Family Affairs

TOBY WAS HERE!!!

Yes, Toby decided to come visit me on his spring break from UCLA. I am very pleased with this decision. He flew into Madrid last Wednesday and I met him there on the Thursday.  We had a blast together. We were really lucky and we had great weather. I didn't have to wear a sweatshirt the entire time and there was not a single cloud in the sky. We stayed at a hostel in Puerta del Sol area – a neighborhood with lots of fun activities and sights to see. The hostel was cute and we met some really great people. Lucky for us, there were some folks living there who had been in Madrid for anywhere from 5 weeks to 2 years. Because of this, we were given good tips on what to do and where to go out, so we didn’t get caught in expensive tourist traps.

 

We did a lot of sightseeing on our own. Although it is a large city, Madrid has a beautiful park. No offense to those New Yorkers, but we both decided more beautiful than Central Park…We spent some time there, went to the Prado (quite impressive, although, personally, I can only handle so many different 2-dimensional pictures of Jesus), and spent a lot of time getting Spanish tortillas and drinks in outdoor cafes.

 

We did take a walking tour of the city, which ended up being really great. At first, neither of us were super keen on the idea, but we had heard that there was a free tour given that was well worth it. We decided we would check it out, and if it were no good, we would cut. We got to the tour’s meeting spot and there was a large group of tourist and decent-sized group of protesters as well. The protesters had signs saying “Illegal tours” and “He’s telling lies” both in Spanish and English. We learned, from our tour guide, that the protesters were part of a tour-guide union and were frustrated because they felt that the free tours were taking clients away from them. They were trying to prove that free tours were illegal, but in reality, anyone who wants to give a free tour can. Thye followed our tour for the first hour, shouting and talking through the entire thing. Que pesados!! It was so annoying. We thought about leaving, but our guide was really good and providing us with all sorts of interesting information, and we wanted to support him. At first, I felt bad for the protesters, because I understood their fight, but they quickly lost all of our sympathy through their means of protesting. After about an hour, they left us to finish the tour in peace (at least another 2 hours).  Spain has a very interesting history, which I was embarrassed to not know more about, but very pleased to learn.

 

You can check out some of our photos if you’re interested. Unfortunately, I can’t take credit for any of the nicely taken ones. That’s Mr. Tobias’s specialty…

 

I was a little sad to come back after Madrid. Although I am living in Spain and experiencing a new culture (and loving it), I am still living a semi-routined life, and the trip to Madrid really made me want to travel more. It did also, however, make me really appreciate Bilbao as a city. As great and lively as Madrid was, I felt happy to be living in a smaller city – one that I can get to know really well.

 

Toby came to Bilbao after our excursion in the middle of Spain. You will have to ask him his opinions on it, but we had a lot of fun together. It was great to give him a taste of my life here and to combine both my worlds.

 

Although I was sad to say goodbye, I was really happy that he got the chance to come. And it’s only about a week until the next family member arrives, so I will have just enough time to recover before I embark on another journey with my mother. One more week until Semana Santa!!