Madrid Day 2

Day 2 in Madrid was quite nice. I got up and ate the hostel breakfast (a croissant and a tiny cup of coffee... very unimpressive) and did some laundry. Oh yeah, and managed to spill my cup of coffee all over my back while walking up the stairs. It was especially tragic since everything else I had to wear was in the wash, so I had to sit in wet coffee stained clothes for an hour.

Once my laundry was finished and I had changed my clothes, I set off to explore Madrid. I decided to do another Rick Steves self guided tour, so I wandered from Puerta del Sol around the city. I stopped and grabbed a Napolitana pastry at this famous little pastry shop... it was kind of like bread with lots of cream in the middle, topped with copious amounts of powdered sugar. Messy and delicious. I then wandered up Calle San Cristobal, up to Plaza Mayor. This square was a kind of public theater area in the 17th century, and now is a pedestrian only area with lots of bars and such. I stopped at Casa Rúa, a tiny little bar that is famous for their bocadillos de calamares: calamari sandwiches. I stood at the bar and had a beer and a sandwich for 3,50€.

I then went and strolled through Mercado de San Miguel, a recently renovated covered market that now houses a gourmet food market. Too full to sample anything, I strolled around and took lots of photos, which are trapped on my camera until I get home. I kept walking until I got to the Royal Palace, but the line was much longer than I cared to stand in.

I decided to hit the Prado Museum next. I walked over there, and finally figured out where the entrance was. It was a nice museum, and I really enjoyed their Goya collection, especially his "dark period" works. By this time, I was pretty tired, and caught the metro back to the hostel.

I spent some time trying to upload my photos from my camera, very unsuccessfully. Then I met up with Erica and Astrid, the two girls I had met the night before. We ended up going out for Thai food (I know, I know) which was delicious. After dinner, we went and hung out at Sol, which turns into an arena for street performers at night. We watched a fire dancer for a while...

Then we watched some roller bladers do tricks. One of which included jumping over Astrid. (Photo quality not so great, but its the thought that counts.)

We then headed back to the hostel, where Erica and Astrid headed to bed. I wasn't quite tired yet, and it was early by Spanish standards (12ish) so I met a couple guys from New York and we went out for drinks. One of them took us to this great little hole in the wall bar, where we had amazing mojitos. We were the only ones there, so we chatted (as best we could) with the bartender, and he played us Spanish rock albums. Then, I took the group to this place that Erica had pointed out earlier, a 24 hour churro place. For those who don't know, churros are fried dough that you dip in a mug of melted chocolate. AKA heaven.

Delicious. We then headed back to the hostel, full of sugar, and went to bed.