Madreed!

Just got back a few hours ago from an amazing weekend in Madrid with Jules. I am completely exhausted but it was so worth it, even just to be there for 2 days. I left early Saturday morning and flew direct out of Bordeaux. I got into Madrid around noon and Julie came to meet me at the airport. There was a big soccer game in town, and the metro was packed! Big groups of wild Germans and Spaniards singing songs and yelling at each other in various languages.

We went to my hostel (Cat's hostel near Sol) which was pretty decent, and I just put my stuff in my room, changed and we headed out. PS-- note about the hostel-- they had a BEER VENDING MACHINE. 100% genius. We met up with some of Julie's friends and got some tapas outside in Plaza Santa Ana. Manchego might be my absolute favorite type of cheese. Outside the soccer fans were getting rowdy, shaking taxis and taunting police officers.

After lunch we hit up the chino to get some 40's of Mahou. We each got a 40 plus some other cans and headed to a park to sit and chill and drink. The weather was beautiful! (And luckily its still really warm in Arcachon too) In the evening after drinking in the park, the guys headed off to the bull fight and we went back to the hostel to get ready and such.

Me and Jules met up with her friends again at mercado San Miguel, ate some sushi and drank some 40's again. After the mercado we went to the d(b)oner kebab place for some patatas and some shots of Negrita which came back to haunt me a few hours alter. Then we heading to Kapital, a huge club in Madrid. It was pretty sweet-- 7 floors with something different on each floor, and the top floor was open since it was so nice out. It was definitely an awesome night! I headed back around 3:30 when I was pretty much donezo.

Me and Jules in Madrid (pre-Negrita shots)

Chris and Greg (post-Negrita shots)

Greg and Scott-- Canadian brothers!

Me and Jules had some issues getting up in the morning on Sunday, and while she was still sleeping I went to grab some patatas bravas (roasted potatoes with a slightly spicy red sauce, so delish) at a local tapas bar. Julie met me out and we grabbed some sushi too. It wasn't Oyama (amazing sushi in Iowa City) but it was pretty decent, and their miso was really good. Then me and Jules did some awesome shopping around Sol... Zara, Sfera, and lots of other places. Pretty solid day, minus the fact that I got pooped on by a bird. But I bought a new outfit so it turned out alright.

We went back to change again and had some vending machine beers. Around 8 we met Julie's friends out at El Tigre, a tapas bar that is AWESOME! You order a giant 6 Euro beer, and they give you a plate of free tapas. So patatas bravas, manchego and pan, and croquetas (breaded and fried cheese). The bartender there knows my sister and her friends so they gave us extra food too. After Tigre we headed to some Irish bar that had 1 Euro shots of whiskey for the last 5 minutes of every hour... so we hung out there for a while. Around 1, we all left since Scott and I both had to fly out in the morning (me back to Arcachon, Scott off to some other party destination).

Madrid friends at Tigre-- Scott, Claire, Greg, and Chris

SAD :( I wish I could have stayed a few days longer. I LOVE Madrid. And I miss Julie! I want to go back!

Now I'm back in class, fun times. We have our final exam tomorrow and also another journal application due... stress time again. But on a happy note, we are going wine tasting in Bordeaux tomorrow after the exam!