After a long flight (SFO to LHR, LHR to MAD), and a ridiculous long transfer at Heathrow (a tram ride, 2 bus rides, and countless escalators up and down), we made it to Madrid.

Once we landed, more travel was in store. Various trams, escalators, elevators (including one that we took down and then up, even though I'm pretty sure I only pressed up) was the thing to do at the airport. Also, some Spanish speaking leady who wasn't sure where to go kept looking at me and asking me questions about where to go. While flattered that someone might mistake me for a local, all I could muster was a pleasantly confused this-place-is-confusing-and-I-share-your-confusion look, and a polite "no sey".

The subway to Gran Via took awhile too, as we had to transfer a few times. We checked into the Euromadrid hotel, and found our room to be small, spartan, but clean, and with a working A/C.

After making like Spaniards and enjoying an hour-long siesta, it was time to explore Madrid.



A quick walk south led to the Puerta del Sol, the heart of Madrid. I snapped a quick picture of the bear and tree statue that is the symbol of Madrid. The rest of the plaza seemed to be under construction. A few minutes later, we were in the Plaza Mayor, a stunning and large plaza surrounded on all four sides by one building -- kind of like the courtyard of a quad. It really reminded me of the Piazza San Marco in Venice, minus all the pigeons. The street vendors dressed in various Disney costumes (Mickey, several Minnies, and a few Poohs) kind of freaked me out though.

The Mercado de San Miguel was a cool modern semi-enclosed area with counters selling all sorts of seafood, meats, ice cream, jams, etc. We had some ice cream there, which was perfect for the warm day.

Next was La Latina for a tapas crawl. Allemania 13 was the lonely planet recommendation. I ordered three plates, which really did in the "crawl" part. 3 plates is totally enough to feed 4, and way too much for 2. The pastel de carne was good, the patatas imperra was ok, and the lomo con ajo was too salty. By the way, apparently, at this place, patatas = potato chips. Like Lays chips.



After working at the ridiculous piles of food for an hour, Michelle decided to offer our sumptious looking leftovers to this group of 4 Spanish guys who had been looking over at our table. In hindsight, they were probably gawking at the crazy Asian people who ordered too much food. They did, expectedly, decline to eat our leftovers.

To finish our tour of the city, we looped around to swing by the front of the Plaza Real and a stroll through the Plaza de Oriente, admiring statues of various Spanish monards. Coming upon the Teatro Real, we stumbled into some fancy event, as the area in front of the theater was crowded with people in very nice clothes.

We then went through the giant Plaza de Espana, walking through a busy park with nice, cooling fountains, and into the Malasana district. The Plaza del 2 de Mayo was filled with bars with many outdoor tables, so we put our name down (my self-given Spanish name is now Juan) and then grabbed a couple of beers and enjoyed them in the evening air.

AFter that drink, we headed over to La Chueca to grab another. We failed to find a place though, and just wandered through the neighborhood before returning to Gran Via and grabbing beers (Bitte ein Bit!) and flan before turning in and calling it a night.

Tomorrow, time to wake up nice and early to head over to the Renfe Atoche station and off to Pamplona and the sanfermines!