Arrived in Madrid Friday morning and spent a little while trying to find a hostel to stay at. Finally, we found a pretty cheap hostel and the person working there when we arrived was really cool. Madrid as a city could be anywhere in the world, not specifically Spain. We didn’t see anything really to make us feel we were in Spain. Before going there, I didn’t really know much about the country except they had bull-fights. However, when we got there, they didn’t have any going on (although I probably wouldn’t have went since personally I think it’s cruel). The first day there, we checked out the big park in the city. Not too interesting. Later in the day, we continued to do some wandering. I ended it with an early night.

Puerta de Alcalá.

Parque del Buen Retiro.

The next day, we went and checked out the Prado Museum. Pretty cool, lots of paintings. During the night, we went to a bar close to our hostel and meet a random guy there who had lived abroad and just recently returned to Madrid. From there, we went to a club and met a bunch of chicks. Unfortunately, while a great time was had whilst at the club, when we left, the language barrier permitted us from meeting up with them afterwards because we didn’t get the correct address. Nevertheless, it was still a good night (and plenty of pictures to prove it). The next day, we had to check out but we still had the entire day to soak in Madrid since our bus to Barcelona wasn’t until 11PM that night. We ended up going to the flea market (where I got a really kick-ass mini tripod for my digital camera) and then to the other museum, the Sofia, and checked out the Picasso exhibit that was being held there. I found some of his stuff to be quite out there but some of his stuff was also really, really good.

The bar.

At the flea market.

Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía.

Sculpture at the Sofía.

Afterwards, we took the metro to the bull-fighting ring in La Ventas was, but we couldn’t go in. There was a circus going on, actually. Not a very eventful trip by all accounts. Later on in the day, we went to the Royal Palace and the Cathedral and then night fell so it was time to catch our bus. The bus to Barcelona was horrible. We thought we were smart to take an overnight bus from Madrid to Barcelona so we could sleep on the bus and not have to pay for a night’s accommodation. However, the sleep was bad and we were a little disoriented when we got off the bus and had to try to find the hostel we booked with. Eventually, we found our way and checked in.

Plaza de Toros de Las Ventas.

I got the bull by the horns.

Catedral de la Almudena.

Plaza de la Armería.

Since we got to Barcelona very early, we had the entire day to check out the city. We went and checked out the cathedrals and got to the main part of the town and it was really nice. They have shops all lined up on the streets and down the middle, there’s a pedestrian strip and there’s lots of outdoor patio restaurants. In the evening, I finally had some real Spanish food. Had dinner at one of the outdoor patio restaurants and ordered myself a paella. It was alright, not the best in the world, but I enjoyed it. Today, we went to Parc Güell and checked out the sights. Saw the lizard and some nice architecture. This guy Antoni Gaudi pretty much designed most of Barcelona, it seems.

Temple de la Sagrada Família.

Paella, a traditional Spanish dish.

In Park Güell.

Standing in front of the mosaic dragon.

Arc de Triomf.

Tomorrow, we catch a flight to Rome, Italy. Totally excited about finally getting to visit Italy. We’re going to start off in Rome and then go to Florence and Venice. Hurrah for vacations!