Spain/Italy Trip (Part 2)

For Part II, I will discuss the time we spent in Madrid.  I went with a tour group full of teenagers (I was a technically a chaperone) and ensuring that teenagers stick to a European dress code is not always the easiest thing to do.  Students were specifically told not to wear shorts, tank tops, athletic shorts, cutoffs, or anything else that looks extremely touristy and American.  So, what do students wear on Day 1?  Absolutely everything they aren't supposed to wear.  I understand that a large group is never going to look like locals, but some of these girls were pushing it so much with their short shorts and midriff-bearing outfits.  As a future teacher, I should probably get used to teenagers not following instructions, but the blatant disregard for everything they were told to do definitely irritated me.  I know that wardrobe makes a significant difference because I wore flats (not tennis shoes), a shirt with no logos, and jeans almost every day, and many locals came up to me and my boyfriend (when we had diverged from the group slightly) and began speaking in Spanish.  We understand a lot of Spanish, but any accent or unusual response by us gave us away quickly.  Still, that was confirmation to me that you CAN blend in and avoid trouble if you try.

Wardrobe aside, the first couple days in Madrid went well.  The weather is freakishly stable: always about 75-80 degrees and sunny.  We visited the Royal Palace, Plaza Mayor, Retiro Park, Puerta del Sol, the Prado Art Museum, and other random places along the way.  The first day, I was dying a little bit from extreme fatigue.  I'm fairly certain I had two hours of sleep in the first 48 hours of the trip, so I slept like the dead the first night.  The second day, I was approximately 1000% more awake than the previous day, but all of the standing and walking was a brutal way to recover.  I consider myself a walker and in good shape, but for some reason my lower back absolutely killed the entire trip.  I think my Walmart, $9 Toms-ripoff shoes had to be a factor, but even when I switched to tennis shoes, I still had lower back pain.  Everyone in the group had the same problem, which made me feel like less of an old lady.  We looked like zombies rising from the dead the way we would lean over and let our arms hang to stretch our backs....

On a similar topic, I'm not surprised that Europeans weigh less.  The amount of walking they do alone has to control weight well, plus their portion sizes are definitely smaller.  I have a great deal to say about the food, but I'll leave it for a later post since I've already rambled on for two or three paragraphs here. Anyway, not everyone in Spain is supermodel thin--there are overweight people, for sure--but I didn't see the massive obesity that I often see here in the U.S.  "Spain overweight" is someone who is maybe 20 to 30 pounds above ideal, whereas "American overweight" is 50+ pounds above ideal.

Anyway, onward to some actual pictures.  Here are a handful from the day (with labels):

Puerta del Sol: A lot of the students were obsessed with shopping on this trip, so they were fond of this place.  I thought it was okay, but I'm not much of a shopper, so this area wasn't as exciting for me.

This is kind of across from Puerta del Sol.  My boyfriend pointed it out, and I was shocked.  My friend said it's a seafood restaurant (I'll take her word for it), but I still don't know why it's called "Nebraska".  You can find a little Nebraska no matter where you go, apparently.

The entrance to Retiro Park.

Illegal immigrants selling knockoffs in the park.  Our tour guide said that if we bought anything from them, they would keep the money, but the police would confiscate our items.  These guys took off when a police car came rolling through the area.

The pretty streets of Madrid.

A flamenco dancer outside of the Royal Palace. 

A shot of the palace.  I was so disappointed we couldn't take pics inside because this place was incredible.

The Real Madrid soccer stadium.  It holds a number of people comparable to Memorial Stadium here in Lincoln.

The shoes I blame for my back problems...  

More pretty apartments by Plaza Mayor.  The rent on these has to be sky high.

Plaza Mayor

One of the creepiest street performers I have ever seen.  I have no idea what kind of animal this is supposed to be,  but this is the stuff of nightmares, folks.