Free Tour of Madrid

I woke up feeling a bit lazy. You know, I think all my traveling is starting to catch-up with me. Also, since I’m nearing the end of my trip and Madrid will be my last new destination I think I starting to check-out a little. I was considering going to a couple of other towns near Madrid for a couple of day trips, but I’m just not up for the hassle of reserving some train tickets and moving around. I’ve decided to take it nice and slow while I‘m in Madrid, I’ve just been pretty tired. I think I’m going to hangout here, but honestly I wish my hostel was more like the one in Granada. Here, everything is broken, power outlets don’t work, the toilet doors don’t shut, internet connection sucks, and there are no security lockers in the rooms for my belonging. Plus, if I want to take a shower I have to go upstairs and if I need to use the restroom I need to go downstairs. It’s not that bad, but it can be a hassle. Last night I had the room to myself so I hope it stays that way.

Today I took a tour of Madrid with one of the “Free Tours” again. It was the same company that did the free tour in Edinburgh. The group was very big and I talked much of the time with a guy from Indiana and a girl from Canada. We walked around Plaza Mayor, Puerta del Sol, the royal palace, and the rest of the Old Town area. I saw the oldest restaurant on the world and heard some great stories about Spanish history. My favorite story was about a bridge that we saw. Sadly, the bridge is the number one suicide spot in Madrid. Well, the story that was told was about the first attempted suicide from that bridge. It goes something like this:

A rich woman wanted to marry a man who her parents strongly disapproved of. She was so traumatized that they wouldn’t her marry him that she decided to throw herself of the bridge. She dress up in her finest attire along with her best jewelry and so fourth. She jumps. Well, instead of plummeting to her death the hoop dress she was wearing floated her down to the bottom. She survived with only a couple of broken bones. When her parents heard the news of her attempt they immediately allowed her to marry the man she wanted. She eventually married her dream man and they had many kids together.

Whether or not this story is true or accurate is hard to say, but it’s a fun legend nonetheless.

The Royal Palace

Oldest Restaurant

The Bridge

Also, I learned that Spain has more bars than all the countries in Europe combined. Which is interesting when you take into account how much undeveloped land is in Spain. Also, most all the bars in Madrid have a pigs leg hanging in them as if on display. This goes back to the Spanish Inquisition when all the Jews and Muslims where kicked out of the country. Having a pig’s leg displayed in your shop showed that you were not Jewish nor Muslim. Apparently, it has just stuck around all these years.

In Plaza Mayor you see all these guys dressed up like Sponge Bob, Patrick, Mickey Mouse, Stormtroopers, Chewbacca, Hello Kitty, Spiderman, and Dora the Explorer. It is funny to watch them because kids will run up to them to get a photo and then they will hassle the parents for money. Then after a while when they get hot they will take off their head piece and walk around. Also, the costumes are pretty crummy and some are homemade. Many have stains on them. It’s pretty gross.

After the tour the guy from Indiana and the girl from Canada were going to go to a museum and they invited me along. I agreed since the museum was free and after we had planned to grab some dinner. I could do an hour in a museum for that. I headed back to the hostel and took my siesta. I then made my way to a museum called, “The Prado”. I got there a little earlier than we agreed. I waited. Then I waited some more. I then walked around the building to look for my group, but didn’t see anyone. I thought maybe they went inside already. I walked in and looked around the rooms for my friends. I was passing by all sorts art pieces that I barely glanced at. I did see a couple of very odd and inappropriate paintings. People were looking at one like it was…well…a work of art, but a woman squeezing her breast to shoot milk into her baby’s mouth it NOT art in my opinion. That is just gross! You know, I just don’t understand art.

Well, after searching around with no luck I decided to go about my day without the others. I headed over toward Puerta del Sol at stopped at a little café called, “Chocolatera”. It is famous for a their churros and there chocolate. They give you a plate of churros and a cup of this thick hot chocolate type substance. It’s not hot chocolate nor is it melted chocolate. It’s hard to explain. It’s too thick to be hot chocolate and it’s not melted chocolate because it doesn’t harden when it’s cold. Well, you dip your churros into the chocolate and eat it. Wow! It’s very sweet and very tasty! When the churros are done with you drink the chocolate. It’s a pretty interesting place.

Chocolatera

I took the metro back to the hostel to lay low for the rest of the evening. While in the common area I met a group from New Jersey: Robert, Amy, and Marie. They had a great sense of humor and they invited me to join them in a game of Uno. So, I played along with them. We played a single game of Uno for over an hour. After, they invited me (and a couple of other people from the hostel) to join them for drinks and tapas. We headed to a bar just around the corner and we drank and chatted. After a while a group of girls walked in all dressed as hippies. I said, “I think they are hens”. After a little while longer one of the guys with our group said, “Why are they dressed up?” So, I went over and in my best (broken) Spanish tried to figure out why they were dressed as hippies. Sure enough they where, in fact, hens. Only one girl spoke English and she was able to help me with complimenting them in Spanish. It was fun! After, we headed over to another bar and had another beer. We chatted some more and I met a couple of girls from Madrid who spoke English very well. It was a fun night!

When we got back to the hostel I stayed up a while and chatted with Robert before calling it a night. I’m still pretty tired and I’m not up for doing any side trips this weekend. Madrid in nice though! I’ll take the next couple of days and just relax while I’m here. Spain is a good place to do that!

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