As per usual, classes were a little... dull. Or, okay, to be fair they're not that dull, but I stay up so late writing my blog and talking to people online that by the time I get to class I'm exhausted... and the poetry teacher is a little bland for my taste. My uber homosexual art history teacher in the PM is much more my style; he's always snapping and clapping his hands and scribbling weird maps of Europe and teaching us surprisingly fascinating information! But still... one can only take so much of arco de medio punto and arco de labolado and arco de ... something or another.
Between classes Megan and I decided we're takin' a day trip to Toledo on Friday - woohoo! ^_^ More details on that as they arise.
But enough about school, etc. -- the day really began, of course, after comida, a siesta and a train ride to Madrid.
I was so ready to be early to an engagement that I gave myself and HOUR AND A HALF to get to Madrid - mind you, it should only really take 45 minutes, but that's not factoring in waiting for buses/transfers to train. So was I early? No. Was I even on time? Nope. That's right - I was STILL late. What. The. Hell. I GOT to Madrid ON TIME, but then I got stuck behind the exit because you have to use your transportation pass to EXIT. Who the hell came up with that?! And, of course, my card decided it no longer felt like feeling valid in life, and so I was trapped. For 15 minutes. >_< Apparently this is common and you just have to go to the ticket window and they swap it out, but are rather curt about it. Whatever. I swear, I will figure out how to be less BLATANTLY American soon... but it might take me another week or two...
ANYWHOOZLE (thanks, Megan, for that word ... it's amazing)... when I finally was allowed to exit the train platform and finally received a clear answer in response to my life question of "Donde estan las tortugas?" ("Where are the turtles?" That was our meeting place. It was my idea. Why did I pick a meeting place when I didn't know where it was? Believe me, I wondered the same thing. Some questions do not have good answers.) I was met with perhaps the most glorious thing that exists on this planet...
CUPCAKES!!!
WHAT!?!?!?!? OH MY GOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
May I just state the obvious and say: I <3 Cupcakes. Proof:
If I have a shirt that says it (Thanks, J!) then you know it must be true!!! Everything was good. Life was amazing. We were headed to Retiro Park to take a stroll. And then, the unthinkable happened... I was SERIOUSLY asked what the difference was between muffins and cupcakes.
>_<
I mean, really? That is like the most sacrilegious question you can ASK me. What's the difference? Psh. That's like asking what's the difference between cats and dogs or apples and oranges or Real Madrid and FC Barcelona (LOL). It's just not something that's okay.
But, I mean, the girl seriously brought me cupcakes... and they're not easy to find in a foreign country (I've been looking!)... and I haven't had one in almost two weeks... and bringing me a cupcake is basically the sweetest thing anybody could ever do for me (not to mention she brought me not one, but FIVE cupcakes all of different, adorable colors!!)... SO I decided forgiveness and forgetting was the only proper thing to do. I mean, she may have not known the difference between muffins and cupcakes (I admit, it can be confusing at first glance... cupcakes DO sorta look just like muffins with a sugary 'fro...) but the other day in Parque Europa I pretty basically hadn't heard of at least half of the "world famous" structures and got lucky when I guessed that Brussels was in Belgium. >_> So if we're trying to decide who's looking more intelligent so far... I'm pretty sure I'm losing miserably.
Yeah... but at least I'm cute?!
Seriously, though, Retiro Park is amazing. It's similar to Central Park, but not. The rose garden is really majestic and there are little paths that look like lead to a forest in which you could find Little Red Ridinghood and nobody else if you didn't stick to the trail! These trees below were my favorite. They looked like little balls of green cotton candy plopped on a stick!
The night before I'd promised some of my Hooters girls that I'd bust out the raptor walk and had some how mustered up the balls to ask L to help me with this endeavor. By the time I was actually in front of her, I was hoping she'd completely forgotten about all that raptor nonsense. I determined I could figure out a way to take a picture of it by myself and not risk the possible judgment. But of course, what was the first thing she asked me when we sat down on a bench in the park but, "So... what's this Raptor Dance all about?" HAHAHA. Aww, shit. It took a few minutes to summon the courage to let my true self burst out of its shell for a moment in Europe, but if you haven't looked at the videos in the previous post yet, you basically need to. As Aubrey said, "Raptor Walking into pedestrians in the park. Classic." It was, indeed, pretty damn epic.
After our adventure in the park we went and visited that strange wall that has a garden planted on it. It's really confusing but really cool. I'm not quite sure how to describe it but to say it's a horizontal garden. I feel like only Spaniards would think up such an odd idea. Ha. We were walking towards the train station when I mentioned I'd yet to have tried the uber famous Spanish "Tapas." Within five seconds I had been plopped down in a chair at a bar and had Shandy and Spanish Tortilla (I think?) placed in front of me. I tried the salmon and cheese (once again, I think?) tapas and they were DELICIOUS! It was like sushi, with cheese bread... hahaha. I also ventured beyond my gustatory comfort zone to try a green olive for the first time (whatever, don't judge) and jabon iberico (this is a little freaky - most households that I've encountered in Spain have a huge pig's leg/foot in their kitchen from which they cut "bacon jerky" off at their whim... it's so creepy... we even passed a place that sells them called "Museo de Jabon" - wth?! haha). Both were strange, but I think I could get used to them if prodded.
Getting home was an adventure 'cause we almost missed the last train/bus -- but fortunately (or unfortunately? I'm always down for crazy adventures late at night...) we made it just in time! On the walk home from the bus I discovered that after a big rain in Spain, the sidewalks become roadways for SNAILS rather than the usual WORMS that I'm used to in America. They're really slow and really big, too. I almost stepped on two in one block! This particular snail was not shy and let me snap a quick picture of him. Thanks, Monseiur Escartgo!
XOXO
Jet-Set Cupcake
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