Day 1 - Arrival in Madrid

We arrived in Madrid at around 8 am local time, 6 hours ahead of EST. After getting our bearings and asking the information desk of the best way to access downtown and our hostel, we proceeded to the Metro station that services the Barajas Airport. The metro was the obvious choice being only 2 euro as opposed to a 30e taxi. The metro system in Madrid is very efficient and after two easy transfers we arrived at the Plaza De Tirso De Molina. The hostel we stayed at is a block from the metro. It is called Mad Hostel and mad it was with tourists from all over Europe and North America. After dropping our bags, we set off to an Orange Mobile store to buy a European sim card which was a mission in itself. My Spanish is not where is should be but we were able to bridge the communication gap and I was able to set up my new mobile. We then headed to Puerta Del Sol, a commercial square bustling with tourists and locals. Many small alley's and narrow side streets intersect Puerta Del Sol and it is a good place to people watch. The square is officially the center of the nation and six of Spain’s National Routes begin there at Kilometro Zero. After breathing in the square, we headed to Plaza Major, only a short walk down the Calle de Major, a wide commercial street lined with stores and restaurants. The street runs south through the medieval city and if you are not careful you can miss the Plaza Major all together. The Plaza Major is the most important and historical landmark in Madrid and it is immaculately preserved. Cafes line the plaza and after browsing a few, Nicole and I picked one and ordered Cokes. I ordered paella, consisting or seafood, rice, and veggies. Nicole ordered a salted beef sandwich. The plaza was filled with young school children on fieldtrips, tourists, and locals alike. A couple street performers were set up at various points and the most entertaining were the bubble makers who used circular strings to blow giant bubbles which they sent floating through the square. After gobbling up our food, we decided that we needed some much overdue sleep and headed to our hostel. Before crashing we met two girls from Boston and Canada staying in our dorm with us. We awoke at 3am to catch an airport shuttle back to Barajas for a 6am flight to Marrakech, Morocco.