¡Madrid! (parte dos)

Assorted photos from the open top bus tour and our .5 of a day wandering around a plaza whose name eludes me:
being tanned nerds on the bus tour




entrance to El Retiro

weeks after their world cup win, Spaniards were still very proud



the palacio real, which offers discounts for EU passport holders on tuesdays. bargain!

cathedral next to the palacio real

Madrid is famous for its tapestry-style tiles in front of the many tapas restaurants and bars. These bars happen to be v. close to the Plaza del Sol in the part of town we frequented late the night before, Plaza de Santa Ana:



located on Calle Antonio Lopez, just in case you wanted to find this venue of dance and devilish cocktails
tiles to the side of Villa Rosa

I'm still convinced Madrid is my future home. But after a whirlwind walking morning, we had to make our way to duke it out with Spanish citizens at the main bus station. We parted ways with Anita, who was taking the train, via Paris, back to London.

At the Intercambiador de Transporte on Avenida de America we were met with 'el caos', which i will leave to your own imagination to translate. The bus drivers were less than forthcoming and when one of them headed towards our bus, a gaggle of spaniards bottlenecked the front door. My American bus getting on skills came to good use, and we wedged ourselves in seats 54 and 55 with: two hangovers, a bag of spanish crisps and a family of what can only be described as common, thinly plucked eyebrowed, obese spanish mother and grandmother with their ADHD children. They kicked our seats. They farted and reclined. They spat their crumbs in a wide radius around us. I held my head and waited for it to be over.

Eight hours later, in Catalunya, it had only just begun...