Me gusta Madrid

After spending Easter in Paris with Cecile, I left on Monday evening to take an overnight train (13 hours) to Madrid.  I arrived in Madrid at about 9:30 on Tuesday morning and took a taxi to the parent's apartment of my host mom's sister-in-law.  In easier words, I went to stay with the aunt, uncle, and cousins of Astrid, who live in Madrid but they were in France for Easter and weren't coming back until a day after I got to Madrid, so I spent the first night at Sylvia's parent's home.  Sylvia's brother lives with her parents too and his English is great so I was able to communicate with him in English but Sylvia's mother speaks only a little French and her father speaks only Spanish, so it was funny to be speaking a mixture of 3 languages at the lunch table!

Anyway, when I got a taxi, I discovered that the first stereotype I knew about the Spanish started to prove to be true: they don't speak English (or other languages besides Spanish).  I asked the driver (in Spanish) if he spoke French, English, or German, but he responded that he only spoke Spanish.  I then told him that I didn't speak Spanish well but I managed to give him the address of Mr. & Ms. R.  When I arrived, I met Javier, Sylvia's brother, and Mr and Mrs. R.  I then passed out for about an hour in the bedroom they prepared for me.  After a much needed nap, I went out with Javier and we walked around the neighborhood.  We got coffee and came back in time for lunch (which for the Spanish is around 2:30 or 3:00 PM).   Ms. R is an excellent cook and I had a sort of rice with cooked bananas and tomato sauce.  It was awesome.  After lunch I indulged in the Spanish culture of la siesta and slept for a few more hours.  By the time I woke up, I hung out for a bit and then Javier and I went out again for dinner, which consisted of Tapas, which is also traditionally Spanish.  You order a plate of a type of food and share it.  Apparently you do this while you drink and you can go to different bars so you eat a little bit at a time but you eat throughout the entire night.  Javier and I shared a plate of Spanish ham, which was delicious, and then he ordered what he described to me as "cooked calamari."  I eat fried calamari in the states all the time, so I was kind of expecting that.  Needless to say, my mouth dropped open when the server put this plate on the table:

Calamari in its own ink

A plate full of whole calamari, with their tentacles attached, served not in a sauce, but in ink.  My first reaction was, EW!  I was really scared and all of a sudden had lost my appetite.  Javier instructed me to mix in the rice and then split the plate of squid between the two of our own plates.  I mixed the rice until it was black with ink and then gave each of us half, trying to give him more tentacles.  I cut open the first one and looked inside.  It looked like it had more tentacles and rice stuffed inside of it.  I hesitantly put the squid into my mouth and... it wasn't bad!  Who knew that ink could actually be edible?  The texture of the squid was fun and after I got used to the very particular taste, I had no problem eating the bodies.  The tentacles made me nervous, though.  I didn't like seeing/feeling the little suction cups on the tentacles but the tentacles tasted the same as the rest of the squid.  First Spanish weird food experience was a success!!

The next morning I woke up late, which is also typically Spanish.  I think I could live in Spain just for their daily schedule: going to bed late, waking up late, taking naps after lunch, life is wonderful in Spain.  Anyway, I went out with Javier to get his train tickets for a trip he was taking and then we went around the city some more before we came back for lunch, which was a sort of ravioli in a cheese sauce.  It was awesome.  After lunch I took another nap and then went out shopping.  Clothes are a LOT cheaper in Spain (compared to France).  A dress that I saw in Zara for 80 Euros in France was 30 Euros in Spain.  (I didn't buy it, but it was really cute and tempting).  It was nice to walk around and shop.  Later that evening, I took a taxi to Sylvia and Xavier's apartment (they speak French and Spanish at home so I had no problems communicating).  Lucky (or unlucky) for me, I was in Madrid on the night where Madrid played Barcelona at home.  NO ONE was in the streets and so there was no traffic.  However, during dinner, we heard some yelling/shouting in the distance. Xavier told me that he thought Madrid had made a goal but it turned out that the noise was cries of anger... Barcelona beat Madrid that night 2-0!  Yikes!

The next morning, Helene and I went downtown after breakfast to see some of the famous Madrid sights and do some shopping :)

standing at Sol

With Helene and a police officer

We went back for lunch, and by then Miguel was home, so he and I went out to a famous park in Madrid called Retiro park.  We rented a boat and rowed on the lake.  The weather was great and it was a lot of fun!

After Retiro park, Miguel and I went to get coffee and then to visit his grandparents (where I had stayed a few nights prior).  We went back, had dinner, and then went out for drinks to enjoy the night life in Madrid!

The next day, I went to the Prado musuem by myself.  It was soo cool and I learned a lot about Spanish artists.  I hardly knew anything about Spanish art before, since for the past 8 years I've had nothing but French culture drilled into my head in my French classes.  The museum was beautiful and it was nice to go through it peacefully and at my own pace.

Later, Miguel and I went out to go to the Royal Palace.  

Then we were going to go to the botanical gardens but they closed at 8, so we walked around downtown and went to a ham museum instead.  It was the most ham I have ever seen in my life.

look at all that meat!

Anyway, afterwards, we met up with his other French friends and we ate tapas and drank together.  It was fun!  The next day, we took a road trip with some of Miguel's friends to the Escorial castle/monestary.  I couldn't take pictures while I was there but this is what it looks like:

The tour was several hours, but it was fascinating.  Every room was something different and amazing!  Afterwards, we went to a basilica where I saw the biggest cross I have ever seen in my life!

 Inside the basilica is where Franco was buried.  Cool, huh??

After we drove back, I had to pack up my things and take a 13 hour train back to Paris, where I spent the day with Cecile and Jibe.  We went to Montmartre and enjoyed the sun.  I hadn't slept well on the train so I felt exhausted and gross all day, but when I got back to Strasbourg around 10:30 that night, I had to walk all the way home because the trams and buses weren't running.  It was the French equivalent of labor day in France and in the smaller cities (ie not Paris,) public transportation shuts down.  I got home about 40 minutes later after dragging two heavy suitcases across the city.  I was exhausted and not ready for school the next day!  

Regardless of lack of sleeping throughout the two weeks I was away, this spring break was the best vacation I have ever been on!