I realized that I haven't really shared any of my "high culture" experiences since I've been here in Madrid, so I figured why not now? The third week of January I went with my theater/cinema class to see a show at Spain's oldest, open/running theater (Corral de Comedias) which happens to be right in my town! The theater is tiny and has a really great intimate feel to it. You are practically right on stage with the actors, so it's a great way to see a show...and it definitely helped me read their lips so I could understand better! We saw Auto de los Reyes, a comedy about the 3 kings trying to find the baby Jesus to bring him gifts. It was a really interesting spin on the biblical story, and despite the fact that it was in Catalan Spanish we were all able to follow it pretty well. The background music was really unique. There were instruments that kind of looked like bagpipes but sounded very Arabian, and there was also an instrument that looked like an 8 string guitar mixed with an accordion and a jack in the box? he positioned his left hand on the neck of the guitar, then pushed down on keys under the sound hole with his right hand and then used his right forearm and elbow to wind a crank on the side...weird but very cool to see and hear!
I've also been to the Prado museum multiple times now. It's such an immense and amazing building that I feel like I could live in Madrid my whole life and go every weekend and still not be able to take it all in. The paintings, the sculptures, the tapestries...it's just all so surreal to walk through. To see paintings that we have discussed in my art history classes and spanish classes in person is just so incredible. It just really gives life to the work and to the artist, and I appreciate everything so much more. It's impossible to really take in a piece by Goya, El Greco, or Velazquez until you are actually standing in front of it. The immensity of the works and the amount of talent and effort put into every cloud, figure, etc. is just amazing. I've yet to see the Reina Sofia because my classes go so late during the week, but I plan on going soon. I can't wait to see Guernica in person!
Friday, February 20, 2009
Palacio Real! Feb 1st
I know I'm extremely behind now, but our internet has been acting up so it's been difficult to post. On the first of this month we went into Madrid for the day with our professor to go on a tour of the Royal Palace (Palacio Real.) We took the train into the city and got off to find ourselves in the middle of a blizzard...yea we were told winters are mild in Spain so we couldn't help but laugh at how horribly wrong our program advisers have been...anyway we got to the palace and decided to first check out the Real Armeria where there were armor and shields from the 13th century and the spanish civil war. It was really interesting to see how different every piece was because they were all engraved with elaborate scenery and epic battle scenes. I can't even imagine how heavy some of it must have been to wear during battle.
After that we took a tour of the actual palace. It was sooo ornate and beautifully decorated with frescoes and gold and chandeliers(the gala room is used now for state occasions and the table comfortably seats 150 people! and has 15 chandeliers!). Some rooms were almost too overdone...silk walls, tons of clocks (Fernando VI was a collector), sculptures, paintings...it was almost overwhelming how many things were crammed into every room. I thought one of the prettiest rooms was the music room. It wasn't as overdone and had beautiful wood floors. The room had the world's only complete Stradivarius string quintet, and the instruments were just absolutely gorgeous. They have a specialist come in to do tuneups and play them, and he makes sure that the humidity in the room stays perfect so that they don't warp. Sounds like a pretty cool job to me!
We then went a grabbed a cheap bite in madrid before heading back because it was still pretty nasty weather, but overall it was a really cool visit!
After that we took a tour of the actual palace. It was sooo ornate and beautifully decorated with frescoes and gold and chandeliers(the gala room is used now for state occasions and the table comfortably seats 150 people! and has 15 chandeliers!). Some rooms were almost too overdone...silk walls, tons of clocks (Fernando VI was a collector), sculptures, paintings...it was almost overwhelming how many things were crammed into every room. I thought one of the prettiest rooms was the music room. It wasn't as overdone and had beautiful wood floors. The room had the world's only complete Stradivarius string quintet, and the instruments were just absolutely gorgeous. They have a specialist come in to do tuneups and play them, and he makes sure that the humidity in the room stays perfect so that they don't warp. Sounds like a pretty cool job to me!
We then went a grabbed a cheap bite in madrid before heading back because it was still pretty nasty weather, but overall it was a really cool visit!
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Keepin' it funky in Granada!
This past weekend our whole group made the pilgrimage to Granada! We ended up using pretty much every form of public transportation and the overall travel time was about 10 hours (roundtrip). It poured on the bus ride there so we all were worried it was going to be miserable walking around in the rain, but the weather held out! Jenna, Caitlin and I had back row seats and enough leg room to have had a runway competition....puedes decir "jackpot"? We got into Granada around 10:30 and wandered around for a bit until we found where we were staying, The Funky Backpacker Hostel. They didn't make it very easy for us...no big sign or any markings except for a piece of paper taped to the door that said Welcome to Funky!.
The owner, Yena, was from Russia and was just the sweetest, most helpful person we've met so far! She helped us get settled in super fast and recommended some places to grab a bite and places to tour the next day. She spoke 4 different languages, and loves grammar...which needless to say made us all laugh. It's kind of an odd thing to be crazy about. The rooms were more like apartments with their own kitchen/dining area and then a couch, 2 bunk beds, and our own bathroom. It was definitely a lot swankier than the hostels I'm used to. There was a rooftop bar! The coolest thing about the place was that the roof didn't cover the whole building. The walkways to the rooms and the rooms were covered but all the rooms faced inward and had balconies and there was no roof over the central lobby area! so you could stand on your balcony which was technically "inside" and look up at the stars! ...or in our case get rained on! We got free breakfast every morning and on Saturday I even got to have paella and an Alhambra beer for 5 euro! ganga!
We met two really sweet girls from Finland and Australia who came out with us which was a lot of fun. After we got to the hostel on Friday night, we were all starving and eventually found a bar big enough for our group...even after we'd split up a bit. Most bars here are just little holes in the wall...smoky and crowded, but I guess some might say "intimate." Even though the service was slow, the atmosphere was cool. We ate at a really low table on stools and there was really awesome lighting. They gave us free tapas of "chorizo en fuego" (sausage on fire) which was definitely cool!
On Saturday we got up bright and early to cash in on our free breakfast before heading over to the Alhambra. We bought our tickets ahead of time because it's such a popular place to visit. We all had pretty early entry times so that we could take our time walking around and seeing the sights. The Alhambra is spectacular! A famous Spanish expression claims that there is "nothing so sad as being blind in Granada." After a few hours of walking around this medieval city, it is very easy to see why. The Alhambra is this amazing fortress that served as the final stronghold for the Muslim Empire before Spain's reconquest in 1492.
The Alhambra is situated right along the border of the Sierra Nevada mountains so the panoramic view is literally breathtaking. I must have walked around the top of the tallest tower in the Alcazar 50 times trying to take in all of the city... it seems impossible. The architecture in the palace is awe-inspiring. I think I would be hard-pressed to find a building with the same level of talent, craftsmanship, and effort put into it's creation. Every single wall is etched with intricate carvings in Arabic and the ceilings are so elaborate. I stood for hours just trying to figure out how the artists reached certain places! Even the gardens are amazing! You walk through a labyrinth of trees to reach the fortress and palace, and then within there are even more gardens that you can meander through. I would love to be able to go back in the spring when everything is in bloom!
After walking around the Alhambra, we decided to make the trek down the hill to find something to eat. While making our way through the narrow cobblestone streets we came across the most amazing graffiti! It's not illegal here, which is awesome in some respects because some of these artists are incredible and I'd rather see art than a blank wall (I don't know if any of you have seen the graffiti tag in the U.S. "blank walls are criminal!"), but at the same time I'm torn because it can be really frustrating to see a beautiful old building defaced by really crappy graffiti and cuss words. Anyway, one of the artists had multiple "works" or "tags" ha whatever you want to call them and they were all sooo good. Most of them were about supporting the arts in schools, and they just blew me away. They looked like he/she had to have painted them because it's crazy to imagine that level of control with spray paint. amazing!
We walked into the Albaicin barrio of Granada which is known for being greatly influenced by North African culture, and for it's large gypsy/hippie population! We walked around for a bit just checking everything out before grabbing lunch at an outdoor cafe where we could look up at the Alhambra while we ate! Perfect! The town was a really weird, but awesome mix of people. There were a lot of travellers passing through from all over the world, and then there was the granada crowd... you've got your super euro snobs, your hippies, your hippie gypsie combos, and then just your regular old gypsies. All in all it made for some interesting conversations and run ins. Dogs and cats just kinda ran everywhere around the city behind their gypsy/hippie owners. They were ridiculously well trained. People in the Albaicin district walked around looking in shops, others smoking weed, and some drinking "tea."
After walking around literally all day I came back to the hostel for a little siesta before heading back out on the town with Rosa and Caitlin. We just walked around while we waited for the other sleeping beauties to get ready so we would all go out. We had a nice chat and stopped in a cute little cafe for the best hot chocolate ever...it was like drinking hot chocolate syrup with a scoop of ice cream....delectable!
We had big plans to go out in the city, but wound up playing "gringo" and emily's favorite game in the hostel for hours haha. We finally decided to head over to a salsa club around midnight. We were only there for about 20 minutes before we rolled out, but in that 20 minutes I was asked to dance twice by creepers and then finally agreed to dance with a guy who looked about 17 just so and I quote he "can look like big guy to his friends." He was nice and didn't try anything crazy so I was glad I didn't have to take anyone out in the middle of the dance floor...spanish guys...oy. Cait, Jenna and Laurel had met a guy named Ameer from Scotland earlier in the day and had invited him to meet us at the salsa club...we were all kinda suprised when he showed up, but happy! He's in Granada teaching English and he's a really nice guy. He showed us around the city a bit and he helped us translate directions from an english bloke...apparently the UK have their own branch of english. When we asked him where to find a good place to eat he told us " oh well it's a bit far but not hard to get to...just walk over there and then take the cobbly road cobbly road for a ways and then the next cobble and you're there. Ameer nodded and we stood there dumbfounded...apparently cobbly road cobbly road meant take a left then another left and then it will be on your right. crazy talk. We ended up just going to a kebab place and grabbing gyros before heading back to the hostel.
On Sunday we didn't have much time before we had to catch our bus back, but we walked around a bit more, went to a museum, did some souvenir shopping, and got something to eat before heading back. It was a much nicer ride back in the daytime. Most of the ride was just fields and fields of olive trees, which I'd never seen before. They're beautiful! They have these blue, green, silvery leaves and the limbs move a lot freer than normal trees...more like willows. It was really beautiful to watch the sunset over the rows and rows of rippling leaves and trees.
It was a sad homecoming though because this was our last week with our Australian friends! We went out for a farewell lunch with Mary and said our goodbyes to the rest of the Aussie crew! They are just the funniest nicest people. I learned so much ridiculous lingo...Mary taught us "shithouse" which can basically be used to describe anything you don't like, harry taught us "flouro frother" which is the term used to describe kids that wear all neon/flourescent clothing at raves and dance so much they foam at the mouth (apparently this is commonplace "down under"), and I think we are all now going to refer to our schools as "Uni's." Cheers to Australia! Thanks for putting up with our horrible imitations of your accents...but really...you do sound like you're from London.
The owner, Yena, was from Russia and was just the sweetest, most helpful person we've met so far! She helped us get settled in super fast and recommended some places to grab a bite and places to tour the next day. She spoke 4 different languages, and loves grammar...which needless to say made us all laugh. It's kind of an odd thing to be crazy about. The rooms were more like apartments with their own kitchen/dining area and then a couch, 2 bunk beds, and our own bathroom. It was definitely a lot swankier than the hostels I'm used to. There was a rooftop bar! The coolest thing about the place was that the roof didn't cover the whole building. The walkways to the rooms and the rooms were covered but all the rooms faced inward and had balconies and there was no roof over the central lobby area! so you could stand on your balcony which was technically "inside" and look up at the stars! ...or in our case get rained on! We got free breakfast every morning and on Saturday I even got to have paella and an Alhambra beer for 5 euro! ganga!
We met two really sweet girls from Finland and Australia who came out with us which was a lot of fun. After we got to the hostel on Friday night, we were all starving and eventually found a bar big enough for our group...even after we'd split up a bit. Most bars here are just little holes in the wall...smoky and crowded, but I guess some might say "intimate." Even though the service was slow, the atmosphere was cool. We ate at a really low table on stools and there was really awesome lighting. They gave us free tapas of "chorizo en fuego" (sausage on fire) which was definitely cool!
On Saturday we got up bright and early to cash in on our free breakfast before heading over to the Alhambra. We bought our tickets ahead of time because it's such a popular place to visit. We all had pretty early entry times so that we could take our time walking around and seeing the sights. The Alhambra is spectacular! A famous Spanish expression claims that there is "nothing so sad as being blind in Granada." After a few hours of walking around this medieval city, it is very easy to see why. The Alhambra is this amazing fortress that served as the final stronghold for the Muslim Empire before Spain's reconquest in 1492.
The Alhambra is situated right along the border of the Sierra Nevada mountains so the panoramic view is literally breathtaking. I must have walked around the top of the tallest tower in the Alcazar 50 times trying to take in all of the city... it seems impossible. The architecture in the palace is awe-inspiring. I think I would be hard-pressed to find a building with the same level of talent, craftsmanship, and effort put into it's creation. Every single wall is etched with intricate carvings in Arabic and the ceilings are so elaborate. I stood for hours just trying to figure out how the artists reached certain places! Even the gardens are amazing! You walk through a labyrinth of trees to reach the fortress and palace, and then within there are even more gardens that you can meander through. I would love to be able to go back in the spring when everything is in bloom!
After walking around the Alhambra, we decided to make the trek down the hill to find something to eat. While making our way through the narrow cobblestone streets we came across the most amazing graffiti! It's not illegal here, which is awesome in some respects because some of these artists are incredible and I'd rather see art than a blank wall (I don't know if any of you have seen the graffiti tag in the U.S. "blank walls are criminal!"), but at the same time I'm torn because it can be really frustrating to see a beautiful old building defaced by really crappy graffiti and cuss words. Anyway, one of the artists had multiple "works" or "tags" ha whatever you want to call them and they were all sooo good. Most of them were about supporting the arts in schools, and they just blew me away. They looked like he/she had to have painted them because it's crazy to imagine that level of control with spray paint. amazing!
We walked into the Albaicin barrio of Granada which is known for being greatly influenced by North African culture, and for it's large gypsy/hippie population! We walked around for a bit just checking everything out before grabbing lunch at an outdoor cafe where we could look up at the Alhambra while we ate! Perfect! The town was a really weird, but awesome mix of people. There were a lot of travellers passing through from all over the world, and then there was the granada crowd... you've got your super euro snobs, your hippies, your hippie gypsie combos, and then just your regular old gypsies. All in all it made for some interesting conversations and run ins. Dogs and cats just kinda ran everywhere around the city behind their gypsy/hippie owners. They were ridiculously well trained. People in the Albaicin district walked around looking in shops, others smoking weed, and some drinking "tea."
After walking around literally all day I came back to the hostel for a little siesta before heading back out on the town with Rosa and Caitlin. We just walked around while we waited for the other sleeping beauties to get ready so we would all go out. We had a nice chat and stopped in a cute little cafe for the best hot chocolate ever...it was like drinking hot chocolate syrup with a scoop of ice cream....delectable!
We had big plans to go out in the city, but wound up playing "gringo" and emily's favorite game in the hostel for hours haha. We finally decided to head over to a salsa club around midnight. We were only there for about 20 minutes before we rolled out, but in that 20 minutes I was asked to dance twice by creepers and then finally agreed to dance with a guy who looked about 17 just so and I quote he "can look like big guy to his friends." He was nice and didn't try anything crazy so I was glad I didn't have to take anyone out in the middle of the dance floor...spanish guys...oy. Cait, Jenna and Laurel had met a guy named Ameer from Scotland earlier in the day and had invited him to meet us at the salsa club...we were all kinda suprised when he showed up, but happy! He's in Granada teaching English and he's a really nice guy. He showed us around the city a bit and he helped us translate directions from an english bloke...apparently the UK have their own branch of english. When we asked him where to find a good place to eat he told us " oh well it's a bit far but not hard to get to...just walk over there and then take the cobbly road cobbly road for a ways and then the next cobble and you're there. Ameer nodded and we stood there dumbfounded...apparently cobbly road cobbly road meant take a left then another left and then it will be on your right. crazy talk. We ended up just going to a kebab place and grabbing gyros before heading back to the hostel.
On Sunday we didn't have much time before we had to catch our bus back, but we walked around a bit more, went to a museum, did some souvenir shopping, and got something to eat before heading back. It was a much nicer ride back in the daytime. Most of the ride was just fields and fields of olive trees, which I'd never seen before. They're beautiful! They have these blue, green, silvery leaves and the limbs move a lot freer than normal trees...more like willows. It was really beautiful to watch the sunset over the rows and rows of rippling leaves and trees.
It was a sad homecoming though because this was our last week with our Australian friends! We went out for a farewell lunch with Mary and said our goodbyes to the rest of the Aussie crew! They are just the funniest nicest people. I learned so much ridiculous lingo...Mary taught us "shithouse" which can basically be used to describe anything you don't like, harry taught us "flouro frother" which is the term used to describe kids that wear all neon/flourescent clothing at raves and dance so much they foam at the mouth (apparently this is commonplace "down under"), and I think we are all now going to refer to our schools as "Uni's." Cheers to Australia! Thanks for putting up with our horrible imitations of your accents...but really...you do sound like you're from London.
Obama-rama! and Gabanna Fiesta
OBAMA!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm now officially proud to say I'm from America! Although it was really hard to miss the inaugural festivities in DC, we still did plenty of celebrating over here in Espana! It was actually really interesting to to see how important this inauguration was to the rest of the world. I've really gained a better sense of the amount of influence the U.S. truly has while here..not just politically, but also economically, socially, musically, etc. All of our teachers were talking about it, and they even let us out early to watch at a local bar! We decided to call our festivities Obama-Rama...cause why not?! We went to an "Irish pub" in Spain...yea weird I know, but it was one of the only places playing it in English (at least that's what they told us...lies) It was really exciting seeing the mall sooooo packed! The whole experience was great...exceeeept we had to watch the whole thing in Spanish...Obama's Speech and all! At least Aretha sang in English! Our Spanish friends Juan and Pablo also watched with us and celebrated the end of the "W" era. Afterward we went to the grocery store and bought the most American things we could find to have an Americana Feast! ...believe it or not we were able to find hot dogs, burgers, fries and chips! oh and Spanish beer but it's all good!
Once we got back to the dorm we broke off into groups to cook and then had one hell of a pot luck! Evan and I made grilled cheese! And everyone else got together the rest of the "spread." We spent the night stuffing our faces, teaching the Spaniards and Australians beer pong, and dancing to horrible/amazing American music. Evan declared that we should have off school the next day, but needless to say the Spaniards weren't on the same page.
Thursday night we went out in Alcala with the Australians, Pablo!(our Spanish amigo), and our group for some restaurant/bar hopping. Gabanna Bar has free sangria and beer from 10-12...so obviously that's where we went first! Last week we got to know a few of the bartenders there and they are all so nice! One of the girls, Pilar, offered to take us around to the best spots in town. We had our little dance session...for the record Australian guys and gals have no shame when it comes to dancing, which made for a hell of a dance party. We ended up just staying there for the night and it was an awesome time.
Once we got back to the dorm we broke off into groups to cook and then had one hell of a pot luck! Evan and I made grilled cheese! And everyone else got together the rest of the "spread." We spent the night stuffing our faces, teaching the Spaniards and Australians beer pong, and dancing to horrible/amazing American music. Evan declared that we should have off school the next day, but needless to say the Spaniards weren't on the same page.
Thursday night we went out in Alcala with the Australians, Pablo!(our Spanish amigo), and our group for some restaurant/bar hopping. Gabanna Bar has free sangria and beer from 10-12...so obviously that's where we went first! Last week we got to know a few of the bartenders there and they are all so nice! One of the girls, Pilar, offered to take us around to the best spots in town. We had our little dance session...for the record Australian guys and gals have no shame when it comes to dancing, which made for a hell of a dance party. We ended up just staying there for the night and it was an awesome time.
Tour of Madrid!
OK still behind, pero esta bien! We probably did the most touristy, American thing ever...Double Decker Bus Tour through Madrid! It was ridiculously freezing...mainly because we decided we just HAD to sit on the top floor when it was about 27 degrees...but all in all so much fun! Despite the cheesiness it was actually a really cool intro to the city. Madrid is absolutely amazing!! Every weekend I'm not traveling I'm making trips to Madrid...and I can tell I'm still not going to be able to do everything I want to! The bus had a listening tour...which I used in Spanish so I got about 80% of what was said ha.
We saw Gran Via which is basically the equivalent of Broadway, El Parque del Retiro (their Central Park with a lake in the middle for row boats!) and amazing architecture everywhere you look! We got off the bus at the Palacio Real so that we could walk around and find a place to eat. The palace is so overwhelming! It's just crazy to me that there are 2,800 rooms! David said it would be the best place for a house party because it's so big your parents would have no chance of finding you...and probably wouldn't even be able to hear you! We walked through the gardens and took a break for some photo-ops with Don Quixote...of course. We saw some street performers...guy on classical guitar with pianist and an elderly couple with an accordion! so cute! We also walked through a park and went through El Templo de Debod, an Egyptian temple that has been around for over 2200 years! Most of the hieroglyphics are still preserved and there is 3D diagram of how it originally looked. We walked for a bit and found a small restaurant to grab a bite and the food was great.
We then took a couple hours to walk around and see the sights. There are so many neighborhoods and they all have very different vibes. it's going to be so fun exploring! We eventually got back on the double decker bus to finish our tour but apparently we had walked around for too long because the driver pulled over only a few minutes later and said "parada final"...so we had to get off and trek back through the city to catch the train. It was a cool contrast to see the same sights from early all lit up and with tons of people flooding the streets going out for food and shopping. It definitely felt more like New York to me. We finally made it back to the train station, after Hernan led us on a ridiculously round about way back. It was a long, but amazing day in the city!
We saw Gran Via which is basically the equivalent of Broadway, El Parque del Retiro (their Central Park with a lake in the middle for row boats!) and amazing architecture everywhere you look! We got off the bus at the Palacio Real so that we could walk around and find a place to eat. The palace is so overwhelming! It's just crazy to me that there are 2,800 rooms! David said it would be the best place for a house party because it's so big your parents would have no chance of finding you...and probably wouldn't even be able to hear you! We walked through the gardens and took a break for some photo-ops with Don Quixote...of course. We saw some street performers...guy on classical guitar with pianist and an elderly couple with an accordion! so cute! We also walked through a park and went through El Templo de Debod, an Egyptian temple that has been around for over 2200 years! Most of the hieroglyphics are still preserved and there is 3D diagram of how it originally looked. We walked for a bit and found a small restaurant to grab a bite and the food was great.
We then took a couple hours to walk around and see the sights. There are so many neighborhoods and they all have very different vibes. it's going to be so fun exploring! We eventually got back on the double decker bus to finish our tour but apparently we had walked around for too long because the driver pulled over only a few minutes later and said "parada final"...so we had to get off and trek back through the city to catch the train. It was a cool contrast to see the same sights from early all lit up and with tons of people flooding the streets going out for food and shopping. It definitely felt more like New York to me. We finally made it back to the train station, after Hernan led us on a ridiculously round about way back. It was a long, but amazing day in the city!
Saturday, January 17, 2009
Teatro Kapital!
So I know I'm still really behind...this post is really for January 10th...whoops! After our "snow day" we slept in kind of late and decided to do some leftover shopping for essentials like food...and cell phones in my case and Evan's case. Poor Evan has just had the worst time with his phone. It wouldn't turn on for him for most of the week, so he came with me when I decided to just break down and buy a phone since it didn't seem like I would ever be able to find a sim card for my movistar phone. As soon as customer service plugged his phone in it started working, so they wouldn't give him a new one! We're just hoping it hangs in there for him! Evan helped me score a super cheap phone and we headed off to meet the rest of the "shopping gang" at Alcampo which is basically a Walmart...spanish style! They have anything you could ever need to buy...ever! The wine and laundry detergent share an aisle...there is an aisle of dead pigs pretty close to the car tire aisle and right by the linens...the place is just insane. You could literally walk out with a new plasma tv, an octupus, a couch, and teddy grahams.
By the time we got back from the mall it was starting to get pretty late and we had decided as a group that we just had to go to Kapital, the biggest swankiest club in Spain. We all got glammed out and took the bus into town. We caught the last train out to Madrid. The train schedule here is ridiculous...it's definitely demonstrative of the party lifestyle. The trains leave at 12 and then don't start running again until 5:30 in the morning! So you either come back at 12 or you're there all night/morning! We arrived in Madrid around 12:30 and headed over to the club! Like I said the place was swanky so we ended up paying a 20 euro cover charge...at least it included a drink! I mean it as about the experience after all!
The club was absolutely huge! 7 floors and each a different theme with super fancy furniture and "mood" lighting! There was even a karaoke level and three of our group members got up and did it! The place got packed as the night wore on and it was really awesome to see people from literally all over the world! The bartenders had "mad skills" and were flipping the bottles and making these super complicated, expensive drinks, all while chatting up Spanish hotties. Evan ended up meeting a guy at the bar who told us he would help us get free admission if we'd come back and promote the bar to our friends and people in Madrid because he says it helps to have Americans at a club...makes it look popular! Who woulda thunk it? Americans are cool! So we've basically got free admission for whenever we want to go back! There were multiple dance floors but the main one was insane! There were dancers on stage and then the dance floor was surrounded by 4 bars. It was basically a spanish rave ha and every 10 minutes or so this machine would blast the dance floor with this gust of cold air so that it never got too hot! best invention everrrr! you can dance all night!
We stayed out until 5:30 and then decided to try to catch the first train back. We got the train back to Alcalá but we had missed the one that goes back to our campus, so we tried to get a taxi....funny story they don't start running until 9! So we headed back into the train station to see if there was another train we could catch back. There was one coming in a few minutes so we rushed to buy tickets. Some of the people have bus and train passes but I haven't bought one yet and neither had my friend Navid so we were stuck on the other side of the train gate trying to get the machine to take our money and then our credit card but they were all not working for some reason.The train pulled up and everyone else started to get on...we both decided there was no way we were going to wait in 15 degree weather anymore. I ran and hopped the gate in high heels haha! graceful as hell! and Navid wasn't far behind. So we rode the train to the same campus stop as the snow day and then made the walk back to the dorm. We got back to the dorm around 7:30. Needless to say I climbed into bed and was ooooooooooout!
By the time we got back from the mall it was starting to get pretty late and we had decided as a group that we just had to go to Kapital, the biggest swankiest club in Spain. We all got glammed out and took the bus into town. We caught the last train out to Madrid. The train schedule here is ridiculous...it's definitely demonstrative of the party lifestyle. The trains leave at 12 and then don't start running again until 5:30 in the morning! So you either come back at 12 or you're there all night/morning! We arrived in Madrid around 12:30 and headed over to the club! Like I said the place was swanky so we ended up paying a 20 euro cover charge...at least it included a drink! I mean it as about the experience after all!
The club was absolutely huge! 7 floors and each a different theme with super fancy furniture and "mood" lighting! There was even a karaoke level and three of our group members got up and did it! The place got packed as the night wore on and it was really awesome to see people from literally all over the world! The bartenders had "mad skills" and were flipping the bottles and making these super complicated, expensive drinks, all while chatting up Spanish hotties. Evan ended up meeting a guy at the bar who told us he would help us get free admission if we'd come back and promote the bar to our friends and people in Madrid because he says it helps to have Americans at a club...makes it look popular! Who woulda thunk it? Americans are cool! So we've basically got free admission for whenever we want to go back! There were multiple dance floors but the main one was insane! There were dancers on stage and then the dance floor was surrounded by 4 bars. It was basically a spanish rave ha and every 10 minutes or so this machine would blast the dance floor with this gust of cold air so that it never got too hot! best invention everrrr! you can dance all night!
We stayed out until 5:30 and then decided to try to catch the first train back. We got the train back to Alcalá but we had missed the one that goes back to our campus, so we tried to get a taxi....funny story they don't start running until 9! So we headed back into the train station to see if there was another train we could catch back. There was one coming in a few minutes so we rushed to buy tickets. Some of the people have bus and train passes but I haven't bought one yet and neither had my friend Navid so we were stuck on the other side of the train gate trying to get the machine to take our money and then our credit card but they were all not working for some reason.The train pulled up and everyone else started to get on...we both decided there was no way we were going to wait in 15 degree weather anymore. I ran and hopped the gate in high heels haha! graceful as hell! and Navid wasn't far behind. So we rode the train to the same campus stop as the snow day and then made the walk back to the dorm. We got back to the dorm around 7:30. Needless to say I climbed into bed and was ooooooooooout!
the state of emergency in Madrid...due to maybe 4-5 inches of snow
I honestly thought that waking up was going to be worse after only 3 hours of sleep...but I somehow managed! On my way to the door of my residencia I noticed that the snow did stick pretty well....4-5 inches or so. We headed over to the bus stop, assuming that everything would still be running smoothly. Oh how wrong we were! We waited for the bus for what seemed like forever, and then it took us an hour to make a 15 minute commute because there was so much traffic due to the snow. Once we finally made it into the plaza and made the walk we had missed most of our first class (which the professor was nice about...he'd been late too) and we found out that our second class was cancelled because our other Professor was stuck in Guadelajara because some of the HIGHWAYS! were closed! 4 inches of snow mind you!
After class let out we headed outside to find ourselves in the middle of a middle school snow fight!...intense to say the least! There was this one kid that had stolen a cardboard box from his classroom and he was just sprinting the length of the plaza while dragging the box on the ground and then dumping the piles on the girls!...one girl wasn't going to settle for that though. She gave him a few minutes to get distracted by other girls while she made a snowball the size of a basketball. She yelled over to him "Daviiiiid! Mirame!" (Look at me!). As soon as he turned around, she hit him square in the face! Niiiiiice!
We had a great time in the snow talking to the kids and our friends from Australia who had never seen so much snow. One of them just splayed out on the ground in her jeans to make a snow angel and got the snow all down her pants...something she wasn't really used to obviously ha. The snow craze was everywhere! People just dropped what they were doing at work and school to come out and build snowmen and have snow fights in the plaza! This group of old guys (60-70 yr olds ha) was trying to run around and nail people with snowballs without them knowing who it was that hit them. They'd hide behind trees and everything. We're talking guerilla warfare here! I got hit 3 times before finally finding the old rascal! We finally started to make our way over to the buses, but our friends had already been waiting for awhile and they told us that the buses had been suspended for an "indefinite" amount of time...helpful right? We decided to go grab a small bite and hopefully they would be up and running later....eh not so much.
After class let out we headed outside to find ourselves in the middle of a middle school snow fight!...intense to say the least! There was this one kid that had stolen a cardboard box from his classroom and he was just sprinting the length of the plaza while dragging the box on the ground and then dumping the piles on the girls!...one girl wasn't going to settle for that though. She gave him a few minutes to get distracted by other girls while she made a snowball the size of a basketball. She yelled over to him "Daviiiiid! Mirame!" (Look at me!). As soon as he turned around, she hit him square in the face! Niiiiiice!
We had a great time in the snow talking to the kids and our friends from Australia who had never seen so much snow. One of them just splayed out on the ground in her jeans to make a snow angel and got the snow all down her pants...something she wasn't really used to obviously ha. The snow craze was everywhere! People just dropped what they were doing at work and school to come out and build snowmen and have snow fights in the plaza! This group of old guys (60-70 yr olds ha) was trying to run around and nail people with snowballs without them knowing who it was that hit them. They'd hide behind trees and everything. We're talking guerilla warfare here! I got hit 3 times before finally finding the old rascal! We finally started to make our way over to the buses, but our friends had already been waiting for awhile and they told us that the buses had been suspended for an "indefinite" amount of time...helpful right? We decided to go grab a small bite and hopefully they would be up and running later....eh not so much.
We ended up having to take the train back to the stop on our campus because it was the only thing running. We trudged through the slush for a mile or so to the train station in our chucks, sneakers, and flats...not exactly snow gear. By the time we reached the station I thought I had frostbite on my toes! We bought train tickets and ended up waiting at the station for over an hour and a half for the train to come...again our residencia is usually only a 15 minute ride... So much for our "snow day." We were all so excited to finally get on the train where there was heat! However the ride was only about 5 minutes long and then we had to trudge from the train station back to our dorms...what a day! When we finally made it back we were all too cold and exhausted to do anything so we just hung out and talked about our bonding experience!
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