So Ibiza essentially slayed me. The last night I was there we went and saw David Guetta at Pacha, my favorite dj. I was expecting it to be the night that ruled all other nights, but sadly, it was a little disappointing. The opener, Martin Solveig was okay, but mostly spun really commercial tracks, and ones that were a few years old too. And Guetta seemed to mostly be on autopilot...not really getting into the music or crowd that much and playing a lot of trance-y type tracks. Lame. Iīm willing to give him another chance, because he is my favorite dj, but Morillo definitely won the award for best party in Ibiza. I think the next time I am in Europe, I want to go to Ibiza in early June, when all the djs and clubs have their opening parties..that would just be incredible!
After Guetta was over and by the time I made it back to the hostel, it was 7:30am...time to pack since my flight to Madrid was at around noon. I was soooo incredibly tired the entire day and maybe only slept an hour the entire day. By the time I got to Madrid and checked into my hostel, I had to go to the train station and make sure I could get a ticket to Barcelona for my flight to Athens. Needless to say, by the time 10pm rolled around that evening, I was DONE. That night I slept over 13 hours and I can honestly say it was one of the best sleeps I have ever had. Thereīs nothing like being sleep deprived for over 34 hours to knock you out.
Iīve been in Madrid now for a few days and itīs been pretty laid back. It took almost 2 full days to just recover from Ibiza, and Iīve mostly spent a lot of time just walking around the city and enjoying the vibe. It looks very similar to Barcelona, but thankfully is lacking the terrible smells that Barcelona is now famous for. It also seems that there are more people here who speak English...that or my Spanish has just improved dramatically! Last night we met some guys from Calgary staying in our hostel and the four of us went out to experience Madridīs infamous night life. We hit up this huge club that had 7 floors and while it was busy, it just couldnīt compare to Ibiza.
Today was yet another lazy day and then tonight we thought we would all check out a traditional bull fight. Now, I was naive enough to assume that these were the bull fights where they donīt maim or kill the bulls. I was VERY wrong. I have actually never seen anything so gruesome in my entire life. The sight of the bulls being gouged, and all the blood that spilled out on the sand of the arena while the bull slowly collapsed and started to convulse was just disturbing. I had no idea how bloody these bull fights were and feel terribly for haven gone at all. Apparently the fights are not as popular anymore because of the gruesome nature, and many animal rights activists are petitioning to bring more humane bull fighting to Spain as well. I donīt regret going, but having seen it, would never go again. Itīs a shame, because the other aspects of the bull fighting are great to watch, but the brutality of it just taints the experience altogether.
Tonight is my last night in Madrid and tomorrow will probably be yet another lazy day of touring the city before my train leaves at 10pm. From here its an overnight train to Barcelona, and then itīs time to say good bye to Spain. I wish I had more time here, but I think the next time I come back to Europe, it will be in the Spring when things are not so ridiculously expensive. Greece soon enough...Iīm looking forward to the free accomodation, the free meals, and of course, seeing my family again!
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