Backpacking (Western) Europe

April 18, 2004, Day 13:

Back in Madrid, we discovered it to be a delightful and colorful city. After checking into a hostal across from the Atocha Renfe, we decided to head there to look up some departure times into France the following day.

We stumbled into Sonia-- whom happened to be living out here in Madrid interning with a graphic design company-- just as we were about to return to the hostal. We agreed to meet up later that evening for a night out on the town.

After showering, surfing the internet, and eating a really nasty buffet, we went to meet Sonia at The Bear, located right in Plaza del Sol. Afterwards, she took us on a tapas crawl where we ate/drank cervezas until 1am, and headed back into the subway before its last run of the night.

After a night of watching home videos of people getting 'bull-gored', we awoke the next day and found ourselves at the Reina Sofia museum. There, we saw Picasso's Guernica-- btw so much larger than we both anticipated it to be in real life-- abstract paintings, and twisted bronze sculptures by Pablo Gargallo.

We went to a 'Real Jardin Botanica' (yes, a real, not a fake jardin), laid out in the sun for a bit, and enjoyed the multicolored flores.