so i'm just up from my siesta, a spanish tradition that i've really taken to. :) and making plans for the evening, possibly seeing some flamenco dancing/music (though the *best* is supposed to be in sevilla, so perhaps i'll go there as well).
yesterday i went out to get myself some food at a little cafe i found near the hostel. i got a coffee (which wasn't the best idea, as i was a bit dehydrated still from all the flying) and a pizza (which was mediocre at best). after sitting in the sun for a while and people watching i walked down to plaza mayor. it's basically a square, surrounded by buildings and shops and filled with cafe tables. really lovely, but i was starting to fade, so i bought a couple of bottles of water and went back to the hostel for a little nap.
i napped for a marvelously long time. it was fabulous, especially since i hadn't actually been able to lie down for 24 hours! i woke at about 8pm and decided i was going to go for a walk to find something to eat. i managed to find my way to a shop and back to the hostel with only a small detour down the wrong road (madrid is a bit like boston, in that the streets don't neccesarily have any logic to their layout).
when i got back two girls i had met earlier carlynne and alydta were about to go off to meet a friend of alydta's. so i ate my little cheese and spinach pastry and we set off to sol, which is the center of madrid (also kilometre 0 for many spanish highways). we met up with alydta's friend eric, who happened to know the city pretty well, so he took us all to a restaurant he liked. i had the tortilla espagnola - a spanish omlette, but so much better than in the states. instead of just some hunks of potato mixed into an omlette, there was little tiny bits of potato all through the egg. it was delicious. we washed it down with some sangria and some free entertainment from the table near us. (spaniards seem to break into song just about everywhere)
this morning i slept a little late, missed the free breakfast at the hostel, then went down to el rastro (the flea market) with carlynne and alydta. a bit of shopping, a coffee and a snack, then we headed towards museo del prado. (many museums are free on sunday ). we poked around there for a while, saw some goya, some valasquez, etc. carlynne went to catch a train to barcelona and alydta and i went to get some food and back to the hostel for siesta.
so refreshing, and a timetable very much to my liking. lunch between 1 and 3. a nap. dinner around 10-11. sleep late. repeat.
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