Madrid Day 2 / International Bike Day!

Day 2: I woke up to find out it was international bike day! Where's my bike?

I could have definitely used one today though; walking at the end of this trip became quite the task. I wouldn't have even minded embarrassing myself and riding one of those segway things...I can't believe I just stooped to that level.

After breakfast we headed out to Palacio Real, the official home to Spanish Royalty, despite the fact that no one lives there. I wouldn't mind crashing there every now and then. We weren't allowed to take pictures (as usual) but I took one for the team and snagged two while no one was looking...

(Well this one I got caught taking, so naturally, it was my last picture)

This is the cathedral across from the Palacio Real. We never went in

(shocker, seeing as we have visited almost every cathedral in Spain at this point), but it looks pretty right?

Next we headed to Plaza Mayor - Every city has tons of Plazas, some bigger than others; but this one is by far the most popular. We hung out here for a bit, watched the performers and then walked around a bit more. I have to say the people pretending to be statues in Madrid were FAR superior to those in Granada. The one's in Granada speak, wave and do everything they are NOT supposed to do. I'm very tempted to give them a piece of my mind, since they are asking for my money...

In one of the Plaza's you can find the center of Spain. Literally. This plaque is the actual center of the country. ¡Que Guay!

(Left to Right: Meghan, Andrea, Tyler and Me*)

Before heading to the Prado (art museum) we hung out in the Madrid version of Central Park. Upon arrival, I managed to step in dog poop...twice. Curbing dogs is obviously not something that is often practiced in Spain... And whoever said stepping in poop was good luck, was the same person who stepped in it

A major pet peeve of mine is how I cannot take pictures ANYWHERE for all of you (all three of you <3)>

Prado is home to Las Meninas, The Garden of Earthly Delight, La Mujer Desnuda, and many famous paintings by Greco, Goya, Bosch, Velazquez and even some Rembrant. I had to choose my favorite painting to write about, and I found that "Haywain" by Bosch was one of the most interesting and also pretty easy to write about in Spanish. Here are a few paintings you may recognize:

After the Prado, we got to wander as usual; I'm pretty sure there is a mutual understanding between our group and our professor that there is only so many museums and sites we can take each day, and we can manage to learn a thing or two without a tour guide. I have to say I'm quite thankful for Professor McKinney, he has been really laid back on this trip and lets us do a lot on our own.

I have to say, of all the places I have been in Spain, Madrid had some of the best sites, and I hope to return to see more. However, I could not imagine studying here; it is absolutely enormous and it would be too easy to speak English. And I would go broke.

On that note...I FOUND TOPSHOP IN MADRID! With Starbucks and Topshop, I nearly passed out I was so happy. I wanted to buy clothes so badly, but restrained myself (go me!) and kept telling myself I could get all of these clothes back in the states, and at a much cheaper price. I then rewarded my will power to not buy clothes, with chocolate. Now there is an area where I could really use some will power...

The sunset on our last night was amazing; I got a little photo crazy with it...

The next morning we packed up our things and headed off to Toledo for the day, and then home sweet home.

More blogs to come! I can't wait until I catch up to present day!

*if you know me at all, you HAD to have known my giant feet were the ones on the right