Te Dejo Madrid - Spain Trip, Part 7
Last two days in Madrid, with a pitstop in Toledo...
Day 7
Unshockingly, we woke up late since we didn't go to bed until 6am. What was shocking, though, was that we weren't all that hungover, not as bad as we were in Valencia. Lesson learned: Cider is harder shit than beer, so make doubly sure to keep hydrated when drinking it. :-)
When we finally left the hotel at about 2, we went and had "breakfast" of empanadas (with cheese and ham, what else?), and made our way down to Puerta de Atocha so we could head out for a day-trip (half day-trip at this point) to Toledo.
This is the one part of the trip that I didn't prepare for in advance, thinking it'd be nice to just buy train tickets that day for whatever time we wanted. I was like, "Yay! Look at me being flexible and not having a detailed itinerary for this day!" Well, that was pretty stupid of me. I should've bought the tickets online. :-/
We got to the station and realized we couldn't just easily walk up to a machine/employee. It took us a while to even figure out where the hell we were supposed to go before we finally found the big ticket sales area...and had to take a number. D'oh! 30 some people ahead of us. Luckily, the line moved relatively quickly and we were eventually able to speak with someone. It was about 3pm, and I was thinking, "Alright! We're on our way now!"
Wrong again.
All the upcoming trains were booked and the earliest the dude could get us tickets for was a 6pm train. And the last train back was at 9:30pm.
Shit balls.
Oh, well, we figured a little time in Toledo (2.5 hours) would be better than nothing and we'd regret it if we didn't go at all, so, tickets were purchased. Then, we still had three hours to kill. Since we were too tired to go check it out the day before, we headed north to find Parque del Retiro, seeing some plazas and statues and blah blah along the way.
Parque del Retiro
We wandered around the park for a good while, stopped for some ice cream and popsicles (mmm!), and headed back out onto Calle Alcalá.
Puerta de Alcalá
Iglesia del San Miguel y San Benito
City Hall
(Okay, the picture of City Hall is actually from the previous day, after seeing all the museums, but I forgot to post it!)
Eventually, we took the metro back to the station...by now, I was about thiiiiis close to quitting on the rest of the vacation and just spending the rest of the time soaking in the hotel tub. I was in some serious pain. BUT, I would've hated myself forever if I crapped out like that, soooo, onwards and upwards.
After a very much needed 30-minute sit on the train, we arrived in Toledo.
Toledo Railway Station
We wandered around as much as we could, time and knees permitting. Fortunately, we got to see some amazing views while there was still some light out as well as the Alcázar. But, we totally missed the Cathedral and didn't get to go in any mosques or synagogues. Super bummed. :-( Even if we had had more time, though, I really don't think my body would've handled too much more schlepping.
I was so tired, I couldn't even stand for the damn picture.
Alcázar
Views
We found a little place to eat...and the waitress looked as us like we were from outer space because we wanted to order at 8:30. No, I don't want coffee...no, I don't want beer...no, I don't want a tapa or a pastry...I want fucking DINNER! I. AM. HOOONNNGRRRAAAY. I was tired, and cranky, and achy, and hungry, sooo I was about ready to cut a bitch. But, we eventually got our burgers and fries (hee), and it was fucking fantastic, I tell you, and I was so happy to see ketchup!
And, that was pretty much it for our day. We took a bus back to the station, took the train back to Madrid, and went straight back to the hotel.
View from the Elevator
Day 8
The next day...more walking. I made a rough map of of the path we traversed, starting from the star, all the red first and then changing color when the paths start to overlap:
Let's just say, it was a miracle I didn't drop dead.
Anyway, on to the actual recount. We went back down to Puerta del Sol, and I got a picture of El Oso y El Madroño since I had missed it the day before, but the 0km marker still eluded me.
El Oso y El Madroño
Then we walked over to Plaza Mayor where we had breakfast at Museo del Jamón...I couldn't leave without eating there at some point, right?
Plaza Mayor
In case the sign isn't a tip off, this is Museo del Jamón
Next up was the Catedral de la Almudena and the Palacio Real. The line was really long at the Palace, so, fuck it, we didn't go in. It looked nice enough from the gate. :-) As for the cathedral, we ended up going inside the chapel or crypt or I'm-not-sure-where-the-hell-we-were. I don't know why we didn't go into the cathedral proper...I think I just didn't care enough to look for the entrance (again, I was not in the best of moods or spirits this final day). Anyway, we at least got some pictures.
Palacio Real
Cool Building We Could See From the Palace
And, it was here, at Palacio Real, that I had my first encounter with The Godfather. Let me explain. For some time now, the Godfather theme has been haunting me on trips. Every fucking trip I take, the theme song follows me. I'll hear it in a hotel lobby, in an elevator, at a restaurant, someone walking by will whistle it. Somewhere, somehow, The Godfather finds me. And here it was that a man playing an accordion struck up the familiar tune. Later that same day, back at Plaza Mayor, another man was playing "Hungarian Dance" on another accordion as we strolled up. "Just watch," I joked, "he's totally going to play The Godfather theme next." Our laughs were cut short as the man proceeded to do just that. I shit you not, The Godfather is after me. Maybe the song will stop haunting me on vacations if I sit down and actually watch the damn movie. Or maybe I'll just wake up with a horse head in my bed. I don't know, but it's creeping me out already.
Catedral de la Almudena
Chapel or Crypt or Something
We walked down to the La Latina district, saw more gardens and then the Puerta de Toledo.
Puerta de Toledo
Then we headed back up north. We saw the Teatro La Latina and the Teatro Real along the way, stopped in the Jardines de Sabatini, and made our way to the Plaza de España where a bunch of tents were set up selling various things. I only bought some candied almonds because I was starving. And then we were headed back to the hotel to rest before dinner.
I forgot to mention, we also did a lot of shopping throughout the day. Well, he did a lot of shopping, I was not in the mood. Not just because I was tired, but because I rarely like to shop on trips. I usually have enough shit to carry as it is, and I don't like having to travel home with too much more on me. But, we hit up H&M, Zara, and a few other stores during the day's journey.
I also forgot to mention that all throughout the day, there were people EVERWHERE. Crowds and crowds and crowds of people. The only thing I could think was, "Oh, so this is what 3.3 million people looks like." It's insane how many people are out and about in Madrid. I don't think I had ever seen that many people over such a large area before. I've seen lots of people crammed into a small space, sure, but not hundreds of people, block after block after block.
When we were finally back at the hotel, I actually looked up the location of the 0km marker (I was going to get a picture before I left, dammit!) and then we headed out for dinner. On the way, we stopped at a gifts and souvenir shop to buy trinkets for friends and family, and then we were back at Puerta del Sol. Annnd, I succeeded in locating the marker! Woo hoo!
Km.0
It was a bitch to get everybody off it so I could snap a photo.
Next was dinner and drinks and then back to the hotel. We played a game of "Spot the Prostitute" along the way, but I have to say, it was really hard to determine who were the prostitutes and who were just dressed like prostitutes (more about fashion observations later). And I was also tired, so my heart wasn't quite in it.
And, finally, it was our last night in Spain. And it also happened to be the only horrible one. Throughout the day, my allergies had been running amok - I couldn't breath, and I got a horrible throat ache. So, I couldn't sleep that night because I had to breathe through my mouth and every time I started to nod off, I'd feel like I wasn't getting enough air, so I'd gasp, and it'd wake me right back up. And I'm pretty sure I was running a fever, too. It was really not pleasant. We went to bed at about 11pm, and I don't think I dropped off until about 4...and then we had to wake up to take a taxi to the aiport at 6:30. I actually woke up before the alarm even went off at 6, so, yeah, not a good night. (And, when we took the taxi, people were totally still out from the night before! Now this is a city that never sleeps! They do a lot of cocaine in Madrid, right? That explains a lot.)
The taxi driver sped the whole way to the airport (my window got fogged over from my hyperventilating), but we got there safe and sound, and it turned out that we didn't have enough money to pay the full fare...whoops! Thankfully, the driver just let it slide and didn't give us too much shit for stiffing him a few euros.
Oh, and I got to see the super perigee moon! I didn't even know it was happening, but when I was outside smoking my last cigarette before the long flight, I saw a giant, gorgeous moon in the distance. An airport employee even came out and took a picture, but I still had no idea that there was anything special about it. It wasn't 'til I got home that I saw a news article explaining what the event was. Glad I got to see it even though I didn't know I was supposed to be even looking for it!
The flight home sucked.
My knee still hurts.
The end.
I've got one more post of general observations to post, and then I'm all done with my Spain trip. *tear*
Day 7
Unshockingly, we woke up late since we didn't go to bed until 6am. What was shocking, though, was that we weren't all that hungover, not as bad as we were in Valencia. Lesson learned: Cider is harder shit than beer, so make doubly sure to keep hydrated when drinking it. :-)
When we finally left the hotel at about 2, we went and had "breakfast" of empanadas (with cheese and ham, what else?), and made our way down to Puerta de Atocha so we could head out for a day-trip (half day-trip at this point) to Toledo.
This is the one part of the trip that I didn't prepare for in advance, thinking it'd be nice to just buy train tickets that day for whatever time we wanted. I was like, "Yay! Look at me being flexible and not having a detailed itinerary for this day!" Well, that was pretty stupid of me. I should've bought the tickets online. :-/
We got to the station and realized we couldn't just easily walk up to a machine/employee. It took us a while to even figure out where the hell we were supposed to go before we finally found the big ticket sales area...and had to take a number. D'oh! 30 some people ahead of us. Luckily, the line moved relatively quickly and we were eventually able to speak with someone. It was about 3pm, and I was thinking, "Alright! We're on our way now!"
Wrong again.
All the upcoming trains were booked and the earliest the dude could get us tickets for was a 6pm train. And the last train back was at 9:30pm.
Shit balls.
Oh, well, we figured a little time in Toledo (2.5 hours) would be better than nothing and we'd regret it if we didn't go at all, so, tickets were purchased. Then, we still had three hours to kill. Since we were too tired to go check it out the day before, we headed north to find Parque del Retiro, seeing some plazas and statues and blah blah along the way.
Parque del Retiro
We wandered around the park for a good while, stopped for some ice cream and popsicles (mmm!), and headed back out onto Calle Alcalá.
Puerta de Alcalá
Iglesia del San Miguel y San Benito
City Hall
(Okay, the picture of City Hall is actually from the previous day, after seeing all the museums, but I forgot to post it!)
Eventually, we took the metro back to the station...by now, I was about thiiiiis close to quitting on the rest of the vacation and just spending the rest of the time soaking in the hotel tub. I was in some serious pain. BUT, I would've hated myself forever if I crapped out like that, soooo, onwards and upwards.
After a very much needed 30-minute sit on the train, we arrived in Toledo.
Toledo Railway Station
We wandered around as much as we could, time and knees permitting. Fortunately, we got to see some amazing views while there was still some light out as well as the Alcázar. But, we totally missed the Cathedral and didn't get to go in any mosques or synagogues. Super bummed. :-( Even if we had had more time, though, I really don't think my body would've handled too much more schlepping.
I was so tired, I couldn't even stand for the damn picture.
Alcázar
Views
We found a little place to eat...and the waitress looked as us like we were from outer space because we wanted to order at 8:30. No, I don't want coffee...no, I don't want beer...no, I don't want a tapa or a pastry...I want fucking DINNER! I. AM. HOOONNNGRRRAAAY. I was tired, and cranky, and achy, and hungry, sooo I was about ready to cut a bitch. But, we eventually got our burgers and fries (hee), and it was fucking fantastic, I tell you, and I was so happy to see ketchup!
And, that was pretty much it for our day. We took a bus back to the station, took the train back to Madrid, and went straight back to the hotel.
View from the Elevator
Day 8
The next day...more walking. I made a rough map of of the path we traversed, starting from the star, all the red first and then changing color when the paths start to overlap:
Let's just say, it was a miracle I didn't drop dead.
Anyway, on to the actual recount. We went back down to Puerta del Sol, and I got a picture of El Oso y El Madroño since I had missed it the day before, but the 0km marker still eluded me.
El Oso y El Madroño
Then we walked over to Plaza Mayor where we had breakfast at Museo del Jamón...I couldn't leave without eating there at some point, right?
Plaza Mayor
In case the sign isn't a tip off, this is Museo del Jamón
Next up was the Catedral de la Almudena and the Palacio Real. The line was really long at the Palace, so, fuck it, we didn't go in. It looked nice enough from the gate. :-) As for the cathedral, we ended up going inside the chapel or crypt or I'm-not-sure-where-the-hell-we-were. I don't know why we didn't go into the cathedral proper...I think I just didn't care enough to look for the entrance (again, I was not in the best of moods or spirits this final day). Anyway, we at least got some pictures.
Palacio Real
Cool Building We Could See From the Palace
And, it was here, at Palacio Real, that I had my first encounter with The Godfather. Let me explain. For some time now, the Godfather theme has been haunting me on trips. Every fucking trip I take, the theme song follows me. I'll hear it in a hotel lobby, in an elevator, at a restaurant, someone walking by will whistle it. Somewhere, somehow, The Godfather finds me. And here it was that a man playing an accordion struck up the familiar tune. Later that same day, back at Plaza Mayor, another man was playing "Hungarian Dance" on another accordion as we strolled up. "Just watch," I joked, "he's totally going to play The Godfather theme next." Our laughs were cut short as the man proceeded to do just that. I shit you not, The Godfather is after me. Maybe the song will stop haunting me on vacations if I sit down and actually watch the damn movie. Or maybe I'll just wake up with a horse head in my bed. I don't know, but it's creeping me out already.
Catedral de la Almudena
Chapel or Crypt or Something
We walked down to the La Latina district, saw more gardens and then the Puerta de Toledo.
Puerta de Toledo
Then we headed back up north. We saw the Teatro La Latina and the Teatro Real along the way, stopped in the Jardines de Sabatini, and made our way to the Plaza de España where a bunch of tents were set up selling various things. I only bought some candied almonds because I was starving. And then we were headed back to the hotel to rest before dinner.
I forgot to mention, we also did a lot of shopping throughout the day. Well, he did a lot of shopping, I was not in the mood. Not just because I was tired, but because I rarely like to shop on trips. I usually have enough shit to carry as it is, and I don't like having to travel home with too much more on me. But, we hit up H&M, Zara, and a few other stores during the day's journey.
I also forgot to mention that all throughout the day, there were people EVERWHERE. Crowds and crowds and crowds of people. The only thing I could think was, "Oh, so this is what 3.3 million people looks like." It's insane how many people are out and about in Madrid. I don't think I had ever seen that many people over such a large area before. I've seen lots of people crammed into a small space, sure, but not hundreds of people, block after block after block.
When we were finally back at the hotel, I actually looked up the location of the 0km marker (I was going to get a picture before I left, dammit!) and then we headed out for dinner. On the way, we stopped at a gifts and souvenir shop to buy trinkets for friends and family, and then we were back at Puerta del Sol. Annnd, I succeeded in locating the marker! Woo hoo!
Km.0
It was a bitch to get everybody off it so I could snap a photo.
Next was dinner and drinks and then back to the hotel. We played a game of "Spot the Prostitute" along the way, but I have to say, it was really hard to determine who were the prostitutes and who were just dressed like prostitutes (more about fashion observations later). And I was also tired, so my heart wasn't quite in it.
And, finally, it was our last night in Spain. And it also happened to be the only horrible one. Throughout the day, my allergies had been running amok - I couldn't breath, and I got a horrible throat ache. So, I couldn't sleep that night because I had to breathe through my mouth and every time I started to nod off, I'd feel like I wasn't getting enough air, so I'd gasp, and it'd wake me right back up. And I'm pretty sure I was running a fever, too. It was really not pleasant. We went to bed at about 11pm, and I don't think I dropped off until about 4...and then we had to wake up to take a taxi to the aiport at 6:30. I actually woke up before the alarm even went off at 6, so, yeah, not a good night. (And, when we took the taxi, people were totally still out from the night before! Now this is a city that never sleeps! They do a lot of cocaine in Madrid, right? That explains a lot.)
The taxi driver sped the whole way to the airport (my window got fogged over from my hyperventilating), but we got there safe and sound, and it turned out that we didn't have enough money to pay the full fare...whoops! Thankfully, the driver just let it slide and didn't give us too much shit for stiffing him a few euros.
Oh, and I got to see the super perigee moon! I didn't even know it was happening, but when I was outside smoking my last cigarette before the long flight, I saw a giant, gorgeous moon in the distance. An airport employee even came out and took a picture, but I still had no idea that there was anything special about it. It wasn't 'til I got home that I saw a news article explaining what the event was. Glad I got to see it even though I didn't know I was supposed to be even looking for it!
The flight home sucked.
My knee still hurts.
The end.
I've got one more post of general observations to post, and then I'm all done with my Spain trip. *tear*