I'm in Madrid!

I will attempt to give an account of everything we are doing in Madrid through this blog. Here goes:
Wednesday, December 26, 2007--We arrived in Madrid at about 10:00 AM after a fitful night flight. Ginny met us at the station with a big sign reading "My Southern Belles Sonya & Katie." Then we walked through the airport to the Metro which is a huge system of underground trains (subway). It was tough hauling all our luggage that far but we were too cheap to hire a taxi. We took the Metro to Pueblo Nuevo (New Village) where Ginny has an apartment. After a brief rest, we left the apartment to go by Metro to Callao (a section of Madrid). Then we walked to the Puerta del Sol (Gate of the Sun) where we took lots of pictures of buildings and things. We kept walking to Plaza Mayor (Major Plaza) where lots of people were buying colorful wigs, masks, hats, and boas. Ginny said they would wear these for New Years. So we each bought a sparkly hat and wore them the rest of the day. We then walked to the Catedral de la Almudena. The cathedral was beautiful inside and out with stained-glass windows. Everything here is so much older than anything we have in the United States, so all the buildings are magnificent! We took pictures in the cathedral and wondered if we could even listen to a preacher in a place like that because we would just be looking around all the time.
We walked to the Palacio Real (Royal Palace) but didn't go in because we aren't citizens of a European nation and we would have had to pay. We walked all around the palace to the Jardines de Sabatini (royal gardens) which were beautiful even at this time of year. Then we walked to the Plaza de Espana where we saw our first statues of Don Quixote and Sancho Panza (from the book written by Cervantes). We also got a close-up look at an olive tree (we think).Then we went back to Pueblo Nuevo where we bought three bocadillos (sandwiches): jamon serrano (cured ham and white cheese), Spanish tortilla, and salchicha (sausage, but it looked and tasted like a hot dog). Each sandwich cost about 3 Euros each. Then we stopped by a chino (Chinese-owned shop) where we bought a 2-liter Coke for 1.75 Euros. We brought our food home, watched Ginny's new "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" DVD on the computer, played an electronic Mad Libs game (it was hilarious), and then fell into bed at about 10:30. We all slept very good that night.

Thursday, December 27, 2007--We woke up very late--around 11:00, took showers, and got ready to go. We decided to go to Alcala de Henares, a town about a 45-minute train ride from Madrid (real train on top of the ground). When we got there, we walked to a fantastic chicken restaurant called Pollo de Alcala. It was a renovated ancient warehouse. For 7 Euros we each had consume (soup), bread, a salad, a quarter of a chicken, french fries, Coke, and a dessert. For dessert, Katie got a chocolate pudding, Ginny got flan, and I got a lemon pudding. We tried them all and enjoyed them all. Then we walked to the birthplace of Cervantes and toured the house. Lots of old stuff in there. Each room had a huge pot on the floor. We can only assume that they were fire pits.
When we left there, we went to the cathedral where Cervantes was baptized. Then we went to the University of Alcala. I have great pictures.
A highlight was when we went to a convent of cloistered nuns and bought candy-coated almonds from them. They weren't allowed to see us, but they could talk to us through a small rotating door. We each ordered almonds. I bought mine in a small wooden chest. Then we went to the train station, saw a fight between a drunken man and a woman (who tried to convince Katie that her Mom was, indeed, dead and you shouldn't talk about the dead...it's sacred) and saw her hit him with her purse. It was quite loud. Then we caught the train and, on the way back to Madrid, met Angeles, a woman who was quietly (at first) crocheting a bolsa (purse). I innocently inquired about the bolsa by saying, "Bolsa?" She had apparently been listening to us talk, so she said, "You speak English?" which made us think she spoke English, too. We were wrong. She then began to speak her limited English phrases, then launched into an unintelligible filibuster in Espanol. We all politely smiled and nodded, although Ginny did have some decent conversation with her. We got off at Atocha and walked up the Paseo del Prado and saw the Christmas lights. I've never seen a more beautiful display. We also saw the outside of the Prado Museum (we plan to go inside on Sunday), the Plaza de Canovas with the Neptune fountain, the Plaza de Cibeles, then walked back to the Puerta del Sol. Then we went to a local chocolateria called San Gines where we had churros and chocolate. Delicioso! We finally trudged back home where we called our families. Now we are going to bed. Good night!