Day 19: Barcelona to Madrid

An early morning again (7am!) found us finishing the last of our loquats and on our way out the door back to the airport. As per usual, we arrived and departed without delay. We arrived just after noon in Madrid.

First things first, we had to find our hostel. This has been the closest and nicest hostel so far-- we upgraded to a private bed room with private bathroom and it is so close to a major subway station. We are LOVING it. Our next order of business was to pick up the tickets to the bullfight. The office was closed until 4:30 however, so we made a little trip around the west side of the city. We saw a giant palace and a few plazas before stopping for lunch at a small little cafeteria and venturing out on some new foods, about which we had very little information. It turned out to be some delicious chicken, and sausages on a bun.We made our way back to the city center and picked up the tickets. Then, since the bull fight didn't start until 7, we explored the east side of the city, working our way south down a shady boulevard and then north through a green oasis of a park. By 6pm, we were ready to head to the bull fight park, so we took the metro up. Plaza del Toros was right outside the metro station and just the outside facade was a sight to see. We got inside and waited in the shade for the fight to start. Tickets are sold according to weather: Sun, Shade, and Sun/Shade. We bought the Sun tickets, since they were cheapest, but it turns out we were in the shade before the fights even started, which was awesome! Tonight they had 3 Matadors and 6 Bulls, and each one was a unique fight. Brandon took a ton of pictures and videos to try to capture the essence of the experience for all of you. We can't wait to show you because it was really one of the coolest things we've seen thus far.

After the fight--around 9pm-- we came back to the hostel and tried to check in on our flight for tomorrow, which we found out was cancelled without notification. Luckily, Brandon was able to find us a new flight which was A) cheaper and B) a later departure which meant more time in Madrid and less time in Dublin. Perfect! With that peace of mind, we went out for a late dinner at at Taqueria, a mexican food joint, which was delicious but a little overpriced. We each had 3 little mini tacos and a glass of Rum and Coke with a double shot of Havana Club. Now we are in for the night and will update you tomorrow from Dublin, our last stop!