It's spring term holidays so we get two weeks off from school (unfortuently unpaid) and us Canadians (Monica, Chris, Melissa, and I) have planned a trip to Spain and Portugal! Madrid to Grenada to Malaga to Seville and then Melissa and I will continue on to Lisbon and porto in Portugal.
After a little bit of a hectic time getting to the airport ( and finding out that the oyster card doesn't work from London bridge to gatwick) we got aboard our ever so roomy and smooth Ryan Air flight ( hahahaha yeah right). We touched down in Madrid around lunch time and easily navigated ourselves to the city center and our hostel.
Our hostel wasn't that great: tiny rooms, small uncomfortable beds, not very social, awkward shower arrangements... But it was bearable for the two nights. We were starving so we grabbed food from a nice spanish cafe.
Now last time we went to Spain, we had michelle's grade 11 Spanish to help us get by. This time? No such luck as none of us speak a spec of Spanish. Deciphering the menu with the help of our lonely planet translator helped a bit, but the waiters weren't too pleased with our struggles (especially poor Melissa who is part veggie and only eats chicken! It was a flashback to James trying to find vegetarian food in Germany!)
We ended up getting a three course meal for 9€! I had gespacho soup to start ( I knew what that was and it as delicious!) and then a main course of chicken paella (my favorite Spanish dish of rice, chicken, veggies and spices like saffron). I ended with a Spanish caramel flab for dessert. Oh and some wine too.
In the middle of our dinner, a crazy old woman came to our patio table and tried to steal our bread and drink our wine! I kept telling her "no" (mon said I sounded like I was talking to a reception kid) until some old man walking by yelled at her and she left! It was a little intense!
We ended up just walkin around til he evening as it was sunny until like 9pm before we had a quick nap/shower before heading out for some sangria! We went to a nice patio in a big square and split a jug before moving on to try and find some food. As we were walkin we heard flamenco music and caught the tail end of a flamenco show. Ordered another sangria jarre, got some tapas and even some free tequila shots ( we were a little confused when they brought those over).
Now the day had been so good so far that I was doomed for some disaster. And that came in the way of me climbing up on my bunk in the dark and snapping my glasses in half!! If I got some tape I can so be Harry potter.
The second day in Madrid consisted of a walking and later tapas tour with "Sandeman New Europe Free Tours" (well they work for tips so it's a 5€ tour). I've been on the ones in London, Paris, Berlin, Amsterdam, and Dublin so I knew they were good. We toured around places like the royal palace, plaza major, and Plaza de la sol. We also learned about the history of Spain and the Spanish inquisition. Pretty informative and right up my ally. Plus our tour guide grew up near Lewisham so that was a pretty cool bonding point!
We ended up joining up with the tour guide again for his tapas tour (8€). We went to four tapas bars,with sangria and tapas included! Tapas is a small dish of food that is served wih your drink. Back in the day, the farmers could only afford either food or drink when they went to lunch (and if offered the choice between only one, most chose drinking cervesa!) therefore, when they returned to work after lunch they were not as productive! So the king made it law for bars and restaurants to serve some sort of small dish with every drink bought. It's not mandatory now but still customary ( but tourists often get charged money for tapas!). Anyways, we tried a whole bunch in Spain and my favorite has been either croquetas (deep fried cheese ham things that are kinda like mozza sticks) or patatas bravas (homefries in a spicy tomato sauce). But since I was trying new things, I even tried ox's tail cooked in chocolate (not bad) and escargot ( never again).
Next stop, Granada!!!!
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