Que Magnifico!

Hola from a full day of Madrid (Mathrid)...apparently V's sound as B's and D and/or C sound as "th", which we somewhat learned in high school Spanish but is very obvious here. Anywho, today started bright and early (around 9 to catch the free breakfast, holler!) with a shower (finally)...oh, and everything is on a timer here...not a motion sensor timer but one that you have to push: the shower:about 45 seconds, lights in bathroom: 2 minutes, etc. Taking a shower in dorm-esque bathrooms is quite the experience with timers.

Annnyyywwaaayy, we started the day on the trip to pick up our tickets to tonight's bullfight (happy bday Steve!). This, just fyi, is no small trip...it's about an hour walking there (my ankles are bruising). What she fails to mention is that its an hour walking for locals, but for tourists its like 3, between turning around, looking at the map, and using park benches, it takes a HOT minute. We stopped at the estacion de tren (train station) to get our Eurail tickets for tomorrow's travel a Valencia. There is an actual rain forest inside the train station, equipped with lush plants and constant mists, very unusual. We had pretty good luck with the woman at the desk though, who spoke NO inglis, at all. We managed. Then we made our way to Goya plaza to pick up our tickets (another time for telling them I spoke un poco Espanol (very little Spanish), haha. Another smooth experience though. Aside from making it almost all the way to the other end of this Calle/Road (an exceptionally LOOONNGGG one), before realizing that we we're going to the wrong location. Luckily, we had a bit more sleep and could manage.

We then tried to see El Rastro which is a flea market that's highly acclaimed in several travel books. We seemed to have gone during "el siesta" and missed it. We did however walk through the slums (picture at right), and I mean scary, of Madrid...again, no pick pocketers, or even approachers, Thank God. Apparently on our map, this area becomes a black hole, and streets are not labeled, chruches are not mentioned, and really sketchy people just watch as you walk by. Luckily, since I have the skin of every nationality in the world and Erin has the fashion sense of a skinny jean wearing European, we don't get bothered much. Ohhh, and not once, but TWICE, we've been approached by locals (or visitors from other cities) for direcciones...why?, you ask, because we look like locals. Including Steve's dark skin, we have no luggage, bookbags, camera around our neck, etc...and we speak rando Spanish phrases (that we learned by hearing) throughout the day; Steve is especially fond of this. To Jame, I am speaking in basically the same way I do Italian, just stringing together sounds that really appear authentic to the untrained ear, but in fact mean nothing. BUT, after seeing the dead El Rastro, we ate at an adorable restaurant, El CLAN, where we met Mary Lee's husband I took the picture of him for you, and you will thank me haha, the English speaking, very helpful, career waiter (around 40 years old). We had artichoke gratin and risotto with mushroom, muy delicioso! We also fed the mini birds who tend to join the table for bread crumbs :) This is Erin's thing, I only did it once and that was sitting outside the museo del prato, which I will attribute to exhaustion. *and on that note, there are muchos perros pequenos (lots o' mini dogs) EVERYWHERE! adorable. And, no leashes. Benny would be FREE AT LAST. The only difference being these dogs walk beside very busy roads without wandering (no comments from the peanut gallery, por favor (please)).

After enjoying our lunch (and learning, FINALLY, how to ask for the check (la cuenta, por favor FYI) we made our way to La Plaza Mayor (picture). Muy Bonita! It included artists, cafes, restaurants, and the other tourists...it's becoming all too common to walk up to a seeming local person and ask for a picture or suggestion in Spanish and have them speak back to you in English, haha, hilar.

After milling around town, we took the metro to the Plaza de Toros (Bull Plaza-picture at top) where the bullfights occur. It was awesome and apparently a huge deal (crowd equivalent to a Carolina game), even to locals. The title is from one of mine and Steve's faux Spanish interjections, Que Magnifico (how magnificient), although unsure about whether it was good or bad. More to come later (with pictures and a video!).

Finally, after four hours of bullfighting which by the way doesn't have very many dull moments, but the cheering and booing is rather confusing. I feel like I couldn't tell if I was supposed to cheer for the bull or the guy (and anxiously stopping by a convenient store for lots of water and a "Trina" brand orange soda-shout out to mi madre), we had a breakfast (huevos, jamon y patatas) for dinner (and communicated in full Spanish). Delish!

Tomorrow is Valencia, but not before a three hour train ride and being lost in a city all over again. Deal. Adios!