Madrid´s equivalent of the Puerto Rican Day parade

Apparently, we sheduled more time than we needed in Madrid. Well, not really. We´ve been taking it easy, relaxing and napping in addition to our usual viewings of palaces, Cat-eh-drals, castels and urinals. We got in around noon I think and just relaxed - napped, figured out what we wanted to see and made a schedule to do so. The room is cool. It´s nice and big with a tv (no English), AC and a private bathroom. The showerhead is a little evil, it hit Jess in the head and me in the leg but its got some pressure and hot water.

We planned to see the Cathedral that night because it was open late but when we got there, there was a mass going on so we had to ditch it.

We ended up heading over to Plaza Mayor - the most famous plaza in Madrid and there was a ton of craziness goin on.I think the Colombians must be like their Purto Ricans. There was a stage set up and this crazy parade/show going on in the square. These guys were dressed up as devils (they were cool looking despite the g-strings) and a few others dressed in some crazy outfits and on stilts. Everyone else was dressed in Colombia gear like the PRs would be at their parade - so I got to witness two in one year. Lucky me! It was actually pretty cool. We sat down for some overpriced food and drinks and listened to the music for a bit. The overpriced drinks led to an underdeveloped tip or a better description would be no tip at all.


The next day was Sunday and we hit two Museums - both were free. Jess was more excited about that than I was. They´re mad tight here. They didn´t let you take pictures of anything. I understand why they don´t want you to use your flash and I never do. There were people everywhere watching like hawks. The first museum was Centre de Arte Reina Sofia. It was ok. There was a bunch of stuff by Goya. Goya-OhBoya. That joke got tired pretty fast. Jess got pissed because they advertised having Rembrandt but in the end only had one piece. I didn´t see the big deal because it´s not like they´re lying - they had one. After this we walked around a bit and then headed home and hit the Museo del Prado which was a little cooler because they had Heironymus Boch´s Garden of Earthly Delights it´s one of those ones you see all the time so it was cool to actually see it. Then they had some exhibit from some dude who was known for his landscapes except that he did the same thing over and over again. Ok, we get it, it worked but if you´re so good why can´t you do something else? Later that night we went to some park and listened to the drum circle. I guess a bunch of potheads gather together on Sunday nights, hang out, smoke weed and drink and play the bongos and shit. It was just like Marist - only more bongos, no Flying Squirrels, shiny sacks, Cappy saying something ridiculous and Gimpy driving. Oh yeah, and if it was Marist, Pete Navatto would have been living there for month already (sorry to those of you who don´t get those jokes).
The next day we went to the Palacio Real - yes, the Royal Palace. We beat the rush in. It was pretty cool and very gaudy, they were Hapsburghs afterall. Of course, no pictures, I don´t know what their problem is - the place wasn´t that great. I did manage to sneak a few. We were able to go into the armory which had some cool stuff and the Pharmacia Real, which was kind of neat to see. We saw the Plazas de Oriente and da Ville which were ok. We then went to find geocaches since we had none in Spain and we can´t have that. We couldn´t find either so we went online to get more hints and shot back over and grabbed them. We took a nap and then went out to dinner - which was awesome. The guy at our hostel suggested the Arroz Marinero - kinda like paella but less wet and no meat, just seafood. It was awesome. The fish melted in your mouth and there wasn´t an overabundance of mussles. It was damn good. We came back and had a drink because we wanted to watch some baseball so we saw the last 2 innings of the replay of the All-Star Game. A ton of annoying kids came in. It looked like some hostel just let out for recess. They were loud and annoying and made it difficult to watch the loser from the Phillies blow the game. Worse, that Wagner gave up the winning runs. And what´s up with that pitcher from the Angels - that´s a freaking crazy delivery he´s got.

We spent today being lazy - not getting up until 9, then going to see the Temple of Debad - which was transplanted here from somewhere in Egypt when it was Nubia or was Nubia something totally different? I have no idea since all the signs were in Spanish. It was pretty cool. Saw some inscriptions of some heirogyphics. We again tried to see the cathedral for the third time and of course, there was something going on. It´s like non-stop God in there. There´s always mass or some kind of prayers. Some people walked around during it yesterday but I wouldn´t, I think that´s pretty disrespectful. So we headed back here to hop on the internet. We´re going to eat some lunch and then head to the airport for our flight to Marseilles. One of the days we´re there the Tour de France rolls in to town so that should be pretty cool to see. I´m not sure what else we´re doing there but it should be cool and then we´re done with the friggin Frenchies!