Mi Amor Madrid

Well we just got back from Madrid on Sunday, so it's about time to update this blog.  Everyone at our school has to take the same British studies class and we had our first essay exam last Wednesday. I thought it went pretty well, but I guess we'll see when we get our scores back next week.  Due to the test, we did not have school on Thursday or Friday, so a lot of students took off to different places for the long weekend.

Candace, Veronica and I decided to go to Madrid, Spain to soak up some sun.  Overall, it was a fabulous weekend and we wish we could have stayed longer.  However, we did get off to somewhat of a rough start.  Earlier in the week we heard that there were strikes at the Spanish Airports that were scheduled to start on Wednesday, September 29th.  Some of our friends had their flights canceled so we were on edge all week hoping that we would get to go.  We were supposed to leave for the airport on Wednesday night after dinner and so far our plane was scheduled to take off.  As we were leaving the manor in the taxi, Candace realized that she had forgotten her passport so we had to turn around quick and get it (at least she realized then that she didn't have it and not at the airport..) We got to the train station with a couple minutes to spare and got on the next train towards London King's Cross.  We were supposed to get off in Peterburgh (the next stop) and get on another train straight to Stansted Airport.  Unfortunately, we got on the wrong train and it was not stopping in Peterburgh like we needed.  Oops.  So when the train conductor came and asked for our tickets, we obviously didn't have the right tickets.  We explained what happened and he printed us out a new itinerary so that we would be able to get to Stansted in time.  We had a lot of train changes, took the London tube for a short time, and eventually got to the airport only 10 minutes after we were originally scheduled to be there.

We spent the night at the airport and left for Spain in the morning.  Our plane was delayed a couple hours, but we ended up getting to Madrid around 3:00 PM.  We bought a weekend pass for the Metro and took that to our hostel.  Then we took off to explore the city.  The night life in Madrid is fascinating and we had a great time enjoying the nice weather and watching the sunset on the city.  We turned in early to our hostel since we were pretty tired from not getting much sleep the night before.

Friday we woke up at 9 and got our free breakfast from the Hostel.  Then it was shopping time.  We spent a couple hours shopping and found some really good deals on clothes.  At 2:00 PM some of the stores closed so we decided to go back to our hostel and tan for a little bit.  Our hostel had a rooftop patio so we were able to lay up there for a couple hours and soak up the sun.  Friday night we met up with a friend of a friend who lives in Madrid.  He took us to a park that overlooked all of Madrid and we watched the sun set on the city, it was gorgeous!  Then he took us back to his house and we made dinner and met his parents.  Later that night we went to a club called stardust.  We stayed out almost all night and managed to make it back to our beds by 6 AM (I guess that's why they need  a siesta in the afternoon).  

Saturday we woke up after four hours of sleep to get our breakfast and then we went back to sleep.  At 1 PM we moved up to the rooftop again and tanned for a couple more hours.  We finally left the hostel around 6 PM on Saturday and did some more sightseeing and shopping.  After a while we met up with our friend, Javier, again.  He brought us to a typical Spanish restaurant where we had Tapas.  We tried pigs ear and potatoes with a special sauce.  Needless to say, I mostly ate the potatoes.  We called it a night by midnight so we could get some sleep before our early flight home on Sunday.

Sunday morning we caught a shuttle to the airport at 3:25 AM.  We waited at the airport for a while and our flight left at 6:40 AM.  We got back to Stansted airport and took the train back to Grantham in time for lunch on Sunday afternoon.  Overall it was a fabulous trip and it was nice to be in 80 degree weather for a couple days.  This week is already flying by and my mom is leaving tomorrow to come visit me!!  Candace, Veronica and I are going to London on Thursday night to spend the weekend with my mom and her girlfriend, Toni.  They rented a flat close the London eye so I'm sure we'll do some more sightseeing and shopping and I can't wait!

Until next time.. Cheers!