Madrid was the last stop for my 2009 eurotrip. i was completely exhausted by the time i got to the city: too much partying in barcelona, combined with the growing fear of not completing a deathly presentation for management class soon due put me in a pretty bad state of mind upon arriving in madrid. on top of that i lost my phone somewhere between barcelona and madrid (i seriously still have no idea what happened to it) which meant i wouldnt be able to roam around on my own like i had done in some of the other cities. but despite all this, i really did enjoy Madrid and will definitely go back in the future. now some pictures!
a TERRIBLE way to start things off... and by no means related to madrid at all... butttttt lindsay lohan found a way to make quick cash by modeling for fornarina! everyone's favorite former it-girl actress turned uninsurable, unreliable, unhealthy party animal still looks pretty good and fits right into the Calle de Fuencarral scene, a street full of boutique and apparel stores.
Palacio Real. we didnt want to pay the admission fee to go in, so this is the closest we could get. it was situated on a hill overlooking the city, and im sure during sunny days the view would be splendid.
puerto del sol. a statue of the bear climbing a madrono tree, the symbol of madrid. this was where our free tour should have met, had it not been shut down by other tour groups that charged dinero from las touristas. apparently the free tour impacted their revenues so much that they filed a joint complaint and suspended the free tours. we were lucky enough to run into a former tour guide that led the free tours, and he drew circled all the important stuff to see a map.
unfortunately, we didnt know the names of any of the sites we saw on this self guided tour. this was the view from a bridge in madrid...
getting up close and personal with a statue!
a lot of massive and decorative fountains are placed in the middle of major intersections in madrid, forcing traffic around it.
El Retiro park! and some temporary art pieces hangin around in the rain.
people selling flamenco and Toreador posters outside the Reina Sofia museum. at some stores you could get the poster customized with your name printed on it. i would have purchased one but there really was no room for it in our luggage. each time we flew, the airline's allowances for luggage weight kept dropping (somewhere around 23kg for British airways... down to 15 kg for ryanair!)
a garden by the Palacio Real. the rain gave it a very dramatic look.
some other highlights from madrid:
bocadillo de calamares: calamari sandwiches. i hate seafood but i actually did enjoy the calamari
tapas: we were surprised at how big the portions were for dinner. everything was super heavy and greasy though. sausage, mushrooms... everything was drenched in sauce
el prado: it was free for two hours before closing when we went. my friend and i ran through the entire museum to see everything. its a terrible way to view art but i did stop at velazquez's section to see his work though the explanation was all in spanish and far beyond anything i could make sense of.
The park also had some really impressive gardens. Glad I got to see London in full bloom
also a great deal of souvenir shopping can be done in the area. After a semester of "souvenir shopping" throughout Europe, I've learned its pretty much a euphemism the girls like to use for jewelery shopping
me on Millennium Bridge on a sunny day
One last shot of London's icon, Big Ben! my parents wanted me to bring back a box of cookies that were unmistakably from London. I got two boxes; one was a double decker red bus with chocolates, and another of Big Ben and Buckingham Palace photos engraved on the top.
and thus concludes my semester in London :-) i'm anxious to go back and see what London is like during the summer, I'm sure it's incredible... and warm... and fun. Hopefully i'll find out sometime in the near future!
