The First Weekend Trip Away from Granada....

As you have already read from my previous post, my friends and I went to Madrid for the weekend. We took the 12:30 AM bus to Madrid and arrived there at 5:30 in the morning. That bus ride was very exhausting. My friend Elizabeth and I sat at the very back of the bus; the worst travel decision (we've) ever made. It was shaky and I had no arm-rest where I could lean on so I can TRY to sleep. When we arrived at the Madrid Estacion Sur it was also a struggle to find where we can get a map. Everything was still closed and the bathrooms are packed. I guess you can say it's lesson learned and we'll plan better for our next trips but still.... it was horrible. There were 5 of us that all came to Madrid together but we booked separate hostels, so we ended up doing our own thing once we settled in. I was at the same hostel as my roommate Dani and our other friend Alex. It felt like we were little kids again because we had bunk beds; Dani on top and both Alex and I got bottoms. We had a little private bathroom with the most water-efficient shower faucets. We had to PRESS, take note, PRESS and not TURN, the faucet every 15 seconds for the water to keep coming out. It wasn't always warm water too. Oh, well... At least I got to shower everyday while there. Moving on... There were three other girls in our room and I'd like to call them "The Frenchies." They are sisters traveling together. The two younger ones visited their older sister who is currently studying in Salamanca. They decided to take the weekend off in Madrid like us. I hope they had a good time. I mean, my friends and I enjoyed Madrid but we were all glad to have chosen Granada over any city to spend one semester. Comparing Madrid and Granada might be injustice to the Madrileños, but this is my blog and I will say what I want: Granada is better than Madrid in every way I could think of. Let's make a list here, shall we? For one, Granada is much smaller and easier to navigate. In Granada you get a mix of the Spanish and Moroccan culture that you will never experience outside the Andalusian region. In addition, here in Granada TAPAS ARE FREE WITH THE DRINKS. Madrid is too expensive and I bet you wouldn't want to know how much I spent for a 3-day weekend there. Moreover, the weather here in Granada is beautiful. Madrid was sunny on the first day when we arrived and then became chilly for the last days... I am glad to be back in Granada. However, our trip to Madrid was not all that bad. We visited museums and walked around the center of Madrid and learned the history of the city in 3 hours. It was a super crash course but just the tiny tidbits of history made me think of Madrid in a different way. I used to think of Madrid as the archenemy of my favorite Spanish city, Barcelona. I won't start my fútbol rant right now because Madrid also deserves a spotlight even if it is only about the history. Well, let's get going and start with some pictures that I took:

The statue of the bear with the tree behind us is Madrid's symbol. You will see this plastered everywhere there is an empty space. Believe me, there's an interesting story behind this weird symbol, but I will spare you the looooooooooooooong rant. Just search it on Google.

Now this white building here is Madrid's central post office. It might look too grand but that is because the architect that constructed this building dreamt of a wedding cake before he drew the blueprint of this building. However, this building won't be the post office for long. They are transferring the ayuntamiento here, I think. Well, it's just right cause a post office this grand is just a little over the top.

This is Plaza Mayor. This used to be the one of posh spots in Madrid where an apartment with 2 bedrooms costs 1.7 million Euros. Are you wondering why? Well, they cost that much because the apartment has a window facing this very plaza. That's how important this place was. Now, nobody wants to live here because of the noise that won't stop. The noise comes mostly from the tourists that stays here until dawn...

This was the archway from Madrid's "Beverly Hills." The street before this archway was where rich Madrileños used to live. The aristocrats, the first class citizens, and international delegates were housed here. If you did not belong to those classes, but you still were well off at that time, you would have been required to house a visiting aristocrat as part of your taxes. If you disobeyed them, then you would have to pay 85% the amount of how much you make a month. So, weighing options was a must then. Ah, Madrid...

This is Palacio Real. I'll make it short and just tell you that this whole place was burnt down from the outside but everything inside was saved. This building serves as a museum nowadays although the Spanish royal family still comes to visit here once in a while. Whenever the King of Spain comes to visit, a blue flag is hung on the roof of the Palace.

Guess what this is... I bet you can't. Hmm.. Well, this is the Cathedral Almudena and it is the grand cathedral here in Madrid. It looks nothing like a grand cathedral though. It's as plain as it could be and there's nothing so attractive about it when you look at the front. But like what they say, "There's a reason for everything." And the reason for this grand cathedral's front face looking like a dull tomato is because it is of close walking distance to the Palacio Real. The catholic church and the government building was built close to each other but the church had to give up to the palace. Since it is facing the palace, the church's front cannot look more beautiful and grand than the palace. If you look at the back of the cathedral, you'd say that there's more character to it than the front. In addition, just a food for thought, in Spain, specially in Madrid, if a guy calls you "Almudena" be sure to know that he thinks your behind is wonderfully gorgeous and that your face is butt ugly just like how the Cathedral Almudena is described.

This is the Reina Sofia museum. This museum houses paintings by Picasso and Salvador Dali. I've never imagined in my life that I'll be able to see and touch (yes, I touched the paintings...Ooops) a real Picasso at all. I saw the Guernica of which I took a picture from a distance because taking a picture of that painting was not allowed.

Guernica by Picasso

This is called "The Invisible Man" by Salvador Dali

Another Dali...

Portrait of Joella by Dali

Random pictures of well known people. Can you recognize at least one of them?


This is el Museo Nacional del Prado. This museum has over a thousand paintings and sculptures. They said that if you spend 30 seconds on each painting and sculpture, it will take you two days and a half to see all of it. Hmm.. I personally wouldn't want to do that...

Ah... The fountain of the goddess Cibiles. This is the fountain where the Real Madrid fans parade around whenever they win an important game. The tradition consists of the whole team on top of a double decker bus, stopping by the fountain, followed by the wrapping around of a Real Madrid scarf around Cibiles' neck, and a beso from the team captain. After that, everybody goes nuts. Too bad they did not have that chance after the first El Clasico this year because Real Madrid lost to FC Barcelona: 5 to nada. Hahaha! ¡VIVA BARÇELONA!

This is Calle de Alcala and it is the longest street in Madrid. In fact, it would take more than a day or almost two to walk this entire street because it stretches far across another city outside Madrid. This kind of reminds me of Irving Park back in Illinois...

I know what you're thinking... Why eat at McDonald's while in Spain? Hahah! We actually did American fastfood hopping in Madrid. The pictures after this will tell you.

Mmmmmmmm... Chicken strips.

The Domino's pizza here is soooo good compared to the ones we have in Chicago. Omnoms!

By the way, the churros con chocolate in Madrid is good!

This weekend we will be traveling again but with the class. On Friday we have a day trip to Córdoba and then on Saturday we are going to the carnival in Cádiz. Lots of fun ahead! I hope it takes away my homesickness... =)



Besos y abrazos... ♥