Finally in Madrid
Thirty hours after we took off from Manila, we finally landed in Madrid! It took another half an hour or so though until we were finally allowed off the plane. Angela and I passed through immigration, collected our maletas, walked all the way to the metro stop and we’re finally on our way to Tita Marilou’s house.
Really random moment: when we exited the metro and turned the corner, we saw Tita Marilou! (We were originally just going to meet Isabel in her apartment). But anyway, we got to the apartment and finally saw Bel! :-)
We settled down, took showers, and just spent time talking to Bel. She’s the same as ever. :-) Bel says I shrunk, I say she grew an inch.
Bel and I -- all ready to go
After we were all showered and freshened up, we decided to go to Bel’s dorm first. We went to the metro and were deciding which ticket to get – the 10-use ticket or the 3-day unlimited ticket. We were counting over and over again how many metro/bus trips we would take to decide which would be the best one (a single metro/bus is 1 euro). After much deliberation and thinking (with a very clueless Ange standing by) we decided to get the 3-day Abono Pass (unlimited metro and bus use for three consecutive days).
We first went to Bel's dorm. She's living in Colegio Mayor Somosierra -- a residence for girls ran by Opus Dei. The place was really nice. We saw her room, the dining areas, the study rooms, the computer room, the chapel room. We met the directors of the place. They started speaking to me in Spanish and I'm slowly getting used to it again. A bit more practice and I'll hopefully have the confidence to speak. Right now, Bel's been doing most of the talking. :-) We had lunch there as well; we sat with Mathilde and two of Bel's friends (yes, relatives, they're real). Mathilde is one of the directors with whom Bel spent Christmas vacation with. She's really nice and funny (but unfortunately cheers for Real Madrid).
We spent the afternoon in Retiro Park. We walked around a bit, visited the Palacio Cristal, then found a shaded grassy area to sit down. We passed the afternoon just making kwento and eating pipas. The weather here is lovely! It's really cool - about 18 degrees - but the sun is out and it's just beautiful!
Chillin' in the park
From Retiro we decided to have some churros. So we walked down the roads with Bel as our tour guide. She knows the city very well! I wanted to stop inside the Almudena Cathedral but sadly, it was closed for repairs.
The cathedral
We walked all the way down to Cibeles then took the metro to Sol. Then we had merienda at the Chocolateria San Gines. Yummm!
We headed back to the area of Tita Marilou’s place. We walked around but since it was a Sunday, pretty much everything was closed. We went back to the apartment for a bit then heard mass at a nearby church.
We’re having an early dinner now (at a place with free wifi) then calling it a night. I had some really delicious croquetas, one of the first things I've eaten in the past two days. FInally, authentic Spanish food! Anyway, we're done eating and heading home soon. Tomorrow we're off to Segovia!
(Internet's too slow to post some pics. Maybe in the next post!)
Really random moment: when we exited the metro and turned the corner, we saw Tita Marilou! (We were originally just going to meet Isabel in her apartment). But anyway, we got to the apartment and finally saw Bel! :-)
We settled down, took showers, and just spent time talking to Bel. She’s the same as ever. :-) Bel says I shrunk, I say she grew an inch.
After we were all showered and freshened up, we decided to go to Bel’s dorm first. We went to the metro and were deciding which ticket to get – the 10-use ticket or the 3-day unlimited ticket. We were counting over and over again how many metro/bus trips we would take to decide which would be the best one (a single metro/bus is 1 euro). After much deliberation and thinking (with a very clueless Ange standing by) we decided to get the 3-day Abono Pass (unlimited metro and bus use for three consecutive days).
We first went to Bel's dorm. She's living in Colegio Mayor Somosierra -- a residence for girls ran by Opus Dei. The place was really nice. We saw her room, the dining areas, the study rooms, the computer room, the chapel room. We met the directors of the place. They started speaking to me in Spanish and I'm slowly getting used to it again. A bit more practice and I'll hopefully have the confidence to speak. Right now, Bel's been doing most of the talking. :-) We had lunch there as well; we sat with Mathilde and two of Bel's friends (yes, relatives, they're real). Mathilde is one of the directors with whom Bel spent Christmas vacation with. She's really nice and funny (but unfortunately cheers for Real Madrid).
We spent the afternoon in Retiro Park. We walked around a bit, visited the Palacio Cristal, then found a shaded grassy area to sit down. We passed the afternoon just making kwento and eating pipas. The weather here is lovely! It's really cool - about 18 degrees - but the sun is out and it's just beautiful!
From Retiro we decided to have some churros. So we walked down the roads with Bel as our tour guide. She knows the city very well! I wanted to stop inside the Almudena Cathedral but sadly, it was closed for repairs.
We walked all the way down to Cibeles then took the metro to Sol. Then we had merienda at the Chocolateria San Gines. Yummm!
We headed back to the area of Tita Marilou’s place. We walked around but since it was a Sunday, pretty much everything was closed. We went back to the apartment for a bit then heard mass at a nearby church.
We’re having an early dinner now (at a place with free wifi) then calling it a night. I had some really delicious croquetas, one of the first things I've eaten in the past two days. FInally, authentic Spanish food! Anyway, we're done eating and heading home soon. Tomorrow we're off to Segovia!
(Internet's too slow to post some pics. Maybe in the next post!)
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