Mar 8th – Day of Going to Madrid

I woke up to Rachel calling me to see if I was still up for going to Madrid today after my Soria trip. Of course I was, it was just a little weird but I was perfectly okay to explore Madrid like we planned. The main reason, as bad as it sounds, for us going to Madrid for the day was because I was running out of some of my Aveda products and found out there is one main Aveda in Spain…in Madrid. Thank goodness I don’t live in Barcelona or I’d really be in trouble! So I looked it up earlier in the week and it looked pretty easy to find, so I asked Rach to come with. We met up at the train station in Alcala to take the Renfe (the name of the trains in Spain) into the center of Madrid. The train is pretty easy to take and it takes you directly to the metro station in Madrid so it’s the best bet. Chatting away on the train and people watching we became fascinated with the interesting fashion that is slowly creeping into Spain. Remember the 90s where acid-wash jeans were cool and elastic was on everything? Okay well imagine those jeans with bunchy elastic at the ankles, so they are poofy in the legs and tight at the ankles. It has to be of the grossest fashion trends I’ve ever seen and I’m embarrassed for Spain, it’s that bad. Oh and the mullet is cool here too…don’t ask me why, it makes me twitch just the thought of it. Gross! Of all the things to translate over the ocean from the states, why mullets?! Can someone please answer this horrible riddle! Lol. Any who, we get to our stop on the train, buy our metro pass and get on the metro to a stop called Velazquez. Once we get off, the weather was sublimely warm and the sun wasn’t too hot. Good thing I didn’t need a jacket like I had thought I would! We walked up the street and the area of town we were in was definitely more posh. But it was gorgeous and filled with little boutiques, hair salons, cafes and adorable little Spanish restaurants where the most gorgeous and stylish of people were casually lounging outside at the tables sipping their coffees. I especially liked this area because there is a lot more space for cute little trees and flowers since it’s away from the center of the city. This means that there are also (bonus!) less people, which was so nice! It made it so that we could leisurely walk around the area and meander toward the Aveda store without shoving through people to walk directly there and back. Rach was noticing it too and it made us that much happier with the day. We walked over to the main street that the Aveda store was on and decided we would check out the stores around the area before going to the salon. Cute shoe stores, crazy boutiques and stores where the designers had started out with one theme of things and randomly branched out. Example, there was a store we went into thinking it has cute bags and dresses because that was what was in the windows, but on the inside it was a store of home accessories. But they were funky, modern-art accessories and appliances. And when I say appliances, I mean cute things that look like appliances but can’t be actually used. Funny. It was a cute store but we could tell that the designer started out with the appliances and then got distracted with wanting to make a couple of bags and tops. After an hour and a half of wandering, we decided that we ought to go to the place we came for. So I broke out my notebook with the drawn map given by Aveda online as well as the street name of their address and number. We wandered on the street the website map said it was at, but it was no where to be found. Aveda wouldn’t pull a mean trick like this on me, we’d had such a great relationship before! Hmm, then we decided that we’d try looking for it by the building number and the number on this street was an apartment building. Something’s not quite right. So we stopped in a Mexican (yes, literally) store that had cute knick-knacks, décor, Mexican dresses and such. I asked where the street of the Aveda’s address was and the store owner gladly told us it was just a few blocks up the way. Oh, thank goodness! I thought I for a second that I may never see Aveda…good thing we were just on the wrong street. So Rach and I started walking up the street through the quite little neighborhoods which we could tell that the price to live in this neighborhood would break your back. But it was cute none-the-less. The walk didn’t feel that long because we were suddenly on the street and to the left was Aveda! Yay! I walked in, and I’m sure I looked strange to Rach and the other people working at Aveda, taking in all the smells of the wonderful Aveda products and I immediately felt like I was back in Tulsa for a minute. Instantly, a woman came up and asked us if we needed anything (which I said no, since I always know what I’m looking for) and then offered us something to drink. Tea please. Ahh, just like home. The tea smelled kind of woodsy but tasted sweet and filling. I found my products paid and said bye to the girl at the counter. She said, see you later. Which a, she’s probably right but b, see you later is what they all say here in stores and restaurants. I think it’s nice actually and welcoming instead of wishing someone a great day. I’m not sure why. After completing our voyage, Rach and I decided to wander a bit more over to the main park in Madrid, Parque Retiro (there are more parks in Madrid, but this is the one to see). Several people were walking their eager dogs across the street toward the park and I was so excited to see so many big dogs! This is where they must be hiding! Oh and in case you didn’t know, Mickey and Minnie Mouse hang out at the park. Literally. They were walking around making balloon animals and when I took a picture of them, they waved their balloons at me. Everything in the park was in bloom; the trees, the flowers, even the street performers, haha. This park is the biggest in Madrid and goes for several miles through beautiful fountains, miniature forests and even has a lake in the center of the park. Even though we didn’t try it this time, you can rent little row boats in the lake and Rachel had an instant light bulb moment. We wanted to come back here during the middle of the day (siesta time) and bring a little picnic lunch and go rowing! At this point, we caught eye of Winnie the Pooh who decided to come hang out at the park. It was so nice and relaxing, it was hard to believe that this was in this crazy, packed, lively city that is Madrid. After we left the park, we needed to go to the center to get some postcards, and we were prepared for the crowds. Spain is constantly slammed with tourists especially in Barcelona and Madrid. But as we were coming up the stairs out of the metro stop Sol, we hear a band going crazy just outside, and I turned to Rachel and said “Do you think they knew we were coming?” she laughed and then I came out and said “we’re here!”. Haha. The band was playing ‘Tutti Fruity’ and the crowd was loving it. We were too and they broke in the song to start dancing with their instruments one at a time. It was awesome! We walked up the streets and there were tons of people everywhere, it was crazy! Finally we found our postcard shop, picked some out and lef the store to head back to the metro stop. We needed to get back since we were to get all dolled up tonight to go to the infamous El Kapitol discothèque in Madrid. Olivia was to meet us when we arrived at the train station in Alcala to come over to my host home to borrow a dress for tonight so we needed to hustle. Once we got into Alcala, Olivia came with me to catch the bus to my host home and Rach went to her home to change and eat. Once we got to my bus stop, I showed Olivia where to catch the bus back close to where she lives and we walked toward my host home. Upon walking in, I started showing Olivia around and she instantly said to me “umm, would they mind if I lived with you?! I love your place!” Olivia’s host mom lives in a small apartment, and after her seeing my host home, she informed me that I am only one of three in our program that lives like this. Suddenly I felt really lucky to have lucked into this. I didn’t know what to expect so I excepted nothing, and I don’t know…maybe that’s why I lucked into getting this. Or maybe it was good karma coming to me after such a horrible semester this past fall where my rooming situation couldn’t have been worse. It was worse and then some. So maybe it’s like they say where right before something really amazing happens, something icky happens so that you’ll appreciate it that much more. But I do have to say God, last semester was a little over the top, don’t you think? Then, Olivia and I come up to my room and she starts looking through my dresses nd finds one that she likes. Then I do a little of her makeup, and at that point, Ana comes up to meet Olivia. Ana knew she was coming, don’t worry, I called in advance to make sure even the idea was okay. She liked my dress on her and wished us a good time. Then Adrian came up upon hearing that there was a new visitor in my room. When he meekly asked if he could come up, I told him I wanted him to meet my friend. When I introduced him to Olivia, she instantly said in English, “Oh my gosh, he’s so cute!” which he looked at me scared and I told him in Spanish she thought he was cute. It was so cute how he was so shy and before I knew it he scurried on out; only to show my new visitor a toy! As he showed us his remote control monster truck, Ana came up to see if Olivia wanted to stay for dinner. Which if I had a straightener so she could finish her hair, she would have but she told her maybe another time. By that time, Olivia realized that she needed to get back and I needed to eat and get ready if I were going to make the 11pm train with my friends into Madrid. After having hamburgers with my host family, I dolled myself up and caught the bus to meet my friends. Once we all met up, we caught the train and were on our way. Originally we were a smaller group going to El Kapitol only Elise, Sarah, Kary, Rachel, Olivia, Chade and i. But word got around, and so Trevor, Victoria, Dominique, Katy and Katy’s friend from back home who was visiting, came too. I’m not one for going in big groups because it’s hard to get around anywhere but hey, it could work. On the train, Kary (sitting across from me) said that she liked my dress and it reminded her of a…disco ball! Haha, she was really excited about it. Then we arrived at our train stop, and caught the metro to the area Kapitol was in. Coming out of the metro stop, Chade and Trevor (who room together in the same host home) hadn’t eaten and wanted to stop in McDonalds. Classic, haha. Once they finished, we wanted to go to a bar nearby to drink first because it’s 20 Euros to get into Kapitol and then 10 Euros for each drink inside, and there was no way we were paying that much for drinks. The bar we decided to stop in was a hole-in-the-wall place with only 3 locals inside and our big group made it into an instant party. The man working behind the bar told us he would make us his favorite shot called Sombra y Sol. Oh my gosh, it was awful!!! It was like horrible licorice and I don’t even like licorice to begin with! Ugh, gross. So then, my friend Kary decided that because we thought it was so awful to tell the bartender that we loved them, so he made us more and more. Dang it Kary!! As she giggled in the corner and our faces turned sour. Lol. Then a woman, who was wearing a massive knit sweater, loose hippie skirt, and baseball cap, decided we needed to make a dance party and she would start it. Our eyes got so wide and Kary, with her funny sense of humor for strange Spaniards, cheered her on!! That was up until the woman started to think Kary was cute and pulled her out to dance with her. Then we were laughing. At the same time, Elise was getting her palm read by another random local who said it was free, he just wanted to talk to her and the bartender was taking off his shirt and twirling it around. Spaniards are truly a whole different breed ya’ll! And as strange as this whole scene was, we were having a great time. Then after an hour or so, we were ready for Kapitol. As we walked in, the bouncers inspected our outfits and then let us pass. Reason is that if you aren’t dressed to impress enough, they will turn you away. Phew, good thing I got this dress! Then we walk into the main foyer where you pay and then to the main entrance that has two main staircases inside; one to the right, and to the left. We caught view of where the coat check was and got that out of the way first. Then we split in small groups to explore this seven story club with different themes on each floor. It was amazing! We first went on the first level which had techno music and looked like an ornate auditorium with a main stage for the dancers to be the envy of all the club goers tonight. The girls wore burlesque dresses with leathers and trains in the back and showing every curve and length; meanwhile, the guys were dressed like cowboy strippers showing off all the assets for the goggling girls sitting by them. It looked like where operas where performed because there were other smaller stages for the patrons to dance on but were tucked in the areas that would be the box seats. After dancing a little, we wanted to check out the other areas. The second story was the balcony of the main stage of the first floor. This was where the DJs where spinning like crazy to the beats. The third floor had 90s rap and was covered by white transparent curtains on the walls. The fourth was the main salsa and Spanish pop music floor. The sixth floor was another floor for older patrons to dance without the crammed atmosphere of the other floors, and the seventh was a cool lounge with couches and loud music. We decided our first floor to try was the balcony and here Rachel and Olivia met two Italians who were sleazier than I don’t know what. While we danced, I was pulled over to a guy that was wearing John Travolta’s Saturday Night Live white suit with starched black button-up. Good thing for him that he made it kind of work in Spain. But he at least taught me to salsa a little. After the salsa, I went and found my friends, we went to the rap floor to check it out. There Olivia, Rachel and I found Trevor, Katy and Katy’s friend! From there we wanted to go check out the main floor because it looked like it was getting to be a lot of fun. The music was loud, fun and crazy with lots of bass and everyone was dancing like there was no tomorrow, including myself. The best part is that the Djs synced up the music with a huge dry ice blaster. So when the beat in the song would be at a lower part leading up to where everyone would get their second-wind or would go crazy again, they would blast this dry ice down in the center of the stage on everyone and it was perfect because it would get so hot and you would tire out. And the crazy amount of strobe lights just added to it that much more. It was so fun and I have no idea how long we were there but then Kary, Elise, and Chade found us and we danced that much harder. Then around 5:30am I think Olivia had gathered up everyone and we were on our way out. The club was still going strong and I would have stayed if I wasn’t in a group…Kary would’ve too. We had the best time together, and as I got my jacket and we gathered in the foyer, I turned to Olivia and Elise and said “I feel like my birthday is officially celebrated”…they laughed and cheered me on. Kary then found that on the way out they have these suckers with K for Kapitol and so we each got one and left. As we stumbled to the metro, the cool air helped to sober us up for the train ride back, and we were all pleased with the night. Once we got on the train, we felt relieved to know that we would be in our warm beds soon. Before I knew it, we were at our train stop in Alcala and as we all said our goodbye, Rachel walked with me to wait for the bus. At this point it was 7am. Dawn starts to crack at about 7:30am and I at least wanted to get in before Pepe woke up. As we waited for the bus, we looked at schedule, the bus doesn’t start until 7:30 and we were getting tired and cold in our little club dresses. So Rachel offered to walk with me half way to my host home and I could safely walk the other half. Fortunately, she could do this because the bus stop that we waited at was right where her apartment was. As we walked in the chilly morning air, the sun was starting to come up over the horizon and we had made it to the half way point where I could walk safely to my host home. After a hug and a hoarse goodbye, we walked our separate ways to our homes. The walk to my neighborhood and through it to my host home is surprisingly safe, which my guess is because it’s further away from the center of the city of Alcala. There are less people wandering in this area because you’d have to live here in order to know the layout or where to go. I quietly went into my host home just before Pepe woke up, got in my pajamas and crawled into bed with a huge smile still on my face from the amazing day and night I had.