End of Spring Break- Madrid

For the final weekend of spring break, we were in Madrid. Immediately after checking into our hostel, two other guys from our program walk into the hostel to check in! We knew they were in Spain but thought they would be in Barcelona the whole week but gave them information about our hostel just in case so it was pretty exciting that they actually came. We then went to El Tigre, a bar where you get a beer for 1.90 euros and then you get free tapas! It was pretty cool but after one plate of random odds and ends (as Nicky read in the guide book, for tapas they use the whole pig) Nicky and I decided to order a plate of actual regular food and eat that haha. And I just didn't feel up to drinking enough to get a full meal of tapas! After that, we wandered around Madrid for a bit and then ended up going back to the hostel to sleep.

Friday we went into Segovia, a really cute town about an hour out of Madrid. There is a famous aqueduct there built by the Romans. It was amazingly well maintained for something so old! The whole town looked like something out of a Disney movie. This courtyard area looked exactly like the town in Beauty and the Beast! There was also this castle, which was pretty cool (although it seems like there are castles everywhere in Europe). We then went down to this path below the main town and walked around. It was so nice to get out of a busy city and just walk around in nature for a bit. Segovia was one of my favorite sights of spring break. Friday night we then met up with Frash and some of her friends who were also visiting Madrid and went to this bar where you can get a 6 liter bucket of sangria. An Irish guy in our hostel room came with us and bought a bucket and wouldn't accept any money so that was pretty cool! We then tried to find an inexpensive place to go dancing but the first place we went to, we were told dancing wouldn't start for another hour or two. Then we stopped by this club we heard was expensive to see just how expensive it was but they said we would have to go home to change first! At that point we were ready to give up so we returned to the hostel.

Saturday we went and saw the Royal Palace, which was less impressive than the palace we saw in Vienna. We then went over to art museums. I went into the Thyssen-Bornemisza (missing the famous museum, the Prado, because the line was too long), which had a really eclectic collection. It was nice walking around an art museum, it made me think of museums I had visited with my CMC friends so I missed them a lot. After that, it was raining and we were tired so we went to Starbucks to work on math. It turned out to be an amazing plan because we got a ton done! Plus, I thought it was pretty awesome that I was in Madrid with a group of people who wanted nothing more than to go to Starbucks and do some math! We went out to a Spanish restaurant for dinner and then just hung out for a bit then bedtime.

Sunday was a short day. I basically just met up with Frash for lunch then it was time to go to the airport. Now, I had a 1 hr and 5 minute connection in Paris and I was told my flight to Paris was running about 10 to 15 minutes delayed but I should be fine. But then, on the plane, they said our take off had been cancelled and we couldn't take off until 6 PM, 55 minutes behind schedule! So I called the flight attendant over to ask about missing my flight and he said he would keep me updated. We ended up being able to take off earlier then that but got into Paris about 35 minutes delayed. The flight attendant told me it was a very tight connection but I might be able to make it. He gave me all the gate information and kept just telling to walk very quickly. I did just that and of course set off security for the first time in my life (chapstick container with metal in it in my pocket... whoops...). I got to my gate just as boarding started. I get on the plane and they inform us that the tractor is broken so we sit there for about 20 minutes waiting (it took me the whole flight to realize that the tractor was the thing that took the plane away from the gate, I couldn't figure out why the plane had a tractor haha). I finally made it back to Budapest but when I got to the train station discovered that the next train to the station near my apartment wasn't for 45 minutes- I was not waiting by myself at the dark station in the rain so I splurged and got a taxi back to my apartment. And thus ended my spring break. Overall, Spain was pretty cool but it is good to be back into normal life. Next trip- Geneva, Switzerland to see Greer in two weeks!