Hala Madrid!!! #HogsAbroad in France

Hala Madrid! Ole! Vale! 

After the nightmare I went through in DFW, I finally boarded the plane that took me to Madrid Barajas International Airport. Flying for a little over 9 hrs isn’t too bad when you fly Premium with American Airlines; you have a lot more leg room than the passengers in Couch, the seat is wider, the food is OH SO MUCH BETTER, unlimited wine, you actually get treated like a human, AND you only sit next to one person instead of 2 or 3. I was fortunate enough to fly with a cool dude that goes to Oklahoma University who is a Petroleum Engineer student.

In Madrid, I was welcome by my cousins Pablo and Brenda. I insisted on taking the public transportation to get to their apartment. I personally find public transportation somewhat exciting. Although I was super excited to be in Spain, I had completely forgotten this little cool thing called jet lag.

Boy was it rough on me… Madrid is 7 hrs ahead of Arkansas. I was tired in the day and wide awake at night. But, who needs sleep when you are in Europe!?!?!

In Madrid I visited Plaza de Espana, El Palacio Real (Royal Palace), la Catedral Almudena (Almudena Cathedral), un mercado (a market), Plaza Mayor, Puerta del Sol, la Gran Via, Plaza de Cibeles, Parque de El Retiro, Palacio de Cristal, among some other places. All of these are a must-see.

Spanish food isn’t bad. I had a piece of bread with tomato sauce spread on top with a drop of olive oil. Apparently, this is a very Spanish thing to do. I also ate some Spanish churros. Something that caught my attention was the amount of FREE snacks you get when you order a drink—whether they are nuts & raisins, patatas brabas, bread, etc (kind of like when you go to a Mexican restaurant and you get unlimited chips and salsa.) And yes, you get all of this even if you only order one drink. Speaking of drinks… Spanish drinks are not too shabby.

I left Madrid on a Friday morning to go to Barcelona. My Uber ride to the train station in Madrid was a freaking 2015 Tesla Model S 90D. Boyyyyyyyyyyyy. Best 16 Euros I’ve ever spent.

The train ride to Barcelona lasted 3 hrs. My Airbnb house in Barcelona was only 10 min walking distance from Camp Nou (Barcelona’s soccer stadium.)

In Barcelona, I went shopping in a main avenue that kind of looked like Rodeo Drive in California, I toured Camp Nou (Museum and Stadium), Sagrada Familia, Vila de Gracia, Passeig de Gracia, El Gotic, Catedral de Barcelona, la Ribera, Fort Pienc, Park De La Ciutadella, and a beach. After a fun afternoon in the beach, I stopped at an authentic Spanish restaurant near the pier to eat Paella (seafood). OH MY GOSH. SO GOOD, Y’ALL.

I definitely enjoyed my short vacation in Spain. I would definitely love to come back.
If you haven’t already, go to Spain. You’ll love it.
Now off to Paris!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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