madrid
The complaining in the last entry was just what I needed I suppose, I was greeted with a mostly peaceful train ride to Madrid and an overall pleasant stay in the city. I spent the train ride reading Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, only to finish the book shortly after we arrived in the hotel. In hopes of remaining spoiler-free, I'll outline my opinion of the book in another post. All I have to say is, after reading the book, I began listening to the albums Quiet Is the New Loud by the Kings of Convenience and Funeral by The Arcade Fire. What albums I listen to tends to matter so much more as I travel over time.
Our hostel was right next to Plaza Mayor, very nice location for the price. Three night stay for my sister and I, €120, around $130 USD. Plaza Mayor was also home to the greatest American export ever, Ben & Jerry's. Every night, I had a scoop of Cherry Garcia and some Phish Food. I don't think anyone can really hate Ben & Jerry's.
On the other hand, so long as we're on the subject of American exports, there was a shopping center that contained a Burger King, Starbucks and McDonalds all directly next to one another, sickest thing I've seen all trip.
Highlights of Madrid:
The hostel receptionist told me that I'm just about fluent in Spanish, except I carry a Cuban accent. Humorous, I have never been told I had a Cuban accent before.
Coming back to the hostel, I ran up the stairs beating my sister who was going up the elevator, and the receptionist who was taking out the trash at the time. In the common room I greeted another traveler named Moatasm who was staying. We started asking where we were from, and talked for a bit turns out he was from Atlanta.
"Ah, cool. I just visited Atlanta a few months ago, very beautiful city.
I actually went to visit Georgia Tech at the time."
"Oh, I just graduated from there."
I wasn't thinking at the time, he was wearing a Georgia Tech Jackets cap the entire time we were talking and I didn't notice until he mentioned he came from the school. It was pretty funny. More conversation revealed he just graduated in Electrical Engineering at the school, my hopeful major. My sister and the receptionist came in and we all started giving Moatasm some points of interest around the city, really cool guy. After all was said and done, he wrote down his email address and told me I can contact him any time about the school if I needed anything. I really appreciated it.
Came back to Valencia on train this morning, reading Slaughterhouse-Five and listening to the album Keep It Like A Secret by Built to Spill, easily becoming one of my favorite albums of the trip. Slaughterhouse-Five is an addictive read, considering I read Breakfast of Champions by Vonnegut previously, I loved the homage he gives in his other novels, I must read more Vonnegut. I put a large dent in the book, I only have around 50 pages to go. I don't think two books will cut it out for me this trip.
This should be the last week of classes for my sister and I. This Friday we should be on our way to Granada to spend the last part of the trip in Andalucia. I really have been enjoying Spain, I suppose I just need some time to breathe, away from the wishes of my sister every so often. It's a miracle I survived so long, though she has been pretty good about leaving me alone recently, I appreciate it.
Hasta luego.
Our hostel was right next to Plaza Mayor, very nice location for the price. Three night stay for my sister and I, €120, around $130 USD. Plaza Mayor was also home to the greatest American export ever, Ben & Jerry's. Every night, I had a scoop of Cherry Garcia and some Phish Food. I don't think anyone can really hate Ben & Jerry's.
On the other hand, so long as we're on the subject of American exports, there was a shopping center that contained a Burger King, Starbucks and McDonalds all directly next to one another, sickest thing I've seen all trip.
Highlights of Madrid:
- Museo del Prado I think this might just be the greatest art museum I've ever visited. Even though my sister and I spent less than an hour there, the current exhibit of El Palacio del Rey Planeta was awesome. The paintings in the exhibit were so rich and sometimes very dark in its storytelling. I never really thought I'd ever say such things like an art critic, but the paintings in the Prado were just amazing, beyond words at times. I'm definitely going back to Madrid one day just for the museum.
- Flamenco Show We went to a highly recommended show next to Plaza Mayor, it was very good. At times the male dancer looked like he was about to have a heart attack but the dancing was good and the guitarists did what they always do, play guitar. In between acts, one of the guitarists played the Inspector Gadget theme while tuning his guitar, applause was given by the tables of Americans.
- Palacio Real Madrid was hot and incredibly dry. I used to wonder to myself how the Spaniards managed to colonize the deserts of the Americas and still go on farther than most other explorers of their time, now I know that they had to stand such harsh weather in the capital. This has everything to do with my impression of the Palacio Real, the palace was reminiscent of House Atreides out of Dune in my mind.
The hostel receptionist told me that I'm just about fluent in Spanish, except I carry a Cuban accent. Humorous, I have never been told I had a Cuban accent before.
Coming back to the hostel, I ran up the stairs beating my sister who was going up the elevator, and the receptionist who was taking out the trash at the time. In the common room I greeted another traveler named Moatasm who was staying. We started asking where we were from, and talked for a bit turns out he was from Atlanta.
"Ah, cool. I just visited Atlanta a few months ago, very beautiful city.
I actually went to visit Georgia Tech at the time."
"Oh, I just graduated from there."
I wasn't thinking at the time, he was wearing a Georgia Tech Jackets cap the entire time we were talking and I didn't notice until he mentioned he came from the school. It was pretty funny. More conversation revealed he just graduated in Electrical Engineering at the school, my hopeful major. My sister and the receptionist came in and we all started giving Moatasm some points of interest around the city, really cool guy. After all was said and done, he wrote down his email address and told me I can contact him any time about the school if I needed anything. I really appreciated it.
Came back to Valencia on train this morning, reading Slaughterhouse-Five and listening to the album Keep It Like A Secret by Built to Spill, easily becoming one of my favorite albums of the trip. Slaughterhouse-Five is an addictive read, considering I read Breakfast of Champions by Vonnegut previously, I loved the homage he gives in his other novels, I must read more Vonnegut. I put a large dent in the book, I only have around 50 pages to go. I don't think two books will cut it out for me this trip.
This should be the last week of classes for my sister and I. This Friday we should be on our way to Granada to spend the last part of the trip in Andalucia. I really have been enjoying Spain, I suppose I just need some time to breathe, away from the wishes of my sister every so often. It's a miracle I survived so long, though she has been pretty good about leaving me alone recently, I appreciate it.
Hasta luego.