Estamos aquí!

Well, here we are, in Madrid.  There's so much to tell you that I hardly know where to start.  My general impression is that 3 days is most definitely not enough time to explore Madrid, I feel like we only really got a taste of all that it can be.

I will say that it's pretty expensive here, but one should keep in mind that I'm extremely frugal, not to mention on a tight budget.  What everyone says about people looking nice is so true.  I have a huge weakness for shoes, I love to look at them, wear them, buy them; they're my accessory of choice.  Apparently, they are for the Spanish as well, because the majority of people have cute looking shoes.  I've mostly seen flats and sandals, but I almost feel grungy in my brand new Vans which lack the detail that theirs have.

Their excellent taste doesn't stop at their feet either.  In fact, everyone seems to just be generally attractive.  An overweight person is pretty rare and the ones that I do see look like tourists.  I'm wondering how different my perspective will be once I get out of Madrid.  It's very difficult to know who's a tourist and who's a local and I'm willing to bet that what I think that ratio is and what it actually is are pretty different.

The second day that we were here we went on a free walking tour and there were people from Italy, Argentina, Brazil, the United Kingdom and then of course us, the Americans.  What a variety!  We saw so many amazing things too.  They have huge, beautiful parks, the majority of the building are old and remodeled, and the amount of people on feet warms my heart.

This is the symbol of Madrid, a bear eating a rare tree called "Madroño".  We saw a live one too, it has little berries on it that our tour guide said are edible once they turn red.  

We have also gone to the Museo del Prado.  We went during the hours when admission was free and therefore didn't have a lot of time, but we were able to see some pretty amazing pieces and realize that we didn't even come close to seeing the entire collection. (you're not allowed to take pictures, sorry!)

I just got here and I'm already behind on blogging, but I don't have time to finish.  Next time I'll tell you about Toledo, the Metro and maybe even the flamenco that we're going to go see....right now. :P

Hasta luego....