Madrid (23-27 Feb)

Hola de Madrid! What a funky little city (well I guess its the capital but still) We stayed in a youth hostel in Gran Via, walking distance to Sol where the whole city sprawls out from. We had an amazing break here, leaving my house super early (3amish) to make sure we didnt miss our cheap flight on the Friday morning and getting back home at 2am on Tuesday morning meant we got 5 full days to spend there!

On the Saturday we went to watch a Seattle band who were playing in the Autorium of a Museum somewhere for 1 euro but when we got there it was sold out and in the end quite a few mothers and young children were inside (crazy!) so we watched it from the hallway instead. All good because in the evening we ended up coming across a random Romanian concert in Plaza Mayor and even discovered that the free hugs (see January blog) extend to Spain too!!

Sunday I tired Katia out by dragging her around the Market - when she suggested it I bet she didnt know it would drag into a 2.5 hour ordeal, started spitting just as we were leaving - perfect timing. Ended up getting caught in an absolute downpour between there and the Museo de Prado although the weather was gorgeous when we got out and it continued like that for the rest of our stay! On Monday we decided it was probably time to actually get out and do some real sightseeing. A lot of the architecture in Madrid is pretty amazing but here are the four main sights; Plaza Mayor, Palacio Real, Plaza de Cibeles and Puerta de Alcala.

Spent our last day sunbathing by the pond in Parque del Reitro in the morning and then in Plaza Mayor in the afternoon. Had a great time travelling with Katia (we're even thinking about doing a short trip to Greece in May) It was awesome to catch up with Gosia before she heads off to Argentina at the start of March for three months. Lots of getting together for Sangria, tiny beers and tapas - ate REALLY well while we were here - sandwiches with fresh ham and cheese, lots of roasted chestnuts and sweet potato from street vendors and meals out with paella, tortilla, and of course who could forget patatas bravas! - at least walking round for a day with a 15kilo backpack helps burn off a few of those churros with hot chocolate!

Had a great time in Madrid - Even if the ice-cream are shaped like feet!