Madrid

So...we are actually still in Madrid right now. We have just had brekkie and are wasting some time before we the cleaners decide to free up the bathrooms. Wanted to blog about a few things before I forgot all the laughs we have had here.

First of all, as you all now how Ilana and I can be, we have obviously done and said some ridiculous things. It wouldn't be our vacation if we hadn't. Here is a list to break it down:

1. The bag my host dad gave me is WAY too big for hand luggage. It weighed too much and was definitely over sized with regards to dimensions. Somehow I got away with it because the girl at the counter thought we were hilarious when I almost checked in my bag and not Ilana's. I almost got caught at the gate when the security guard simply said "WOW" about the size of my bag and made me see if it fit in those flight thingy's again. It did so all was good, it actually looks a lot bigger because the expanded bit is broken so I can't reduce the size buhh. Note to self tell host dad his case was a bad idea when I get back. Finally the guy on the plane tried to tell me it wouldn't fit in the overhead but again we somehow blagged it, probably because we were laughing hysterically. To avoid a number of blood vessels bursting tomorrow on my flight home I am just going to check my bag in at the airport, was way too stressful on the way out. Knowing my luck though I will check it in and they will lose it. Fingers crossed all will go okay.

2. I looked up an ancient wall I really want to visit, before we left I knew it was called the Arab Wall and the metro stop was Puerto del Teledo. Unfortunately somewhere between the short journey from our hostel to the metro stop I forgot the name of the wall. I managed to come up with 'Aber' wall. Poor Ilana must have asked five different people where this old wall was/the ancient city and when they all looked at her blankly/like she was a crazy person I realised I must have got something wrong. After walking around for a while we realised we weren't going to find it, one thing to note about Madrid is there are no maps of the city, ANYWHERE. You can find about one hundred metro maps but if you want a city map, I recommend buying one. We have spent a good 30% of the trip being lost. So...back at the hostel it turned out I had got the name wrong and the metro stop the reliable internet told us was also wrong. Sadly we never did find the wall.

3. Valentine's day was a blast though. We met a few people from the hostel - a german called Volker, a guy called Gene who I refused to call Gene as I thought it was a girl's name and nicknamed him 'Denver' - where he was from in the states and a crazy American girl called Myriam who had quit her job and was travelling the world for a year. We ended up in a number of bars drinking tequila and sangria and partied until 7am in some club called El Son where Ilana and I were taught how to salsa by some Spanish dudes. It was actually hilarious and I ended up giving up on the salsa and sweaty Spanish man after a while and ballroom danced with Denver. Haven't laughed that much in a long time and was really cool to meet some other guys from the hostel. Ilana and I also had a romantic boat rode, in a small rowing boat, on a man made lake. Photos to come...we made the most of Valentine's day in Madrid that's for sure.

4. I don't really have time to blog anymore a we are off to the museum of modern art, Reina Sofia today and I need to go and get ready. But there's a little update for you guys to have a laugh at or in some people's case roll your eyes at as you realise I get more ridiculous by the day. Back in Paris tomorrow and Lydia arrives on Friday so full update then.

Adios!