Madrid & Toledo

Hello, hello!
the post for madrid and toledo is FINALLY DONE.... read below....


The weekend of October 28-30(this post is WAYY overdue i know) I went to Madrid and Toledo with Bianca, Bonnie, Jessica, and Lauren. It was super fun (asides from the return part of the trip...but more on that later). Enjoy the post :)

FRIDAY
A cold, wet and rainy start
Our flight was at 7:10 am, so we were up at 4:30 am to catch the metro then bus to the airport. Upon leaving Isabel's, Bianca and I were SOAKED from all the rain. It's hasn't rained much since we've been here, in fact, it's been unusually warm and dry according to Isabel. So, my bag and bottom of my jeans got soaking wet (thank goodness for my semi-functioning umbrella). We met up with Bonnie and Jessica (who live a metro stop away) at Balmes (the main street) and they were even MORE soaked. I mean literally drenched. They didn't think it would rain, or at least certainly not as hard as it was raining at that moment.Originally, we planned on taking the metro but it didn't open till 5:30 am, so we managed to flag down a taxi at 4:45 am (not that hard considering Spaniards party till the late hours of the morning). We split the fare and arrived on time for our flight. Then, Lauren (my friend that went with me to Geneva, Switzerland a month ago) met up with us at the gate. However, we flew Iberia Airlines and departed 45 minutes late (or as others would say are running on "Spanish time"). We all took a power nap and woke up to a chilly but sunny morning in Madrid (I was worried it would rain all weekend due to the weather forecast).

Arrival to Hostel, Exploring Puerta del Sol, & Lunch
For some reason, this was a very busy weekend in Spain such that the 5 of us had to split up into two groups and stay in two different hostels on Friday night (couldn't get it for Saturday night, so we stayed at the Holiday Inn and split it, but more on that later). Jessica and I stayed at the Way Hostel in Madrid and it was incredible! It's the best hostel I have ever stayed at and at only 16 euros a night, even better! If you're ever in Madrid and up for "roughing it" as my friends and I like to call it, I suggest the Way Hostel. Anyways, Jessica and I dropped off our bags and met Lauren, Bianca and Bonnie at Puerta del Sol to find something to eat. I bought a vegetarian falafel right off the main square at Maoz Vegetarian. After lunch, we explored the local neighborhoods and sites (e.g.  Royal Palace, Royal Theater, etc)

Streets of Madrid

Plaza near the Royal Theater

Artsy street signs!

View of Royal Theater

YUM-O!

Classic Chocolateria (famous for Chocolate con Churros!)

An Intellectual Evening

We walked hours and hours around Madrid. Although the metro is convenient, sometimes it´s so much better to let your feet be the metro and do the exploring on foot because not only do you so much asides from the touristy areas, but you also learn to orient yourself and become more familiar with the city. Anyways, so we heard the Prado Museum was free for students all day AND after 6 pm, so we prepped for our museum visit with a bit of Chocolate con Churros!

Chocolate con Churros

 After filling ourselves silly with chocolate con churros, we headed over to the Prado Museum. We only had about an hour before they closed and they didn't let us take photos, so we felt a bit rushed and limited. Either way, it was well worth seeing. We were so wiped out from the day, we headed back to our hostels. However, Lauren, Jessica and I were quite hungry around 11 pm so we went out for Tapas  - we felt like such locals having a late dinner!

Patatas Bravas with Aioli Sauce

Patatas Bravas with spicy tomato sauce (not spicy at all if you ask me!)

Salad

SATURDAY

A Picture Perfect Morning at El Parque del Buen Retiro
I slept decently at the hostel but it took me a while to fall asleep because I was too excited about my day trip to Toledo. I heard about Toledo through a Rick Steve´s DVD on Spain and if visiting Madrid, Toledo was a must see! Jessica and I spent the evening at the Way Hostel (which I highly recommend) while Bonnie, Bianca, and Lauren spent the night at some sketchy hostel on the other side of town. Jessica and I agreed to get an early start and had breakfast around 9 am, checked out at 9:30, but the staff at The Way Hostel were kind enough to let us leave our luggage there while we explored Toledo. 

Bonnie and Bianca weren´t feeling well the night before and Lauren went to Salamanca to visit a friend, so they were unable to join Jessica and I. Since we couldn´t get tickets until lunchtime, Jessica and I explored El Parque del Buen Retiro. For those of you who know me well, New York City is my favorite place in the whole world (asides from home and my grandmas house of course!), particularly Central Park. I don´t know if there was something particularly that magical about visiting this gorgeous park on a crisp autumn morning, but it blew Central Park right out of the water (no pun intended… you´ll see why in a few sentences because this park has a small lake). I can´t even describe how beautiful it is. It was like a city escape – I had completely forgotten I was in Spain´s capital. Check out the photos 

Autumn in Madrid sure is B-E-A utiful

Aah I just want to melt its so pretty!

Look at those gorgeous reds, yellows, oranges, and greens!

Me at El Parque del Buen Retiro

A fountain at El Parque del Buen Retiro

The mini-lake at El Parque del Buen Retiro

Me at the mini lake (recognize this pic? it´s my profile picture!)

Residents strolling through the park on a Saturday morning

Residents out for a boat ride. 

Trip to Toledo

But the two of us had a wonderful time in Toledo! We took the AVE train (Spain´s high speed train…I HIGHLY recommend it) to Toledo around noon, got there in 20 minutes (it was estimated to be 30 minutes) then took a bus to the center of town. Toledo is a beautiful and charming town nestled on the top of a hill and was the capital of Spain for quite some time. In fact, El Greco was so inspired by the town that he chose to live there.

I pretty much fell in love with Toledo. It was such a nice change of pace form Barcelona and was so historical, medieval, and just plain adorable! We were quite hungry once we arrived so we treated ourselves to a menu del dia from a local restaurant.

Fabulous potato soup with lemon, cilantro, and olive oil...deelish!

Grilled chicken with patatas

Flan

Restaurant where Jessica and I had lunch

Afterwards, we explored the little town on foot and taking pictures of every corner essentially. We entered little convents where you can order sweet treats, got free admission to the museums, and discovered all the nooks and crannies this charming little town has to offer. I can´t really describe how lovely it was, you´ll just have to see pictures for yourself 

Charming souveneir shops with locally crafted pottery

Beautiful Cathedral

Look at that craftsmanship!

A neighborhood in Toledo

A cute little street in Toledo

El Greco Museum

Beautiful view of Toledo at Sunset

You can see the Alcazar in Toledo (not to be confused with the one in Seville!)

Another cute street near the church in Toledo

While at the El Greco Museum, we ran into an American couple (who had taken the AVE as well to Toledo) and we exchanged stories about what brought us to Toledo, Spain, etc. For all you hopeless romantics out there(and I´m with ya!), wait for it …the guy proposed to his girlfriend at ……the ALHAMBRA in Granada. Jessica and I pretty much melted when they told us the story and she showed us the diamondS on her ring finger. Aahh soo cute!

As a little souveneir of our stay, Jessica and I each bought ourselves an authentic Spanish fan! I can´t wait to use mine on a blistering hot day. You like?


A fabulous stay at the Holiday Inn Madrid
Jessica and I managed to hit all the top sites in Toledo and arrived back in Madrid around 7 pm. We were SO exhausted from all the walking but it was really nice to spend a night at the Holiday Inn. We didn´t intend on staying there or depleting our bank accounts (it wasn´t that expensive when we split it… about 40 euros per person) but we couldn´t find a hostel to stay in for Saturday night since it was Halloween weekend. Although we weren´t too happy about paying so much for one night, it was well worth it! The Holiday Inn had Dove shower cream, shampoo, and conditioner. Let´s just say we all took very long showers that evening haha!

We caught up with Bonnie and Bianca and heard about their day. Around 10 or so, we were pretty hungry so we had dinner at an Italian restaurant across the street. They closed at midnight and we actually closed it! It was great, we reminisced about our days, thoughts about Spain, and tv shows and movies from the 1990´s. With our tummies full and feet exhausted, we all slept VERY well that evening. Not to mention, it was daylight savings on Sunday so we all slept in an extra hour.

SUNDAY
We all woke up well-rested and refreshed Sunday morning, not to mention we´d gained an hour (yay for an extra hour in Madrid!). Bonnie and Bianca went to the Parque del Buen Retiro as we suggested and Jessica and I checked out Placa Mayor for the coin and stamp market. There were some realy neat things to see. In fact, I met a very charming elderly man who had the most beautiful paintings I´d ever seen. I was dying to take home a large canvas painting but I could just imagine the headache I would have taking it with me through customs and/or the costs of mailing it. But, he was very kind and gave me a student discount on another painting I bought as a gift. Check out his beautiful work

Local coin and stamp market at Placa Mayor on Sundays

A collector selling his items at the Sunday Coin and Stamp Market

People enjoying the beautiful Sunday morning in Placa Mayor

A local artist capturing the embrace between a father and son

My painter! I bought a stunning picture from him as a gift. I would have GLADLY bought the large picture on the right with red flowers but customs would be a pain in the neck about it. 

Placa Mayor on a Sunday morning

With my painting wrapped up nicely in my bag, Jessica and I headed off to check out La Reina Sofia museum. Unfortunately,we only had an hour but got in for free and managed to see the highlights, even though we probably only saw 5% (it´s a HUGE museum). Afterwards, we met up with Lauren (who had just arrived from Salamanca on a morning bus) and had a quick lunch at a place called Montaditos, where you can order mini bocadillos for about 1 euro. It was quite tasy if I must say so myself!

Montaditos!

A hectic afternoon and trip home
Jessica and I still had to go back to the Holiday Inn to pick up our luggage so that we could arrive to the airport on time. We underestimated how long it would take to get back home on a Sunday (metros, buses, and all forms of public transit) run ridiculously slow and isntead of coming ever 5 or 10 mintues, come every 15 or 20. We managed to get our luggage and take a train back to the airport, but we should have paid extra and taken the taxi. Either way, we arrived at the airport at 4:15, about an hour and 15 minutes before our flight but we were cutting it close. The line was huge but a very nice Italian couple let us go first and explain our situation that we were running late. The lady at the checkout desk said she couldn´t print out our boarding passes because we wouldn´t make it. I asked her why since we were in the main terminal of Iberia. She replied, ¨"well, once you get through security, you have to take a 22 minute train ride to another terminal which will take you to your gate." I couldn´t believe it. Iberia never informed us that about this extra leg of the trip or that we would have to arrive even earlier (2.5 hours) to accomodate for this. She suggested we go to the Customer Service desk to buy another ticket. The lady at this desk was not nice at all and ended up ripping Jessica and I off by saying the only ticket available cost 200 euros. I refuse to EVER fly Iberia again and don´t recommend it to anyone. Bonnie and Bianca arrived a little over an hour and a half early and they were also refused their boarding pass. They may have gotten on the flight but the automated checkin refused to pritn otu their boarding pass and they kept trying several times (which also killed more time). They bought a 145 euro ticket via Vueling but had to wait an extra hour. not to mention, the iberia flight to barcelona (the one we just got ripped off by) left about 45 mintues late. I hate Iberia...with a passion!
But I also learned my lesson...for international airports, ALWAYS arrive at LEAST 2 hours if not 2.5 hours early. And for smaller airports, an hour and a half is plenty.

I had such a nice weekend but my experience at the airport was certainly no fun.