September 26th - Madrid, Spain

September 26th, 2006
Madrid, Spain

Last night I did not sleep well. I kept waking up and having to get a drink and go to the bathroom. Furthermore, I was having the chills and started to feel sick.

When we woke up at 10:00, I was still exhausted. Nonetheless, I dragged myself out of bed and took a shower. It made me feel a lot better and able to function for the day. Even so, my throat continued to hurt.

After dressing I went to find B. He informed me had come into Madrid and had just checked into the same hostel. It was another incredibly coincidence! We all met up and decided on a plan for the day. Pete and Meghan went to the stadium to purchase tickets for the Real Madrid game (which B and I already have tickets for). B and I headed to the train station to reserve a night train to Munich for tomorrow night.

Our time at the train station was hellacious. We waited in line for a long time and had to change our desired route a number of times. Even worse, we were forced to pay 67 Euros for the trip! After 2 hours, we finally made it back to the outside world.

We headed for the Prada Museum (where we planned to meet the others) but knew that we were very late. After waiting around for a few minutes we decided to explore the city on our own.

We wondered by some really cool water fountains and toward a massive arch. We then entered a very large park and cruised around for a while. It was a beautiful park with a large pool at the center. We circled the pool and then left the park.

We were then ready to head back to the hostel. We took the metro and arrived back at the hostel just after 14:30. B headed up to the room and I decided to call my high school buddies Mike and Juan (both currently living in Madrid). We made a plan to meet at 17:00 and get some dinner.

Feeling a little sicker, I spent the next two hours napping. I woke up feeling slightly refreshed and thought I would be fine. I tried to get B to come meet Mike and Juan with me but he decided he would rather sleep.

Mike, Juan, and I headed for a cool restaurant called El Tigre for Tapas (drinks that come with food). I had a couple of beers and at some crazy Spanish food. The craziest thing was a slab of salted pork (uncooked). It was interesting and not as bad as I thought it would be.

After spending an hour chilling out at El Tigre we all headed back to my hostel. Mike and Juan came up and met B, Meghan, Peter, and a girl from U of O that is studying in Olviedo with Peter (sorry, I forgot her name…).

At about 6:45 we made our way to the futbol stadium (all of us tourists) and Mike and Juan headed home. We made a plan to meet them after the game and head over to their house for some poker and nightlife.

When we got to the stadium we entered a throng of people and vendors. B was set on purchasing a jersey and eventually settled on the black version (it is very cool!). When we entered the stadium I expected to be ushered to the nosebleed section. To my extreme surprise, we got pointed to center field, just ten rows up from the field! Need less to say, I was ecstatic! (Perhaps that’s why our tickets cost 50 Euros…)

The game was incredible. For those that do not know, Real Madrid is the premier club team in the world. The earned the FIFA award for best club of the 20th century and have an all-star roster. We got to see stars such as Roberto Carlos, Ronaldo, Beckham, Raul, Robinho, Van Nistleroy, and Reyes. The game was made even better by the fact that Real Madrid played a great game. They scored 3 goals in the first half and ended up winning 5-1. NOTE: At halftime I noticed that I was starting to feel very sick and called Mike to cancel our evening plans with him.

By the end of the game I was feeling totally exhausted and as sick as I have been in quite some time. The long, crowded metro ride back to the hostel was miserable. On the way we stopped for orange juice and some of the others got some food. Upon entereing the hostel, I immediately took a long, hot shower. It made me feel slightly better but I still headed straight for bed.