy susan and then we wheeled over our 7 euro. That was really interesting, and the dulces were DELICIOUS!
Later that night I turned around on the street to someone saying "what's up guys?" It was Branden, a kid we met at our Barcelona hostel that we went to see the magic fountains with one night. I love that small world feeling. It was great to see a familiar face in Madrid. That's all for now loves!
p.s. I started this post when I was in Madrid but got kicked off the internet at the cafe so I am finishing it in Rome. Rome updates to come later.
p.p.s. We leave tomorrow (Sunday) but we haven't decided if we're going to Venice or Cinque Terra. I'll let ya know when I find out!
