This morning I slept in because last night I got in a little late. I decided to just get breakfast at the cafe. This time I had cafe con leche which is just coffee with milk. Itīs not Starbucks but it wakes you up. It was the usual routine with class in the cafe and then our cultural class at the dorms. I did homework and then went to lunch. After lunch, we decided to go downtown and learn how to use the Metro which is Madridīs subway system.
Our destination was La Puerta de Sol which is the center of the city and supposedly a huge shopping area. We bought passes for the Metro so we woudl not have to keep buying tickets. We got 10 trips for around 6 euro. The metro was easy to figure out and we did not get lost. We emerged onto the street and were overwhelmed by the beauty and bustle. There were huge, old buildings just liek you see in pictures and hundreds of people. We decided to split up becasue one group wanted to go back to the school for a movie and the rest of us wanted to explore the city. We just began walking up and down the streets looking in all the shops and whatnot. We noticed alot of sex shops and tattoo parlors. ( Donīt worry Mom, I am not going to get one while I am here. ) Look at the pictures I took of them! We stopped for ice cream at McDonaldīs. Here they have the PitaMac and you get belts with the Value Meals. I love this country - you get presents with everything!! We also found this great store called Zara. We all got a few things from there because the whole city is having their summer sales.
As we were walking toward the Metro station to go home, we noticed a park across the street and decided to explore. It ended up being the Plaza de Espana. Here there is a huge fountain and reflecting pool as well as a huge monument to Don Quixote. I got great pictures of the statue of Quixote and his sidekick Sancho Panza. While in the plaza, we all got a snack and jsut sat and enjoyed the scenery. All day we had been making fun of ourselves because we took pictures of everything just like the Japanese. As we were leaving, a huge group of Japanese tourists showed up and I had to take a picture.
We made it home safe adn sound with no problems and had dinner. After we all finished homework, we walked to Carolttaīs and grabbed a table outside. We ordered a few bottles of white wine and sangria and sat and talked for a few hours. It was great because everyone was there and the weather was nice.
This has been my favorite day so far just becasue I have seen and learned so much. My Spanish has been getting better also. Only one incident so far. A Japanese man was selling fans on the street for 2 euros so I decided to get one. I asked for the ornage one that he had. He looked at me rather strangely and I realized I had asked for an orange as in the fruit. The word for the color orange is different. I giggled and quickly corrected myself.
Who knows what tomorrow will bring!!!
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