Day of Adjustment

After our redeye flight, we cleared customs, picked up our bags, loaded on our bus, and headed to our hotel. We changed and dropped our bags at the hotel, and then headed to an ATM machine. After picking up some Euros, we went out for breakfast for some solid comfort food. From there we spent most of the day doing a walking tour of the more famous/popular parts of Madrid. As the day went on the local Saturday crowds came out to enjoy the warm afternoon of shopping, eating, and socializing. We strolled the Gran Via (Madrid’s most famous avenue), went to the 9th floor of Spain’s largest department store, El Corte Inglés, and then headed to la Plaza del Sol. Our tour guide, Luis, cave us an excellent descriptive tour as we walked and took in the beautiful sights. We learned a little political history in front of the Presidencia (their White House) and then proceeded to walk to Madrid’s most famous plaza, La Plaza Mayor. We were able to watch a little tenis, as they had setup a temporary clay court in the middle of the plaza! Then we walked to Madrid’s popular Mercado de San Miguel. We strolled through the families, friends, endless options of tapas, and all sorts of other amazing food. Since we had breakfast recently, we had to pass on all the great food, but the market will be on the list of potential lunch stops tomorrow. Then we walked to the main cathedral next to the royal palace. We were able to go in and just sit in the pews for 20 minutes or so just soaking in the atmosphere and letting our feet rest a little, ha ha. We decided to head back to la Plaza Mayor and split up for a small lunch break. After lunch, watching more tenis, and all the other “people watching,” we strolled back to our hotel through the Jardines del Cabo Noval (a beautiful garden/park across the street from the royal palace). We checked into our rooms, took a much needed rest, and showered before heading back out on the town for our first dinner in Spain! We had an outstanding dinner of vegetable soup, bread, roast chicken, special patatas (potatoes), and a type lemon flan cake. We split into two groups to do a little night shopping as we slowly made it back to our hotel for bed. We are tired! Tomorrow, we are going on a bus tour of Madrid, visiting Spain’s most famous museum, el Prado, and then exploring our favorite parts of the city one last time before we move on to Toledo.