SPAIN ADVENTURE from 4th Aug-19th Aug

4th-6th August
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Madrid is amazing, arrived in the afternoon of 4th Aug and went to our hostel, it was close to the Metro which was good...the metro system here is great, very easy to follow and we picked it up pretty quickly

Madrid metro, an easy and convenient way to travel through Madrid!

Hostel is located on Huertas Street in the city centre

We asked the (rude) receptionist at the hostel where would be a cheap place to eat and she goes "mcdonalds" i was like ummm, well ok at least we know Spanish people are helpful...sheesh...the Spanish are so relaxed...sometimes too relaxed that they seem rude...you ask a question, takes 3 years for them to turn their head then 45 minutes to tell you that they no comprende a english and then 3.5 minutes to turn their head back... oh well...

We walked up to the Bullfighting Arena, met these 2 American guys along the way and they joined us for the 30min walk to the arena. Bullfighting is a traditional sport and they all love it here, i dont think i would ever want to go see one because I heard that they torture the bull before had, lock him in the dark, give him stuff to make his stomach ill and while in the arena they stab it in the neck and let it bleed and get weak...i dont think i would be able to sit through it, i love animals too much!

Bullfighting arena

we ended up going to Plaza Santa Ana, a cute little plaza with restaurants and had dinner (just a little side note that i hate the australian currency rate, its really annoying, so whatever i buy double comes out of my bank account) we walked around and saw the city at night time...nice...huge gothic buildings on every corner, gorgeous statues and beautiful greenery

Building in the square we had our first dinner at

gorgeous fountain on the main street

in the 2 days that we have been here we have seen a lot of the city, there is an amazing park called Parque Retiro which is absolutley huge and so beautiful, we saw the main monument Estanque del Retiro, its a huge man made pond with the monument sitting on the edge, people were rowing boats and the weather was amazing---its been hot here and i have a sportsmans tan, so my arms are all brown then youve got under the shirt which is the colour of a white A4 sheet of paper...great look im telling you

Monument in Parque Retiro and me posing in it like a tourist

Arch near the Parque Retiro on the main road

We walked around a lot and found we had too much time on our hands, we basically went through the main bits of the city so much that we got sick of it! Id say Madrid u can do in 1.5 days, its too much of a "city" like the other main cities, its all the same, only difference i guess is the amazing architecture which was very beautiful but it was all too much since it was so hot and so busy, no one would give you the time of day...

Saying that, i guess literally, i wouldnt mind if someone didnt give me the time of day, because with all our travels around Spain, we found out that Madrid is Clock crazy, seriously, they have clocks everywhere!! take a look at the next pic of train station Atocha and you will notice there is one huge clock at the top and then 2 clocks at the background on the left and right!

Our Hostel was quite nice, the people were cool and we made quite a few friends, a lot of aussies so i felt very boring...not nice feeling...and met a lot of americans, i still love their accents to bits! (New York was a great experience for me) we decided to go listen to one of the belgium dudes playing the harmonica (yes, "i do not hang out with geeks" thats what i should scribe on my next sun hat) but ended up giving that a miss...decided to just hang around and talk and have a nice beer in Madrid...I think im allergic to harmonicas anyway...

at the Jazz club with some of the people we met at our hostel, Mia from California was our room mate for 2 days, shes the one in the middle

The Jazz club was pretty cool...other than the fact that i dont like Jazz music (other than the name) we made our own fun and tapped a beat to the music with our feet...(yep, we were having TOO much fun..uhuh)

Next day walked around for another day trying to kill the time cos we had to catch the 1am bus to Seville...that one day extra was just way too much on us! ive never been to so many mcdonalds just for the airconditioning...man, Ronalds face is plastered in my mind for life...i still dont understand why they dont give the poor dude a new look, a makeover... bring on the 5 gay dudes! maybe a hair cut and a manicure would get more customers in the door, who knows...WHOOW! ok...WAY too much time spent in Maccas...

too much walking! resting the feet

Gorgeous little Church in Madrid

Parliament House infront of the Main Cathedral, i dont think my pose shows the elegance of the building, but anyway

Main Palace in the centre of the city, forgot what it was called!!

haha! this couple looked like they were having a tiff or something, had to take a pic

Got ready...had an "illegal" shower at the hostel (since we had already booked ourselves out) but we had made freinds with the owner (this is where i again announce how older men love me for some reason) he was coming up and hugging me and saying "jassssemenn!!!" in his spanish accent, he was palistinian, looked like a pizza shop owner though...with the grey mustache happening and all...hmm, im still a bit worried about the age thingy of these spanish men! hahaha

Madrid Sunset behind the Cathedral

6 hr coach ride was very uneventful, stopped at a rest stop on the 3rd hr and got back on and rattled to Seville...*yawn*