The Rain in Spain ...
... appears to be mainly in Madrid! It rained for the entire 4 days we were there, and was also quite cold, so our impressions of the city were definitely altered by that!! We arrived at 7:30 am, dumped luggage, and found that it was cold and raining!! This was a bit of a culture shock after the warmth and sun of Barcelona, and we felt like we were back in Denmark - not an auspicious start to a new city!!!
We went to the Plaza de Sol, wandered, shopped and relaxed, and then made it to our apartment at 2 to check in, to find that the lessee wasn't there, as he was still at the airport! So we found a nearby pub to dry off, and he arrived at 3, but had to clean til 5! The day just appeared to be completey derailed, so our solution was to get haircuts!! My instruction to the hairdresser, whose English wasn't very good, was 'shorter, layered, and whatever you think is best' - and this is it!! I actually really like it, it's quite fun and funky, and I can do a lot with it, so it's nice to have a change!! And it only cost 11 Euros for a cut, wash and blowdry - bargain!!
Madrid was where we met our lovely Canadian girls, Alison and Ashley, who had had their own travel adventure, travelling via Berlin to reach Madrid - their plane in Berlin was boarded by the German police, to arrest one of the passengers!! So they were very glad to be in Spain, so after settling in, we went out for a late dinner, and then off to bed. Our apartment in Madrid was unfortunately not as nice as the one in Barcelona - not only did we not all have our own keys, which meant that we had to constantly stick together in groups to be able to get back into the building, but the shower curtain did nothing to stop the deluge of water on the bathroom floor, which with 7 people and constant rain soon resembed a wading pool! It was also only a one bedroom place, so 5 of us were on mattresses on the living room floor. However, it was close to everything, and it was still nice to have our own place to relax, chat and drink!!
On Wednesday we went to Museo de Prado, which has one of Europe's finest collections of art, including lots of Greco and Roman sculpture, lots of Raphael and Valesquez etc, and lots of religious paintings - there was a lot of Jesus in our day!! We also managed to talk our way into free entry, as students studying in the EU are entitled to it, and as we study in Denmark, which is part of the EU, it all worked out well!!
Then to the Museo de Sophia, which is a modern art museum, where we found some of Picasso and Dali: The Later Years, which complemented our Barcelona art experiences nicely!! We relaxed at home for far too long, venturing out for dinner at midnight, then we wandered to random rock bar til 3am.
My lovely travelling companions - Alison, Ben, Ashley, Charlotte, Jade and me - Mel is taking the photo.
On Thursday, we slept in, apart from Charlotte, who unfortunately had to return to Aarhus for a meeting for a law moot she is participating in, and then had a relaxed tapasy type lunch, with an awesome salad - although I love tapas, it is mainly meat and cheese, so it's nice to see some fruit and vegies every now and then!! We visited the Spanish palace, and a lovely cathedral next door, and did a spot of shopping.
The Palace
More Palace
The Cathedral
Some of the buildings in Madrid are just amazing - they are banks and shopping centres, but so old and ornate!!
It's often hard to get a balance between good Spanish food and a good price, and avoid lots of touristy places, however we did find that often a 12 Euro meal would be good food, mostly Spanish, and definitely a good price - soup, bread, lamb and vegies, a glass of wine, then nice pudding for dessert, all for the equivalent of $20 Aussie dollars - a nice deal!!
Friday was our last day in Madrid, so we found some great Spanish coffee, then made our way to the bus to Granada, which showed "The Terminal" dubbed in Spanish, and then "Ladder 49", which the kind bus driver gave English subtitles for us!! (although this was a terrible movie - very American hero focused, lazy script, lazy acting - relaxing to watch on a bus, though!) We arrived around 10pm in Granada - see next post for the final Spanish instalment!!
We went to the Plaza de Sol, wandered, shopped and relaxed, and then made it to our apartment at 2 to check in, to find that the lessee wasn't there, as he was still at the airport! So we found a nearby pub to dry off, and he arrived at 3, but had to clean til 5! The day just appeared to be completey derailed, so our solution was to get haircuts!! My instruction to the hairdresser, whose English wasn't very good, was 'shorter, layered, and whatever you think is best' - and this is it!! I actually really like it, it's quite fun and funky, and I can do a lot with it, so it's nice to have a change!! And it only cost 11 Euros for a cut, wash and blowdry - bargain!!
Madrid was where we met our lovely Canadian girls, Alison and Ashley, who had had their own travel adventure, travelling via Berlin to reach Madrid - their plane in Berlin was boarded by the German police, to arrest one of the passengers!! So they were very glad to be in Spain, so after settling in, we went out for a late dinner, and then off to bed. Our apartment in Madrid was unfortunately not as nice as the one in Barcelona - not only did we not all have our own keys, which meant that we had to constantly stick together in groups to be able to get back into the building, but the shower curtain did nothing to stop the deluge of water on the bathroom floor, which with 7 people and constant rain soon resembed a wading pool! It was also only a one bedroom place, so 5 of us were on mattresses on the living room floor. However, it was close to everything, and it was still nice to have our own place to relax, chat and drink!!
On Wednesday we went to Museo de Prado, which has one of Europe's finest collections of art, including lots of Greco and Roman sculpture, lots of Raphael and Valesquez etc, and lots of religious paintings - there was a lot of Jesus in our day!! We also managed to talk our way into free entry, as students studying in the EU are entitled to it, and as we study in Denmark, which is part of the EU, it all worked out well!!
Then to the Museo de Sophia, which is a modern art museum, where we found some of Picasso and Dali: The Later Years, which complemented our Barcelona art experiences nicely!! We relaxed at home for far too long, venturing out for dinner at midnight, then we wandered to random rock bar til 3am.
My lovely travelling companions - Alison, Ben, Ashley, Charlotte, Jade and me - Mel is taking the photo.On Thursday, we slept in, apart from Charlotte, who unfortunately had to return to Aarhus for a meeting for a law moot she is participating in, and then had a relaxed tapasy type lunch, with an awesome salad - although I love tapas, it is mainly meat and cheese, so it's nice to see some fruit and vegies every now and then!! We visited the Spanish palace, and a lovely cathedral next door, and did a spot of shopping.
The Palace
More Palace
The CathedralSome of the buildings in Madrid are just amazing - they are banks and shopping centres, but so old and ornate!!
It's often hard to get a balance between good Spanish food and a good price, and avoid lots of touristy places, however we did find that often a 12 Euro meal would be good food, mostly Spanish, and definitely a good price - soup, bread, lamb and vegies, a glass of wine, then nice pudding for dessert, all for the equivalent of $20 Aussie dollars - a nice deal!!
Friday was our last day in Madrid, so we found some great Spanish coffee, then made our way to the bus to Granada, which showed "The Terminal" dubbed in Spanish, and then "Ladder 49", which the kind bus driver gave English subtitles for us!! (although this was a terrible movie - very American hero focused, lazy script, lazy acting - relaxing to watch on a bus, though!) We arrived around 10pm in Granada - see next post for the final Spanish instalment!!
posted by Laura B @ 6:50 pm
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