...very tired!
And I ended my Saturday (actually it was early Sunday morning) in Madrid looking like this...
...'slightly' intoxicated with some new friends.
What happened in between these two photos included some travel, a bit of sightseeing, numerous tapas and a few too many beers and beverages. Here's a look...(I'm being lazy, aka hungover, and letting the photos do the talking for this post).
Easyjet is a lowcost airline in Europe, it's like their Southwest Airlines, no reserved seats.
I can't tell you how may times I've looked at a departure board at an airport and wished it said Madrid. Now it does and I'm pumped!
My Madrid hotel, Hotel Moderno is right next to Puerta del Sol in Madrid's city center.
The Puerta del Sol plaza. It's considered the center of the city and is one of Madrid's most popular meeting spots.
First order of business was to dive into the tapas at one of the many sidewalk cafes. I walked around some quiet side streets and found a perfect spot. I got some chorizo, albundigas bacalao, olives and a cerveza. The only problem was I didn't know what "bacalao" was...apparently it's salted cod, so I had cod meatballs, which is fine cause I needed some fish in my diet.
Plaza de Espana in Old Madrid. The horse statue in the photo is of Don Quixote.
Palacio Real, aka Royal Palace.
Mercado de San Miguel is a fun indoor market with a wide variety of modern delis, restaurants, and shops.
One of the delis at the Mercado de San Miguel had racks of pig legs hanging behind the counter. The butchers would simply pull one down, carve slices and serve them. I later noticed this process in numerous markets and delis around the city so apparently this is common in Madrid.
I eventually made it to Plaza Mayor, Madrid's great 17th century square. The plaza has been a central focal point of the city for centuries and is a major tourist destination.
I really enjoyed the various side streets with colorful buildings and stone streets.
The city is very colorful both in its architecture and people.
After a bit of sight seeing I came back to the hotel to rest and change for the evening. Being that it was a long day I was planning to grab a bite to eat, perhaps a beer, and then calling it a night...it didn't go as planned.
Not too far from the hotel was a great little Spanish restaurant. I had a simple bruschetta type dish with toasted bread, roasted red peppers, grilled onions and goat cheese...it was phenomenal!
Ensalada with walnuts, sliced apples and blue cheese.
Asparagus with parmesan...these asparagus spears were huge!
After dinner I walked around and made it to Plaza Santa Ana, a spot a few locals recommended as having fun bars and nightlife. This was a shot of the streets in Plaza Santa Ana.
Although I wasn't at USC's first game of the season I was able to borrow this properly colored hat from a fellow patron to show my support of the Trojans. This photo was taken around halftime of the game - 2:30am in Madrid which is 5:30pm in LA.
I eventually befriended a group of British lads on a bachelor party. They said I looked like a friend of theirs who couldn't make the trip so I was a fill-in.
One beer led to a few...
A bit of dancing...
Group shot. A few of the guys from the bachelor party were going to the Real Madrid match on Sunday so we are planning to get some pre-match beers.
Sunday is game day in Madrid! Real Madrid takes on Granada in a La Liga clash at Santiago Bernabéu Stadium. The stadium, which is an iconic venue in world soccer (similar to Wrigley Field or Fenway), holds 85k so it should be an exciting atmosphere.
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