Madrid

Arriving in Spain was the hardest part. Nothing about an 8 hour flight that begrudges barely 3 hours of sleep is easy. I surfed the Metro down to Puerto del Sol, the center of the city, and walked into Hostel Metropol that had a room for me, with two other American girls, no less. After a 3 hour nap, the girls took me down to the biggest art museum, the Prado, where we nabbed the 2 free hours right before they close. The most impressive thing I noticed as we walked were the glorious and extravagant fountains that are placed in the center of the main intersections. There are so many! I went back to the hostel and slept for another 12 hours, and by the next morning I felt totally free of jet lag.

Since the hostel was full for the next night, I found a hotel 20 minutes away that was open and I explored the neighborhood nearby for most of the afternoon. In the evening, I metro'ed back to Puerto del Sol and found the nostalgic Plaza Mayor, surrounded on all sides by tall apartment buildings and paved with cobblestones, echoing a humble pre-industrial Spain. The Plaza was full of a Mexico festival, complete with Frida Kahlo, Our Lady of Guadalupe and margaritas. I wandered the nearby streets for a while, and finally picked a spot for sangria and chorizo tapas. The best part of the day was that I had chorizo for breakfast, lunch and dinner (no kidding!). I think I've satisfied my craving enough...

...because today I branched out to gazpacho. This morning I took a bus from Madrid to Granada and found Hostel Rambutan, which Cristina had recommended to me. Its front porch looks directly onto La Alhambra (if you haven't heard of it, google it) which lights up beautifully at night. One can also see most of downtown Granada, which I spent the day wandering. This is the city that Isabel and Ferdinand ruled from when they united Spain and granted Columbus the funding to travel to the Americas. I plan to spend the next 3 nights here, and then... who knows.

Forgive the absence of pictures... I haven't come prepared for the backdated computers I'm using. Also, I've been told that postcard stamps to the US add up to over $1, so I am considering writing them.. and then mailing them when I get home.

Buenos noches