last weekend in Madrid

Thursday, July 28, 2011 -- Joy Eslava

After our field trip to Avila on Thursday, we all came back to the colegio for siestas and dinner! Cristobal, one of our teachers here on the trip, is from Spain and his cousin owns one of the biggest discos in Madrid, Joy Eslava! His brother, Oscar, was coming into town Thursday so we all thought that would be the perfect time to go to Joy Eslava.

We felt like complete VIP status... Cristobal got us all in for free and with tickets for two free drinks and a free glass of champagne (copa de cava in Spanish)! This was so clutch since the drinks were at a steep price of 11 euros a piece!! This is practically 15 American dollars! This place was so cool! There was a huge dance floor surrounded by sofas to lounge on... and we of course partied the night away! It was by far one of my favorite nights in Madrid since I've been here.

MK, Me, Jamie Lee, and Jack

Joy Eslava

Molly and I with our 'copa de cava'

Abbye and I 

We stayed until the club pretty much kicked us out at 5:30 am. After the disco, Cristobal asked us if we wanted the best breakfast in Madrid and of course we all say yes, desparately wanting the Waffle House "All-Star Special" -- completely wrong. We walk in this place and Cristobal tells us "alright, who all wants churros and chocolate?!" We might as all have said hell no because we were not in the mood for churros and chocolate... we wanted some greasy waffles, scrambled eggs, bacon, and hasbrowns... so American, I know. So we ended up just getting a taxi back to the colegio and getting home around 5:45 am! whew... what a late night!








Friday, July 29, 2011 -- El Kapital
We all slept pretty late on Friday since we had stayed out so late Thursday and had a late lunch and went strait to the pool! Unfortunately, it was a little overcast so we didn't stay out there too long! We all got ready and went down to Pipas for dinner before we went to one of the worlds biggest discos... El Kapital! Dinner was of course delicious and then we were on our way!

Molly and I at the Metro, on our way to El Kapital

Me, Abbye, and Molly (thank you Jack for adding to this picture)

Cristobal worked his magic again and got our cover price reduced... it was still 18 euros though just to get in and only one free drink! The drinks there were even more expensive than at Joy Eslava... they were a whopping 12 euros per drink!

El Kapital is seven floors of awesomeness -- we started at the very top floor which opened up to the outside... there were beds everywhere, where people were just lounging and drinking. We stopped at each floor to at least catch a glimpse of what was going on! The 7th, 5th, 3rd, and 1st floor were by far my favorite though. The fifth floor was much more dancing and spanish style music, and the third floor was the 'hip hop' floor! The bottom floor was by far the best -- there were people dancing everywhere and their were 'dancers' on stage that looked like they had come strait out of the Jersey Shore. Kelsey and I could not get a hold of ourselves we were laughing so hard. We went through all the floor and then went back up to the top floor before we left at 6 am!!!

Kelsey and I with 'Pauly D' 

It was a late and expensive night but so much fun and well worth the money! A friend of mine, Carter, studied in Segovia last summer and told us that we could not leave Spain without going there, and now I understand why. Joy Eslava and El Kapital are by far the coolest bars/clubs/discos I have ever been to in my life.

Saturday, July 30, 2011 -- another relaxing Saturday
We all slept in again pretty late on Saturday -- trying to catch up on sleep from staying up until 6 am the past two nights. Abbye, Kelsey, Jamie Lee, and I got up around two and ran up to Pizza Jarden for lunch and then ran down to Sol to do a little shopping at H&M! By the time we were back we were all pretty exhuasted and wanted to take a siesta before our saturday night plans!

BUTTT Abbye and I got some pretty awesome news when we got back! Abbye called me and asked me to come down to her room because she was skyping her parents and they had a surprise for us! When I walked in, David, Maggie, Mrs. Joni, Mr. Randy were all standing around a birthday cake and a postcard of Las Vegas!!!!!!!! I just about lost it. The two of us were jaw-dropped, crying, and jumping on her bed all at the same time. I would have paid money to have a video of our reactions! Abbye and I have been talking about going to Las Vegas for our 21st birthdays ever since I can remember. But I never in a million years thought it would happen. I had no idea what my parents were planning on doing for my birthday but I would have been happy with a dinner and some wine after the best vacation ever in Spain! Thats just how great my parents are! Maggie and my mom have apparently been planning this trip since before we even left for Spain -- sneaky girls!!!! I am so so so so excited about our trip! We are leaving August 18th and staying for just the weekend but it is going to be the time of our lives! Thank you so much Maggie for planning this whole trip! I cannot wait to be there with you and David, Brince, Jamie and Colby! AND a special thanks to Mom and Dad for everything you do and the best birthday in the entire world! Ya'll are the best and I can't wait to get home to give ya'll a big hug! LOVE YALL TO THE MOON AND BACK!

Soooo, after our exciting news, there was no way I could think about taking a siesta. My heart was racing 90 miles a minute. So we all got ready and went down to Pispas for dinner and our last Saturday there... so sad. Nola and I were pretty exhausted so we didn't stay around for drinks... we came back to the colegio and called it a night!

Sunday, July 31, 2011 -- El Rastro and Pispas
Madrid has a great big market every Sunday that is from 7-3! None of us had been yet so we got up early and went on down El Rastro! We got so much good stuff and for so cheap. I had a lot more gifts to buy for friends and family before Sunday and I bought the rest of my gifts at the market plus a few little things for myself and all for under 40 euros! There is tent after tent after tent with so much stuff. Some of the tents had the same stuff but a lot of it was different! We were there for about three hours and decided it was too hot and time to head out. We all came back and took yet again... another siesta. I am definitely going to have to bring this habit back with me to the US.

Sunday afternoon, we all got ready and headed down to Plaza de Toros for our first bull fight! I was pretty excited to experience this but a little nervous because I had never seen anything like it. Come to find out, it was not bad at all. It was actually really fun. People get really into cheering on the bulls and the matadors. We did not get there until the end of the first fight but stayed for all six of the bulls. It was not super packed at the stadium but it is not the prime season for bullfighting and usually the stadium is packed out. Plaza de Toros is the biggest arena for bullfighting in Spain. I thought seeing the fights may give me a weak stomach but we were all fine. All but one of the matadors had a clean kill, but it is extremely frowned upon if the matador does not have a clean kill.

Plaza de Toros

After our bullfight, we went strait to our last night at Pispas. For those of you who do not know, in Spain, the month of August is vacation for EVERYONE. This place is dead in the month of August. So Yasmin and Alex are going on vacation just like everyone else. They are going to Portugal, France, and Barcelona! I hope they have a great vacation but we sure will miss them this last week in Madrid. Alex and Yasmin have practically become family to us. 

top row (left to right): Alex, Will, John, Oscar, Nick, Jack and Rob
middle row (left to right): Ashley, Yasmin, me, Jamie Lee, Nola and Kelsey
bottom row (left to right): Trey, Rachel, Shon, Abbye, Maggie, and Molly

top row (left to right): Abbye, John, Nola, Jamie Lee, Alex, and Jack
bottom row (left to right): Yasmin, Kelsey, Molly, me, and Maggie

I spent a many of nights at Pispas with them and even my 21st birthday -- they made it so special! We are going to miss them so much... Alex and Yasmin told us to cheer up because "this is not goodbye, this is see you later!" I hope we all get to see them so soon because they really have made this trip a thousand time more special!

This last weekend in Madrid has by far been the best. We saved the best for last for sure. I am so sad to be leaving this place, but its a bittersweet goodbye. I honestly never want to leave this place, I just want my friends and family (and chick-fil-a) to come to me! I will definitely be glad to be in my own bed and have a meal that doesn't consist of ham, bread, and oil & vinegar but I am sure that after a week of being back, I'll be begging to be back again.