Hello first week of Madrid.

Sooo I am finally HERE, and a lot has happened within the past week. Getting to Madrid was probably the hardest thing I've had to deal with so far. In Los Angeles, my flight was delayed 2 hours, which then bumped me to the next flight from London to Madrid. In London, we were stuck on the plane for an hour because the runway was icy, causing me to RUN across the Heathrow airport in an attempt to catch my already late flight to Madrid. I made it.. but was already 2 hours late, and someone from ISA (my study abroad program) had arranged to pick me up at 4pm. Then of course I had to wait about 40 minutes for my baggage only to discover that my luggage didn't make it back from London. So..I have no luggage. no phone. luckily some euros but that doesn't seem to comfort me much. I frantically attempted to use a payphone both in London and Madrid (one call which ended up being $29..), and managed to find out that I needed to take a taxi from the airport back to my homestay apartment.

Already nervous and worried about having missed my orientation and tour of Madrid with ISA, I managed to hop into a taxi with a crazy driver who had absolutely no idea where "Leon Pinelo" street was. I couldn't tell if he was screaming at his navigation system or me, either way...the experience was traumatizing and funny now that I think back on it. I guess I live in an older part of Madrid, where a lot of abuelos and abuelitas live and where some walls are covered in graffiti that isn't even artisitic.. it's straight up graffiti. It's a lot scarier at night, and my taxi driver insisted dropping me off in some shady alley where I wandered in the 25 degree weather for a good ten minutes. Luckily my memory of having google-mapped my apartment while back in the states and the really nice help of a random abuelita (grandma) on the street allowed me to find the way to my apartment. I was seriously doubting whether or not I'd make it, but by God's grace I made it! The only thing I could think of during my long jet-lagged night awake was how it can only get better and that at least I had made it :]

So one week later, I'm loving my apartment, the señora and roommate I'm living with, my other ISA friends, Madrid's gloomy-rainy-sometimes-peek-of-sunshine winter weather, and everything I've seen & experienced in the city so far. I'm still trying to figure out my class schedule at the Complutense University of Madrid, but anywhoo I think I'll let the photos do more talking to keep it interesting! ¡Hasta luego amigos!

Before my unexpectedly tumultuous 20 hour journey to Spain!


My own room in Madrid, right off the Alto de Extremadura stop on the subway. I think everything is from Ikea, and electricity is extremely expensive in Spain. Thus, to conserve energy I try to mainly use the dim Ikea lamps. My room is a lot colder than the rest of the apartment for some reason, but I'm getting used it now. Also lucky and fortunate enough to have Internet here!

Leon Pinelo - I think this street is quieter than my room, where I can here every single word and sound from the apartment that's above me haha

Across the street.

On our first Sunday, the roommate Taylor and I ventured off into sleepy Madrid. I say sleepy becuase quite a few stores are closed on Sundays, and that's pretty much when the city recovers from whatever festivities they were involved in during the past few days. This is Mercado del Rastro - open marketplace only opened on Sundays, featuring a whole bunch of cheap random clothes, accessories, etc. and a whole lot of natives and tourists.

My roooommmatteee TAYLOR! at a little market where they have baskets you can wheel around.

Wandering the streets near Calle Mayor to accidentally discover..

Plaza Mayor - big historic plaza located in the middle of Madrid and filled with small shops and restaurants.

Plaza Mayor

Nearby we again accidentally ran into the Mercado de San Gabriel. It's just a year old, but it's a very cute NYC-esq marketplace where you can shop, eat, stand around and talk .. a lot of people were drinking wine and eating tapas.

Inside the Mercado de San Gabriel.


Later that night.. it started to snow.. like CRAZY!
On another random day, Taylor and I tried taking the bus to Sol (where our ISA office is located). We "accidentally" got off on the wrong stop and wandered to El Palacio Real - the palace of the royal family. The royal family doesn't really stay here though.

The side of Palacio Real. And if you haven't already noticed, the weather in Spain has been a bit gloomy and rainy. Typical winter weather. Good thing I like the rain.

Also down the street from Palacio Real was this garden area.. I think this is near the Plaza de Oriente and the Teatro Real. I'll have to go back and make sure.. we had to rush through here.

Pretty sure this is Teatro Real - the opera house of Madrid.