Madrid

Madrid has nothing much to see, honestly, unless you dig museums. We did not have to spend money in Madrid on transport because a couple gave us train tickets they could not finish using. :)


I forgot which palace is this (coz I can't find my madrid map).


Madrid's emblem, right smack in the middle of the shopping district. People in Madrid speak Spanish.

We visited one of the three museums in Madrid, the Museo Nacional del Prado. It was a really huge museum with fantastic works from Raphael, Rembrandt and Goya(there was even a Goya exhibition then!!!), and we only paid 3 euros (student price) to get in.

I saw Goya's the third of May 1808 there (depicting the horrors of the French Revolution in Spain), and it was larger than I expected. The Goya exhibition also had his works from his disasters of war collection with very negative taglines.


We stayed very close to all the main attractions. This is the view from our hostel. We shared our room with a freaky old man and a wierd girl who looks like she's a red-indian descendant.


Some famous fountain. (I lost my map, LAH!)


We visited Parque del Buen Retiro


The park.


The Puerta de Alcala at Independence Square.


Hehe, what is going to Madrid without seeing the Real Madrid stadium! :D:D "Real" means Royal. I didn't go in though, because between the Barcelona Camp Nou and Real Madrid, I heard the former was more worth the money. (yeayea I know Real Madrid was the last La Liga champions, still...)

Strangely, although Spain has quite a good League, the world cup has always eluded them.

On our last night, we met up with a French dude who lives in Madrid who brought us to eat typical Cheap Spanish food. We got to know this French dude in our Rome hostel.

First stop: Ham museum. Very famous, must-eat place.


We had ham with cheese for dinner, which was yummy.

After dinner, we went to a bar to try Patatas Bravas, a typical Tapas dish. Speaking of Tapas, I think Tapas is a waste of money. Each Plate costs 3 euros and you need to buy at least 2-3 plates of Tapas to be decently full. Tapas = finger food, typical Spanish stuff.

Patatas Bravas is potatoes soaked in Hot sauce. Quite easy to make, will try to do it someday.

We ended the night enjoying Sangria under the stars in an open air bar. Sangria = wine with a mixture of fruits, sugar, ginger ale, gin and chilled 24 hours before serving.

Nice hotel in front of us.


=)

Throughout my stay in Spain, I did not try Paella because it was soooooooo expensive. I managed to get my first taste of Paella in Corsica for a cheaper price.