Well we made it! Hola Madrid! Estamos aqui!

First of all our adventure getting here was just that, quite the adventure. First off, we got to the airport extremely early because we were afraid the security line would be super long…don’t worry, we’d already printed our boarding passes and the security line took about 5 minutes. So yeah. Then while Alyssa was putting her luggage into the upper compartment, she somehow severely cut her finger open and it was bleeding everywhere. Good times. We made it to Philly, but our next gate was literally ACROSS the entire airport. Then they changed our gate without changing ANY of the signs in the entire airport so we were running all around trying to figure out where to go and trying to get something to eat (of course they starved us on the first flight, and despite snacks we almost died). And literally almost missed our flight. Everyone else was super confused too and US Airways can suck it. Then of course getting from the airport to our hostel was quite the adventure. Once again, the metro was on the other side of the airport and we had a few transfers with all our luggage, then got lost walking in the rain to our hostel. But we were SO HAPPY the entire time anyway! Like, Who cares that I’m wet, exhausted, and my body feels like its been bull dozed: Its beautiful and we’re in Madrid!

THEN THE BEST THING HAPPENED. EVER.

We finally found our hotel, and it was in such an amazing location we were SO excited. Right around the corner from the main shopping and restaurant Plaza Del Sol. And right around the corner from Top Shop and H&M, thanks.
BUT THEN WE CHECKED IN.
and they upgraded us.
To an APARTMENT.
Yeah that’s right. A two bedroom, full kitchen, private entry, private bath, washing machine, living room, the works, APARTMENT. Lets just say, we have a hard time leaving everyday because we just love it here SO MUCH. We are just here tonight and tomorrow night though before we are off to Barcelona to stay in our one hostel for the trip.

We freshened up and then went to get dinner out…we had a weird dinner of smoked salmon…it was strange. But the sangria made it all better! We were going to try and go do something to try and stay awake, but were literally falling asleep into our food so we just went home and slept. And when I say slept, I mean we fell into some kind of travel induced coma which entails being half dead between the hours of 5pm and 10am.

Now that’s brought you up to speed to today! Today we went to the palace! We are big fans of palaces, so we were pretty excited. We’re still a little groggy, but got it together just in time to stand out in the rain for an hour with the rest of the Spaniards on holiday waiting to get inside. Inside wasn’t too crowded (nothing will ever beat my summer at Versailles were I literally couldn’t move inside any of the rooms because of the crowds), the line was long because we had to go through security. Inside was beautiful, of course. Our favorite were the incredible chandeliers inside all of the rooms…just overwhelmingly beautiful and show such craftsmanship and talent. We loved the HUGE dining room that they still use (imagine a ballroom with a long table and chairs across the entire room), we also loved the throne room with more pretty chandeliers and these cool lions that represent the Spanish monarchy. We went through it pretty quickly, probably because we weren’t allowed to take pictures. FROWN FACE.

Afterwards we went next door to a pretty Cathedral they built within the last couple of years. It was fairly modern, so it wasn’t as cool as most European cathedrals are…but it was still big and charming. And nice to sit down and escape the rain in.

After our siesta we ate some dinner in our APARTMENT and then heard music coming from the plaza! Music! So we got dressed quickly to find gaggles of people roaming the plaza and streets (it was around 9p) shopping, visiting with friends, families just walking around…so we joined. The music was super fun and actually quite good. We did some shopping and then finished up with some of the best calamari rings Ive ever had and some garlic mushrooms to DIE FOR. Plus some cervesas of course.

Now its midnight and we really must be getting to bed, big museum day at the Prado tomorrow! One of those “must see in my lifetime” things to check off my art list. SO EXCITED. Tomorrow my arty nerd self will re-enter the world…she has been missed.

We miss you guys! Sending love!

-Esther (and Alyssa in spirit)


Alyssa and I partying it up in the Plaza Del Sol. We love the night life. We like to boogie.

href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtKokbmJHGi_9e3-KUzIKkq6vUq8YkDcMiRfiAXrXOT7UZr-dk0G4phtQP78P8zdFJQA9y_c_gfBdR6YQpnsK28K76AGhxtQaua1fm8Ce7eImSMnZ18GhzmvraQxrn5ZSZUL1ZamPjRymb/s1600-h/alyssa+and+cathedral.jpg">
They had these really beautiful doors in front of the cathedral. Pretty.


Thats me in front of the palace! yay!