Chelsea does Madrid (Solo - hell yeah)

So after the tour and lunch, we were set FREE to do as we pleased for the rest of the day! I know this sounds crazy, but I don't think I've ever been set FREE in a foreign country before for such a long period of time! It was EXHILARATING! I started in the Plaza de Colon in search of Hard Rock and then booked it straight (lol) to Chueca! The following is my adventure in pictures. I had no idea that such a journey would lead to self-reflection, and perhaps I haven't written about this aspect of my day eloquently enough in what follows, but that's only because I'm still taking in the day's events and processing them.

Starbucks! Only time I've tried Starbucks outside of the country was in Paris. Happy to report, it's still the exact same thing, even when you're in Europe! And, as it turns out, the price is the same too, well, if we're speaking in terms of Euros. :o) There are about as many Starbucks here as there are in America, too. Woohoo!

 AGATHA RUIZ DE LA PRADA!!! I LOVE HER!!! I had no idea she had her own store!!! It took me an hour to get the balls to walk in and look around, but once I did I felt like I was in lala land. ^_^ Everything's so bright and colorful and playful and silly and happy. Who knew she was a clothing designer, as well as a notebook and pen designer - haha?! I bought a cute, tiny, inexpensive ARdlP wallet, as I totally forgot to bring one here and always like to travel with a cheap wallet to avoid paranoia of it being more valuable than the money I'm carrying in it. Ha.

Just in case you were all wondering... the answer is yes. Yes, my dears, Spain does in fact have Very Hot Girls. Some of them dress up way too adorably and wear the most amazing high heeled shoes and bright red lipstick (omg) while others look like perfect little hot messes done right. This was an example of a girl I followed until she got to her bus stop. I couldn't not. She looked perfect. It was scary and amazing at the same time. It was one of those moments in which I was grateful I wasn't part of some tour or with a brand new friend, because they just wouldn't have understood my seemingly-stalkerish behavior...

Which brings us to.... CHUECA!!! The gayest city in Madrid (and, debatably, the entirety of Spain as a whole). ^_^

There are a ton of really cute gay shops - rainbows abound, leather (youknowhatimean), bookshops, tight gay-guy* gym-wear* clothing and adorable cafes-turned-late-night-into-bars.

This picture describes it perfectly. The classic, chic buildings decades if not centuries old are everywhere with their cute little flowers and shutters and street lamps, but right in the middle of it all is some serious gay pride (note the rainbow flag).

The plaza in Chueca couldn't be complete without a big, uber chic hotel whose sign reads, "DO YOU WANT TO SLEEP WITH ME?" HAHA. Oh, Chueca - so ballsy. I like.

But oh! Don't be fooled! Chueca is far from a tacky, unrefined little neighborhood. Goodness no. It's chic as can be. Stores like Lush (omg I <3 Lush), Custo - Barcelona, Quicksilver (Roxy), etc. line the streets and it could quite possibly be compared to a fashion Mecca. Forget Rodeo Drive and 5th Avenue - Chueca outdoes them all. On my adventures I fell in love with a store I'd never heard of but to which I am considering building a shrine; it's name is as ironic as Plan B, considering its venue/audience. They call it, DESIGUAL. HA. I'm not kidding. We've only just met, but as far as I'm concerned, Free People has a new competitor. I. <3. Desigual. For. Real. I fell in love with bascially all of their skinny jeans (I don't even LIKE skinny jeans - that's how amazing Desigual is) because they're not only embroidered, but have sequence and beadwork on them. Like, hello? Really? Um, I think so.You can be sure I'll be back there within the week looking much more opulent to try them all on and admire them.

 Right before I discovered the Magic of Desigual, I had a mini love afair with Cheuca's rebellious and alternative mall, Mercado de Fuencarral. It's three floors of metal stairs, floral/shag carpeted benches and tiny shops filled with seriously unique clothes, plaid and leather corsets, colorful watches, cute underwear, and random everything. Everybody who was there was most certainly tattooed and pierced and wearing bright colors. It was like Harajuku meets Spain with a dash of gay and a splash of mirth.

Nobody seemed to take themselves too seriously there. It never occurred to me how important that characteristic is to me until I saw three floors playing that vibe on repeat and then juxtaposed it to the austerity of the majority of the people who ride the metro and train in their cookie cutter facade. Not to knock the cookie cutter thing, though... sometimes I feel the need to conform - it's just that little spark that screams Ani's line, "This was just someone's idea -- it could just as well have been mine!" in the back of my mind that keeps the whole facade from becoming a part of who I perceive myself and my world to be.

As I was pondering my new place in the world (and that mall really did make me start to ponder it - I'm not Madison Chelsea anymore, so who am I on the verge of becoming next?), I saw this bright pink Vespa and felt less confused!! ;o)

Random: I LOVED this ad. Thought of Eric right away. Ha. ;) Stll wondering how they got that monkey to hang there without the wind tearing him off...?

 

European Fanta?! Agatha Ruiz de la Prada bag?! YAY!

Yep -just as I was leaving for home I found Waldo (and his whole family/evil twins/clones). These guys were sitting in a plaza right outside the Grand Via metro station and when they saw me taking a picture they all start screaming something I couldn't understand and began to hide behind their menus and under the table - hahaha!!! ^_^ Oh, sometimes people are so clever I just don't know what to do with myself. All I could think of was, how did these people decide to do this, plan their schedules around having free time all around 7 pm on a Friday and where did they all go shopping. I'd like to find friends where I could get 15 of them to dress the same and sit around looking like dorks one evening. I'd call that a successful social life. Their appearance today was especially apt as it was my first day in Madrid (and my first time in a huge foreign city alone!) so I really sorta did feel like I was reading a huge Where's Waldo book and hoping I'd find my way before I looked too obviously touristy. Don't you love it when your life becomes a real-life Where's Waldo book? Things start to feel a little surreal...

 My big purchases of the day were my Hard Rock Cafe Madrid bear and my Agatha Ruiz de la Prada wallet, costing a mere 12 euro and 7 euro respectively! I went to the Plaza de Colon just in search of Madrid's Hard Rock Cafe and found it easily enough. I was a wee bit put off to find that Hard Rock has decided not to change the bear's look from 2010. I already have this same bear from Las Vegas, Belo Horizonte and San Diego! >_< Luckily, they come in four different mowhawk colors... but this means I can't travel anywhere cool 'til 2012, which is obviously NOT happening... brother. Anyway, my bear is still really cute and sitting on my desk. I'm surprised I got a blue, green and purple bear before getting the pink one. I think the pink one is adorable! I forgot how cheap these bears are, 'cause my one from Brazil was around R50. >_< Sheesh!

 I gotta take a moment just to stop and let myself know how awesome I am. Casually strolling through a huge, international city in a foreign language with serious instant command of a foreign public transportation system without help nor guidance from anybody but myself makes me feel like I just accomplished a big big big dream I've had for years and years and years. It hasn't hit me yet how awesome today was.

When I got home dinner was ready and we all ate in front of the TV as usual. We watched two episodes of NCIS and much to my surprise, I'm starting to actually be able to follow the storyline in Spanish! During the episodes mi padre and madre and I all conversed about where they want to take me on the weekends (Desigual outlet store!? Um. YES. Castles? Totally. Roman ruins? I think so.), where I should travel with friends, all about Woody Allen (random and hilarious), etc. It seems that I'm getting more comfortable conversing and listening, which is great 'cause for a few days there I was kinda freaked!

My favorite part about being with mi familia is that mi padre and I seem to share a secret sweet tooth. :oD After lunch and dinner yesterday he shared his amazingly delicious dark chocolate cookies with me and nobody else. Today after dessert (yogurt. always yogurt or fruit) he asked if I wanted a chocolate croissant. HA - what a silly question! We both scarfed them down before Maria or Cruz even returned to the room and smiled at each other slyly. Then, when Maria and Cruz left the room again he looked at me and I looked over at him and he asked, "Quieres otro?!" in a hushed, CIA type of voice. I giggled and didn't answer, but instead grabbed for the bag as quickly as I could. Our chocolate croissants were again devoured before anybody could see. About an hour later Cruz looked at the bag then eyed us both up and down and asked if somebody had stopped by the house when she was upstairs and helped themselves to two more chocolate croissants, we both nodded vigorously and laughed. ^_^ Hell yes. Sugar partner in crime. Thank goodness, because who are we kidding? This Cupcake Princess cannot survive two months without pastries no matter how amazing her life gets otherwise.

It's already 3 am so I better get to sleep... I keep looking at the time on Kiwi and thinking it's only 8 pm -- oopsies! I'm not even sleepy, but in the name of waking up tomorrow before noon, I better snooze. I haven't written about the most amazing part of today yet, but that'll have to wait.

XOXO
Jet-set Cupcake