The Ice Queen takes on Spain

I was recently reminded on a trip to the east coast that some people actually do read this blog and enjoy hearing what I’ve been up to.  So… I apologize for the long hiatus in blog writing, and hope to entertain you with some stories about my travels and adventures over the past several months!  

Let’s see… I think I’m going to start with Madrid.  

This year, two of my good friends- one from my hometown and one I met in Madison- were both in Madrid, the former as a study abroad student and the latter as a teaching assistant in the Spanish equivalent of my French job.  I’d talked with them both on and off throughout the year about getting together and realized while looking at trip options for my winter break (in February- NOT to be confused with my Christmas break in December… gotta love the French system) that options in flying to Morocco are cheaper and more plentiful from Madrid than from Marseille.  (If you’re thinking, “wait… what?!  You went to Morocco?!,” don’t fear- I’ll post about that one soon!)  Win-win in my book… I’d get a chance to see the boys AND save money!  So, after minimal planning and a couple of booking mishaps, I was set!

I made it to the bus stop in Carpentras and the train station in Avignon without any problems (this is notable, especially after what had happened on my winter break) and hopped my plane in Marseille.  Nathaniel (my friend from home) agreed to meet me at the airport in Madrid.  Mid-flight on my way there, I started feeling slightly anxious.  I realized in my excitement to get to Madrid, I had assumed that everything would work out as planned and had neither a way to contact Nathaniel nor any idea where he lived if he wasn’t there to meet me at the airport.  Eep!  Fortunately, he was right there waiting for me- reliable as always :)  I hung tight to my single bag on the metro, remembering my one and only trip to Madrid two years before, where one of my travel buddies had her wallet stolen!  

My favorite street performer in Plaza Mayor

We stopped in at his place to drop stuff off and then headed downtown to meet up with Jordan (my Madison friend) and his friend, Jackie, who was visiting.  The name of the place we hit up for dinner (but let’s be honest… drinks)  escapes me, but the gist of it was that for every little appetizer you order, you get a 1 euro beer.  Delicious and cheap!  It’s still crazy to me that the two of them met in a town of something like 6 million people and figured out that I knew them both!  Anyway, they get along like an old married couple ;) and the combination of the two of them with the two of us girls was just what the doctor ordered.  

Nathaniel posing with the Madrid symbol

While Jordan worked and Nathaniel ‘studied’ the next day, they sent Jackie and me off to explore the city.  They doubted our abilities, since neither of us speak Spanish, but they needn’t have worried!  We probably had more fun without them than we would have had with them anyway ;)  I was particularly proud of my success in asking a saleswoman in Ingles where I could buy a razor!  Granted, all I was ‘no hablas espagnol’ and ‘rasoir (the French word) por favor?’ along with a fairly obvious shaving my legs pantomime, but still… Chalk it up as a win.  Nathaniel came to escort us to Jordan’s schwanky restaurant recommendation for lunch, which was good because he needed to practice his Spanish ;) (Jackie and I were fluent by this point, clearly, after spending all morning on our own.)  He gave us the tourist tour of Madrid and was nice enough to organize a protest since he thought that we needed to witness one.  

Let’s see… other fun and notable parts of the trip in no particular order… 

-An open-air market with delicious fresh fruit, where Nathaniel showed off his newfound wine connoisseur knowledge and introduced me to some study abroad friends. 

-Going to class- and seeing some of the same friends- when I joined him in class on Friday morning.  I think I enjoyed the lecture more than he did, since it was simple enough for me to understand and follow along (meaning that it was waaaaay below his level, of course).  I was actually called on to read out loud but he piped up to tell his prof that I didn’t speak Spanish.  Ah well, it would have been a good charade! 

Gotta throw in some ridiculous pics

-Walking all over the city, hanging out at parks, touring the Prado, and reminiscing about high school days (when we played French horn in the band together and he and the other section members used to call me the Ice Queen of the Underworld) as well as catching up about more recent events (excursions in France, spring semester vs full year study abroad students, etc). 

-Making dinner plans for the two of us along with study abroad friends, a roommate, and a Madison friend, Scott, who was studying abroad in France and came to join in the fun. 

Side note here: Dinner could very well have ended in disaster, as Nathaniel’s a very good cook and I’m very much not, and he left me in charge to do everything while he hopped on the metro to pick up Scott at the airport.  When he returned, the potato soup looked very much not like potato soup and I hadn’t finished half of the stuff I was supposed to finish… but I hadn’t ruined anything yet and he was able to salvage my feeble attempt :)

Unfortunately, all good things have to come to an end and I had to leave Madrid behind en route to Morocco, so after a few fun days, I bid adieu to Spain, packed up my bag, and returned to the airport!  Gracias for a lovely visit, boys :)