Day 2

                Dawn breaks upon me for the first time in Madrid…or at least I think it did. I was recovering from a long day and jetlag so I was probably asleep when it all when down...or up I guess in this case? Either way, I certainly was not up and at 'em at the break of dawn. With that being said, and even with the follies of the previous day's travels, i’m not quite sure how I pulled myself out of bed at 8:30 in the morning. Granted, the complimentary breakfast closed at nine, ergo my ever so conscious awareness for free food must have awoken me. Breakfast was served in the kitchen right by a beautiful terrace where we could sit and marvel at the morning light just peeking through the balconies and rooftops of a newly awakening Madrid. While partaking in a Spanish attempt at a “continental breakfast” I was fortunate enough to be joined by a soon-to-be graduating law student from Malta. Seeing has how her English was near flawless, most likely due to a combination of her studies and the large tourist industry in Malta, she proved to be good company for me in my sleepy daze. We shared cultural differences and stories of travel atop the sunlit terrace.  It turned out to be a quite the relaxing morning in contrast to my ill fated venture into the city just twenty-four hours before.  Once we finished with our breakfast, we said our good-byes and I headed back to bed.

Through a series of moments of drowsy consciousness paired with long intervals of sleep, it wasn’t until 2:00 P.M. when I finally woke up again. Upon my second awakening of the day, I was met with a very thoughtful note in the cover of my Bible from my newly made friends from Italy saying, “ADIOS AMIGOS, Good Luck for your Life – Ulpiano, Elettra.” Although I didn’t get to speak with them at length the night before, I can tell that they were quality individuals and consider myself fortunate to have met them. After reading the thoughtful words of the Italians, I set off for my site-seeing excursion for the day. This was the first time I was able to see the beauty of Madrid in daylight…and it was absolutely gorgeous. Everywhere the building boast in Spanish architecture, green parks and plazas at every turn, and the streets filled with people make the city come alive. And to top it all off, a one-two combo of numerous parks and Spain’s clean energy mentality, make the air pleasing to the lungs. So I took a deep breath and set off for adventure. Although I can often be found in groups of friends and companions, there was something refreshing about setting out on my own and conquering the city. I could do whatever I wanted to do and go where ever I wanted to go. I wasn’t held back by anyone. I was a free man in a free city and I liked it. This allowed me to effectively cover ground throughout the city, but to get it all in during the course of my stay, I wanted to just focus on the western side of downtown today.

My first stop was Plaza Mayor. It’s basically a giant three-story square structure that surrounds the plaza. At the center of the plaza stands a king’s statue…no doubt the one who built this place. Although it is one of the most recognizable locations in Madrid, and was certainly a “postcard” worthy place, with the late start, daylight was precious. I headed to the city palace only stopping to see Teatro Real, the city’s theater house. I was nice and big, but nothin’ too fancy. So onward I marched through to an inspiring garden that stopped just before the palace gates. Upon entering the garden, I attacked via backrub by two Chinese women who only spoke Mandarin and Spanish. I was certain this was just a scam for money but since my back was plenty sore from the previous day’s follies, let’s just say I took a while to tell them that I didn’t have any money. So after the swift Asian hands appeased the aches and pains of travel the day before, I continued through the garden and onto the palace.

Honestly, words just don’t do it justice…heck, for that matter, words don’t do justice to this memorizing city of Madrid. I guess you’ll have to just see if for yourself someday. The palace sits atop a steep hillside with a beautiful cathedral to the south. You can stand in between the cathedral and the palace with about 100 yards on either side. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to get into the palace for free, so I opted to go into church with no charge. ( I mean, let’s hope not. I know the European church has had a bad rep in years past with their exchange of money, but at least there isn’t an admission charge…yet.) Jokes aside, I don’t think ive been into a cathedral of this magnitude since I was old enough to appreciate it, so I was pretty awestruck. It was pretty amazing to see. I even spent a couple minutes which was pretty neat to do in a place of this caliber. After leaving the church I stopped by a couple plazas and then made my way onto Gran Via. Gran Via is the Madrid equivalent of 5^th avenue in New York, except with a Spanish flare. I must have looked like a boy in a candy shop with my eyes sweeping up, down, and side to side as I walked the street, but I could care less because it was a visual exhibition of shops of all shapes and sizes. It really went toe to toe with the streets of New York between all of the “window shopping” and torn newspapers rustling through the wind…not to mention the cacophony of blaring taxi horns and yuppies on their cell phones. Trudging through the chaos, I finally made it to the end of the road and headed towards the hostel to recoup and set off again. Upon entering, I was greeted by a gal who ran the place. I had been looking for a good place to grab Madrid’s famous tapas, so she told me about a tapas exhibition in sports arena a thirty minute walk away. She said it was cheap and that since it was a tapas competition, the food was going to be quality.

                Two shakes of a stick later, and im off again. This time with the setting sun to my back, I begin my long walk to the other side of the city. This journey proved to be quite valuable with all of the site seeing that I was able to take in along the way. I was about to check off a couple of monuments on my to-do list while taking some class “A” photos due to the time of day. The setting sun light gave the buildings and statues a golden hue which certainly helped my photography skills quite a bit. After playing “National Geographic” along my way, I finally reached the sports arena. There, I was met with the blissful smell of nothing short of a smorgasbord of Spanish food.

I got a bit carried away on this one so I will finish writing about the rest of my day number 2 tomorrow.