I woke up a little late since we didn't get a wakeup call, but no biggie. even thought I woke up shortly before 8, we were given an additional 30 mins to sleep in today. this is easily the nicest hotel we've stayed at, and breakfast most certainly did not disappoint. First of all, they had ice for the water/orange juice/whatever, and secondly, they had a buffet of freshly cut fruit and toast and jams and it was just so wonderful.
After breakfast, we rode around Madrid on a tour bus and received a commentary in Spanish about the city. As much as I hated riding around on the bus instead of walking, it was super to get a good feel for the city and its roads.
The Prado Museum wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be. For starters, we concentrated on viewing the works of the three Spanish artists that I've studied in previous classes-- El Greco, Velasquez, and Goya. Seeing Las Meninas in person was breathtaking, and El Greco's paintings just look so much better in person than on google images. I've never been the biggest fan of Goya, but hey, I can't paint like that so I shouldn't comment on his style. Secondly, even though I'm taking Latin American Culture and Civ this semester, we've still studied some Spanish history because you have to understand what's happening in the old world before you can comprehend its effects on the New World. As a result, I could see the barroque style in Velasquez's works, and I knew the history behind religious paintings. Having the previous knowledge made it cool to see in person what we've studied in class.
Before lunch, we were given ten euros and sent to an open stall market for our Spanish Food Challenge. There, I saw all sorts of weird meats, such as entire pig heads, blood, skinned pig heads and eyeballs intact... it was just nasty. The roasted almonds we had were amazing, though, as were the mussels I tried.
this is just sick.The 11 of us from Parrott eventually found lunch downtown at an upscale sidewalk-cafe type place. I just wasn't that hungry; I had a couple rolls of crusty sourdough bread and then potatoes and steamed broccoli and some sugary mango smoothie thing for dessert. Perfect, actually, that I had so many carbs because immediately after lunch Mrs. Riddle and I walked to the park so I could go for a run!
my potatoes and broccoli Although the park was further from the hotel than I intended, it was perfect because it was the large park of Madrid with plenty of paths to run on, as well as a large perimeter. I felt a little weird running at first, but after uploading my run to GarminConnect I realized that Madrid is 2000+ feet above sea level, whereas eastern NC is about 60-80 feet above sea level. Whoa. No wonder I felt like I was running faster than I really was. It took a few miles to start feeling like normal, but then I was thrilled to be out on a sunny, warm day in a beautiful place listening to the birds chirping and pedestrians talking in a foreign language (okay I was eavesdropping at times, but whatever). I didn't realize Madrid was so hilly... I gained 574 feet of elevation over 7 miles.
after my run through the parks of Madrid After running, Mrs. Riddle and I went shopping at El Corte Ingles, a Spanish department store. The weird thing with Spanish chain stores is that there is never just one within a block or two-- often times, there's two or three within a few block radius. That's how it was for El Corte Ingles, except they just divided their merchandise between 4 or 5 stores. Mrs. Riddle found what she was looking for in the first store, but all I got out of the first store were confusing directions showing how to find the El Corte Ingles that sold CDs. Once we followed the map, we ended up at an intersection where 3 of the 4 corners housed an El Corte Ingles. The second one didn't have CDs, but the 3rd one finally did. And the CD I was looking for, Mucho + Facil by Maldita Nerea was right by the door, and I didn't see it! I had to ask the guy in Spanish where it was and couldn't believe I missed it! (if you guys were wondering, this CD isn't available in the US yet; this chase was so worth it! <3)
Dinner was a little on the disappointing side. I knew it would be hard to take a large group of people legit Spanish bar hopping for tapas, but going to one restaurant and ordering a few tapas for each table isn't exactly Spanish culture. I had a slice and a half of sourdough bread (of course), a seared tuna filet, potatoes, and octopus. I was really hoping to try those open face "bocadillos" (sandwiches) of smoked salmon and a vegetable medley that I saw last night at the market. Oh well.
octopus and potatoes 
my tuna filet steakThen we were all herded back to the hotel because "we have a long day ahead of us tomorrow". It was only 10 pm!! I was hoping to walk around and go tacky souvenir shopping with a group of friends, but to my dismay, I'm laying on my comfy hotel bed typing this up. But it probably isn't awful that I might actually get a decent night's rest of sleep. Oh well; if I wake up early tomorrow morning, I'm going for a run before we go to Toledo on a day trip!!
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