Where to begin....I feel like I've done SO much in the past two days. I've managed to go almost all the places I intended to (except the museums, which I plan to do later)---El Real Palacio (the Royal Palace), including the Real Armeria (Royal Armery) and the Real Farmacia (Royal Pharmacy) and the Jardines de Sabatini (the gardens), la Plaza Oriente, la Plaza Mayor, el Parque de Buen Retiro (basically their version of Central Park, which includes El Palacio de Cristal--The Crystal Palace--and the Monument of Alfonso XII), El Paseo del Prado (a nice walking area next to El Prado Museum), El Jardin Botanico (The Botanical Garden), El Fuente de Neptuno (Neptune's Fountain), La Puerta de Alcala, La Plaza de Espana and its Cervantes monument.....and probably some other stuff that I can't remember now. Everything is named "Plaza" or "Puerta," so it seems like everything is important. Just look at the pictures--they can tell a better story than I can.
My first tapas experience didn't go completely as planned. Elena planned to take me with her and her friends to her favorite tapas place, El Tigre, which I'm pretty sure is near Chueca--the gay neighborhood of Madrid. However, when we got there it was closed due to the the Metro being on strike. What great timing! Elena has lived in near Madrid for 15 years and has never heard of a Metro strike..oh well. It only means (once again...) that I have to walk everywhere, instead of only paying about 2 Euros for a whole day of riding the Metro. Oh well...Que sera, sera. (I'm getting pretty good at finding my around since I'm mostly walking, and I think its the best way to get to know a city anyways.) Soooooo... instead of El Tigre, we went to El Museo del Jamon. Yes, thats right...literally translated it means "Museum of Ham." There weren't many tapas choices that weren't ham, as you would expect, but we did have some bread, a plate of ham, cheese, sausage, and a couple of canas (the local word for a draft beer). Another common snack is called a "bocadillo." Usually its just ham, just cheese, or a mix of both on a roll...but I LOVE THEM. And when I call it ham, its only because thats the translation. Its actually jamon, and I LOVE jamon. Its very similar to prosciutto..very thinly sliced and salty. I could eat it everyday....and I have.
Something else I love about Spain so far is that everyone expects you to take a siesta. In fact, when I was walking around with Elena and some other pharmacy students from la Universidad de Alcala after tapas y canas, one of them asked me if I had taken my siesta today. When I said no, she was like "ooohh nooo, you must be exhausted." Haha..these are my kind of people. Naps are not something you want but you need. I wonder if I'll ever leave...
Everyone hears about how Mediterranean men are very forward, and while I don't think Spanish men are as bad as Italian men, I have had a few encounters (nothing to worry about Mom and Dad, they are very respectful about it...). I've had several men walk past me and say something complimentary to me, a few of which have grabbed my hand while doing so. They don't do it forcefully, just very softly as they pass by. Its strange to get used to, but I try to just keep walking, not turn around and not make eye contact..thats what I've heard works best.
Today I took some time to do some shopping on the La Gran Via (my hotel is right on the corner of this street and La Calle de Montera--where ironically the prostitutes like to hang out; once again Mom and Dad, its safe. They're harmless and I've seen more police in Madrid than in any other city, especially on this street..). During the month of July (and also in January), almost all the stores in Spain have a huge sale, called las rebajas. Its the best time to shop, and I'm so glad the entire time I'll be in Spain it'll be going on :) .
