At about 9:30am I made the hour long metro trek to the Barajas airport where I was meeting Evan as he arrived. Of course, not being able to go anywhere without a little bit of a directional mishap, I got off on the wrong stop at first and had to get back on the next train as soon as I realized my mistake. Luckily, Evan wasn't with me at that point so I could pretend like everything went flawlessly. Anyway, I met Evan at the gates and we got back on the metro and embarked on our second Spanish adventure together. (The first being two summers ago when Evan and Zane met Claire, Callie, and I in Barcelona.)
We first went to El Mercado de San Miguel where we tried some interesting tapas including Bacalao, which is a type of fish, and some olive creations on a stick. The weather was absolutely beautiful, about 60 degrees and sunny so we then decided to just go for a walk through my favorite sights of the city which included the Palacio Real and the royal gardens and then down along behind the palace to the river where we saw a really cool fountain and also, Evan discovered the entrance to a beautiful park behind the palace that I had previously thought to be private which was very pretty to walk through. From there, we ate a late lunch at Cien Montaditos where we got a plate of six different sandwiches and Tinto de Verano so Evan could experience a multitude of Spanish favorites.
Fountain on the River
Quiet park behind the palace is actually public, despite being fenced in..who knew?
At that point, it was getting later so we decided to go to Parque Retiro to see one of the biggest and most famous parks in Madrid. As I have mentioned before, the Spaniards are people of the night and so there was a lot going on including everything from a kickboxing class and a lot of kids practicing rowing on the lake to teenagers practicing rollerblading tricks. We spent a good while at the park just sitting by the lake and then walking around and people watching.
On Saturday, we took a 10:00am bus to Cuenca which is a small town to the east of Madrid and got there at about noon. We stopped in a little bar for some cafe con leche (coffe with milk) and toast in order to check out a map and come up with a game plan. However, after looking at the map in my guide book, we still had no idea where to go and ended up wandering in the wrong direction until I decided I would just ask for directions. I approached a little old man on a bench and in Spanish asked him where we were on the map and how to get where we were going. Well, let me just say, that he was way more than happy to help me out. He went on and on about how to get to the old part of Cuenca and how it's the most beautiful thing he's ever seen and how magestic it is, etc. He then asked me where I was from and we had about a ten minute conversation and he explained at least three times how to get where we wanted to go. It was very cute but finally I had to just cut him off a bit and say gracias!
So, finally, we were on our way headed in the right direction and we found the Rio Huecar, one of the two rivers encompassing the city and were able to follow it up to where we wanted to go. I can't even describe how beautiful this old city was built up on the cliffs above the river and unfortunately, in the morning rush, I had forgotten my camera, so I will have to wait to show you until Evan e-mails me the ones that he took. There are these houses called Casas Colgadas or "hanging houses" that literally are built hanging over the cliffs. We walked across the Puente de San Pablo (Bridge of St. Paul) and up into the bluffs of Cuenca where we got a breathtaking view of the city. Basically, we spent the day hiking up through the bluffs and just taking in the views while enjoying the 60+ degree sunshine and a complete contrast to the bustling, metropolitan feel of Madrid.
Recta, recta, recta, y sube, sube, sube!
Fifteen minutes worth of directions from a local..
144 feet up on the Puente de San Pablo
Casas Colgadas
After enjoying Cuenca to the fullest, we got back on the bus at 6:30pm and while sitting there zoning out, I heard someone say my name. I look up and there is my roommate, Stephanie, standing above me. Funnily enough, she had booked a day trip to Cuenca for the same day without either of us having any idea. It was extremely coincidental that I was actually looking forward to telling her that she just absolutely HAD to visit Cuenca. I guess she beat me to the punch on that one..
Anyway, after separating to clean up and get ready for the night, Evan and I met back up so I could show him a little bit about the night life in Madrid. Now after being a great tour guide the day before, I was pretty confident in myself and "my" city. So I decided we should go to this bar called Champandez, also known as the Cave Bar. Being that I had been there once before, I had a general idea where it was located so we got on the metro and headed toward that direction. Of course, the line we were on didn't go to the actual stop we needed but past it to the stop where my school is. At this point, I decided we should just walk from my school and we would hopefully just run into it. Luckily, after a little wandering, I did manage to get us there. It has a super cool atmosphere and it was packed with locals so it was a good way to experience the Spanish culture like a true Spaniard. We mostly just spent the time people watching and got a kick out of watching everyone sing the words to some Beyonce and Rihanna songs and also got to hear some Spanish music which was fun.
When we decided that it was time to leave, it was past the metro closing time so I decided we could just walk back and it would only take about 40 minutes... well, I guess I didn't factor in the idea that everything looks a lot different at night because a street that I thought connected to a main street didn't connect and I (yes, I take full responsibility) wound up getting us all lost. Not wanting to make things worse, we decided to take the bus back, but having never used the bus system in Madrid, I didn't know the lines or route to take so we got on what we thought was the right one and were on our way. Alas, Murphy's Law struck again and we wound up in some distant part of Madrid that I had never even seen before and tired and annoyed I decided to leave it up to someone who actually knew what they were doing and hailed a cab. FINALLY, an hour or so later, we made it back to the central plaza. Needless to say, if after 20 years in St. Paul I can still get lost, only 4 weeks in Madrid is the equivalent of being in a never-ending maze.
The inside of the Cave Bar: the leche de pantera comes out of the ceiling from the stalagmites and/or stalactites (whichever limestone formation grows downward, that is)
On Sunday, I took Evan to El Rastro, the HUGE flea market in Madrid that can only be described as the most crowded day at the State Fair but with bartering and flea market tents instead of food. This chaotic event takes place every Sunday and at it, you can find everything from hunks of unidentifiable metal, books, and phone chargers to clothes and scarves. It really is pretty cool but after trying to squeeze through streets of shoulder to shoulder people, we got a little claustrophobic and had to make our escape. We had a few hours before Evan's flight so after getting some lunch, we went to the Prado one of the most famous art museums in the world and because we went early (or because the entire Madrid population was at el Rastro) we avoided the crowds and got to see some of the paintings I missed last time. On our walk back towards the metro line, we stopped at the park and just hung out in the sun for awhile by the lake before Evan had to go back to the blustery chill of Austria.
An unlikely musical trio performing at El Rastro
Evan documenting the scene
My attempt at capturing the crowd at El Rastro was futile, as I couldn't move my shoulders enough to take a picture until I was no longer a part of the chaos
All in all, I had a great weekend and although I did enjoy being a tour guide, my senses (or lack there of) tell me that guiding people anywhere is not exactly my true calling...
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