Monday, July 21, 2008

MADRID: First Day

Yes, I'm ready now, here is post number one of my amazing vacation.
When I arrive at the Madrid airport, I give Bruno a call, and meet up with him. The first thing we notice at the airport after greetings and hugs is an oddly titled snack shop.(Is that a classic photo or what? Yes, I am an artiste.) Lightly snacks? Whaa? I think Madrid will be entertaining.
Bruno reminds me that I will need a towel to use at the hostel, which I failed to bring. Our first stop is a big department store named El Corte Ingles to buy a towel. But first some tres chic washing machines caught our eyes:
I mean really, haven't you always wanted a pink washing machine? And it was named Smeg, no less. Sweeeet.
We wander around town to explore. We find a cool combination cafe/bar/bookstore (here I am at it, drinking a mojito--very popular in Spain),and happen upon this statue that has a definitely modern twist:Yes, the statues are beating each other up with 40s.
Later that night we meet up with a Flemish guy from the hostel (more on the hostel later) named Johan, and Bruno's hot cousin Aldo for dinner. Fun, but no photos, Johan goes back to the hostel early, while Bruno, Aldo, and I continue our evening at a cool coffee shop/bar that Bruno and I had discovered earlier that day:Okay, the hostel: I only spent one night there because it was ridiculous. I was staying in a girls' dorm, but the room had only one key. To share. Among six people. The idea was that when you leave or go to bed, you leave the key at the front desk so that your roommates can use it. But really, that didn't happen. One girl went to the bathroom with the key in her pocket, and left the door locked, locking everyone else out. Then the other girls left the room with the door open. Great. Apparently, some Japanese girls had their luggage stolen in just such a scenario the day before. So clearly, the key system didn't work. Lockers, you ask? Yes, there were some, but each time you opened them you had to insert 1 Euro. So I moved to an Ibis hotel for the remainder of my Madrid stay. Hostel: 16 Euros, Hotel Ibis: 90 Euros. But trust me, it was worth it!

3 comments:

Michelle Lasley said...

And the bathrooms? Trés petite? Sorry, I only know French and a little Italian...

Laura said...

Generally speaking, the bathroom were okay. Usually no soap though, but okay. Except for on the train. That was just disgusting!

Laura said...

I meant bathrooms. Typo.