So the past blogs of consisted of me updating everyone on day to day activities and that is about to change. I would prefer to talk about things going on now in the present so that is what I am going to do. My blogs for now on, including the one below, will be about the present location with some quick shout outs to the past locations. All questions and details can be filled in when we get back, so therefore we will actually have something to tell everyone instead of us getting back and no one needs to know how the trip went because well, you read about it all ready!
ESPANA! Yep, that is right, we are currently in Spain. We spent about a week and a half in Cambodia; beautiful but the country is a sad place. The poverty is everywhere, but it still was one of my favorite places because of the culture. When walking the border crossing from Thailand to Cambodia we were welcomed by not only the insane heat but also children playing on barbed wire and children begging for money. We saw some breathtaking sites at the Angkor Wat temples where the trees have taken over and it literally is one of best things I have seen so far. My favorite temple, which I forget the name, is the same temple that Tomb Raider was filmed in. We spent a couple of days there in Siem Reap, but Jay wasn´t ready to leave and I was so I travelled alone to Battambang and then to Kampot where I met with Jay. After Kampot we headed to Vietnam which is when we decided we were ready to head to Europe. Asia was great, and we enjoyed it, but we needed a break from some things and I was dying for some rich culture that I felt like I was not getting in Southeast Asia. And who says we have to follow our original plan? We have the freedom to do whatever we want and go wherever we want, so we checked into the flights to Europe and Madrid was one of the cheapest, so off we flew on Quatar Airways to Madrid, Spain! Before we left we were very fortunate to actually be able to meet up with my grandparents while in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. They are currently doing a cruise around the world and we just happen to be in the same place at the same time! I must say that it was very nice and comforting to see some familiar faces.
Madrid, Spain welcomed us with rain and cold weather but this place is already by far my favorite city in the world. As soon as we got here we headed to the futbol stadium and waited in line to get tickets for the Real Madrid championship league game that night. We got tickets, paid more than I ever thought I would but absolutely worth it and had such an amazing time. I tell ya these Spainards really know how to pregame! The streets were crowded with people, the roads were shut down, they were chanting how the other team is a bitch, lighting road flares, and drinking from solo cups that are so big that I needed two hands to hold and drink from; which by the way for only 6 euros is a nice cheap delicious beverage because the solo cup holds like 2.5 beers! While hanging out in the crowd of people in the ally across the street by the stadium we met some people who live there and chatted it up with them for a while. Jay was going all Spanish on me and was talking in a way that I could not understand and I did my best to try and communicate with these guys. I ended up talking to a guy who knew little English which was perfect for a girl who was a few drinks deep and only knew a little bit of Spanish, the conversation basically consisted of us constantely shrugging our sholders and laughing. I laughed a lot because I had no idea what was going on.
We get into the game and find our seats, which although kind of high up still really good seats because it had a nice view of the stadium. The 80,000 seat stadium was 100% full too, they don´t mess around with futbol here! Oh yeah, so one thing I noticed is that not many females attend these games. I probably counted 10 in the packed pregaming crowds and the fact that the women´s bathroom only has 2 stales and no wait should also give you an idea as well. I don´t know why though, I had such a blast! Real Madrid won 3-0 of course.
Today has been a much nicer day with blue skies and warmer weather. Because I have been used to traveling in 90 degree weather and in the jungles, I went to an H&M and got some new clothes so I was set for fashion attire in Madrid. We walked around today and wow, the buildings here are just breathtaking. The palace, oh the palace! The gardens around the palace, the sculptures, and even the streets! Everything here is so clean and nice and structured. It is just hard to believe that this is such a major city as because of how well kept everything is. We have not had a chance to explore the food yet because we had some minor set backs with things so we just enjoyed a nice bowl of ceral for dinner at the hostel, which was actually very enjoyable as anyone knows me knows that I am a cereal fein and this was the first time that I have had cereal in 2 months! We hope to explore some of the food tomorrow along with the museums. Well, more like I will be exploring as Jay study abroad here while in undergrad and lived here for 4 months so basically he has been a fabulous tour guide for me!
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