Madrid Pt. 5: New Years Eve

Thursday, December 31, 2015 

I love Mexican food. Ever since I arrived in Russia I have been craving Mexican food. We decided to try a place out, but since it didn't open until 1 or 2 (Spanish eating habits are very different from what I'm used to) Catherine and I decided to pass time in the morning souvenir shopping. Afterwards, we met Ben at Tepic. Tepic was an amazing restaurant.  The food and decor were great! It was kind of pricey, but definitely worth the price. I'm not a foodie, and I usually like to eat at the cheapest places, but I'm glad we went here. Our waiter was really nice too, and he was from Mexico! If you happen to find yourself in Madrid and choose to eat at Tepic you must try their margarita. It's more of a smoothie and absolutely delicious. It was also very big!

Madrid Pt. 4: Segovia

Wednesday, December 30, 2015

On Wednesday Catherine and I went to Segovia. She bought tickets on the fast train via Renfe which was worth the price since it wasn't much more and saved you about and hour and a half. Catherine and Ben said they have been debating how long to spend in Segovia, and I agree with them, you need about 4-5 hours max there. The town is really small, so you walk around really quickly, unless you're a foodie and want to try different restaurants.

When we arrived we packed into the bus that would take us from the train station to the city. The bus was packed! I was convinced I was going to fly out the door because I was standing right up next to it (you know in the area you aren't supposed to cross while the bus is in motion) and I didn't have anything to hold on to because there were too many people around. That meant I fell into Catherine one too many times. First, we stopped into Dunkin Donuts (or Dunkin Coffee as it's called in Spain) so I could get a muffin because I was super hungry. Then we walked around and I took pictures. The Aqueducts are so cool to see! It's impressive that they were built without any cement. The city was just so cute.

Madrid Pt. 3

Tuesday, December 29, 2015

After walking through Retiro Park Ben left us because he wasn't feeling well, so Catherine took me on a walk around the city. In Madrid you need to pay to use most public bathrooms so we stopped at McDonalds and got some coffee while we were there. I'm convinced that McDonalds in Europe are 10 times nicer than the ones in America. Their interiors are so cool.

We walked to Sol and Plaza Mayor, and saw the giant Christmas tree they had up for the holidays. I think that is one of the perks of being in Europe in the winter, the decorations and lights are so pretty! One thing I was not expecting was the temperature. I just packed my jacket thinking that anywhere was warmer than Russia, but I should have packed my winter coat and scarf!

Madrid Pt. 2

Monday, December 28, 2015

I left for Madrid early Monday morning, and like usual, I was worried about the taxi ride to the airport. I had to ask the driver, in Russian, if he had change, and that was the start of long trip speaking more Russian abroad than in Russia. I arrived at the airport and had to go through three security check points. THREE! Then the guy at passport control asked me in Russian if I spoke Russian, and I actually understood what he was asking.

I had a 3 hour layover in Istanbul, and not much happened. I don't get it. It's 2016 and airports still don't have free wifi. I guess it was good though because I spent time reading. I did manage to get wifi in a weird spot so I could message my cousin and tell her where I was at since I forgot to message her when I was leaving. I flew Turkish airlines, and I have to say that they are a pretty good airline! I highly suggest taking them if you get the chance. The food was really good, and they had a good selection of movies on my flight from Istanbul to Madrid. I think I watched The Martian. The lady next to me on my flight to Madrid only spoke Russian and I could say a few things to her, but I think she kept forgetting I didn't speak Russian because she kept talking to me. Luckily, the girl on the other side of me was Russian too so I just pointed over to her. I don't know how people can speak multiple languages. I just kept answering and speaking in Russian, even when my English speaking flight attendant asked me a question. This happened A LOT in Spain, even though my Spanish is a million times better than my Russian.

Madrid Pt. 1: Madrid Street Art

My three favorite things to take pictures of are street art/graffiti, buildings, and abandoned places. While in Madrid we didn't realize every thing was going to be closed for New Years Eve and New Years Day. While we were sitting around on New Years Eve I looked up places for street art in Madrid and it happened to be right near where my cousin, Catherine, and her husband, Ben, live. So, we took the dog, Andazi, and went for a walk through the Malasaña neighborhood. These pictures were taken on two different days because it started to get dark, so I wanted to walk through again to retake some pictures with better lighting. I also really like some of the store fronts in the area so I took pictures of some of my favorites. The one good thing about everything being closed was that you could see a lot of the art on the window coverings that you would not have seen if it was open.