MADRID!!!

Inside el Museo del Prado

Hola! I just spent Friday through Sunday in Madrid...and it was amazing!!! We took a bus Friday morning from Toledo and after a short hour we arrived in Spain's capital! Our first stop was El Museo Nacional del Prado, one of the most famous art museums in the world! We saw masterpieces such as Christ washing the Disciples' Feet by Tintoretto, The Garden of Earthy Delights by Heironymous Bosch, Las Meninas by Velázquez, The Third of May: the Executions on Príncipe Pío by Goya, and more! We couldn't take pictures inside :( but here is a picture from Google! The Fund organized a guided tour for us; however, the guide spoke Spanish the whole time and it was difficult to keep up with. I personally wish we could have explored the museum by ourselves so we could read the descriptions next to each work of art. With that said, I still felt very fortunate to be there in the first place!

After touring the museum we went to a delicious buffet to get some energy for the rest of the day! We then checked in at our hostel, which was surprisingly pretty nice! It was very clean and the lobby decorations were a little gaudy but beautiful at the same time!

Cat's Hostel in Madrid

Afterwards we decided to go out and explore the city. We strolled down La Gran Vía, a huge street that is reminiscent of Michigan Avenue in Chicago. There were so many shops! I bought a pair of sunglasses from a gigantic H&M and we also went into several boutique shoe stores. Besides that, we spent some time watching a magician in La Puerta del Sol, a plaza where many people gather to spend time together or watch street performers. 

Magician at La Puerta del Sol

While it was only about 10pm at that point, our night was just beginning! We came back to the hostel to get ready for El Kapital, one of the biggest discotecas (night clubs) in Madrid! It has 7 floors with a different theme on each one! The club opens at 12am, many people arrive at 3am, and it closes at 6am. It's much different from America, right?! Perhaps the siesta in the middle of the day gives Spaniards a little more energy to party until 6am...but it's loco! We heard that the later you arrive to El Kapital, the more expensive it becomes, so we arrived promptly at 11:30pm to wait in line. Apparently we were a little eager...nobody was in line that early. So what else to do but go to McDonald's right down the street?! 

Muerte por chocolate=death by chocolate in this McCafe!
Why can't they be like this in the USA?!

I want European McDonald's in Ohio pronto!

First people on the dance floor...
CAN I GET A WHOOP, WHOOP?!

Before we knew it, 12am rolled around and we finally got into El Kapital. Not many people were there at that point, so we decided to explore each of the 7 floors before they got too crowded. After doing so, Sarah, Sasa, and I were the first ones to walk onto the main dance floor. We acted silly and pulled out some amazing dance moves...which resulted in more people coming to join us! Let me just say...WE STARTED THE BIGGEST PARTY EVER...IN MADRID, SPAIN EVEN!!! After a little dancing, we went to the Karaoke floor and sang Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody." Singing this song was by far one of the proudest moments I've had in Spain thus far! Haha we "air guitar'ed," sang opera, and flailed around the whole time. People from all over the world were in the audience...and they all joined in to sing with us! THEY LOVED IT!!! I had so much fun!!!

Near the El Kapital entrance!

Running on 5 hours of sleep, we went to venture the city all day on Saturday. First we went to La Catedral de Santa María la Real de la Almudena. It was the most beautiful cathedral I have ever seen in my life! I couldn't believe my eyes!

Incredible organ!

Outside El Palacio Real! 

Next to the Cathedral was El Palacio Real, which is the official residence of Spain's Royal Family but is only used for state ceremonies. While former kings and queens lived there, the current Royal Family lives in a palace on the outskirts of Madrid. Nevertheless, this palace was certainly more extravagant than anyone could possibly imagine! Unfortunately we were not allowed to take pictures inside, but check out this Google image to get an idea of what it's like!

Throne Room of El Palacio Real

Shortly after our tours around the most beautiful buildings I've ever seen, we walked through La Plaza Mayor, one of Spain's most famous plazas. We did a little souvenir shopping while we were there! I can't wait to show my grandma what I got her...but for fear that she may read this before I come home...I can't say more!

La Plaza Mayor!

Our next stop was El Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, another extremely famous museum in Spain. It was here that we saw the renowned Guernica, Pablo Picasso's painting in response to the bombing of Guernica (the city) during the Spanish Civil War. Again...no pictures allowed...but here's one from Google! :) 

Picasso's Guernica 

By this time of the day we were exhausted and sunburnt...so what else to do but go to El Retiro, a huge park in the middle of Madrid! We relaxed on shaded benches for a little while and people-watched/dog-watched until we got so hungry that we absolutely had to find a restaurant. As we neared our hostel we found a nice little restaurant and finally got some food! The waiter spoke English to us at first, but we immediately told him we have to practice Spanish and that we cannot talk in English anymore! He teased me because of my accent the whole time, but it was all in good fun! :) He was very friendly and made sure we enjoyed our time there!

Fountain in El Retiro Park

That about wraps about Saturday...so now on to Sunday! Sunday morning we went to a Pixar exhibit and learned more about the process of animation in movies such as Monsters, Inc., Finding Nemo, Up, and more! We then went to El Rastro, a huge outdoor market that takes place every Sunday morning. We were overwhelmed by the amount of people there...and we heard of several pick-pocket attempts within our group of friends, so we decided it would be better to just grab a quick lunch. I still found some time to buy myself a beautiful hand painted fan, however! 

Pixar Exhibition!

For lunch we had some ham and cheese pizza--ham is a huge deal here...they have ham EVERYWHERE I tell you! And then before long we had to catch a bus back to Toledo. We navigated the bus and metro systems beautifully and I was back in sweet home Toledo several hours before dinner! While Madrid exhausted us, it also intrigued me and made me feel like the luckiest girl in the world. I still can't believe I spent a weekend in Madrid...IS THIS REAL LIFE?! 

I'll have more to share later, but adiós for now! 

Picture credits:
http://travelioo.com/images/spain/museo-del-prado
http://uniglobalexotic.com/2010/01/10/exotics-latest-madrid/
http://www.museoreinasofia.es/en/collection/artwork/guernica
http://www.madridsmartrentals.com/en/pixar-25-years-animation/