Emily and I flew from Vienna to Munich on Thursday evening where we were supposed to catch a connecting flight to Madrid. Unfortunately our flight was running late and we arrived at the Munich airport right as our second flight was departing. Here's the thing about Europe though: we were given a free night at a nearby NICE hotel, free dinner and breakfast there, and a free shuttle to and from the airport. Not too shabby, right?
We were in Madrid by 11:30am the next morning! We checked into our hostel, which is right next to EVERYTHING (but that's basically everywhere in the city-it's so small!), and headed right to The Prado Museum, Madrid's hugely famous art museum.
The artwork there was great, but I wasn't really any more impressed than I am by the art I see in Vienna. The "masterpieces" listed on the museum plan were all things I was vaguely familiar with, but not dying to see. We had a great time though and spent over two hours there! I used all my art and architecture class knowledge to throughly talk Emily's ears off. I also IMMEDIATELY recognized a massive painting of Maria Theresa. Does that make me an honorary Viennese now?
(This is obviously NOT Maria Theresa)
After the Prado we got coffee in the Plaza Mayor and enjoyed the sunshine we'd been missing oh-so-much lately in Vienna. We acclimated ourselves with some of the major attractions in the city, such as the Puerta del Sol. By the end of the afternoon we could walk to and from our hostel without a map!
That night we went to a restaurant called Torres Bermejas for a flamenco show, located right off Gran Via, the massive shopping and nightlife street. We arrived at the restaurant at 9pm and stayed until almost 1am! The flamenco started at 9:30 and we enjoyed paella while we watched some of the best dancing I've ever seen in my life. I had chills the entire time! The passion and expression in the singing and dancing was unreal. Both Emily and I agreed that we could go back to Vienna happy and our trip had barely even started yet!
The next morning we tried to get up early and go see the bullfighting museum at the arena, but were sad to learn that it's closed Friday through Tuesday, EXACTLY the days we'd be here for! I was excited to see it, but I probably would have been horrified and freaked out once we got there. Even though we were showered and ready to go, we turned around and went straight back to bed.
After our impromptu naps we went on the free walking tour organized by our hostel. It was SO COOL! I'd never been on a free tour before and it was totally great because our guide works hard to make it informative and fun so that he gets the best tips possible at the end. We walked all through the city for about three hours, seeing things we'd already seen before, but learning all the stuff we never knew. We also saw a ton of stuff we never would have discovered on our own! We saw Madrid's most famous symbol in the Puerta del Sol, the statue of the bear eating fermented fruit. Basically all these animals eat this fruit and get so drunk that for a little while they stop eating each other and chill the fuck out. Bad ass.
The walking tour ended around 3pm and WE WERE SO HUNGRY so we found the closet place and INHALED (come on, you guys know me), some tapas. I had my first taste of jamon, Madrid's famous ham that is EVERYWHERE.
We spent the next couple of hours killing time and eating subpar pastries before going to the OPERA! I got in contact with a good friend of my voice teacher in Vienna who works as a vocal couch there and he just happened to have two free tickets for the dress rehearsal to Debussy's Pelléas et Mélisande at the Madrid opera house! We were extremely fortunate! I was a little thrown off by the fact that we got to sit though, it felt wrong.
The opera was THE WEIRDEST FUCKING THING I HAVE EVER SEEN. AND I SAW SALOME LAST WEEK!
WHAT!!!!!!
This shit was ridiculously bad. It was all recit and the staging was insanely terrible, with the singers moving like robots around a set made up of blocks and straight lines and weird lighting. Even the program described the show as "vague" with "no real plot development" and claimed that it "wasn't for the conventional opera lover, but rather for the music lover in the strictest sense". Even the program couldn't pretend it was good! Not to mention it was scheduled to be close to four hours long.
We met with Professor Robin's friend during the intermission, talked about how "interesting" it was, and ROLLED OUTTA THERE AS QUICKLY AS WE COULD. The only good thing about the experience was that with the opera being in French and the subtitles in Spanish, I could call on my experience with every language I've learned since I was little and could sort of follow along! Sort of.
We were falling asleep as we walked and couldn't collapse into bed fast enough. It takes a lot out of you to spend all day on your feet in a country where you go through four different languages before you actually use the right one to order your food.
Sunday was probably my favorite day of all, which is saying a lot because I was ready to go home happy after the first night!
We got up early and visited the Rastro market, a Sunday flea market that stretches on for what feels like half of the city! We bought too much stuff for very little money. Good thing we got there early too, by the time we left it was almost impossible to walk around!
After the market we went to Retiro park. It reminded me SO MUCH of parts of Central Park! It was an unbelievably gorgeous fall morning and I was in heaven. The park is full of vendors and street performers and even little buildings with art exhibits! We ate chorizo sandwiches and watched the boaters row around on the lake.
We spent a hot second at the Reina Sofia contemporary art museum just before it closed and got to take in the massive Picasso collection. The museum houses one of Picasso's most famous works, "Guernica" which I definitely took a contraband picture of (shhh....).
One of the guys from our hostel recommended a small square that Madrid locals love, so we went over there afterwards for coffee and more sun-enjoyment.
Our evening took a wonderfully unexpected turn for dinner. We hung out with two new friends of Bill, Chip and Steve, who both happen to be from NYC! They're both artists, Chip is working for the month on a new piece at the Reina Sofia, and Steve is just taking a quick Europe tour and was meeting up with Chip for the evening when he invited us to join them. He will even be in Vienna next week so I'm looking forward to showing him around!
Steve had a Time-Out guide so we hit up a great Tapas place and then a pizza place run by two brothers from Napoli. We spent close to three hours just hanging out and getting to know each other and eating delicious, delicious food. It was pure joy and I SO look forward to hanging out with them once I get back to the city in December. Small world, isn't it??
Unfortunately, we spent a fair amount of time outside and I definitely did NOT have a jacket. Emily and I were completely unprepared for the weather here, assuming that 70 degrees meant shorts and flip flops. I was able to modify my outfits, but the whole "not-having-a-coat" thing was hard to avoid. That paired with spending approximately twelve hours on our feet every day resulted in me waking up with a terrible sore throat and feeling like poop this morning.
Em and I had plans to take a day trip to Segovia, but after waiting in the train station for less than an hour I was spent. I went back to the hostel and Emily was happy to be the awesome adult that she is and go on an adventure all on her own! I am forever grateful.
So here I am, watching Dexter, Lie to me, Bones, and every other American TV show I'd forgotten about and trying to recharge. One good thing: SPANISH OMELETTES WERE MADE FOR SICK DAYS.
Tonight we'll probably eat something quick by the hostel and go to bed early because we have to catch a 7:20am flight. Our layover time in Munich is longer this time around so fingers crossed that we don't miss our connection again! If all goes according to plan I'll be back in Vienna by noon.
I MISS HOME SO MUCH. And no, not NYC or Indiana, but Wien. This trip is maybe one day too long. I miss the other amazing friends I've made and German and my classes and GOOD OPERA and Pasha and everything I've grown to know and love.
Madrid has been great, but God Almighty, I left my heart in Austria BIG TIME.
Classes resume Wednesday after the All Saints Day holiday and I hope to be feeling better by then and ready to get back into the swing of things!
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