Madrid

Our next destination was Madrid! First, on the way there Amy, Christine and I took a night train there.  Now, I'm not sure if you're aware of how these night trains work.  You can either get a seat on the train and have to stay up all night guarding your belongings OR you can get a bunk so you can sleep.  We decided to go with option #2 and get some sleep on the train.  As we enter our bunk car, it has 6 bunks (3 high) in a room that is the size of a typical janitors closet.  There was one American girl with us and 2 Spanish ladies who spoke NO English.  We managed talking to them.  The cart smelled terrible but we somehow got some sleep. After this, our hostels looked like mansions! I think everyone should ride on an overnight train, only once, to appreciate personal space.
So now we are Madrid! We stayed again in the Equity Point Hostel.  This one was not as nice as the one in Barcelona, but we got a room for the group which was nice.  While there, we add 3 to our group! Ashley, my cousin and Sarah, my lifelong friend meet us at the hostel! We also make a new friend, Jessica, who was in my TEFL certification class and is wonderful! She is in the same boat as me, trying to find a job here in Spain.  
The first day, we sort of moseyed around Madrid, going into the palace and a basilica.  The palace was INCREDIBLE! I would have loved to see it when people were actually using it.  We saw an unbelievable sunset as we left the palace.  We found the market in Madrid and walked around looking at all the delicious foods.  I think America should have more markets like the ones here.  We ate delicious tapas at a restaurant down the street from our hostel and had more than enough food and drinks for 6 people for 50 euro! The food here in Spain is typically a really good deal.  We next day we went to the Museo de Prado and it is a HUGE museum! We walked around for a good 2 to 3 hours and decided we had had enough art for the day.  It was very interesting to see how art transformed throughout time.  Going from all religious paintings to more portraits, and the 19th century paintings seeming more relatable by the stories they tell.  We went to El Parque del Retiro and it was beautiful!! I wish we could have seen it when everything was in full bloom.  We went to eat at a restaurant for Sarah's birthday and the food was incredible! (Ginger)  As we left we were stopped by a sweet group of Spanish boys who sang happy birthday to Sarah. After chatting with all of them for a while, we ended up getting 3 proposals from the group! (I'm thinking this may be my green card into Spain.. Sorry Dad :) ) 
Madrid was a big city, but I liked it a lot more than I thought I would! Our next stop was Cordoba...

They made it!! 

Paella!

In front of an important building in Madrid