The plane ride to Madrid went smoothly and they didn't lose my luggage. Yay! When we arrived at the airport, the program directors met us and some other students and we took a bus to our hotel. There are 30 UF students in the program. The hotel was very nice (the lobby was all marble!) and there was a Spanish basketball team and a soccer team staying there. After we rested for a couple of hours, we took a bus tour of Madrid. It is beautiful! Madrid reminds me a lot of big cities in the US but it is much less crowded. I was exhausted from traveling on the first night and went to bed at 9pm.
On our second day in Madrid, we did tons of sightseeing. First, we walked to El Prado Museum, which is one of Europe's largest art museums. It has many paintings by El Greco, Velazquez, and many other artists from Europe.
Next, we went to the Palacio Real, or the Royal Palace. It was very large and exquisite. The inside is made of mostly marble and concrete.
Below is the church that was part of the palace.
To end the day, we went north of Madrid to El Escorial, which was primarily a summer home for the royal family. There are many tombs of old kings and other royals there. The building also houses a modern monastery and boarding school.
A street near El Escorial. Most of the restaurants in Spain offer outdoor seating. The food is very different from America, but I have already found many things I like. In Spain, the waiters are paid very well so they do not go out of their way to be friendly. Their tip is included in their salary so you do not have to tip waiters here.
After all of the sightseeing, we rested for awhile and then ate at an Italian restaurant. Later that night, we went to a discoteca (nightclub) that is very famous in Madrid. It is seven stories tall. Everyone stays out very late here, so we did not even go to the club until 2 am!
