Hola de Madrid!!

Ahh Madrid. The beauty is only riveled by the heat. It is a tad bit warm. And when I say a tad, I mean obnoxiously scorchingly hot. But that is the least of my worries. So I arrived in Madrid Monday morning. It was so excited. Granted I was exhausted from my long trip and the lovely jet lag (only having two hours of night is something that really messes with you), but the trip here was good and we managed to make it to the hotel in one piece, so life couldn´t have been better. Our hotel is quite nice. Right in the heart of Madrid. It has a balcony with a beautiful view. Only problem is the intense lack of AC in this place. And when it is 95 degress plus, that makes it a little difficult to relax in.

The first day we arrived, after taking a nice nap we started adventuring. We mangage to stumble upon El Parque de Retiro...which is more or less like the central park of Madrid. It is huge and beautiful. It was so nice to just relax there and people watch. We also mad our way in the opposite direction towards Puerta del Sol which is a huge commercial district with more stores of every sort than you could imagine. Tons of cute little jewelry stands and the like. I´ve been back there numerous times and it is so nice. For dinner we dined at this lovely resturant outside with the nicest waiter. We spilt a pitcher of Sangria and just relaxed outside for more than two hours.

The next day other people from our group started to arrive. The day was filled with more adventuring and taking in the sights. We found Plaza Mayor which is so beautiful.

Yesterday was the first day of traveling around with our group and a tour guide to take in the sights. We first went to el Palacio Real, or the royal palace. Let me tell you, the Spainards now how to do it right. So is soooo beautiful there and just full of such history. With our awesome tour guide Geraldo I learned sooo much. After there we went to the Museo de Prado or the Prado Museum. Full of some awesome works of art. So sweet.

Today we took the bus out to La valle de los caidos which is the Valley of the Dead. It is a hugge place that Franco had created to demonstrate his power. It was pretty beautiful, but it felt kinda weird to be admiring a place that a dictator created...but ya know its history. After that we saw yet another palace which wasn´t nearly as beautiful as el palacio real, but still nice.

So Sunday morning I leave for oviedo which will be amazing. As for now I´m off to have a siesta! Adios!