Madrid

Madrid 18, 19, 20 de mayo

Tuesday…second entire day in madrid. Tossed and turned in bed the first night here because madid is 6 hrs ahead and though I had not slept in 40 hours my body is used to getting ready for dance class at the time I was trying to fall asleep…I could actually feel my muscles pulsing and was totally overstimulated and overtired by the journey itself plus the cultural difference ( new city /language orientation) of the first day in madrid…So, I tossed and turned and so did the uber- sweet brazilian guy in my room (are hostals now co-ed?)…….anyhoo, I may have fallen asleep finally by 5 am but I slept until 3pm through my alarm, breakfast, and the cleaning lady. I got a late start but it was obviously needed and I ended up doing more research on the internet for my trip (why didn't i do this in the usa?) …turns out the ferria de cordoba is this week (big city-wide fiesta)…no places to stay but I arranged one couchsurf lodging for Thursday…looks like I will travel on to sevilla the next day…looking for a place in triana and another couchsurf Saturday and Sunday in Sevilla…

Some noteworthy observations: Madid is clean…not sterile by any means but pretty well-kempt..the metro is easy to navigate, the weather is great, the air is relatively clean for a big city. The Madrilenos dress very nice and I havn’t seen many “freaks” around, atleast not as far as dress goes…there are homeless but I havn’t seen many so far…I guess Madrid was established as the Capitol in the 16th century so it isn’t as old as other cities here. King Phillip the ? established it here because it was near his favorite hunting grounds (priorities)…I asked Christine if he is the King Phillip famous for the lisp and she looked at me like I was crazy (again). Apparently this is just an urban legend that Castllian Spanish got the lisp by imitating their king in reverence. (I am now starting to rethink the story that the Merengue limp was an homage to their famous war general…ah!).

I went to Atocha station today to ask about tickets to cordoba and afterwards I took Christine for a drink at lacana bar and we sat outside and had some refreshments and I had my first tortilla de papa…estupendo! This is egg-y potato goodness. We heard Flamenco music coming from the medical school next door (well, it used to be the med school back in the day and next door they stored the cadavours)…We wandered over to see what was happening and the doorman said it was a class..we somehow got to go observe and she ended up letting us take the class (you know I was in heaven)…she led the class in Spanish rumba basics and then moved onto bachata! (Spanish style…with flamenco flavor…box steps and all), the I got to lead Christine in a paso doble!...was really fun and I was dying to dance since I hadn’t in about a week (unless you count disco dancing in the airplane bathroom once every hour on the 8 hr flight to Madrid). I think I was pure entertainment to my poor seatmate on the plane...

May 20…Un milagro…I am up at 8:30 am Madrid time drinking café and getting ready for the Prado (will be thinking of my sis who cried last time we were in Madrid b/c it was closed for renovations)…I got 2 new roommates last night who were here just for the Beyonce! Concert. They just left to go back to school but not before leaving me chocolates on my bed (this trip is getting better!). Also I realized that the beds are just crazy uncomfortable b/c everyone in the room was tossing all night…If u don’t turn over half your body goes numb…Hey, you get what you pay for, hopefully I will adjust. I think I have made it over the initial shock of realization (holy crap...I'm travelling alone all over Europe and I havn't planned ahead of time) and feel better with my Spanish andthe fact that I am living out of bags for the next 3 months...Almost everyone I have told my plans to looks at me like I plan to freedive off the Eiffel tower...(Is it that crazy to travel alone to Fes?)....Christine says "Life is an adventure and adventure isn't always fun"...Still hasn't deterred me...Well, off I go to stare at paintings and art-y things...