Hey. I've sort of forgotten about you all for the past few days. It's been a little crazy and I don't have the energy to retell my stories in this blog because it's Friday, August 19 at 2:30 AM and I am EXHAUSTED!
I spent my last day in Spain wander throughout Madrid and it was incredible! I woke up at 9:30 AM and got out of bed at 9:45 AM to take a shower and ready myself to take the Metro in a different language in a different city. Because Madison doesn't have a Metro, I’ve never taken one alone before! EEEEK! It was really scary at first, as I was asking around to see if I was about to board the correct train (and people would try to help, no doubt), but it was much easier and less stressful when I decided to just get on the train I though would be right. SO... I did, and it went smoothly! First, I went to Opera, which is like the music area. They had music, dance, and of course Opera, so that was nice. I stopped at a Cafe where they served breakfast, but I only ordered a bottle of water. That was stupid. I hadn't had anything to eat or drink that morning and I decided to just order a bottle of water... wow, Maya... wow.
Then after my "breakfast," I walked over to the prince's palace, which is like the mini palace of Versailles. It was quite beautiful but, at first, I had no idea what it was! haha... oh innocent, uninformed Maya.
After walking around there, I started to ask people where the Museo del Prado was. People would say stuff like, "far walk," and "metro 1," but that's not what I wanted. To tell you the truth, all I wanted was a general direction so I could start walking in that general direction for about 20 minutes and then start asking around some more! I knew it couldn't be too far because I had glanced at maps! (ha. glanced at maps... haha) Anyway, I ended up asking a nice couple who were speaking in English to each other (who I believe were from Brooklyn or somewhere in New York--which made me think about my dad!) and they pointed me in the correct direction for the Museo de Prado. I walked for about 20-30 minutes and finally found the Museo del Prado, but of course, the line was SO LONG! I couldn't believe how long the line was! At this point, I had already had my lunch of guacamole & chips and patatas (unfortunately the meal was overpriced. ;( but at least I ate...) at a restaurant close by and it was about 4:00. But, the line was too long and I didn't feel like waiting in a long line for an 1.5 hours so I decided to go to the Museo Reina Sofia (which I took under 10 minutes to get in to--and you didn't need to pay a penny!). The Reina Sofia was about a 10-minute walk away down the main street and was well worth it! They had a Picasso Gallery and lots of other stuff, too! I made the mistake of not checking if the flash on my camera was on (you can take pictures w/o flash only) and it flashed at one of the famous Picasso pieces. Before I could blink, a guard came up to me and yelled at me in Spanish for a while. That was SO EMBARRASSING!!!! :(
I spent about 3.5 hours in the Reina Sofia and then walked about 2/3 of the way back to the Opera (which was about 45 minutes away at this point... more or less) and stopped and said to myself, "what am I doing? Why am I not trying to go to the Museo del Prado right now?????" It was awful! I got some ice cream and then briskly walked back to the Museo del Prado to find out that they close at 8:00 (I got there at 9:15 or so). The Pope had decided to visit Madrid the same day I was venturing around there, of course to see me :), so there was unbelievable traffic. Not of cars, though, of people. The main street was closed and filled with people sitting, standing, and waiting for the Pope's speech. On the main street, there was a very large television, which (I think) is always there, set up for the people to watch the Pope arrive, speak, and exit. After a attempted to get through the crowd and listen to the Pope for a while (having lost track of my primary goal--to walk around in the Museo del Prado for a while), I walked the short distance to the Prado. It was closed. :( Time goes by so quickly! It was sort of awful. :(
After the Pope's speech was a concert and I followed the large crowd of people to the concert spot where I had dinner and listened to the music from sort of afar (I was in a restaurant literally NEXT to the concert spot--so I could hear everything quite well).
Because of the Pope’s timely arrival, the subway was closed when I first arrived at the station. But about 5 minutes later (lucky me!) it opened up and I could take the subway back to Lines’ apartment (where I have been staying in Madrid. By the way, I arrived in Madrid on 8/17 at around 7:30 PM after taking about a 3-hour bus ride from Bejar (near La Gunilla), Spain. Back to the story: I took the subway home with a little tiny bit of problems due to the people traffic (one of the trains shut down for some reason so I had get off of it and then wait for another one—but they are really good about coming quickly with no more than a 5 minute wait… no joke), but I eventually got to the stop I needed (after switching trains only once!). This is where it got tricky. I got off the train and out into the open into a park (a very nice one, at that). I though I knew where I was going so I headed in the direction I thought was best. I was wrong. After walking for about 8 minutes I end up at a Hollywood Restaurant (they seem to be a big’ish chain in Spain) and not knowing, apart from that, where I was. It was about 11:45 PM at this point and Raquel had just called me to let me know that Lines was worried about me. I had been very irresponsible and had not called her or touched based with her at all throughout the day. I tried calling Lines after getting off the phone with Raquel, but apparently I had the wrong number and got some angry lady… eeeeek! So, what else should I do? I sat down at a park bench in front of the Hollywood Restaurant and called my daddy. Awwwwwwwwwwwww. :) After some crazy-good problem solving on my dad’s part, I ended up with Lines’ address and correct home and cell phone numbers! YAY! Harry Webne-Behrman strikes again! :) So I asked around to see if anyone had heard of Lines’ street and some people had, but no one knew where it was. The best was “I know it’s close to here.” HA… thanks! :) But everyone was so nice. On man even took out his iPhone and looked up the street on his map. Thank you nice couple and thank you family (I think) for your generosity and time . :) I headed off in the direction on the iPhone had said I should go (I had though at the time), but after walking for about 5 minutes (I guess it should’ve been less) I asked a couple (I think) if the metro station was ahead (I was heading to the metro station as a landmark from the iPhone). They said that it was in the opposite direction, so I walked and talked with them for a while. It turned out that they didn’t exactly know where the metro station was either, but they were going to help me find it. They said that it was on their way. The woman, Maria, was very close to fluent in English, but her partner (Mr. He Never Told Me His Name) was not (but very good, nonetheless), and I spoke for the whole walk. It was nice just to walk and talk in English with Maria while trying to find the metro station. When I did find it, Maria let me use her phone to call Lines, who ended up picking me up at the station. I cannot thank Maria and Mr. He Never Told Me His Name enough for not letting me lose myself again in Madrid. Also, thank you Lines for your incredible hospitality and kindness during my stay.
I’m off to sleep. I took a break from typing for a while and now it’s 4:15 in the morning. If I fall asleep RIGHT NOW, I’ll get 2hrs45mins of sleep… ha! Wow, Maya… wow. I’ll sleep on the plane, though… I hope :)
I love you Madrid! I love you, Spain! Thanks :)
Love, maya
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