When I go to Spain...Oh Wait, I Did

I've made it back alive!



My three day vacation in Spain went by way too fast and  sadly my reunion is already over :(

Hola Madrid!

We decided to have our big meet up in Alcala, Spain,  where two of my friends are studying for the semester. I couldn't wait to go to Spain! I've taken Spanish all my life , so I was excited to finally try out my skills. Sadly, my dreams of  a seamless Spanish conversation quickly came crashing down when I immediately became a flustered hot mess and could barely muster up an "Hola" to the desk clerk at the hostal . But other than that, I think things went pretty smoothly.

Reunited at Last!

After having a tear-filled reunion at the train station, which could have easily been a scene in a Lifetime movie, we made moves and got ready for a traditional tapas dinner. I have to admit, although I was incredibly excited to see my friends, I may have been equally excited for the food. I'm not even kidding, but for the past month Meaghan and I have been dreaming of guacamole, enchiladas, margaritas, chips and salsa.

What I would'nt do for some homemade guac....

 Sounds yummy, right? Too bad we had been dreaming of MEXICAN food, not Spanish food. Thank God Spanish food was delcious, so we were in no way disappointed( but I still could go for a burrito bowl from Chipotle).  At this particular restaurant, when you ordered a drink, you also received tapas of your choice. Essentially I was paying 2.50 euro for a drink and food. I didn't hate it obviously.

el restaurante

I know this may come as a shock to you, but for my drinks I went with Sangria and Coke Light. Surprise, surprise. The sangria was delicious, unlike any Sangria I've previously had, but in good way! For my tapas I rolled with an egg and salsa for dish  numero uno and a jamon and tomato sammie for dish numero dos. Both were tasty, but the company was obviously the best part.

Sipping on Sangria. Tatse like juice!

Huevos con salsa.

After dinner, we hit the town. After a 40 minute bus ride and taking two metros, we made it into Madrid!!! It was pretty dark, but was still gorgeous. I saved playing tourists for the next two days of my trip, so I didn’t see too much. One place of mention  that I did  go to was PACHA. I had never even heard of it before, but according to a few reliable sources, it’s a pretty well known club that had locations in Ibiza and NYC. It definitely lived up to the talk!

Crappy picture of Pacha, but I didn't want it too seem to obvious I didnt fit in, so I tried to be stealth.

The next morning we took in the sights of Alcala and had a leisurely  3 hour lunch.

Carolyn and I in Alcala

Pretty building. Wish I knew the name

The sun. Belgium seems to have misplaced you.

I feel like in America, waiters basically shove you out the door before you can ask for a menu, but in Europe, they have a huge emphasis on taking yor time and actually enjoying your food. No one ever pressures you to hurry. This can be a great experience, but bad if you’re a group of 11 hungry girls. Overall the experience was  quite nice, but the best part of lunch was desert. After a three month hiatus, I was reunited with one of the true loves of my life, Fro-Yo.

She does  it BIG!

 Belgium needs to jump on the fro-yo train, because I’m pretty sure they have the waffle and frites covered. Did I mention that you don’t have to pay to use the bathroom in Spain either? Spain 2 Belgium 0, not like I'm keeping score or anything....



Surprisingly the next activity involved food. Dinner was another traditional affair and  and my first  first whiff of Paella.

Is that sangria I spy?!

The next morning we ventured into Madrid. After an almost pick pocketing incident, me, my passport, my euros and all of my friends made it to El Rastro Market(with our hands firmly glued to our purses). El Rastro is a huge outdoor  market with anything and everything Spain. There was food, jewlery,clothing, shoes, performances. I wanted to buy everything in sight, but I limited myself to just a few things. I even got my sister a Christmas present.

El Rastro

Group picture at Rastro. Look how vulnerable our purses look!

I’ll let you guess what we did next.....

EVERYBODY eat, eat, eat, eat, eat

EAT! and this time I got the Paella. It was just as delicious as it smelled the night before. Next time , instead of chicken paella, I would have got the vegetable dish, but other than that, I have no complaints!

Pollo

Sadly, this was our version of the last supper, as most of the girls had to leave afterwards. BOO!

905 saying their goodbyes.

My mother would have LOVED this

The remaining crew did a little more sightseeing, and then ended the evening buying snacks to keep us busy for the evening activities.

Mercado de San Miguel aka Foodie Heaven

Plaza Mayor

Sol! We actually took the train to Sol the night before. Get it, "Sol Train". Anyone?

Lolli, lolli, lolli......

After checking into our amazing sleeping accommodation, i.e. the Ryan Air Terminal, me and the other Belgian ladies set up camp. Camp basically involved an excess of snacks: wasa with jelly and cheese, Oreos, some fruit, 2 day old unrefrigerated yogurt, chocolate, and there may have been a 2 liter of soda thrown into the mix, but whose counting.

Sleeping in the airport is almost second nature to us these days, and after a plane, bus, 2 trains and an eventful bike ride, we all arrived safely back at the Huis.



All in all this was a fantastic trip and I miss my friends already! After all this traveling I can’t wait to have some down time. Too bad I have the Wiz Khalifa concert tomorrow and a  weekend trip to Amsterdam , but I guess ill just have to suck it up ;)

Couldn't have said it better myself(but knowing my spanish skills it probably wouldn't have sounded as nice)

ADIOS,

Shayne