Madrid, you need to learn a thing or two about "Minnesota Nice"

La Plaza Mayor

This past weekend, our group went on our first excursion. Destination: Madrid.  We left around 8:30 a.m. Saturday morning and took the public bus from Segovia to Madrid.  Once we get to Madrid, we went on a "walking tour" on the way to our hotel.  Madrid is huge, and all the buildings are so classy looking.  My favorite place was La Plaza Mayor, although it was a little creepy because there were some odd people walking around (examples: man making monkey noises, guy making huge bubbles, and various mascots walking around in full costume).



Big bubbles-reminded me of my Grandma :)



After walking about a million miles, we finally got to our hotel.  I roomed with Amy and Jenny! The hotel was really nice and we had a spacious room.  We all ate the bocadillos (lunch sandwiches) that our parents made us for the trip and then took a little siesta.  After resting up, we went to El Prado--one of Madrid's most famous museums and spent about two hours admiring all the artwork of Ribera, Velazquez, and Murillo. 

All of us girls!

After the museum some of us girls went out to eat at the Hard Rock Cafe for Katee's 21st birthday.  A Cobb Salad never tasted so good :).  After that, all of us girls walked home together. It was around 10:30 p.m. when we left and we didn't get home til around 11-11:15 because our hotel was on the other side of Madrid. 

We all got ready and then we went out to experience Madrid night life. Our first stop was an Irish pub called "Dubliners" which was really fun. After that we went to "O'Connels" to dance a little. By that time it was around 3 a.m. and we had to wake up for breakfast at 9 the next morning, so a group of us headed back, got home around 3:30. 

Sunday, aka the worst day ever.  Sunday we woke up and had a nice breakfast and headed out around 11 a.m. to go to "La Reina Sofia" (another museum full of modern art). It was really cool, but we were all pretty tired from staying out the night before.  However, seeing Dali and Picasso was AMAZING.

After the museum we were all so hungry so we went to McDonald's (naturally).  I had a nice meal, but it was super packed in there, luckily we all found tables.  There were many new experiences while eating McDonalds.  First of all, there was a beggar going from table to table shaking her cup and asking for money, which was sad and I felt pity for her, but if we gave her anything, she would have never left us alone. Then, while we were eating, this Spanish lady walked by us and told us in Spanish to watch our bags because there were some sketchy people in the restaurant.  So all of us girls quick grabbed our bags kinda starting to freak out. We just wanted to get out of there. So we all got  up and went to the table where the rest of our group was, and one of the guys realizes that his backpack is missing..his backpack containing his computer and all copies of passport, credit cards, etc.  That is when we all started freaking out.  I don't think I have ever felt so helpless in my life.  There was nothing we could do about it, the backpack was gone.

This was the biggest culture shock I have had since getting here. I have always been hyper-sensitive about guarding my purse and belongings when I am out and about here, and have been told countless times that Madrid is where all the robbers and pick-pocketers are, but to actually have one of my friends experience it was so scary and sad.  I think all of us were sick to our stomachs.  Where is the Minnesota Nice in Madrid?? It obviously doesn't exist there, which left me with a bad taste in my mouth and a bad last impression.  I am very unlikely to return there again if I can help it. 

So after that experience, we all just wanted to get the heck out of Madrid.  So we took the metro to the bus station and left for Segovia. After getting home and recooperating, I ended up going out to a bar to watch the Packers v. Bears game. It was a really great night and made me feel a lot better.  Nothing like some good friends, a Diet Coke, and some American football to cheer a girl up :).

If anything, Madrid definitely made our group closer and it was a wake up call letting us know to NEVER let our guard down.  I know this type of thing can happen anywhere in the world, but it's a shame it had to happen on our first excursion, because it really ruined an otherwise great city for me.