Madrid and Toledo.

This weekend the AHA girls and I went to Madrid and Toledo. The weather was gorgeous for once and the trip was fun. Let me just recall what happened each day:

Friday:

After class, Victoria and I were feeling lazy so we convinced ourselves that we should try taking the city bus home for the first time. During class we analyzed the map and figured out which line to take, which stop to go to, and where to get off. It seemed like a solid plan. Now, I don't take public transportation in Oregon. Unless you live in Portland, it really isn't a common thing. In fact, I could probably count the amount of times I've taken a bus on 1 hand. However, I was confident in my traveling abilities after getting to Spain on my own and figured I'd give it a go, especially since Victoria and I were together. Bad idea. Turns out we are both idiots and took the right bus, but in the wrong direction. Needless to say, we got to enjoy a nice scenic tour of the outskirts of Oviedo, until the bus driver asked us why the hell we were still on the bus after the last stop. We tried explaining to her that we are stupid Americans and don't know what we are doing, and eventually she let us stay on and take it back the other way. This process took over an hour, and I had a bus to the airport that I had to catch. Marisa texted me freaking out and I thought she was mad, so once we got back into civilization I basically ran home. She wasn't actually mad, just concerned that I would miss the bus. Luckily I live like right next to the bus station so I quickly ate and packed, then left for the station.

When traveling, I am a very efficient person. I like to be where I need to be way in advance, and I don't like to waste time. Unfortunately for me, not everyone has the same mentality. David and Laura (teachers/adults on the trip) decided it was a good idea to wait until the last minute to go through security. I got so antsy, and by the time we finally got up and went through security, our plane was boarding. We ran upstairs and heard last call, so we got to be those idiots that run through the airport about to miss their flight. The flight itself wasn't bad, and when we got to Madrid we got Turkish food at a little hole-in-the-wall restaurant and then passed out.

Saturday:

We had to meet downstairs at 8am to catch our train to Toledo. Now, I know 8am doesn't seem that early in The States, but Dear God, Spaniards simply do not get up that early. As we all make our way downstairs David's little boys are running around the lobby and as cute as they are, it was simply way too early. At the train station there was a minor panic about losing one of our tickets, but it all worked out okay and the train was really relaxing. I nearly fell asleep even though it was only 30 minutes. Toledo was gorgeous, and the sun was shining! Toledo is a very old city on top of a mountain and from below you can see all the old buildings. We took taxis to the top and then Laura led us around to the different churches and museums. Laura is my Spanish Art History teacher, and she is one of the most knowledgeable people I have met when it comes to either art or history, especially that of Spain. It is really interesting hearing what she can tell us, even if it is something I am not generally interested in (art...haha). Also, she speaks zero English, just like most people here. After that, we had lunch and looked at one more place, then went home. Saturday night all of the girls went to Thai food, to a place called Phuket Thai. I don't know how that is supposed to be pronounced, but I'm sure you can see why we all thought it was just great haha. The pad thai was delicious and afterwards we went for drinks. The bar we went to was right next the Reina Sophia, an art museum in Spain. Since the drinking age here is 18, there were hundreds of people on the street, most of them high school aged. Across the street is Kapital, the big night club, and the police kicked them all off of the Reina Sophia grounds so there was a sudden stampede of high schoolers carrying fifths. I'm not exaggerating when I say hundreds... Megan and I got caught in the middle it and all I could think was What the F?! It was crazy.

Sunday:

We met at 10:30 to go to the Royal Palace, which I had been to before. I loved it the first time, and it was definitely still cool the second. It is amazing how intricate every room is and how lavishly the King and Queen lived, and I wish we could take pictures of the inside. After that we went to Reina Sophia (boring) and then to Starbucks (of course). Afterwards we walked across the street to El Prado, another art museum and one that my mom and I had been to before. El Prado was definitely better than Reina Sophia, especially since it wasn't modern art that I could probably have done myself. After this we all basically passed out cause we had been walking around for the past 2 days and were exhausted. Megan and I stayed up and talked in our room for a bit, but this old Russian lady ended up yelling at all of us girls for being too loud.

Monday:

We had to check out of our rooms by 12, and were supposed to meet David and Laura by 1:30. Now, David has 2 little boys (5 and 7) and him and his wife have either been late, made us wait, or have flaked out on at least half of the things all weekend. So we figured we would check out at 12, go get coffee and something to eat, and come back around 1:30 ish. Apparently David doesn't do "ish" when he is actually ready to go. We went to get food and took the metro back, ending up a few minutes late to find David livid. By a few minutes I mean 10, not anything extreme. But David and his fam left without us, leaving Laura to wait for us. We got our bags and left quickly, all a little shocked he was so quick to get mad at us when he's been holding us back all weekend. We went to the airport and went through security, and I actually ended up getting redressed and ready to go to the gate before his family was ready, despite the fact they left without us earlier. Ridiculous. Anyways, we got on the plane and headed back home, and a few girls and I met to write our papers for David's class. We got some work done, but I decided I would write this blog rather than my paper, so oops. I'll get up early and do it I guess haha.

I will also add pictures from the weekend tomorrow! My cameras dead, but I will get them up ASAP and make a new post of just pics :)


Buenas noches!