It's quarter till eleven and I'm just settling in back home after a wonderful weekend in Madrid! Mimi, Sarah and I arrived at the Madrid airport at 5:15 on Friday afternoon where Patterson so kindly picked us up. After a long metro ride into the center of the city, we checked into our hostel, Hostal Esparteros, where Mimi, Sarah and I shared a triple. Much to our surprise, the hostel was pretty nice and much like a homestay. The owner was constantly checking on us, helping us out with directions, and even giving us advice on how to avoid being pickpocketed (something I could have used a week earlier!).
Patterson and Me at the Royal Palace
The three of us then left with Patterson to go to La Tosta, which was a restaurant that Sarah's spanish professor recommended. While there, we had the best sangria I have EVER had. We then went to O'Connells, which was a pub around the corner that had great drink specials. Neither Patterson nor I liked the prices at O'Connells, so we left for a while and went to a local bar called El Secreto. We became instant friends with the bartenders who were Phillipino, and were able to add them to the list of all of the international friends we now have (it's become quite the joke!) Our final destination was the Bourbon Cafe, which was located right beside the Puerta del Sol. The whole environment was a little weird: the employees were dressed in funny costumes, the music was interesting (i.e. ABBA, which is not typical Spanish bar music), and no one was hitting on any of us American girls. On Saturday morning, when we were recapping the evening, we FINALLY out the pieces together...it was a gay bar! Needless to say, we had so much fun and that is truly an experience we will never forget!
On Saturday, we did a lot of touring around the city. We started off at the Palacio Real, which is the Royal Palace. Next, we went to the Plaza Mayor where we enjoyed a delicious lunch on the terrace in the center of the Plaza. We eventually made our way to Park Retiro which was my favorite part of the afternoon. The park was so beautiful and full of trees and grass (something I really miss about home!). It was particularly fun because we went to the exact spot where a scene from the Bachelorette was filmed last season. While Mimi and Grace Perry (who also came to Madrid with her boyfriend Paul) went to the Prado museum, the rest of the group got a tour of Leah David's apartment where she is living for the semester.
Park Retiro
Park Retiro
On Saturday night, my big moment finally arrived! I was reunited with Elena Guerrero Izquierdo, who participated in the Charlotte Latin/Colegio de Nuestra Senora de Loreto exchange program with me 5 years ago. Elena hosted Brent Price so I spent a lot of time with her in both Madrid and back in Charlotte. She is truly the nicest girl in the world and happens to be drop dead gorgeous. As we ate dinner together, I sat in disbelief that I was reunited with a girl who I never thought I would see again! Unfortunately, Elena is in the middle of exams, so she had to go home when the rest of us went out for the evening. We left VIPS (the restaurant we ate at) and returned to El Secreto with our whole group. Saturday night was much more low key, but it was still very fun.
Patterson and I with Elena!
Reunited after 5 years!
On Sunday, I had another important date...I was reunited with my host sisters from high school! My Spanish phone died as soon as I arrived in Madrid so I had a lot of trouble communicating with them, but thanks to facebook, we were able to make plans at the last minute. We met in the center of Puerta del Sol and ate lunch at Museo del Jamon, which is a popular restaurant in Madrid with typical Spanish food. I could not believe that I was able to see my two sisters (Cristina and Camino) and Elena all in one weekend. I had such a wonderful 48 hours and am sad that the weekend is over!
Camino and Cristina, my host sisters from high school!
I hope you all had a wonderful weekend. Happy Valentine's Day!
P.S. Aunt Terri, thank you for all of your sweet comments, they always make me so happy! Hugs to you too!
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