My trip was amazing!
I don't even know where to begin. I made sure to put up a majority of the photos I took on Facebook so you all can see what I was up to this past week. I think they tell a pretty good story of my vacation. But however, I wanted to give you a play-by-play in case you were interested in more details.
So let's see. Day one.
Allison and I woke up at 6 am to catch our 8am bus to Madrid from Sevilla. On our walk there, I called Mom, Dad, and Carson to say farewell (even though it's only a week long trip).
We made it to the bus station with 5 minutes to spare (Sorry Dad, I wasn't that early!!) and we got right on our bus. I fell asleep promptly and Allison watched TV on her iPod. I woke up as we pulled into Madrid. Sometimes my sleeping abilities come in handy!
So we get off the bus in Madrid at a bus station I have never heard of. We literally leave the station, stand on the street, and look every direction. Allison turns to me and says, "Now what?" in all seriousness. Aaaaaand we had no clue what to do. So we pitch camp in a Burger King, go pee, order some Fanta, and eat our lunches that Rosa packed us.
After we get our bearings, we walk down the main road, or what we presume is the main road, and look for taxis. We manage to hail one with few problems and by the grace of God, we meet the nicest taxi driver named Carlos.
Carlos is Cuban but lived in Connecticut for ten years so he speaks perfect English. He drove us to our hostel in Madrid directly. However, we would be needing another ride to the airport and back in order to pick up Allison's best friend, Kaci. So Carlos gives us his work phone number and says he will pick us up, take us back, and anything else we may need in regards to taxi transportation.
Allison and I check into our hostel, which from the outside looks extremely sketchy. It was Allison's job to book hostels so I had no idea what I was walking into. We find this little tiny door with a chalkboard sign (CHALKBOARD) saying "Hostel One." We get buzzed in, and it's gorgeous inside! It ended up being the best hostel. The staff was AMAZING and soo helpful, the towels were free, and the beds were super comfy.
So we get settled and unpack a bit, and then we ring up Carlos! He meets us at the hostel 30 minutes later and we go to the Madrid Barajas Airport to pick up Kaci. Kaci is Allison's friend from Oklahoma and they are bestest bestest friends. Kaci had family in Morocco, so she had been there for a few days before she flew to us in Madrid. Anyway, we get to the airport, kill a few hours at the restaurant, and pick up Kaci. Very cute reunion between the friends. Then Carlos came back to get us. He was such a blessing.
At this point we have spent an unmentionable amount of Euros on Carlos's personal taxi service. Literally, I'm not gonna tell you. So in order to show his thanks, Carlos took us out to coffee. He bought the three of us cafe con leche and we sat as he showed us pictures of his wife and kids. Such a sweet and funny man.
We get back to Hostel One and Kaci gets settled in. While we are there, we acquaint ourselves with our roommates. One is named Gustavo and he was from Zacatecas, Mexico. He gave me a postcard from there and a friendship bracelet! Nice dude.
So at this point it has been the longest day ever. We all crash in our bunks and await the next day in Madrid!
Day Two: Madrid
(I hope you guys are not gonna get sick of reading this. I am being slightly long winded, sorry!)
We wake up around 8 or 9 on Sunday. It's the 28th of October. We had plans to go to El Rastro, which is the open air flea market in Madrid. We grab a map from the office and throw on all our clothes (sooo freezing cold) and we were off.
We take pictures of Puerta del Sol, the main plaza in Madrid, and make our way through tons of people. The city was generally just a crowded place. Then we stop for breakfast at a cafe and order coffee, and bread with olive oil, salt, and tomato puree. Yum.
Then we found the El Rastro market. It was awesome, but SO SO crowded! You have to watch your purse at all times because everyone is so jam packed, it's hard to notice pickpockets. Everyone will warn you about those. So we strolled along, looked at jewelry, hats, watches, clothing, and knick knacks. I bought a 3 pack of tall wool socks for 5 euros. Great buy. Kaci and Allison went crazy and got souvenirs and clothes and purses and bunches of things.
After El Rastro, I said bye to Allison and Kaci and met up with some school friends. Seth and Kate were in Madrid as well because we were all going to see a concert there. So I met up with them and we hung out in Kate's swanky Madrid hotel room. We listened to songs that we were going to hear at the concert and relaxed while trying to get warm from the cold!
So at this point it's about 4pm, and the three of us make our way to Palacio Vistalegre to see Bon Iver! It was my first time taking the Madrid metro system. We get to the venue, and for dinner we got chicken empanadas which were sooooo yummy. We get in line, and there was only about 20 or 30 people ahead of us. We sit down and prepare for the 2 hour wait to see our favorite singer!
Kate and I got hungry again so we grabbed more food and some drinks at the local superstore. Seth made friends with four Spanish girls while he saved our spots. Anyway, we kill time in the cold and then it's 7pm and doors open! Seth nearly peed himself, he was so excited.
We get inside the venue, which I now learned is a bullfighting ring, and see the opening act called The Staves. They are three British women who sing acoustic songs. SOOO good. Very talented. We three were probably the only people who could understand them cause everyone else spoke Spanish!
Thennnnnnnnn BON IVER!!!!!!
The show was unbelievable. I cried tears of joy. Three times. So did Seth.
Such amazing sound, very loud, and super cool lighting and such a theatrical setup.
I wish I had pictures but I wasn't allowed to bring my DSLR camera in there, only little point and shoots. Maybe I'll grab some of Kate's pictures to show you.
Anyway the two hour set flew by and it was mindblowing. The three of us were reeling from excitement for literally hours afterwards.
After a snack of cheese fondue and some tinto verano, and a metro trip back to the hostel, I said bye to Kate and Seth and hello to Kaci and Allison. I was super tired so off to bed I went!
Day Three: Travel
Hooray, the day we go to London! Woke up late around 10, and strolled around Madrid. I went to my favorite store, Topshop, which is only in Europe and just looked. We then grabbed breakfast I forget where, and had a few hours to wait until Carlos picked us up to go to the airport again.
I had a cup of tea, and when Carlos came, we all piled in the taxi and began our journey to the UK.
Our flight was at 5pm so we were at the airport around 2, thanks to my advice. We then had way too much time and we were super sleepy so we pitched camp in an airport diner. Kaci and I fell asleep on the table, face down, and Allison ate Doritos and took a picture of us.
Here it is:
Nice right?
So then we board our RyanAir flight to London. It was only about a two hour flight. I slept. Surprise!
We get to London, and go through Customs and Passport Check and all sorts of legal things.
We get to London around 8pm their time, and after the time change, which happens a week earlier in Europe I guess. We take a bus to Victoria, which was a 10 pound trip for two hours. Just what I wanted, more bus rides. I slept. :)
We get to Victoria Station and walk to our hostel in the dark and the rain. It was actually the only time it rained in London, that first time we got there!
After a very long and confusing, cold walk, we get to Astor Victoria Hostel. Such a cute place. We check in and fall asleep!
For dinner we went to an Italian restaurant where everyone spoke only Italian. I had the best pasta of my life. So delicious!
What a day full of hurrying up and waiting!
Day Four: Busy Day in London
On Tuesday we went to Buckingham Palace and looked at touristy locations all through out London.
We got advice from a New Zealander at the hostel that they were changing the guard at the palace, so off we went after a cup of tea and toast with blackcurrant jam.
Oh man, was that a joke. There must have been thousands of tourists, mostly speaking French, jam packed all in the streets, hoping for a sight of the guards. We stayed for about an hour, saw the little marching band parade, and then got the heck out of there cause we could barely see anything anyway.
Then the three of us went to Big Ben, Parliament, and Westminster Abbey. Very cool.
We walked around, took countless pictures, and listened to people with English accents.
We strolled through Hyde Park and took pictures in the fall colored leaves. Kaci and Allison set down their bags of souvenirs on the ground to take pictures. Then we picked up and went to Harrod's!
We walked forever and stopped in a drugstore to buy shampoo and toothpaste. Over 6 pounds for a travel size baby shampoo and Colgate. Crazy. Then we made it to Harrod's which was insane. So many people and leather handbags. I bought a box of Earl Grey tea though!
So as we are walking back, Kaci stops in her tracks and realizes she lost her souvenir bag. We figure it has got to be in the park where we set it down. So we begrudgingly trek back, retracing our steps.
But Allison stops back in the drugstore on the off chance it is left there, which it was! HOORAY! I did not want to walk another four miles to the park.
So at this point we are pooped. We walk all the way home and stop at a pub called Shakespeare's for drinks.
Here is the fun part of the story. Not really.
Okay so we are sitting at the table, the three of us. Kaci and I leave Allison at the table while us two go to the bar to order. Kaci leaves her things on the table while Allison is supposed to watch them. We order drinks and come back. And.
Kaci's new iPhone 5 is nowhere to be seen.
We look everywhere. We ask the waitress. We check under tables. We empty our purses. It's gone.
Kaci starts bawling and I go ask the manager if we can see the security footage in the restaurant.
She says yes, and we fill out an incident report. They watch the film and they tell us that a man came into the pub, snatched the iPhone off the table while Allison was looking at her camera pictures, made a circle around the restaurant, and left. With Kaci's new iPhone in his pocket.
We were dumbfounded. Kaci had over 1200 pictures of her trip to Morocco on that new $750 phone.
We left our info and told the bar to make a police report. Sadly, we had nothing to do but go back to the hostel. Day one in London. Man. Not fun.
Day Five: Halloween
Today we went to Camden. Nobody was in the best of spirits, but it was Halloween so we wanted to do something fun.
Camden ended up being super awesome. We took the tube with our all day pass, which was fun, and made it to Camden Town where they have Camden Market. So many things to see and places to shop. I had delicious delicious chinese food and the girls bought a bunch of presents for their family.
It was cold and gray outside, but no rain. A very appropriate day for Halloween; it felt spooky there all day.
After the Camden Market, we went to Primark. It's a store that sells clothes and shoes and things in mass, like Costco, but for really cheap. I got a pair of leopard shoes for 6 pounds!
We took pictures around Oxford Street and the girls bought more souvenirs.
We had amazing Indian food at a little Indian restaurant. Probably the best Tandoori Chicken Masala I've ever tasted. Yummmmm.
For Halloween, we went out to Lester Square and Piccadilly. We were tired so we just had drinks at a bar instead of dancing. We asked this security guard where would be a nice place, and oh man was he a character. He was black, about seven feet tall, and super skinny. He had the cutest accent but it was unintelligible. He said his favorite American TV show was "Cheetahs." I asked if that was on Animal Planet. But noooooo, he meant "CheaERs" which is apparently some drama on daytime television about boyfriends. Funny.
So we took his advice and had drinks in Lester Square, watched people in costumes walk by, and had a relaxing evening. Very fun.
Day Six: Sightseeing
On the next day, we went to The Tower of London, London Bridge, Tower Bridge, and then Borrough Market. It was, again, super cold. We took a double decker bus around town and took cool pictures of the city. The Tower of London is where they keep the Crown Jewels! We didn't pay to see them, but hey I was close to them.
Then we went to Borrough Market where they sell all types of food in little stalls. I bought British Caramel Nougat. Yummm!
We walked down to the Globe Theater after that. That is where Shakespeare did his plays! I bought a postcard for my high school English teacher there.
After the Globe, we saw St. Paul's Cathedral at night. I bought some roasted peanuts and we crossed over a gorgeous bridge lit at night. So pretty.
For dinner I had "fishcakes" which are like crabcakes made of bunches of fish. Super good. Oh also I forgot, I had classic fish and chips on the first day we got to London for lunch. Sidenote.
Day Seven: Bye Kaci!
Kaci had to fly back to Oklahoma so we sent her off and said our goodbyes.
Then Allison and I went to the Natural History Museum. We waited for an hour to get in, and hour to see the dinosaur exhibit, and were entertained by crying children and yelling parents. Wow it was busy there. Apparently all kids had the week of school the week we were there so that explains the chaos.
It was very pretty and we got cool pictures though.
Thennnnnn Allison and I went to a West End Musical! We got the LAST two tickets to Wicked!
It was such an awesome show! And I met two nice Welsh gay men sitting next to me who were wonderful conversationalists. Overall a really fun night.
Day Eight: Travel Again
The next day was our last day in the UK. Allison and I went to a French cafe near the bus station and had lattes, sandwiches, and tirimisu. Yum. I love food. Anyway we had another 2 hour bus ride, 3 hour plane ride, and another bus ride back to Sevilla.
When we got to Sevilla it was pouring rain. Rosa told us that it rained all week in Sevilla, which is pretty funny to me cause it never really rains a lot there, while in London it is supposed to!
We got home, showered, had a delicious dinner thanks to Rosa, and crashed early. Lots of traveling!
Day Nine: Sevilla
Sunday we got to rest, unpack, and hang out at home. I uploaded pictures and watched TV in my jammies all day. I did my homework and got ready for the first day back at school Monday.
Well!!!!!
I think that is about it!!!!
I hope this was not too long and boring, but that you got a little insight into my week.
Thank you for reading this!
Thank you! So here is a picture I forgot to put on Facebook, as a reward for reading this lengthy blog.
A red phone booth in London during Fall :)
So that's my trip! Hope you enjoyed reading about it, cause I had fun doing it!
Besos!
