Friends on friends on friends on friends on friends!

So I haven't been sad that none of my friends have really visited me here (hell, I haven't visited any of them!) But it was so great to have a few of them come here! It all started with Jeremy about a week and a half ago.  Then, about a week ago, I got a Skype call from Kristen, my mejor amiga since middle school.  She is currently studying in Vienna and was feeling a little down for some familiar faces (I know that feeling), her weekend travel plans had fallen through, and she was even thinking of booking a trip to visit me! I said do it. And she did! So on Saturday morning, i went to the airport to retrieve Kristen Nicole Garrett from the Madrid airport. WHAT?! If you would have told me in 7th grade that I would spend a weekend with Kristen in Madrid, I would have laughed my pudgy little prepubescent self silly.  But no, it happened!

After the airport, we headed back to my apartment (very grateful to have the apartment so Kristen could stay with me, and even more fortunate that Leticia was out of town so I could easily break the rules!)  It was also a great weekend to visit since it is the Feria de San Isidro weekend (to celebrate the patron saint of Madrid). We made a delicious fresh lunch (salad!!!!! and wine spritzers) since it was so hot, and went out to explore.  I showed her the typical spots, Sol, Palacio Royal, Mercado de San Miguel, Plaza Mayor...we stopped for a sangria, went to Retiro, and then headed to an outdoor concert/dj/skating demo thing.  We got free shirts and some hip hop culture!  

Kristen enjoying our lunch

Just two friends at La Plaza Mayor

Free concert/DJ/skateboard event

That night we went out on the town...so Kristen could explore the Spanish cuisine.  I love that she is a foodie, and not picky, just like me!  She always has been my cooking and baking buddy, and it was so much fun to show her all the Spanish foods that I have been eating here.  I made sure we ordered a nice place of mixed pig selection, vino tinto, and tortilla espanola.  then we went out to some bars, did a little botellón action with the Spanish university kids, and eventually hit up a little discoteca so Kristen could experience the Madrid life. 

Pig sampler plate

Silly man at the club

The next day, we headed to El Rastro, the big flea market, a cool outdoor guitar concert near there that David showed us, and had the best gazpacho of my life! It was in a little tea cup and you just drink it straight out.  I finally understand the importance of this stuff in the summer, it was SO refreshing.  Kristen yelled at me when I ended up licking the cup, and showed me her better technique to get every last drop...sop it up with bread.  

BEST EVER

The other really good, but not as great as the gazapacho, part of lunch

After, we went to the Caixa Forum, a free museum with changing exhibits and a vertical garden in a really cool architectural building.  The exhibit on Russian ballet was the coolest, with all the costumes, and sketches for the stage designs and costumes, and even some videos!  

Vertical Garden

Then we went for churros and chocolate (another integral Spanish cuisine thing that Kristen had to try.)  That night, we went to a bar close by to watch the soccer game and have claras (another Spanish beverage!) and kristen ordered some tortilla, since that was her favorite! 

Churros and Porras

The next morning was the only hiccup in the weekend....when i had to hide kristen from the housekeeper, Rosana. Well as karma for leaving my friend locked up in a hot stuffy room, a plate fell on my face, but Rosana healed it with the membrane on the inside an egg shell.  It was super cool and I suggest you all use this technique to heal wounds.  It closed the cut right up, so there wont be a bad scar.  And the egg was nice and cold and felt good on my bruised face.  (Its still a little bruised and there is a small scab but Rosana checked on it when she came again today.)  I also made Kristen breakfast burritos and brought them to her in bed! So I hope she doesn't hold a grudge against me for too long.  Also, Rosana now thinks I eat 2 breakfast burritos and am a hermit who likes to keep my door shut all the time!

breakfast burrito

Egg membrane on my face....

Now this is where things just get too crazy.  My friend Alison, from Oxy, was also coming into town to visit! So not only did I have Kristen visiting me, but also Alison! WHAT?! If you had told me a year ago that Alison, Kristen, and I would all be hanging out in Madrid, I would have laughed my half college-educated head off!  Anyway, Rosana finally left so Kristen was allowed out of her prison and we were off to the airport again to get Alison!

This day was great! We went on the teleferico, one of the things I have been wanting to do since I got here, and then trekked out through Casa de Campo, stopping for a drink and some tapas at a bar on the lake. 

After we walked past all the sites again, so Alison could see them..Palacio Real, Plaza Mayor, Mercado de San Miguel, Sol...

Rio Manzanares from the Teleferico

View of the Palacio Real

View of Casa de Campo

Fun in Casa de Campo

Pretty picture at Lago

Plaza Mayor

 Then we went home to rest up and eat!  Another luxury I am really enjoying...COOKING.  I made mozambique stew (a spicy vegetable stew with coconut milk) rice, and salad.  It was delish! We also had home-made chocolate-chip (well chocolate-chunk) cookies with the chocolate chunks mom brought forever ago since I finally have the oven to make them in!  

Mozambique stew

Packed on the metro!

That night we went to another one of the Feria events, a fireworks show in Retiro.  The metro was PACKED and it was a fun ride, oh and the fireworks were cool too.

The next morning Kristen took off really early back to Vienna.  I was sad to see her go, I still cant believe that she was actually here! It was a most memorable weekend with one of my besets friends ever! Thanks for coming Krusty! :)

Alison and I woke up early (true to form) and headed out at 10:30 am (practically dawn for a Madrileño).  

Well, our goal was to head to the official Feria (carnival/street procession) for San Isidro day, since it was Tuesday, the actual day of San Isidro.  We had a tentative plan, to kind of get there when we got there, and we made it to the Feria just in perfect time and did the typical 'pilgrimage' (not really a pilgrimage, but more of walking up a street or two for the act, since people used to come from far away to the hermita de San Isidro in the south of the city).

On my 'pilgrimage'

We walked through the giant crowd, with people dressed up as Chulapas and Chulapos (wearing the typical long colorful dress, white scarf, and flower (for women) or the checkered vest, pants, flower on the lapel, and checkerd hat for men).  Everyone was dressed up, old people and even babies! 

Chulapas and Chulapos!

Me in my flor de chulapas

Alison in her gorro de chulapos

We forutitously made it to the hermita just as the procession for the mass was starting, and were pactically arm in arm with the head bishop as he headed over with the dinky little statue of San Isidro.  We got a great view, watching the Bishop's sermon, listening to the children's choir, and watching the bishop squirt some holy water on everyone (well it was more of a sprinkle).  

Head bishop in the procession

San Isidro himself...

Mass

 We walked through the booths, admiring all the yummy food, and the bajillion booths for rosquillos, with are donut-like pastries special for el Dia de San Isidro. We even got to try a bunch of samples (my favorite part!) We sat in the park, just enjoying and admiring the crowd, and I got an empanada to munch on. There were so many great sights, sounds, and smells! Lots and lots of people, music, roasting meat, frying churros and pig entrails, pastries being eaten.  It was simply amazing! Alison and I could could both not get over, nor stop saying, how unbelievably cool the whole thing was! It was one of the most lively days I have ever spent in Madrid!

Olive stand

Rosquillos de San Isidro

Rosquillos

macaroons

giant paella in the making

giant paella done...

it was hot...so make a newspaper hat!

MEAT

Then we decided to walk.  We left the Feria and walked. and walked and walked and walked and walked and walked and walked alllllllll the way back home...making lots of stops along the way, well pretty much just at retiro to walk through the rosalera, which is in full bloom right now and to take in some sun.  

Puente de Toledo

ROSES!

Rosalera!

Lily pads

New art installation at Palacio de Cristal. Its weird to have been here so long that I've seen one art installation, its dismantling, and now the new art installation!

Outside the palace de Cristal we saw a cool artist displaying his paintings.  I looked through them and saw some hebrew, turns out he's Israeli!  Welll anyway, he said he would give me a discount, and he was super nice, so I bought one.  A pretty sunflower painting that means "love of family."  

Yonatan, the artist and my painting

Walking home was so much fun, even though we were so tired, that I wasn't even paying attention where we went! Well since it was such a fortuitous day, I realized my lack of attention just in time and we made it home in one piece, exhausted but so content.  Even more fortuitous was that Leticia texted me that she was coming home on Wednesday, not Tuesday, so Alison could stay with me another night no hassle!! 

Product of being out in the sun all day: backpack burn.

We invited Kelsea and Jim (friends in IES) over for dinner, and had a great meal, ron miel and lemon seltzer apertivo (my invented and new favorite drink!), pasta, roasted veggies, salad, vino, chocolate-chip cookies, and even an after dinner scotch (thanks for the left-over Glenfiddich dad, I am finally getting some use out of it to make my entertaining even more sophisticated!  Kelsea actually has a mutual friend from her study abroad program with Alison, and they had both heard about each other, so it was perfect that they met, not to mention that they get along great. The perfect ending to a fabulous day!


I also spontaneously decided to re-gift to Alison a skirt that my Australian friend Lauren had given it to me when we were in Guatemala 2 summers ago. I decided to pay it forward to another traveler! And it looks mighty fine on you Alison! Thanks for coming :) It was grrrrrrrrrreat! 

Alison in the skirt 

I feel so lucky that my friends were able to come visit me! From preschool, middleschool, and college!! It was so much fun to show them all around Madrid, since I feel pretty familiar with it, and it was so nice to spend some time with some familiar faces! This was definitely a top weekend thus far in the semester!!!