Madrid

I once thought Adelaide was slow-paced and relaxed but I think I might have to change my mind about that! Madrid is wonderful, peaceful and... just awesome. It's not as much a tourist destination like some fancier Spanish areas (San Sebastian for example) but is still very good. Spanish coffee is the best I've ever had, I can order a cafe con leche (coffee with milk) for 1.20 euro's.. which is cheap, especially for such a great coffee!

I actually did quite a bit in my 3 days here, whilst I have a journal with information on everything Robert and I got up to, I wont bother touching on more than half of it. There are a lot of squares here... open areas, where people hang out and drink or eat, or both!.. mostly both. I enjoy this sort of thing and spent some time, even on my own, sitting in cafe's experiencing this part of the Spanish culture. Another facet i enjoy is the siesta break.. most if not everyone who works will have a siesta in the middle of the day.. which could go from 40 minutes to 2 hours. People seem to work longer hours but they do get a 2-hour break in the middle, some people sleep, some people hang out in plaza's/square's.. some people go swimming.

Madrid also has a good network of public transport, both overland buses and underground trains called the Metro, it's quite similar to London's tube system with 2 exceptions; the Metro isn't as old as the Tube, and instead of varying types of English.. everyone here is Spanish!

Some more things I saw/tasted.. Spanish wine, Sangria, Paella (which is not pronounced with the L's), chocolate con churos, proper pizza + pasta, spanish beer, coffee's and pastries.

In short, Madrid is wonderful and I want to see the rest of Spain, I also want to learn Spanish once again so hopefully I can get some lessons sometime, somewhere!