home again, home again
Thursday : Lena and her friend Sebastian visiting from Germany (studying law in Geneva...ooolala) picked me up at the airport; took the metro to Lena's place; proceeded to meet lots of Spaniards with kisses (kind of weirded me out at first, but hey, here's to culture...). Another thing about culture - people in Spain do not sleep. Ever. We met Sebastian and his German friends Johannes and Claudia for tapas (little rolls with stuff like tomato sauce and cheese on them) at a bar. At 11:30 at night. And then walked around, collected coupons from the guys on the street and got some free drinks at various bars, which were empty, since "it was still early."
Friday : Met up with Sebastian and walked through the park - it was such a sunny day! There was an empty conservatory-looking building, as an art exhibit...The floor was entirely covered with mirrors, which reflected the light and colors from the windows, which had a film over them. We had to take off our shoes and got some socks from the people at the desk. It was supposed to be relaxing, and there were speakers piping out breathing sounds...It was definitely interesting. We then walked around some more and this crazy German guy started telling us this sob story about how he got his stuff stolen at the airport and has no id and the German Embassy was flying him home but it wouldn't be for a few days and the only hostel that will let him stay there cost 18 euros so could we please help him. So of course we stand around listening to him and of course Lena tries to be all compassionate by explaining his situation to various people passing by and asking them for money and of course Sebastian and I both wanted to melt into the ground...But anyways, she asks this guy with dreds and he turns out to be German as well, and thus Benjamin was added to the group of people trekking through Madrid. We all went to the Thyssen art museum, which was cool. Metro back to Lena's, dinner, the boys left, Lena got ready to go to a party, and I slept. Woo.
Saturday : Met the boys for a guided walking tour. It was in English (woo), but the lady kept saying "Mewslims" and about 35 minutes into the tour I got the flashing realization that she meant Muslims. Right. After the tour Lena started chatting up this German kid, Raphael, and a British guy, Tom. We trekked all over the place to find some cafe thing that Tom knew of, and got "chocolata con churros," which is thick, rich chocolate and churros (skinny donuts) to dip in it. The story goes that the Spaniards stay out all night drinking, then go to these places at six in the morning, and it's "good for the hangover." Right. We walked around some more and Lena went home to rest and the boys and I walked through the Royal Palace. We then went to rest in the park, and gradually noticed that everyone around us was drinking and smoking pot, and there we were with our huge water bottle...As it turns out, it was a giant demonstration for the legalization of marijuana...Interesting. Dinner at Lena's, with Benjamin to the hostel, meet Lena at Sol (one of the plazas) at 11:15pm. Go off to meet Raphael at some bar, go back to Sol to meet Sebastian and Johannes, sit around in some courtyard, go to a bar. Fast walking back to the hostel with Benjamin to get there by 3:00 when the door is supposedly locked...So I'm a little, er, inebriated, and some woman is sleeping in my bed!!! I am too tired and sketched out to care, so I crash in the only available bed and wake up before everyone else anyway.
Sunday : Walked through a giant flea market with the boys, then went to the Prado, another huge art museum. Met up with Raphael there, got some lunch, ate in the park, took the metro back to Lena's, and went to the airport. The rest is boring - me attempting to sleep on a cold metal bench in Schönefeld, Berlin, until my train back to WB at 5:32am...
Dang, I was going to post a picture, but I don't know how...Bah.