MADRID!!!!!!!!!!

[/b]So Nicole and I managed to drag ourselves to the Nice airport. We had to do our last night in Cote d'Azur right so we hit up every place we knew of (rounding the nights number of bars, clubs and caves, yeah thatr right, caves, to 5) before heading back to Saint Euxpery for what we can call a power nap.

We got to Madrid, and easily found the luggage storage for my ridiculously large backpack and navigated the metro into the heart of the city. Finding no room at the inn, we frustratedly (is that a word??) found an internet cafe and researched a hostel that did have vacancy. Two hours later we had ridden yet another metro line and arrived at the creepiest building EVER: our hostel in the just off of Atoche. The place was dim save for a small entry hall light and was a combination of the Hollywood Tower Hotel and the Haunted Mansion at Disneyland, down to the elevator in which you could barely fit me and a backpack, let alone Nicole and I and all our stuff! Finally we arrived at la tercera planta (3rd floor) and were given our own room with our own bathroom!!!!! We decided to make the most of the night and headed out for a stroll on the real city that never sleeps (Madrid-ians get an average of 1 hour less sleep than the rest of Europe). By midnight we were ready to turn in (baby bedtime by Madrid standards).

Up not so early the next day, Nicole mapped out our day and we hit up many of the historical sites Madrid has to offer. We started at the Plaza de J. Buenavente named after the Nobel prize winning playwrite (prolly misspelled). Next was off the the [/b]Puerta del Sol[/b], a huge shopping district with clock tower where, at midnight on New Year's Eve you are supposed to stuff 12 grapes into your mouth by the 12th stroke. Then off to the [/b]Plaza Mayor[/b] which is a huge rectangular cobblestone plaza bordered on all 4 sides by gorgeous gothic buildings housing the municipal services officies for Madrid.

The heat finally got to us and I was forced to get ice cream! My new fav Euro trend is pistachio ice cream, its fabulous! Then after our fat break, we headed down past the Cathedral de San Isisdro which burnt down entirely in the Spanish Civil War and left only San Isidro and hist wife's remains. Then down to the gorgeous Basilica de San Fransisco where we headed north towards the [/b]Palacio Royal and Catedral de Nuestra Senora de la Almudena[/b]. The Palacio is huge and looks like a Spanish version of the Palace of Versaille down to the ornate wrought iron gates adorned with gold and the huge courtyard leading up to the daunting white palace. We didnt go inside the palace and instead headed into the cathedral for the Exposicion Inmaculada.

The Exposicion was a collection of portraits, sculptures, paintings, and replicas of the Virgin Mary from Dioceses all over the world. It was really well put together and it was interesting to see all the different depictions of Mary throughout time and from different cultures.

Heading away from the Palacio and the Cathedral we walked up to the [/b]Plaza de Espana[/b] where the monument to Cervantes stood. The sculpture of Don Quijote and Sancho Panza are particularly prideful for the Spainiards this year as it marks the 400th anniversary of Cervantes' classic satire.

Dinner that night was Tapas and Sangria and i even got adventurous eating tapas with cheese (eeiiwww) and even worse, anchovies! I could stomach more than a bite of the later, but hey, at least i tried!

That night was our last night in Madrid so we decided to rally for a little excitement and after running into a friend from High School in a freakish coincidence, we headed off to a movie to kill time before going out.

Spanish nightlife begins, apparently around 2am, and when we were finally beat we headed back at 4am with the rest of Madrid going strong.

I guess its a good thing I am not studying in Madrid because Im not sure i could hack it there.

So i dropped nicole at the airport this morning before heading off to Cordoba by train. And after a heck of a time finding a place i decided on the hotel where I will be meeting the other people in my program tomorrow for a night of relaxation and privacy.