Po - Madrid, Spain
Madrid, Spain
Sav: We started off the day with coffee and a croissant, before excitedly rushing back to the hostel to meet up with my friend Pauline. I met Pauline (henceforth referred to as Po) in university a few years ago and we worked together for the Lister Hall Students Association as Floor Coordinators. We've been messaging back and fourth throughout the trip, hoping to meet up. We realized that we had exactly the same dates planned for Spain, so Meags and I adjusted our route to fit hers since she was coming up from Marrakesh. Po is this little waif of a thing, and basically jumped into my arms as we saw each other. So much happiness! The three of us planned to join in on the walking tour with our hostel, since Rick let us down yesterday. Six of us met out front and followed a girl named Patricia around for a few hours. Patricia had highlighter pink hair and a wittiness that rivals some of the best, which made for a hilariously candid tour of the city. M: The tour was probably the best we've had on this trip. Patricia was great and with the small group we were all able to chat. It felt more like a group of six friends walking around the city than like a tour. We saw a few of the sights from our own walkabout yesterday with new eyes as we learned what it all actually meant. Here's an interesting tidbit from today: it turns out that during the Black Plague doctors in Madrid thought the water might be causing the illness. To test out this theory, the king banned everyone from drinking water for 11 months! People of course turned to wine, even kids, and the winemakers made a killing until the king imposed a 75% tax. At the end we were all freezing and starving but in good spirits. Patricia pointed us in the direction of her favourite tapas bar and the six of us on the tour headed over to warm up and fill up. With every drink you order, you get a small plate of food. How awesome is that?! Spain is just the best. The tour group split up after this as we all had different things on our agenda, with plans to meet up again later at the hostel. S: Po, Meags and I needed a few things, and Shoppers Drug Mart style stores are in short supply in Europe. We did eventually find the right kind of shop, and managed to get everything we needed. We did a little bit of shopping around in the early evening since there were so many cool boutiques in the area. A few purchases later and we were tired so we decided to part ways for a couple hours, as Po is staying in a different hostel. We returned back to ours to have a nap and relax before dinner. M: The hostel chef made a giant dish of paella for dinner, with a nice full plate only costing €2! It was great and there were no full mini squids for Savanna to navigate. After filling our bellies we sat around in the hostel lounge with Po, the guys from our walking tour and a few new friends too. One guy is even from Barrie and grew up near Horseshoe Valley! What a small world. We spent the evening hanging out, drinking some wine and getting to know all of our new friends. The entire group around the table is going to Barcelona next so maybe we will see them there too! S&M