Madrid Day 2!

21 Dec 2013

Today we went on the Sandeman tour for Madrid.
It was mostly an informational (not so much a scenic) tour, but it reminded me a lot of what I learned back in AP European History.

This restaurant's location used to be the hiding spot of Madrid's own "Robin Hood" who would steal from his rich mistresses and give to the poor and prostitutes who lived near him...
Even now, the restaurant has a man who dresses up as the Robin Hood character and appears around lunchtime:

This restaurant below is the oldest still-operating restaurant in the world. The Guiness World Record certification is in the lower left corner of the window/photo.

This quote on the side of a building describes Madrid's origins: "On water I was built; my walls are made of fire." The water refers to the natural groundwater that runs beneath Madrid to Segovia, and the fire alludes to the walls constructed from flint that were built by the Moors. When enemy armies threw arrows at these stone walls that guarded the city, sparks would fly off and create the illusion that the walls were made of fire.

The symbol of a bear leaning on a strawberry tree is part of the official coat of arms for Madrid. The origin of this goes back to when the clergy and state were fighting over Madrid's lands. In the end it was decided that the fodder was the clergymen's property, but the forests were the state's. In this way, the bear (the clergy) depends on the tree's fruits (the state) because fodder cannot grow without the forests' resources.

See, it's even on the trashcans.

This bridge used to be a popular place for suicides. However, a few years ago, they put up glass walls in front of the railing, which effectively forced suicidal people to reconsider their choices and deter them from jumping off.

A building created by the Moors during their reign. Its walls are made of flint, just like the Madrid motto mentioned.

This statue commemorates those who died or were injured from the second most dangerous terrorist attack that occurred in Madrid.

I love how colorful their buildings are :)

This is a statue of Ferdinand II. For statues that feature horses, seeing how many legs are lifted in the air of the house indicates the fate of the rider:

- 1 leg lifted up: rider was injured in battle or died of battle wounds

- 2 legs lifted up: rider died in battle

- all legs on the ground: the rider died outside battle

...but Ferdinand II didn't actually die in battle, so basically kings can do whatever they want!

The Royal Palace

For dinner, we made pasta with bolognese red wine sauce, because we weren't very good at finding affordable good Madrid restaurants. Twas a success :)

Madrid Day 1!

20 Dec 2013

The trip to Madrid itself was beautiful.

We settled in our hostel around 2pm, and was able to start wandering about.

We went to the 8th floor of a nearby mall to check out the view.

Funnily enough, the mall also had a section called "Taste of America," and we all laughed at the food it featured. And then got a bit homesick :/

We were pretty stubborn about lunch, because we really wanted paella. (We didn't end up getting anymore paella after that first day in Barcelona.) Unfortunately, the cheapest paella we could find was no less than 14,00€ (boooo), so we settled on a 3-course lunch deal for 10,00€. 

Thinking that I'd lose weight on this trip was such a funny naive thought. 

Grilled ham and mushroom with bread (not shown) and tapas! And of course, sangria.

Yum.

And then we walked some more.

I swear this looks like the Brandenburg Tor, so I just kept calling it that. 

Then we went to Park Retiro next.

Pretty.

It's a huge park haha.

Spot someone familiar?

Oh, Miriam.

The park even had a playground.
Though we had no idea how to use any of the things it contained.

Exhibit A: Erm.

Exhibit B: Actually, that's probably how you use this one.

Exhibit C: Definitely not the way you use this one.

Then we went to grab some dinner before going back to the hostel.

Cool gecko.

We walked through Plaza Mayor on our way back, and it was so beautiful lit up!

And there were sooo many people in Plaza del Sol. Holy crap.

But it's all so very festive.

Barca Laaast Day :(

19 December 2013

Even though we were visiting Barcelona in the winter, it did not disappoint as a city. Its architecture is beautiful, its streets were filled with people, and you could sense the city's pride and tradition.

Unfortunately, it rained. 

Grawr.

Still, we walked around the city one last time.

Cool, clothes-hanger-y type of sculpture

This Christmas-themed collection of miniature houses was placed in one of the plazas during our stay here, so I finally took a photo of it.

I especially like the boy who caught the star. (It's hard to see, but at least you can see the lasso around the glowing star.)

 It made me smile.

One thing I realised I hadn't seen during our stay was the Barcelona Cathedral!

So we made the pit stop.

I was happy, even though it was pouring by then.

Then we saw this adorable candy store called "happy pills."

They had the funniest labels to accompany the candy you buy.

The way it works is you buy a certain sized bottle and then fill it up and add a label on it.

Or you can buy the pre-packaged candy.

Ooooh.

Or certain prescriptions for specific ailments.

Mmmm.

We were so hungry by dinnertime, that we just walked into the first reasonably-priced restaurant we could find. Of course, since it's only 6:30pm, they only had their lunch menu out....
Why, Barcelona, why.

This dessert was a mix of creme brulee, flaky biscuits, chocolate syrup, nutella ice cream, and whip cream. Deeeelicious.

On our way back, we saw a riot.
I guess as tourists, we forget that Spain is still in a financial crisis and this is a rough time for some people.

Tomorrow early morning, we'll be headed to Madrid!