Madrid - day 1...we land in SPAIN!

it didnt hit me that i was going to Spain til much much later....i was even on a plane flying to Europe and didnt really felt the excitement til i landed. its been like that for me for the past few trips - maybe i dont get excited any more until i get to a foreign place....isnt that bad? but this lack of emotion quickly changed once i landed in Madrid...YES! im in SPAIN!! :)

Day 1 was packed with site seeing, walking, and lots of eating. We checked into a hostel in the city center...near subway Sol station where the Bear is (it is the symbol of Madrid - a bear nuzzling a madrono, which is a strawberry tree)...how cute is that? then we walked everywhere - saw Plaza Mayor, Palacio Real (didnt go in cuz its not really worth 11 euros i dont think...but we got some great photos of the courtyard or whatever it is at the back), saw Jardine de Sabatini and took a breather and nap near Plaza de Oriente, until Bernice said some weird dude is weirding her ou so we left haha.

At night we were told to hang out at Plaza de Santa Ana which is in the Huertas district. there are tons of tapas bar, restaurats,....so many things happening and til really late. thats something im not really used to - that people eat so late and stay out so late. but we managed to stay out quite a bit as we were both still so excited that we´re actually in Spain! (we booked our ticket maybe 3 months ago and have been waiting anxiously for the day to arrive...and here we are...sipping sangria, eating tapas in Madrid - this is what life is all about!) the funny thing is the bar was really good - but tapas (calamares and coquettes and sangria are alllll soooo good!...but the restaurant was called Le Cebolla or something like that...which means onion in english. if anyone knows me will KNOW i dont like onions at all!!! haha if i realize before we sat down i dont think i would go in hahaha)

we were only in Madrid for 1 day...we´ll be back at the end of the trip so no rush for the rest of the attractions...more time for that later!!! Cordoba is our next stop! :)