Murphy's Madrid

Have you ever heard of Murphy's Law? What can go wrong will go wrong? Well that is exactly what happened on my trip to Madrid. My friend Julie and I left early on Thursday for our class, caught a train to the airport and were there with about an hour and half to spare. This should have been a good thing, but when we looked at the Departure board, and next to the departing flight for Madrid was a giant red CANCELED! Of course that would happen to us, but we tried to remain calm because we saw another flight that left 5 minutes after. We got in line to talk to the company about getting on another flight. When we finally reached the front, the lady told us nicely that all flights were booked through her company and all flights going out tonight were too. Unlike America, where they would automatically book you a flight or help you find a flight with another airline, EasyJet makes you find your own flight. She told us to go upstairs and go on the internet (which you had to pay for) and book our own flight which we would be reimbursed for at a later time. This seems awesome because we could have booked a $2,000 first class flight and get our money back, but none of use had that kind of money to front or to even charge. So we gave up trying to find a flight out that night and took EasyJet's offer of a hotel for the night (which was actually very nice) and free dinner. We got to the hotel and ran to the computers to try to find a flight out in the morning. I paid the 5 euro on my debit card to use the internet for a half hour and then found a flight. However, when I tried to book it my card was denied. What can go wrong, will go wrong. Luckily a friend has enough money to put me on his card too but i was getting very frustrated!!We had dinner which was pretty gross but we were so hungry and it was free so it didn't matter. At this point we began to read the fine print on the sheet EasyJet gave us about our rights as passengers and one clause says that if your flight is cancelled then you get compensation of 250 euro!! yay!! one thing went right! this made my trip essentially free so I was very excited about that. We kept looking at the positive since we got free dinner, free breakfast, a great night sleep and free money!
The next morning we got on the plane and finally made it to Madrid. I went to go visit my roommate Allison and friend Lena, and it was so amazing to see them! We walked around for a while and got food at a place that serves American hamburgers ( I guess some people crave them, I will never be one of them). I was surprised at how much Madrid reminded me of New York, with Starbucks every 100 yards and lighted billboards and very american stores. The architecture was definitely prettier and older but much more of a city than Rome is. We then saw Plaza Mayor which was beautifully painted with murals and reminded me of San Marco's Square in Venice with the columns that surrounded it. We saw Plaza de Sol which was pretty as well with a statue of a bear and tree which is the sign of Madrid. At this point I realized I forgot my camera in the room, so no pictures from day 1. We went back and got changed for dinner which we decided to try the Mexican place by their dorm/hostel thing they live in. I guess i sort of thought Spanish food would be Mexican food but apparently very wrong. I brought my camera to dinner and turned it on...or more like didn't turn it on because the battery was completely dead. Murphy's Law strikes again. I knew that I had charged it but it must not have been plugged in the whole time so when the light was out I thought it meant it was done, but really it just wasn't plugged in, oh well. At dinner we had a Fresalada drink which was a strawberry pina coloda in essence and nachos, quesadilla and some other crepe dish. The crepe dish was good in theory but awful in taste. That night we met up with the boys at a few bars/clubs and enjoyed the Spanish nightlife.
Day two we slept very late because we had traveled all the day before and went to bed late. Lena told us we had to shop that day because everything closes on Sundays. So we went shopping and surprisingly I didn't buy anything. After a full day of shopping we went back, napped and then had dinner at their house/hostel. Because it is technically a dorm but also a house, there is a women who cooks dinner every night so they can go get any meal they want for free. So we saved money and had a spanish twist on breaded chicken cutlet, rice and green beans. We then went out for the night and were hoping to go to this 7 story club which has a karaoke floor and a mohito floor! When we arrived, they asked us for IDs...which in a all of Europe has yet to happen to me so far. Even though you only had to be 18 to get in, they still needed proof so we were out of luck (murphy's law). We found a fun Irish bar and then another club but I still wish we could have gone to the 7 story one!!
On to day three, we woke up late again and went to go on the telefornico which is like a gondola ride that goes over the city Madrid. On the way, I gave into my American habits and got a skim iced white mocha from Starbucks and I have to admit it was everything I wanted. The gondola was amazing and the views were great, I just wish I had my camera!! Because it was Sunday and we were leaving early the next day (7:30 so we had to get up at 4:30 to be there early and make sure it wasn't cancelled again), we decided to go to El Tigre for Tapas and giant mohitos. The bar has no tables, just stools and some shelves to put your tapas on. We walked in and it was totally packed so we pushed our way to the front to start the fun. We order mohitos which were literally the size of my head for 6 euro, I couldn't hold it with one hand! This 6 euros also got us all the tapas we could eat so dinner was served. There were roasted potatoes with a special spicy sauce, ham and cheese on bread (apparently ham the only thing they eat in Madrid, they are famous for it), tortilla patate which was a potato like cake thing on bread, churiso on bread, prosciutto, deep fried creamy potato like croquettes with bacon..the list goes on and on. We stuffed our faces and really couldn't stop but finally realized we needed to get some sleep before our flight and went to bed. Overall, Madrid was an amazing time and I was so glad that I experienced Spain and its differences from Italy. I must say I still like Rome the best but that may change! Gracias (with a lisp) for reading!