Espania

This past weekend I took a plane over to Spain to visit my buddy Lucas in Madrid. Of course, some other friends are studying in Spain, but 6 hours away in Sunny San Sebastian. As soon as I arrived in Madrid, Lucas met me at the exit, too me back to the Casa, and showed me around town. Madrid was a little different than anywhere else I'd ever been, probably because on a Thursday at 4, there were tons of people walking around...don't these people work?? Actually, no. Alot of people are unemployed because the benefits are so good. Besides, it was the tail end of siesta, so everyone who did work was taking their time to get back. Who would have thought it logical to take a nap in the middle of the day, especially around midday when the restaurants should be getting a huge rush? Doesn't matter, everyone just takes a break to nap, mostly because of the night time schedule.

That Thursday, conveniently, was my buddy Lucas' birthday. That afternoon, we did a little sight seeing where we got yelled at by some street performers...actually Spiderman, for taking a picture but not paying. He got mad and wouldnt look at me anymore :( . Also we did some cookin Spanish style, went to a cafe and had a pitcher of Sangria Spanish style, and made plans with some people for the night.

The bars were pretty crowded, but only late in the night. We started out at 11:30, which isn't even close to when Spaniards head out. The bar at this time was slow, and we had the whole place to our party for a while. A few really expensive beers later, and we were off to a massive 7 story club in downtown Madrid. Lucky for the birthday boy, as well as the other 25 people, Lucas knew a worker, got us all in for free (otherwise expensive), got free drink tickets (mucho deniro!) and managed to get a VIP lounge and a few bottles of champagne (just about 500 bucks of champagne to be exact) all thanks to our marketing buddy who advertises for the club. Not a bad night. 4:30 Came by (wayyyy early for Spanish standards) and we called it a night.

The next day, we woke up at 3 pm (typical for unemployed spaniards like ourselves) and got a text nagging that we should come to San Sebastian. Yea right... actually, Lucas and I didn't even let 30 seconds go by before we came up with the idea to just ignore the text, and show up in San Sebastian anyway. That would have to be an early night due to a 6 hour train or bus ride there. I fell asleep to a bootlegged version of The Hangover and woke up at 6 so we could get an early move on. We played it by ear when we got to the station (I had my Eurail pass, Lucas had a will to be spontaneous as well) so we got out tickets and were actually a whole 10 minutes early before the train left. Saweeeet. All we could do was hope our friends would be home! We snagged their address from a friend, and prayed they didn't take a day trip elsewhere.

Emily and Jen had been heckling me for a while (since they knew I was coming to Madrid) to come for a day trip. I sort of wrote it off because of the distance but this was it, Lucas and me on a train ride to (we forgot to check the weather) Hopefully beautiful San Sebastian. We got off the train to 68 degree weather, sunny, and cloudless. 3 blocks down the river, and still less than 2 blocks from the beach, we found their apartment and pushed the buzzer.

No answer. Hmmm. Luckily Lucas has a Spanish network, gave em' a ring, and got a hold. "Hey Im pretty sure were outside your door right now" And then we hear screams from 3 stories up and a whole lot of hustle bustle comin down the stairs. Shhhhh, you're going to wake the sleeping Spaniards at 2 p.m. Probably the coolest surprise, I might say.

That night we took a sunset trip up a mountain, walked around town, ate some genuine (cheap) Spanish food (Hamburgers haha). Of course, a typical spanish night wouldn't be complete unless we went out at 1 a.m. I got pretty tired fast...to the point where I couldn't even stand up without my eyes closing, so I went back early (2 am) for a night siesta. 5 a.m. comes rolling in and I get a wake up call. Of course, I say, its only 5 a.m. We actually ended up takin' a walk, and then takin' a little dip in the ocean (lets say it was really really cold) with nobody else on the beach. Oh no, I forgot my bathing suit! Did I mention was a nude beach? We may have taken advantage of the fact that nobody was out, but still a rush of adrenaline none the less.

The next morning we went to the train station to check the times back. Hmm, maybe we should have booked right when we got there... We ended up finding a bus station nearby that wasn't expensive, but more than $0 considering I had my Eurail pass to use for free. Oh well, thats the cost of being rediculously spontaneous haha. I was glad we got the bus though, because the landscape is phenomenal! Absolutely the best bus ride I've ever been on, and certainly the most scenic place outside of the US so far. We got back at around midnight, and headed off to bed. The next morning, I said goodbye to Lucas (not too sad, I'll see him in 4 days anyway) and got on my way to the Aeropuerto. Back in Marburg isnt so bad, just a little colder (17 degrees...CELCIUS), a few less beaches (we have big rain puddles), and decent views (as opposed to looking off cliffs at a cove, I get a view of a big hill with bare trees).

Espania may have been the prettiest place I've seen yet. The weather may have helped that decision quite a bit. Madrid wasnt the best city for sightseeing but certainly a cultural hotspot. San Sebastian, on the other hand, was a dream come true and was worth the 12 hours of travel.

On top of great memories, I may or may not be fluent in Spanish now....let's lean on the side of not, but definitely picked up some new vocab. Hasta luego, amigos.