Madrid: taking a stroll

A night and afternoon alone in Madrid was relaxing. First of all, the hostel was a renovated palace; secondly, there was a pretty chill café/bar attached to it! My night solo consisted of listening to Spanish side of Ireland, we also decided that a bus tour would be the best way to hit up all the hot spots in the Galway-Cliffs of Mohr region. And, we were right! Our bus tour guide was AMAZING-not only incredibly knowledgeable but quite entertaining. He brought us to great historical spots; told us all kinds of stories; and taught us all kinds of things about the Irish culture. Everyone was always laughing and the restaurant he brought us had the best seafood chowder I have EVER had. (He definitely entertained all 15 of us on the tour.) Once the tour was over, the five of us made the long track back to Dublin (by train). And since it was our final night there, we hit up an Irish pub to listen to some folk music and drink some more Guinness. When my final day came, only Munson, Kelly, and I made it to St. Patrick’s Cathedral…then they wished me well and I was off to Madrid for a night…
music and reading. The next day I had all kinds of time to kill before I needed to head to the airport to meet Emily, so I took a stroll in the city: checked out a few historical sites. First I went to the Palacio Real near the city central. Huge gardens with spacious walkways and monuments surrounded the palace. And of course there was a random acoustic musician playing in the middle of the garden. Afterwards, I went to the Basilica in Madrid (forgot the full name) and fortunately toured the inside for free! It was definitely a more modern Basilica but the ceiling was incredible-gold trim, stain glass windows, and soft colors…
Eventually, I made my way to the airport and met Emily. We were like kids in a candy store- just so dang giddy because we hadn’t seen each other since mid-summer…