Day 1 and 2 - Flying and Madrid

Alright so I'm new at this blog thing, but I figure it's the best way to keep up with my trip! Yesterday was actually Day 1, but it has been a VERY LONG past 2 days. About most of our Cadiz group got together at the airport and left around 6:30 for Frankfurt, Germany. The flight wasn't that bad - I sat next to a very nice Polish woman and her ADORABLE baby boy (they were actually from Dacula!) and I finally got to see the movie Avatar. Even though the flight was super uncomfortable, it went by so fast. The Frankfurt airport was cool, really relaxed and bunnies on the runway haha. Then we had to take a connecting flight to Madrid from Frankfurt, and I knew I was going to pass out on the plane, which I did. When we arrived to Madrid, it was unfortunately RAINY and COLD. Everyone was in their winter clothes! Currently, we are staying in the Hotel Tryp Gran Via, right in the center of the Gran Via part of Madrid - aka, close to GREAT shopping! We all went and bought really dinky cell phones for the trip and really did not have time to rest.

Not going to lie, I had to experience the night life here! A couple of us in the group got together and went out last night to some local bars and discotecas. Despite the cold, it was SO much fun! We started out at a place called...Star Light? (It was a long name) It was cool, just like any bar in Athens, with a lot of young people and some Americans. Then we went to a discoteca, and had lots of fun there dancing and meeting locals. There was also a Marachi band there! The only thing about discotecas is that there is a cover charge usually at the door. I had to pay 5 euros to get into the discoteca. All in all though, it was a great way to start the trip!

Today had an early start! We went to the Reina Sofia museum of contemporary art and saw the works of artist such as Picasso and Dali. The art was really cool, definitely different from the Prado! After the museum, a couple of us did some walking and did some shopping at local vendors. Lunch was at this place called Vitimina, and I guess their thing was healthy food! I had a sandwich called 'Apolo" - turkey, spinach drenched in olive oil, mayo, tomato sauce, and a side of fries. Very interesting, wasn't too bad! Dinner was GREAT though, I had green beans that tasted just like how the Southerners make it! And, as expected, I am living off bread and butter again :) Oh, and I also did some VERY GOOD shopping today - can you say Bershka is the coolest store ever?!

I am enjoying every second here, and it's so much better the second time! I still remember a lot of stuff from when I came 2 years ago, and it's great to see how life is here now that I am a tad bit older :) Anyways, I'm going to try to keep up with this as much as I can - trying to get internet here is very hard. Anywho, going to the Plaza Mayor tonight and hopefully getting me some Sangria and chocolate y churros! :)

Adios!

Teresa

PS - to all my Spain people from '08, I swear I saw Randolph-o at the Madrid airport - I SWEAR. ;)

Pictures aren't working now for some reason (probably because the internet sucks) but I will put some up ASAP! :)