Monday, May 30, 2016

Smelling the Roses

My weekend before finals was spent the way I should have spent all of my weekends in Madrid: wandering the streets and stopping to see whatever I hadn't before. Granted, this was only my third weekend in Madrid so I'll cut myself some slack.

Megan and I decided to make a huge to do list of everything we hadn't seen yet during this four day weekend. I'm proud to say we accomplished quite a bit of it. 
Stopping for a beer in Museo del Jamon: check!
We kicked off the weekend with an impromptu bar crawl in our sweaters and leggings. Whereas we usually ignore the promoters patroling the streets of Sol, we decided to follow one of them to their bar for the heck of it. Turns out the 6 Euro entree fee covered a few drinks as well as entrance to three other bars. Naturally we decided that this was the night to try them all. I can easily say this was one of my favorite nights abroad.
Bar #1
The next morning we got up earlier to head to Retiro Park and try our luck at the boats. We weren't too shabby.


Afterwards we wandered a bit more in the park and discovered a free art museum on ambiguous figures. It was a very confusing exhibit for us. 
The moment you think "I could make this...?"
Peacocks in Retiro!
One of my favorite parts of this weekend was finding J & J Coffee and Books. It was a coffee shop/bar/bookstore/awesome bagel place. Twas a dream come true. I went back two more times that week. 
Better than Einsteins
We also did quite a bit of shopping this weekend. We popped into any boutique that caught our eyes and enjoyed every second of it.
Megan's latest hair piece
Part florist, part apparel = entirely awesome
Megan, Michael and I spent the Saturday moving from place to place with the full intention of studying at one of them. Of course we ended up just carrying our books all day without ever opening them (I promise we studied at some points during this weekend). Some cool spots we hit were a cathedral themed bar, a rooftop bar, and a delicious creperie.
Megan is still learning how to pour her pints
Nutella, strawberries, and banana mhmmmm
Great views with great people
Sunday morning we quickly walked to the palace and adjoining cathedral that were only 5 minutes away from our apartment. 



After Mass, we went to check out El Rastro, which is a huge outdoor market held once a week in Madrid. Despite what appeared to be hundreds of stalls, we didn't stop at any of them because it was just too packed. Note to self: go these markets early in the morning to avoid crowds.
As you can imagine we were pretty hungry by this point and made a quick exit from El Rastro to get some food. We had been to Ojalá before, but heard that it was even better for brunch. We loaded up on the biggest brunch we'd had abroad, mimosas and enchiladas included. 
Coolest coffee design I've ever received
And every brunch needs to be topped off with artisan popsicles, right?
Flavors ranging from yogurt to pink margarita!
As I had yet to see any of the museums in Madrid, it was finally time for me to go and get a bit cultured. Megan and I chose to hit Reina Sofia. With so many pieces to see, we walked through only the first two floors. My favorite, of course, was Picasso's Guernica. 


To top the day off, we went to Temple of Debod for a bit to watch the sunset before dinner. 

Unfortunately Monday arrived and we needed to hit the books (you know, seeing as I had five finals in a matter of three days). The week passed quickly with a pattern of studying late and napping after my exams. 
Megan teaching me last minute
One thing that really perked me up during this long week was the arrival of letters from my loved ones! I noticed that these were postmarked in February and early March, but hey better late than never! I was very glad to receive them.

Megan and I had our last finals in the early evening on Friday and we looked forward to hitting the creperie, La Rue, all day until alas we arrived and it was under construction! Not to worry though, we quickly found the next best substitute minutes later. 
Sushi!!
We initially had an early flight to Dubrovnik the next morning, but we got an email that evening saying it had been pushed back to the afternoon. So of course it was a must that we went out for everyone's last night at the infamous seven story club Kapital and to celebrate Sallie's birthday!
Ocean Bar with my favorite ladies
The flight delay turned out to not be the worst thing in the world because it was now direct instead of a layover in Copenhagen. Ben and I were especially excited to see Dubrovnik because a lot of Game of Thrones was filmed there. (Spoilers ahead for anyone who is not up to date on their GoT.)
Recognize those stairs??? Picturing Cersei standing there?? Cuz I was
The Airbnb in Old Town (area of Dubrovnik within the city walls where no cars are allowed) was unique as our bed situation was actually two queen beds in the form of a bunked bed. Nonetheless, a great location and a cozy apartment.
Comfy as hell
The next morning Ben and I woke up early to take a Game of Thrones walking tour. I was fully geeking out at this point when the tour guide held up pictures of the show to compare to the sites before us.
Joffrey's wedding and reception were filmed in this park
View from the spot where Joffrey died :)
I'd say the actors for King's Landing lucked out. Sorry, Kit
Duh.
Once we'd all met up again, we hiked up the never ending stairs to walk the city walls where we encountered some of the most beautiful sites. Dubrovnik is a truly stunning city.





Anybody seeing Daenerys standing here? This spot was part of the city walls
We worked up quite a sweat from walking the city walls, which was well timed because we took a kayaking tour right after. The kayaking tour was incredible as we paddled around the outside of the city walls before going into a cave for snorkeling and cliff jumping (only Michael was brave enough to attempt the ladder). We then kayaked around the island where we could see the harmless jellyfish all around us before making it back to the small port. 
Before dinner we decided to take a tram up the mountain for a view of the city and to try out the bar on the outside of the wall. The views were breathtaking.
Popular Croatian beer
Our final day in Croatia was quite miraculous as well. We woke up early to hitch a ride back to the airport to pick up a rental car. We then drove for five hours north to see Plitvice National Park.
Our baby for the next 24 hours
The ride was long but well worth it. With the aux cord I bought earlier that week, we were able to coast smoothly through the countryside (including a 20 minute detour through Bosnia). 
We stopped in Bosnia for bfast just to say we were there
Flash forward five hours and this is what we saw:
Who needs a selfie stick when you have arms as long as mine?
Group photo
The bridges and pathways at this park were made of planks of wood or logs. Not entirely stable to say the least, but to make things interesting some of the bridges were almost entirely under water. This meant trying to get pictures in front of the waterfalls by standing of the five inches of dry wood.


My reaction to Michael nearly falling in the water
Park bathrooms were interesting as well
We were at the park for what I estimate to be a maximum of two hours before we had to head back in the car to make the drive back. 
What our Airbnb looked like at midnight
Our flight back to Madrid the next morning was smooth sailing. Just like that it was my last night at Ana and Juan's. ¡Qué triste!












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