The Spain Chronicles - Days 6 and 7

So the good thing about this post is that I am typing it from a Spanish computer, só Í cáñ úsé áccéñts wíth wíld ábáñdón (hehehe). The bad thing is that I can´t connect to the Internet from the computer where I am storing my photos, so I can´t illustrate this along the way. :(

Yesterday was my last full day in Madrid. The library was not open, so I didn´t waste any time trying to go there. Instead, I went to El Rastro, a huge flea market in a dodgier part of town. (I can´t find a good link about it in English, I´m afraid...) Anyway, this market had everything new and used, handmade and mass-produced. I bought a pair of leather sandals for €15, which they even custom cut to fit my feet. I don´t know how comfortable they´ll be (I had to sit on a teeny stool in the middle of a crowded street to try them on), but I´ll wear them twice and tell people I got them in Spain and will feel good about it all. :)

After I saw enough of the market I wanted to go to church, so I headed back towards the Prado to go to mass at the San Jerónimo Church. It´s a famous and beautiful church where royalty was crowned and all that, but unfortunately I missed the last mass of the afternoon. There was another mass at 8 pm, but the Prado/San Jerónimo area is not that conveniently located via Metro, so I wasn´t sure if I would come back for it. (I did get to see the inside of the church, but I didn´t take photos. No one else was taking photos, and besides one of the church workers was watching...)

From there, I decided to look for a restaurant I wanted to try from my guidebooks: the Casa Alberto, which was housed in a spot where Cervantes once lived. I hiked there from the church (and it was a bit of a hike, in the heat, uphill) - only to find that it was closed, because it was Sunday. This happened to be near the nonexistent Cervantes Museum I mentioned in my last post, so I´m wondering if there´s some sort of connection there... ;)

The nearest Metro station, Anton Martín, was not too far from Lavapies, a famous gypsy/ethnic neighborhood, so I decided to walk there. It was the only time I feared for my life in broad daylight - the area was smelly, dirty, and über-sketchy. When I got to Lavapies I couldn´t see any of the famous landmarks (apparently they have a very cool cinema), nor did I see any gypsies. Also, no one offered me any hash, which was disappointing. ;) I didn´t feel safe enough to "explore" Lavapies (i.e. either get myself lost or ask for directions), so I hopped on the Metro and headed back to the hotel for a bit.

Around 7:30ish I decided to head back to Sol, where I was earlier in the week. The Plaza Mayor is my favorite place in Madrid, and Sol also has some very cool shops. It´s also not far from Ópera, where the Royal Palace is. I spent about 3 hours wandering around there one last time. It was really nice because the weather wasn´t ridiculously hot then, nor was it extremely crowded. It was a great way to end the week. After that, I headed back to the hotel to pack for Galicia.

Today I got to the library early to get some last-minute work done. I found some good stuff, but the reading room I was in was extemely warm, so it made me very sleepy. I stayed for about 2 hours then went back to the hotel to get ready to leave.

I traveled to Vigo, in Galicia, by train from Chamartín in Madrid. It took about 7.5 hours, and it was one of the worst traveling experiences in my life. Don´t get me wrong - the view was amazing, with fields of sunflowers and trees and stuff (unfortunately I didn´t get any pics), but my car had four screaming kids in it who were loud the ENTIRE TIME. They were ridiculously spoiled and hyper and their parents/grandparents did almost nothing about it. I did, however, watch a bit of a good movie called "Mi mejor amigo" ("My best friend") which I will have to find and watch properly some day, because it was pretty cute.

I arrived in Galicia a bit before 10 pm. Enrique´s mother picked me up, and we walked back to their flat. Dear God, that was a workout - they don´t live far, but they live up a hill, and I had some weighty luggage with me. I was embarassed at how sweaty and hot I was by the end of it, but oh well. Enrique´s mom made me a nice dinner, we did my laundry, I took a shower and here I am now.

Enrique and Justin arrive tomorrow evening. I will probably just chill during the day until they arrive (mostly because my clothes are still drying), and then go with Enrique´s mom to pick them up at the airport.

We´ll be here until Saturday. I don´t know how much I´ll be able to update during this time, as the computer I am currently using is in the room where the boys will be sleeping. But I´ll do my best to keep you posted, hopefully with photos! I think there´s a lot planned for these next few days, including side trips to Santiago de Compostela and to Portugal, as well as to the beach.

Sorry for the lack of links too - am a bit tired and this Spanish keyboard is using up all my mental effort. Boas noites!