weekend in madrid
Originally, I planned to be in Germany this weekend to visit a friend who was a foreign exchange student to MG my senior year. I was pretty overwhelmed by all of the upcoming travel, which is not usually the case for me, and I ended up deciding to cancel my flights to Germany. While it would have been a great trip and I wouldn't have regretted going, I do not regret not going either. I feel like I really haven't had much "down time" since getting here, and I finally had some time to rest this weekend, though I still did plenty of great things!
On Friday, I left work, hurried home to change, and headed to the train station to go to Segovia, which I already posted about here. Segovia was a great trip to pack in to a small window of time. It had been on my Spain bucket list for awhile, so I was glad to experience the city and check off another destination.
Saturday was pretty similar to a Saturday I would have at home. I slept in, went to the 10:00 Cross Fit class, and got groceries. I had been on the go so much and hadn't had a good chunk of time to get groceries, so I truly had a tortilla and some BBQ sauce in my fridge! I have a very small fridge and an even smaller freezer, so I also have to be careful not to buy too much. I also want to make sure I don't waste food or have a lot left over when it's time to leave, so buying just what I need week-to-week is probably best. The grocery shopping is an interesting experience. I've been in grocery stores in Spain before and have bought various things, but identifying particular items for meals has been somewhat of a challenge. For example, the meat counter is the most intimidating part! For the rest of the afternoon, I watched Netflix, took a nap, strolled around a part of my neighbourhood that I hadn't seen yet, and did some laundry.
Pilar and her brother, Fran, came into Madrid on Saturday evening to take me around some more. They picked me up from my apartment around 9, and I had packed a bag to spend the rest of the weekend in Camarma. We drove downtown to park, and we ate at a great restaurant known for their ham. It was really, really good! We had ham sandwiches with tomato sauce, which is a typical Spanish meal, and though a ham sandwich sounds more like a picnic food than a nice meal out in Madrid, it was seriously delicious! I might have to take Mom and Abby there when they are in Madrid next week!
There was so much going on in the city on a Saturday night. We walked around the centre and also went to the Temple of Deblod which is one of the significant sights in Madrid that I hadn't seen yet. Next weekend is the official World Gay Pride weekend (that might not be the official title), so we also walked through Chueca, which is a neighbourhood known for being full of nightlife. The plazas were absolutely jam-packed with people who were sitting outside visiting with friends and family. It's so funny to see so many people- of all ages- out having innocent fun at 11, 12, 1, or 2 am... even later. We headed to Camarma around 2, but the night was far from over for most Spaniards. Every time I am downtown Madrid I fall a little more in love with it. Without the skyscrapers, the city feel is so different than anything we have in the United States. The traffic is terrible and there are crowds of people, but I feel like I can breathe a little bit easier.
On Sunday, I woke up at Pilar's. We slept in, but we were going on an excursion and wanted to be sure to leave before the absolute hottest part of the day. Recently I had asked Pilar if there were lakes in Spain; obviously I imagined that there were, but I was referring to significant lakes like we have in the US, because when you look at the Spain map, you don't see any bodies of water (other than rivers) inland. We went to a reservoir just 45 minutes from Camarma- still in the Community of Madrid. The reservoir was a project done by Francisco Franco during his dictatorship. The trip up to the lookout point in a manual car was a little rough, but the view was amazing. We also hiked a trail nearby, packed a picnic, and waded in the river.
On Friday, I left work, hurried home to change, and headed to the train station to go to Segovia, which I already posted about here. Segovia was a great trip to pack in to a small window of time. It had been on my Spain bucket list for awhile, so I was glad to experience the city and check off another destination.
Saturday was pretty similar to a Saturday I would have at home. I slept in, went to the 10:00 Cross Fit class, and got groceries. I had been on the go so much and hadn't had a good chunk of time to get groceries, so I truly had a tortilla and some BBQ sauce in my fridge! I have a very small fridge and an even smaller freezer, so I also have to be careful not to buy too much. I also want to make sure I don't waste food or have a lot left over when it's time to leave, so buying just what I need week-to-week is probably best. The grocery shopping is an interesting experience. I've been in grocery stores in Spain before and have bought various things, but identifying particular items for meals has been somewhat of a challenge. For example, the meat counter is the most intimidating part! For the rest of the afternoon, I watched Netflix, took a nap, strolled around a part of my neighbourhood that I hadn't seen yet, and did some laundry.
Pilar and her brother, Fran, came into Madrid on Saturday evening to take me around some more. They picked me up from my apartment around 9, and I had packed a bag to spend the rest of the weekend in Camarma. We drove downtown to park, and we ate at a great restaurant known for their ham. It was really, really good! We had ham sandwiches with tomato sauce, which is a typical Spanish meal, and though a ham sandwich sounds more like a picnic food than a nice meal out in Madrid, it was seriously delicious! I might have to take Mom and Abby there when they are in Madrid next week!
There was so much going on in the city on a Saturday night. We walked around the centre and also went to the Temple of Deblod which is one of the significant sights in Madrid that I hadn't seen yet. Next weekend is the official World Gay Pride weekend (that might not be the official title), so we also walked through Chueca, which is a neighbourhood known for being full of nightlife. The plazas were absolutely jam-packed with people who were sitting outside visiting with friends and family. It's so funny to see so many people- of all ages- out having innocent fun at 11, 12, 1, or 2 am... even later. We headed to Camarma around 2, but the night was far from over for most Spaniards. Every time I am downtown Madrid I fall a little more in love with it. Without the skyscrapers, the city feel is so different than anything we have in the United States. The traffic is terrible and there are crowds of people, but I feel like I can breathe a little bit easier.
On Sunday, I woke up at Pilar's. We slept in, but we were going on an excursion and wanted to be sure to leave before the absolute hottest part of the day. Recently I had asked Pilar if there were lakes in Spain; obviously I imagined that there were, but I was referring to significant lakes like we have in the US, because when you look at the Spain map, you don't see any bodies of water (other than rivers) inland. We went to a reservoir just 45 minutes from Camarma- still in the Community of Madrid. The reservoir was a project done by Francisco Franco during his dictatorship. The trip up to the lookout point in a manual car was a little rough, but the view was amazing. We also hiked a trail nearby, packed a picnic, and waded in the river.
This week, I have some plans on the agenda, but mostly I am going to take it relatively easy and prepare for this coming weekend in London and the next week-and-a-half of travel with Mom and Abby! I am so excited to have them here in Madrid and to see more of Europe with them!
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