MADRID! 6 -8 novembre

So, the last few weeks have been CRAZY busy, with traveling and a lot of random loads of homework all of a sudden. Therefore I have totally slacked on this!!
But I must recount the last few amazing weeks I have had.

The weekend after fall break, I packed my bag (more like small backpack-score), to l'Espane! Specifically, Madrid, to visit my best friend Hillary. She met me at the airport well welcoming arms. It was so nice to see her, just gives me a such a great taste of home! We headed back on the metro to her stop, Manuel, and immediately, being such the Spaniard that she is, took me to a little cafeteria, right near where she lives, for a quick sangria and tapas! Already, I learned about this tapas life they have in Madrid, where these small cafeterias are scattered everywhere, you can just order a drink and enjoy bites of little pieces of food. I'm with Hillary for 30 minutes, and already we're stopping for something to drink. The sangria was large and tasty, and immediately I was feeling the Spanish culture! Oh boy! We then headed to her building, where she lives with a host family like me, and luckily I was able to stay with her while her host family was away. Quickly, we met up with her real parents to were also visiting Hillary in Madrid. So it was me and the Bell clan for the weekend. We got to meet her wonderful "senora," as they call her, who was truly amazing! Sooo much different than my Madame back in France. Hahaha. Her senora Theresa talked to us all in Spanish and forced us to eat pineapple and kiwi in a way I've never seen before. We then headed out to dinner, the four of us, after taking a long time to eat a restaurant, because apparently dinner is not really big thing in Madrid, instead people munch on tapas on the time! Crazy! We found a cute place and enjoyed a the Spanish cuisine. Hill and I headed back to her apartment to get ready so she could show me the crazy Spanish nightlife! Its normal for people to not head out until 12 or 1 am. That's pretty much the height of our nights over here in Strasbourg. We headed out to the area called Sol, a busy area with tons of people out a night, beautiful buildings and large nightlife. People stay out here till 5 am until the clubs close and then wait for the metro to start up again at 6, while eating churos with chocolate as people head to work. haha crAZY. We spent the night out with her Madrid friends at a place called Joy, huge and busy, and made it back around 5. Well, I guess you can't always stay out untill 6:30.



The next day, we planned a packed day of exploring Madrid with our great tour guide. I probably can't really name all the places we stopped through, with Hillary just leading us around the city. We did see this huge wall covered in greenery next to a random architecture museum. We saw Plaza Meyor, a huge pretty plaza filled with people and some of the creepiest street performers I have ever seen. We stopped at the market San Mercado, a large indoor, very modern market that has apparently been there forever. It was bustling, seriously, with people ordering tapas and drinks everywhere!!!!!!! Hillary's parents, celebrating their 25th anniversary, shared a bottle of champagne with us, taking in the Spanish culture. It was a great time. We then went to explore some other large plazas around the city and checked out the big shopping streets that are covered with beautiful buildings and great stores. Picking up my first shopping purchase while in Europe, yay!

We headed out for a late dinner that night after finally finding a restaurant and it was a great time. We headed back home afterwards, me being completely exhausted from the past two weeks, since I had been traveling for 10 days just 4 days before hand. I headed out early the next morning to head back to Strasbourg, well actually Basel, Switzerland, and then a train to Strasbourg. Spain was definitely amazing and I would love to go back and see more after my quick trip there!