Madrid

     I arrived in Madrid on July 6, 2013.  I was fortunate enough to meet up with both my friends from California and my friend from Brazil.  Desiree, Emily and Tanaya were in Madrid for their last night before they headed home in the morning.  Henrique and I met in Edinburgh, Scotland on a free tour a couple of months ago.  He is in England studying English for 6 months.  When he has time, he travels to different cities and countries on the weekend.  It was really great to see them all again!

     The following day, I had intended to go take a free tour, but unfortunately I was unable to find it.  Instead, I went to see Santiago Bernabeu, Real Madrid's Stadium.  This was another beautiful stadium!  I absolutely love the Spanish National Team and Madrid certainly houses a few of them.  Iker Casillas is one of the best goalies and I love Xabi Alonso.  Real Madrid is the only team to have ever won FIFA Club of the Century Award.  They are definitely a great team and I respect them a lot.

 Love this store!

 Santiago Bernabeu Stadium

 Club of the Century Award

     On July 8th, I was able to find the free walking tour in a different plaza.  Our tour guide was born and raised in Madrid, perfect person to show us all around.  This was definitely one of my favorite free tours because Eduardo told some great stories with a lot of passion.  I found it to be very interesting that Juan Carlos, the current king of Spain had tricked Franco into believing he would continue a dictatorship, but then instead brought democracy into the country.

 Plaza Mayor

Oldest restaurant in the world.

Chocolate and churros

The Palace

     On my last day, I spent time with my friend Juan whom I met in London when I first arrived in the UK.  It is always nice to hang out with someone in their home town.  In the night time, it started pouring rain and thunder which was a nice change to the Madrid heat.  It is always funny to see how much people hate rain and start to run away from it as I walk through it and enjoy every second.  Wonderful time in Madrid!

"My message, especially to young people is to have courage to think differently, courage to invent, to travel the unexplored path, courage to discover the impossible and to conquer the problems and succeed. These are great qualities that they must work towards. This is my message to the young people". -Abdul Kalam