My friends and I woke up in the wee hours of the morning to get to the bus station, and it was so early that Granada´s bus lines were not running. For this, we had to take a cab, but it was rather cheap to split the cost among us. The lengthy bus ride to Madrid (about five hours) went smoothly, and I slept for the majority of the trip. When we arrived to Madrid, we took a bus line and the Metro to get to the hotel, which had the perfect location of being right outside the Puerta del Sol. This plaza is a great meeting place for friends and is almost always filled with people. After checking in, we headed out to grab a bite to eat, which we stumbled upon a Kebab restaurants, and since we adore the Kebab sandwiches, we decided this would be the most satisfying and economical choice for lunch. I have also been told that there are different varieties of Kebab all over Europe, let alone the world, and this time I got to try a different kind. It was on a toasted, crunchy slices of bread rather than a soft pita that I usually encounter in Granada. After eating, we headed to the Prado art museum filled with excitement, as for we have learned a lot about the artists who are featured inside the institute. Unfortunately, but as other art museums will do the same, pictures were prohibited. The main artists that we found most interesting were Diego Velázquez, Francisco de Goya, and El Greco. My favorite Spanish painter is Francisco de Goya, and not just because he is brilliant, but because he shows the agony of losing a loved one in the last works of his life. I recommend research on this man and the stages of his painting, for it is quite interesting.
The front of the Prado
Statue of Velázquez, who is very famous for his painting, Las meninas.
Excited to be in such an incredible place!
Also, because we are university students, we were able to obtain the entrance ticket without having to pay! Another interesting thing was that the day we visited, November 19th, was the anniversary of the Museum.
Being in Madrid had an entire different feeling from being in Granada in the sense that the city "felt" more European, whereas Granada has a European feel with a strong Arab influence. For example, there was a larger presence of American food chains, including finding two Starbucks without a ten minute walk. My friends were thrilled and we stopped there, but I did not purchase anything because of the rough conversion rate between the Euro and the Dollar and the generally high price of their coffee. Perhaps it may be just the comfort of familiarity or a taste of home, but for some it is well worth the cost.
We met up with another friend from school and decided to walk around and see the city at night, and it was absolutely gorgeous. Most places we came across were just anything that spotted our eye, and I was happy that we were following a loose plan and finding things by pure coincidence. Here are some pictures to enjoy from this walk:
After quite some time walking, we retired to our beds in the hotel and slept through the night with an exiting day ahead of us.
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