..and finally, Madrid.

We had the least amount of time in Madrid, but I would love to go back at some point! After Lisbon it was my second favorite. We got in in the evening, and Sally's friend from high school met us at the airport and took us to our hostel. It was so nice to just follow someone around those two days, I didn't even carry a map! (They all make fun of me because I HOARD maps) Plus I was sort of an unofficial trip coordinator/directioner so it was a lovely break. Her friend, Nate, is actually studying at St. Louis University, but in Madrid. As in his freshman year of college was in Madrid. I can't imagine doing what I'm doing now, but as a freshman! For his study abroad he could have come to the states, but he chose Brussels. Crazy!

Wednesday night he showed us around the city. The city has a very distinct feel, we compared it to a movie set. Not as homey as Lisbon and not as commercial as Barcelona, it was a nice medium. We had dinner at a tapas restaurant, which was really good. I really like the idea of tapas, they're small little dishes and you order a bunch of different things so everyone can try. After hiking around for awhile we got HOT CHOCOLATE & CHURROS! We have this special kind of hot chocolate in Rome as well, we affectionately call it pudding. It's very thick. But it was the perfect consistency for churro dipping!

(stolen from Sally again)

The next day we slept in (they had to fight me) and we did a little shopping. When we walked out of Zara it was snowing! Not very usual for Madrid apparently. Nate was our tour guide again and we finished up the day at the Museums. Not too much to sight-see in Madrid, but we did see the Imperial Palace!


Oh, and he took us to this really nice market (we liked it a lot better than Barcelona) that Anthony Bourdain actually visited in his Madrid episode. Of course Tony is great friends with the owner.

We finished up the day and our trip with an amazing dinner!

First

Second


Finish!