Madrid and Toledo, July 29 - August 8, 15 - 17, 23 - 28, September 1, 2

Sorry that this is the first update in a month, but I ended up going out a lot and was very busy in the month of August. I'm back in New York City now, currently looking for work. But after spending about three weeks worth in Madrid, as opposed to the typical three days or less in almost every other city, I became familiar with the city. Here's a list of just some of the things I hit, saw, or used:

- Museo del Prado
- Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia
- Museo Theyssen-Bornemisza
- Museo de la Real Academia de Bellas Artes de Fernando
- Museo del Traje (the only museum in the world dedicated to the history of clothing)
- Museo de la Ciudad
- Templo de Debod
- Palacio Real
- Catedral de Nuestra Señora de La Almudena
- Monasterio de Las Descalzas Reales
- Puerta del Sol
- Plaza Mayor
- Plaza de España
- Plaza de la Villa
- Plaza de Cibeles
- Plaza de Oriente
- Plaza de Toros (bull fight)
- Palacio de Comunicaciones
- Parque del Buen Retiro
- Parque del Campo del Moro
- Jardines de Sabatini
- About two dozen bars, tapas bars, or restaurants including Kapital and Joy Eslava
- The airport (three times), Atocha (main station), and two main bus terminals
- Four hostels

There's a couple things I didn't get to, but I met the most people in Madrid. The weather is awesome, reaching 40°C (104°F) or more, but you're not dripping wet because the humidity is so low. But don't get me wrong, it's hot. I went on a day trip to Toledo on August 5 with a couple people - Annemiek, Vini, and Sarah - who I met at the hostels I was staying at. I also hit up the Camino de Santiago for six days and since Madrid is so central in Spain, I was basically using it as my home base, booking my flights and buses from there. Because I had so much more time and the fact that I was in Madrid for three weeks in 2000 allowed me to take in more of the Madrileño atmosphere and meet and hang out with fellow travellers. The most interesting stuff happened, including going on a pub crawl hosted by MadRide, meeting Americans for like the first time since leaving Germany, staying in four different hostels, and discovering La Marcha (Madrileño nightlife going until all hours). But a story I have to mention is meeting a guy from L.A. who had a 14 hour layover in Madrid on his way to study abroad in South Africa, got pickpocketed in the subway, missed his connecting flight because of an airline strike (so there wasn't room on the flights anymore), booking a hostel for two weeks and spending ridiculous amounts of money (he said South Africa gives about 6:1 on the dollar, but the Euro is stronger than the dollar), missing his rescheduled flight because of miscommunication, and pondering staying in Madrid and working at the hostel because there was going to be an opening. It was the most ridiculous thing. But of course, I still went to some sites and took in a little culture. One tip before the pictures; at a reputable bar, order a drink or two with your buddies and you should be offered a random side of tapas. Do that until maybe 1:00 am, then hit some more bars, and finally head to the clubs around 2:30 am. Vamos.


Here's a shot of some Brazilians (Tiago, Danilo, and Andrei) and a German girl (Anni) on the first night in Madrid. It was a pretty chill night, so we just had some beers in the common area of our hostel.


I also happened to run across a house where apparantly Goya once lived. Random, but cool.


The first Saturday, I decided to go to Madrid's most intense club, Kapital. It's got seven floors and was once a theater before it was converted into a club. The bouncers, as with most decent clubs, will not let you in if you are dressed inappropriately. That means pants and shoes for men, please! Girls can wear whatever they want. There's some techno on the first floor with a bunch of reserved tables and other floors include a small rap floor, a Spanish disco, an actual movie theater, a karaoke bar, and a stylish outdoor patio bar on the roof. Doors don't open until about midnight and don't expect to see people until around 3:00. The party goes until about 6:30 and there are dancers that were hired not so much of their dancing skill, but because they're pretty people.


You might want to go to La Puerta del Sol in the heart of Madrid and check out the zero km marker. All roads in Spain are measured from this point, so that just goes to show how centralized the capital is, not to mention that it's also Europe's highest capital at 2120 feet above sea level.


Here's Las Meninas, by Velazquez, which many say is his masterpiece and held at the Prado. I won't go into it too much, but check out the perspective, with probably the commissioners being reflected in the mirror, the use of light, and Velazquez eloquently casting himself in the scene. For all the museums I visited, I only had to pay twice, the rest were free. Most museums in Spain will be free once a week and have great student discounts.


Here's Goya's, Third of May, 1808, which depicts the execution of Spaniards during the French occupation. It's considered one of Goya's great works and it really is a powerful piece, also held in the Prado museum.


Here are La Maja Desnuda and La Maja Vestida, by Goya, also housed at the Prado. Pretty hot.


This is not one of the more well-known pieces at the Prado, but it struck me because it reminded me exactly of a story my host mom in Stuttgart had told me and Jon about at the Schloss Solitud. It shows a king or duke hunting, however, his men are flushing out all the game towards him. However, they enclose all the animals, so they can't escape, making the king or duke feel good about himself.


Here's another attention-grabber in the Prado, The Garden of Earthly Delights, this time by Bosch. It's a three-part altarpiece, called a triptych, which shows the Garden of Eden, the Garden of Earthly Delights, and Hell. It draws everyone because there's really some kinky stuff going on, so keep your children a step or two back if you can make it through the crowd.


This is from the first MadRide Pub Crawl I went on, which costs 10 euros and you hit four bars and end up at a club (usually a salsa club called Havana). These girls are Canadians, whose names I can't remember, but I think the one in white is Stephanie. The guy is an Aussie, Nick, who was one of the guys organizing it.


This is a French guy who was working at one of the hostels. He was having a good time.


Here's Jermaine (with the glasses), who with his sister, runs United World International Hostel on Gran Via. I took this off the MadRide website.


If you want a nice place to go and have some tapas and drinks at night, check out the Plaza Mayor, the oldest square in Madrid. It's huge and the tourist information center is there for your convenience. But in the mornings or during siesta, you might have trouble finding anything that's open.


This is the Palacio Real, which is a great palace and was designed to be as great as the Palace of Versailles. As you go through the tour, you can see each room has a completely unique decor and color and the entire palace exudes opulence. Right across the way is the Catedral de Nuestra Señora de La Almudena.


This is at the Parque del Retiro at the Estanque with the Monument of Alfonso XII in the background. You can row boats and check out the fish in the pond.


Near the Parque del Retiro is the Plaza de Cibeles and what you see across the street is the Palacio de Comunicaciones, which in fact, is a post office. So if you received a postcard from me in the mail, there's a chance it was sent from that cathedral-like structure.


On August 5, I took a day trip to Toledo with Annemiek, Sarah, and Vini who I had met randomly in hostels. So here's the beginning of our day adventure, which included running around in incredible heat and losing Sarah for about two hours. Toledo's infrastructure is slowly coming apart and residents are starting to move out. You can kind of see it, but it's really nice to wander around the tight streets.


Here's the Cathedral in Toledo, which has been rennovated and has many art rare art pieces. I recognized a facsimile of the Moralized Bible for St. Louis that I had studied in History of Art 348, which was pretty awesome.


Here's a typical store in Toledo, which sells swords, since the city was a large sword-making hub back in the day. You can get one shipped back if you want to have one. Careful, they're sharp!


Here's Annemiek and Sarah as we waited for Vini, who went to check out the Synagogue museum. This was about the end of the day and it was super hot, even in the shade.


Vini had the hardest time finding an ATM that would accept his card. It was the beginning of his trip and he hadn't gone to a bank to exchange some traveller's checks, so I spotted him the bus ride to and from Toledo (which was extremely inexpensive, less than five euros). Here's another futile attempt at the Toledo bus terminal.


Back in Madrid, here is the view from another hostel I stayed in, Los Amigos Opera. You can check out the Teatro Real or Royal Opera House at the end of the street.


Here's the Plaza de Toros, which is the arena where the bull fights in Madrid take place. It's pretty much like going to a football or baseball game from an atmospheric perspective. There are stands outside where people are selling water or beer or whatever and everyone is buying tickets and you go in through the gate. There are different sections, called sol, sombre, or sol y sombre (sun, shade, or sun and shade). These seats refer to where the sun will be during the bull fights and shade is more expensive and the bull fighters bring the action towards them since they are paying more. There are also decks as in typical baseball stadiums and the further down you are, the more expensive as well, so seats prices are a combination of these.


At the beginning, all the matadors, picadors, and banderilleros come out and salute the audience as the bugles announce them. By the way, you can also buy cushions for use during the bull fight.


Here's a shot of the interior of the Plaza de Toros. Bull fights are on Sundays, usually starting between 17:00 and 19:00 and last about two hours, however, at the height of the taurine season during the San Isidro festival in May, there are five weeks of daily bull fights.


I'll try not to go into too much detail as to what goes on, since many people are against bull fighting, but here's a shot of a banderillero about to stab the bull in the back with his spears. This guy with the colors of the Spanish flag was actually pretty good.


Here's a shot of a matador in close quarters with the bull. In a typical bull fight in Madrid, there are usually six bulls presented in order of increasing weight, and presumably, difficulty. I personally didn't find the bull fight distressing, but I can see how many do. Still, it's pretty interesting, though once is really enough.


Here's a shot of two Canadians I met in my room, Heather and Michelle, having a couple drinks at a bar in town. It's really pretty nice in Madrid, as well as most other places in Europe, to just hang out at a bar or cafe outside and take it easy.


One thing that you notice is that the Limpieza, or sanitation deptartment, is really efficient and quick. The guys in dump trucks come along practically running to grab trash bins, there are people sweeping everywhere, and they water down some of the streets at night.


If you are in town for a festival, you might want to see if there are street fairs and late night fiestas in an area of the city. I'm not quite sure, but I believe this is the Festival Verbena de la Paloma in the Latina area of the old center and there's dancing in the streets, restaurants setting up bars in the street, and bartenders straying everyone with club soda. Also, there were fireworks, which dazzled people for a little wild before heading back to the typical all night bananza. By the way, the festival was from August 6 to 15, meaning ten nights of late night, in the street, partying. Typical Madrid nightlife.


If you wheel around the Palacio Real, you'll find the Templo de Debod, which is an authentic relocated Egyptian temple. It was transplanted from the south of Egypt in 1968 as a donation to Spain for their help with the original site, flooded from the construction of the Aswan High Dam.


Near the Templo de Debod and behind the Palacio Real is the Parque del Campo del Moro, which is pretty nice if you want to take a stroll or sit and relax.


There's one street you might want to check out for some good eats and it's right next to, really built into, the Plaza Mayor. It's Calle Cuchilleros and on this street are specialty tapas bars, so you'll see a mushroom house, a sardine or anchovy house, a tortilla house, and the oldest restaurant in the world, Botin (1725), according to the Guinness Book of World Records. You might want to try its specialties, which are cochinillo asado (roast suckling pig) and cordero asado (roast lamb).


On the north side of the Puerta del Sol, you'll find the Bear and Strawberry Tree Statue, which is a great meeting point and also where the MadRide pub crawl meets every Wednesday and Sunday night at 23:00.


Some barmaids and me at one of the stops on a pub crawl. I agree, it's kind of a sketchy picture, but I'm okay with it.


I met this girl, Jen from North Carolina, through Annemiek and then kept running into her throughout August on the streets after losing her at the clubs and bar that we would hit at night. Tequila happened a lot more than you would think.


Here's the Plaza de España with the Monument of Cervantes in the foreground and the Edificio de España (Building of Spain) in the background. So picturesque.


I don't remember most of these people's names (except Victor, Marco, and maybe Dave) from a random gathering of backpackers in the hostel I was at this time, Los Amigos Sol. But it's an eclectic group, with a couple Mexican girls, New Yorkers from Rochester, South Africans, British, Aussies, and Canadians. On other ones, there have been Swiss, Germans, Americans, French, Italians. I also met a Thai and South African flight attendants who were based in the United Arab Emirates, some Portuguese, Brazilians, and Koreans. You'll meet people who have been travelling for months, one or two for years while working for short periods in different countries, really crazy stuff.


Yeah, some of the guys took their shirts off at a bar. They were "asked" to put them back on.


Here's the view down Calle Arenal from Los Amigos Sol and looking towards La Puerta del Sol at night, before people start to fill the street.


One of the last things I checked out, which I should have done first, was the Museo de la Ciudad. It's the museum of the history of the city and has models of important structures, old firefighter, police office, and bull fighter uniforms, information on the geography and growth and urbanization of the city. It also includes information on how the city is electrified and the modernization of the metro.


This is one of several models of streets in the city, basically a diarama.


Here's a model of the Palacio de Cristal, which is in the Parque del Retiro.


These are several of the street plaques that are on the sides of buildings, which are decorated.


A pretty accurate model of the area surrounding the Palacio Real.


This is a quick shot of the Puerta del Sol in the heart of Madrid. I'd gone by this area so much that I almost forgot about it, so this is taken from my last night in Madrid as well as Europe. Sol is great for shopping, but you'll see that for yourselves.


That last night, some of us went to a couple bars and guess what was playing at this Irish pub. That's right, it was the New York Met game. That's what I'm talking about!


On the final night, this is a shot of a British girl, Corey who's wearing his Buñol La Tomatina shirt, and James in the background.

Some short things I want to tell you about are that on one of the pub crawls, we saw a turf war of sorts. There were two groups of teens throwing punches at each other along the street, which was nuts. Also, if you go shopping around Sol, you'll see tons of peddlers selling stuff, but when they smell the cops rolling through, there's a stampede of these illegal vendors flying down the street. They have their merchandise laid on this sheets with strings that let them book it in no time. Also, if you're interested, ask me about the hot brunette and blond, post-high school, Toronto chicks that were giggling and oiling each other up and giving topless massages one day when I woke up at the hostel. Yeah, it was the best day ever. Ask about that and the girl that didn't shave her legs.

Finally, the question I get is what place did I enjoy the most. It's tough to say because places are simply different and difficult to compare. Therefore, I don't really like giving a determinant answer, but if I must, I'd say Madrid. Maybe this is because I was there for so long and had been there before for awhile, that I have studied Spanish for four years in high school and three semesters in college, or that I had time to party more than in other areas. For me, though, it's the best integration of the old world and modernity and reminded me the most of New York City, for what that's worth. There's great life and the city really does not sleep. It's hilarious because there are street vendors that come out at 2:00 or 3:00 with bocadillas (sandwiches) for all the people coming out of the bars until 7:00. The weather is hot, but dry and really nice as well. They take siestas and care more about having their own time rather than making an extra euro. The main difference, though, is food culture and outdoor seating, which most other Europeans countries have. Unlike many Western European countries, though, prices in Spain are much more reasonable. Finally, it was the city where I felt most that I could live there for a period of time. But time will tell. Thanks for reading this long post. Ciao ciao.