13.03.10

It was nice and sunny today with just a few clouds in the sky. I was planning on going into Madrid to see the Almudena Cathedral and some of the Reina Sofia. I had breakfast and got ready to leave when I got a message from Geno(i think thats how you spell his name but i have no idea). He is a kid around my age that lives here in Madrid and lives just across the bridge from me in the Urbanization Ciudalcampo.

He wanted to know if I would go skating with him and Javi(I know that this one is right). I still hadn't formally met Geno so I decided to go along. As most of you figured I didn't do much skating, mostly took pictures. I actually took a lot of photos for them and they really liked that. I think I counted around 400 when I was loading them onto my computer.

We hung out at the skate park for a couple of hours until Javi had to leave for paddle(sport kinda like racquetball). Geno and I then went to a skate park by my house for a while. There I met some other people that Geno knew: Alex, Nico, and another guy but I cant remember his name for the life of me.

We hung out for a while talking about things and eating some doughnuts. Eventually it was quite dark out and around 10:30 so I needed to go home and take care of the dogs. Currently Im the only one at the house. Everyone else went to San Sebastian this weekend to see Irene father who is not doing very well.

I went home and made myself some dinner, played the guitar for a while and then went of to bed.
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14.03.10

Woke up today and it was so sunny. Hardly any clouds in the sky and really warm, it was perfect. Got ready for today and looked at a few things on my map and book about what I wanted to see today. Unfortunately a lot of things are closed on Sunday's but I made my way around.

First stop was Plaza de Espana, I sat in the park for a couple minuets taking in the warm rays. Then before to much time was wasted I set of for the Real Palace. It is the biggest Palace in Europe, I have already seen the outside so now for the inside. Wrong this was also closed on Sunday's so I will have to wait for another day.

I went to the adjacent building Almudena Cathedral. This is a spectacular thing to see, so rich in color everywhere. I spent some time soaking it all in and taking pictures of almost the entire Cathedral. I didnt know what else to do now since most things were closed.

I set of walking in a direction looking for something interesting or somewhere good to eat. Since it was Sunday it seemed as though the whole population of Madrid was out walking through the streets and occupying every bar. I kept walking until the crowds started getting smaller and smaller, slowly leaving the heart of Madrid. I found a nice bar with mostly standing room.

I took a bit to decide but went with a large beer and a pork sandwich. This sandwich was typical, uncooked meat. However something I haven't seen before is the meat came from the wall where they were cutting it fresh of of a leg. It was still delicious none the less.

After I was satisfied I set of walking again towards the Atocha Train station to look at the construction and the Memorial from the train bombings in 2004. From the bar it was about a 30 minute walk to Atocha which was perfect considering that it was so nice outside.

Right before I got to the station I was passing a huge building and had no idea what it was, it was several stories tall and just huge. It turns out to my surprise that it was the Reina Sofia. I thought the Reina was big but not massive. I was truly amazed at the size of that art museum and a place I will be visiting shortly.

I headed across the street to Atocha, I looked at all of the construction going on, took some photos and then was off to a nearby park. This park is huge, which I should be getting used to since I am in Madrid. They had nice streams going everywhere, tons of grass for having a sit down, soccer fields, trees, lots of stuff.

I was focused on finding the small lake in this park where you can rent a boat and row around for a while. Eventually I stumbled across this due to the mass hoard of people engulfing the water/surrounding area. Many people were out here taking in the sun, looking at the couple items for sale or just spending a day out and about.

After a while my camera died, that was a bummer because there is a lot of things that I wanted to take pictures of, but that means I need to back another sunny day which will be great.

It was starting to cool down and get late so I started my journey back to a metro station that would take me Plaza Castilla where I get on a bus for home stretch. I had to make a quick stop at another ice cream store that I walked past. If I end up broke from eating ice cream every time I pass it is ok with me. I justify it as I need to try every flavor/variation from store to store.

I got home and relaxed for a while. Around 11 Oscar came home, he arrived in Madrid by train and told me that everyone else stayed behind. He will be going back possibly in a few day. He at some dinner and we talked for a bit then he went to bed. Wanting to make the most out of my day I went to bed soon after

Im working on my photos, uploading them etc. sorry its taking so long the past sites I was using doesnt let you have unlimited photos for free so its been a struggle to find a good site. Never the less they will be up soon so be looking