"This is Spain!"

 Friday 1/20/12


After the first week of work I am happy it's the weekend. What to do, what to do? :) On my way home from work I decide to walk into the cute boutique I've been avoiding this past week. I go in only to find out my size in everything is out. (Ugh, it's a sign) I try on a few items, but I don't make a purchase. If you know me, you know that I'm super picky. Being picky helps me save money is how I look at it.

I finally get time to myself at home and relax before going out for drinks with Mario. He has me take the metro to a new part of town. Well, I'm late because I get lost and confused using the metro, still. (Don't judge.) We walk over to the place seen below. I'll ask Mario for the name. The vibe is awesome at this place. It's a great place for drinks or a bite to eat. A little less than half the seating was a couch/lounge area. That's where I was seated when I took these pictures. You can see the red couches on the right hand side below. (Pillows everywhere!)
The DJ: 1st, he's not your average DJ. 2nd, it's funny to hear what American music is played here.

<---The thick part is all wax. Dripping candles are common here I guess. I've seen quite a few, but what do I know?

 Saturday 1/21/12

I had gone to bed at 5am the night before and therefore set my alarm for 2pm (Yes, 2pm. I need my beauty sleep). 10am rolls around and I hear banging. I ignore it and roll over. Loud bangs again. Someone is at my door so I get out of bed. (Is this seriously happening?) It's my landlord. She tells me my roommate isn't here yet (Wait, my roomie is coming today?). Petra has been waiting for her and doesn't know what to do. "How should I contact her? Do you have her number?" (Can you tell Petra to repeat all that...I'm sleep walking at this point.) With my half open eyes and ears I try to figure out what is going on. She agrees to come back in an hour in hopes that Lauren finds her way. Awesome, I go back to bed and wait for the 2nd round of banging.

Lauren arrives and I'm greeting her in my pj's, messy hair, and squinty eyes. Good thing I kind of cleaned up the house the night before. She gets settled in and we go grocery shopping. I tell how everything works, where everything is, and what not to do. (All from experiencing the good and bad this past week) She's from Waco, TX. She thinks it's a little chilly here. I think it feels like spring. Madrid calls it winter. We're now friends. :)

For dinner tonight Mario has invited me to a friend's birthday dinner. There is a group of 29 of us to be exact. Since the restaurant was small we took up literally half the space. Most places are cute and small.
I sit next to Mario and Pedro (Peter. He once said, "My name is Pedro, NOT Peter. He doesn't like the English version. hahah) He's hilarious! (Picture: Pedro being "serious")

Dinner begins with drinks: sangrias, honey beer, and regular beer. Again, all I want is water. (I get dehydrated okay) They, the group I'm with, tells me that's ridiculous, "This is Spain!" So I'm poured a traditional glass of sangria. First time trying it and I liked it! The food starts to come out in the plates below. It's almost like appetizers, but there are about 9 or so different dishes that are served. All new stuff to try. Result: SOOO good! All of it. Only thing I didn't try was the plate of mushrooms. (Can't do it.) I tried squid in three forms. Delicious. One dish looked like onion rings...nope, it's squid. One squid dish tasted like chicken, but really. (Mario thinks everything tastes like chicken to me.)

This picture is of cooked rice and blood. (Blood from I don't know where.) It looks like sausage, but tastes like rice with a bit of a crisp to it. Super good! (Picture: left side of the group. I didn't really get to meet everyone, but everyone was fun.) 

 We finish up dinner, now it's time for dessert. I eat some raspberry cheesecake. It tastes a little different than I'm used to, but still delicious. Next up, drinking games. (Wait, what? At the restaurant?) The birthday girl, Monica, wants to have a round of drinks, so we follow. Next thing I know bottles are all over the table. Never have I seen such a sight. We play some fun games and have some great laughs. I interact with Dolores, she's Monica's good friend. She flew in from outside of Madrid for the birthday weekend. She's so sweet. I wish I would have gotten her number.

(Picture: A pathetic (1/10th) example of what the tables really looked like.) The dinner is so much fun, but of course things have to come to an end. In this case the fun went from 10:30pm-3am. Yes, you read that correctly. (Good thing it's a Saturday night) But wait! The night isn't completely over...it's time to go out dancing!! Well by this time I realized I needed to go home. I had far too much stuff to do on Sunday. So as much as I wanted to dance, I took a taxi home. Which reminds me of a story...I had asked Lauren how much her taxi from the airport was. It was about 20 something euros. Unreal, mine was 47 euros. It's great getting ripped off. :)

(Picture: Back row: Paco, me, Mario. Front row: Can't remember the two guys, Dolores (her sleeve is in the picture), and Monica (birthday girl).

Aside from the wonderful food, the best part about the restaurant was all the color inside. Gorgeous!

Until next time, chao!