After landing, I quickly walked towards the exit, expecting
to find lots of taxi service desks. That was not the case however, and the
signs for taxis lead me out of the airport and on to the street where many were
lined up. I got into the line (there were actually ropes creating a line
formation), and the man at the front pointed me to the next available taxi. I
got in, gave him my destination, and noticed the counter.
Now I know about how the counters work, and I’ve seen taxis
that use them before. But I had really gotten used to fixed rate taxis, so I
was worried the price could get really high if traffic got bad or something. Unfortunately,
as we left the airport, I noticed the counter going up quickly based on time
and not movement, and I began my mantra of “please let it be between 35 and 30 euros
please!” By the time we reached the hotel, it was a little over 35, but below
40 so I was grateful and got out, and he left.
That’s when I realized that I had no idea where the hotel
was. The taxi driver had pointed to the other side of the street, but I
couldn’t see any numbers on the buildings and there were no signs at eye level.
So I walked up the street until I found a number. Based on that, I realized it
must have been back where I was, and, when I turned around, I looked up and
could see the huge sign above eye level that I had missed before. So I went
back and checked into the hotel.
My room was on the second floor, and, although my keycard
was temperamental, I really liked my rooms. Since I forgot to take pictures
(sorry!), I’ll describe them briefly. The bedroom was set up so that the bed
was coming out of the middle of one wall with a closet on the right and a
nightstand on the left. Facing the bed was a TV on the wall, and the door
leading to a bathroom that smelled funny, but was an okay size and had a really
nice shower (it had a full sliding door and a really strong shower head that
warmed up fast). I also really liked the bed since it could easily fit two, had
two very long pillows, and all of the sheets were soft and warm (but not too
much so).
When I got up in the morning, I showered, discovered I had a
huge mosquito bite on my arm (I have no idea how I got that since I wore long
sleeves the whole previous day. Did I get it at night?), and went downstairs
for breakfast. I had sort of bran cornflakes, some strawberries, and some
bread. All of it was okay, but not the best. I then went back upstairs to get
my outer coat, and then I headed out.
When I got outside, it was freezing, but I figured that I
would quickly warm up as I walked. So I headed to Plaza Mayor, which turned out
to be just down the block (really, thank you so much mom. You found hotels in
the best locations ever). It was pretty, but boring, so I took some pictures
and then ran back to the hotel to get my inner coat. From there, I went back
through the plaza to head towards the palace. Along the way, I found many
interesting things such as a large food market and an adorable stairway under a
bridge.
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| Plaza Mayor |
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| The market I found |
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| Bridge I found |
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| Stairs under the bridge |
I then reached the cathedral that marked the beginning of
the road with the palace on it. I ended up enjoying the cathedral’s
architecture more than the palace, but neither were too awe inspiring after the
palace at Vienna and the many beautiful cathedrals I saw in Italy. I continued
to walk alongside it, taking pictures along the way, until I reached the end.
There I found two gardens (one to the right of the palace and one behind it). I
explored the one to the right first and found a large fountain, statues of many
Spanish kings (and one queen), and the royal theater.
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| The palace |
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| The cathedral |
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| The statues of previous kings |
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| Garden next to the palace |
I then walked over to the back of the palace to take some
more pictures and discovered a pretty rainbow dome in the distance. I decided
to go look for it, so I ended up walking along the other park for a while.
Eventually, after walking for a short while and over a bridge, I found out that
the pretty dome was connected to an ugly (and closed) church. However, the trip
wasn’t wasted because I found an amazing statue dedicated to those lost in a
war, a pretty silver domed building, and, when I walked back, I walked through
the park (which was really mediocre).
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| The pretty dome |
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| The garden behind the palace |
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| The pretty silver dome |
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| The interesting statue I found |
I then headed back to towards the Plaza Mayor in order to
get lunch there, but I actually ended up at the market instead, which was a
much better plan. There I bought lasagna, two fried balls that were supposedly
were filled with meat but looked like they mostly contained rice with some
spices and a little cheese, a shish kebab of tandoori chicken, a donut, and
some chips. All of it tasted amazing, and I resolved to try and return again
(which sadly, never did happen).
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| The market |
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| At the market |
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| My lunch |
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| My lunch |
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| My lunch |
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| My lunch |
Chips in hand, I headed back out and over to the Puerta del
Sol. Again, the area wasn’t that amazing, but I had a good time finishing my
chips while watching all of the street performers. I then sat down to figure
out where to go next, when I realized I had missed going to a supposedly legit
flamenco shop back near the palace and that it was getting extremely hot. So I
went back to my hotel, dropped off my coat, and headed to the flamenco shop.
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| Puerta del Sol |
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| Performers in Puerta del Sol |
Only this time I took a back route and, moving purely by my
sense of direction, I ended up on exactly the street I wanted. Unfortunately,
after this victory, the shop wasn’t that amazing, and I headed back to the
Puerta del Sol. From there, I walked to the Gran Via because it supposedly had
a great bookstore on it and because it would lead me past many famous sights on
my way to the Reina Sofia Museum. Although I had to backtrack a bit to find it,
the bookstore was definitely worth going to. Besides having four floors, it
also had bookshelves that you could slide aside in order to find more books! It
was great! While I was there, I also found a wonderful copy of Alice in
Wonderland in Spanish with original illustrations, which I was very excited to
buy.
My wonderful find in hand, I then headed back down the Gran Via toward the Plaza de la Cibeles, and, from there, I turned right and walked
to the Fountain of Neptune, walked further down, and turned right again to
reach the museum. The walk was a pretty long distance, and I kept tripping over
cracks and uneven dips in the sidewalk (something that unfortunately continued
for the ENTIRE rest of my time in Madrid). Since it was after 2:30pm on
Saturday, I was able to go in for free, which was awesome. However, I was
really tired and not feeling so great by that time, so I didn’t explore the
museum too much. Instead I went up to the second floor to Picasso’s Guernica.
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| Gran Via |
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| Metropolis |
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| Plaza de Cibeles |
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| Fountain of Neptune |
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| Reina Sofia Museum |
Although it was extremely impressive to see in real life
(the sheer size of it! The range of colors from black to white that doesn’t
show up in copies!), I didn’t have an emotional reaction to it. Maybe it was
because I was tired and there was no place to sit and look at it (seriously
museum people? Your most famous piece and you don’t have a place for people to
sit and stare at it for a while?), or maybe it was because I had emotionally
connected to it in previous viewings and so did not experience anything new. I
don’t know. Anyways, even with the crowds and the lack of seating and
reactions, I still enjoyed seeing it. Also, as an extra treat, in the room next
door, there were the early sketches that Picasso did for the painting. Besides
showing the amazing amount of thought that must have gone into the painting,
the early sketches were extremely impressive and mostly terrifying.
After that, I headed back down the glass elevators (did I
mention that before? Cause they were extremely cool) and out of the museum. I
was feeling pretty worn out by that time, but it was still early so I decided
to head back up the way I came and see how I felt when I got close to some
sights of interest. After completing my walk to the point of where I could either
go straight to the hotel or go branch out to some sights, I was feeling a
little better, so I headed out. Luckily the first, a restaurant frequented by
Mata Hari and Orson Wells was just up the block from the Plaza de la Cibeles.
From there I headed back to the Plaza and up Gran Via to find the bar
frequented by Ernest Hemmingway, Orson Wells, and Frank Sinatra. My last stop
on the famous places to eat or drink list was just up the street from my hotel
so I stopped by briefly to see their famous tiles (though I’m not sure if I saw
the right thing considering I didn’t go in). After that, I headed back to the
hotel, stopped to see an amazing drummer playing on kitchenware in the street, reached the hotel, and collapsed for a bit.
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| Restaurant frequented by Mata Hari and Orson Wells |
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| Bar frequented by Ernest Hemmingway, Orson Wells, and Frank Sinatra |
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Restaurant with famous tiles
|
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| Amazing street performer |
Unfortunately, I developed a migraine while I walked, so I
ended up relaxing in the hotel for longer then I expected. When I finally got
up, the pain was gone but the nausea remained in part so I walked out very wary
of my possible dinner. I first stopped at the small market next to my hotel
where I picked up a muffin with chocolate chips in it. I then headed into Plaza
Mayor simply because it had a ton of restaurants and was close. While I walked
around it, I was unable to really see anything besides paella or seafood both
of which just in thought made my stomach feel awful. After two laps, I headed
down one of the side streets and found a kebab place. Kebab wasn’t sounding
great but wasn’t making me feel sick so I decided to do one more lap and then
go there if I didn’t find anything. I ended up finding a restaurant that sold
lasagna, which ended up tasting great and being the perfect comfort food that
my stomach wanted. Feeling much better, I also ordered a mini burger from them
(which was just okay, but was filling in just the way I wanted) and then went
to a candy shop after. As I had walked by the kebab place, I had noticed two
shops selling these long rope candies that I saw everywhere, and I decided to
try some. They ended up not being so great, but the thin blue sour strips I got
ended up being great so everything turned out all right.
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| Amazing display at candy shop |
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| My dinner |
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| My dinner |
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| My candy |
After buying my candy, I headed back to my hotel and
relaxed, ate the candy, and did homework until around midnight. I then went to
bed completely wiped out.
The next morning came too early as I woke up at 8am in order
to have extra time at El Rasto market my guidebook had suggested before I left
for the airport. I then dressed and went downstairs for breakfast (same cereal
but with two croissants this time) and then went upstairs again to research how
to get to the airport.
This all ended up taking a bit longer than expected, so I
ended up leaving the hotel by 9pm. Luckily the market was only 5 minutes or so
away so this wasn’t much of a problem. Until I saw the market.
Naschmarket had mainly been overwhelming because of the size
and because of how little space there was due to the large crowds of people. El
Rasto was overwhelming solely due to size. Every time I would come to the end
of a street or see a side street, I would pray, “Please let this be it—If it’s
not, I’m going to cry” only to discover another plaza filled with stalls. Luckily
it wasn’t really that overwhelming so I didn’t cry, but I was really impressed
with its immenseness. I think I ended up seeing most of it, but I’m sure I
missed a side street or two so I have no idea how big it might really be.
At the front and main street of the market, most of the
stalls were based on selling clothes, purses, and jewelry. As you got further
into the side streets and plazas, you began to see stalls selling second hand
clothes, flea market knick-knacks, electric and mechanical parts, movies, and
comic books.
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| El Rasto |
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| El Rasto |
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| El Rasto |
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| El Rasto |
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| El Rasto |
I was attracted to a lot of the clothes’ designs, but mostly found
them to be not as nice on expectation (mostly in terms of fabric quality, but
there was this one scarf that I loved until I saw its reverse color side. Then
it unfortunately looked like puke). However, I did find three stalls with
things I liked a lot. One was a stall with a really funky and soft coat (final
decision: not to buy because I had no way to take it back to Italy and because
someone else bought it). The second was a soft blue skirt with a really cute
lizard on it (final decision: not to buy since the lizard is cute, but I barely
wear skirts, and the dresses I bought in Barcelona are more fun anyways). The
last was the hardest since it was a stall that sold purses of the same design
as the big purple purse I have with the embroidery and pompoms on it. After
much deliberation, deciding to buy, realizing I needed some cash, and going to
get some, I decided not to buy one since I was only choosing the design I liked
best, not a purse that I just absolutely loved; I had not way to fit it in my
bag to Italy; and I could always order one in the states if need be. So I left
the market with some gifts for others (not telling what!) and nothing for
myself, but that was okay.
I then ran back to the hotel since deliberating had taken
much longer than expected, checked out, and walked fast along the route to the
museum since the bus station was right next door, only stopping to grab a
subway sandwich to go.
I ended up getting to the station and on the bus sooner than
expected (even with the city tripping me every other minute), though, when I
sat down, I noticed that there had been a more direct route from my hotel to
the station. In other words, instead of walking from point A to point B to
point C on a triangle, I could have just walked from A to C. Another point to
you Madrid! So, when the bus moved out of Madrid, I will say I was not sad at
all to leave the city. I had begun thinking of the city as the sweet but shy (and
a lot more formal/imperial looking) sister to Barcelona, but, by the time I
left, I was purely thinking of the city as the brat that kept playing tricks on
me and was resentful of my presence.
On the road, I felt good again, free of Madrid’s tricksy ways.
I even was able to enjoy the amazing sight of Madrid’s graveyard, which had to
be as big as a small island and a style similar to Arezzo’s graveyard. But all
the happy feelings left once I hit the airport. Getting my ticket was fine,
eating my lunch was fine, looking for a trashcan was frustrating since it
turned out there were none on my side of security and the rest were all of the
other side, but my flight was ridiculous. First they told us that boarding was
going to be delayed 30 minutes, it was then delayed for around 45 minutes, then
boarding took forever since the ticket rippers were slow, then we waited for 30
minutes on the plane not moving, then we took a very long time to get to the
take-off strip, and finally we were in the air. They said the wait was for
passengers from another flight but an hour and a half of waiting seems to be
going overboard a bit. Whether or not that was the real reason, I was very much
annoyed. When we finally landed, we also took a while to reach the gate, so I
ended up missing both of the trains I planned on possibly taking out of Rome.
However, then next shuttle to Roma Termini was departing in about 15 minutes
after I arrived so I grabbed some food and then boarded. While on the train, I
ate and chatted with a nice man who lived in Britain but was from Holland and
was in Italy for work. He needed some advice on the train system, so that’s how
we ended up chatting. Once we reached the station, I bolted out of the train
and ran to the nearest ticket counter. Luckily, the next train to Arezzo was
leaving in 5 minutes, so I bought the ticked fast, ran to the correct train,
and hopped on. Which is where I am now. Hopefully I’ll be back in Arezzo by
10pm, but we’ll see. At least I’m not in Madrid.
Good riddance Madrid and ciao Italia! I’ve missed you!
p.s. Even this post was more difficult to upload then the other ones. O Madrid, how you continue to plague me...
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