Walking Everywhere

As I've already mentioned, I have four day weekends. What I failed to divulge was that on Tuesdays I only have an hour of class at the university and then an hour of class later on in El Prado. So, after class a few of my friends and I walked from the university, stopped by my apartment, and then ended up at the Parque Oeste or Park of the West. The Parque Oeste is particularly interesting because there is an Egyptian Temple. In the 70's, Spain helped the Egyptian government save something old and valuable from ruination. In return, the Egypt gave Spain this temple that is now in the park. 

From the temple, my friends and I saw what appeared to be an interesting church in the distance and decided to see what it was. It turns out it was the Palacio Real. After a quick walk through the Royal Gardens, we proceeded to an area known as the Sol or the center of the city. The Sol is Times Square of Madrid. There are always many people - including pickpockets. From there, my friends returned to their homes to have lunch, while I waited to meet up with one of my friends from Davidson, who is in Madrid through another program. Once I met up with Erica, we headed back to the Palace and had lunch at a cafe overlooking the the Palace and its gardens. I do need to note that my coke cost about as much as my meal. My coke was 3.70 Euros, roughly 5 USD. After lunch we made a quick stop at an heladería or ice cream shop and indulged in what Spaniards call ice cream, but what we would call gelato. Next, we made our way to El Prado.

Erica and I moseyed about the museum until I met up with my class. After class, instead of taking the metro, I walked back the way I had come. All in all, I've probably walked between 7 and 10 miles today. 

For dinner, Elvira cooked a canned fish dish. Supposedly, it was a variety tuna native to Spain. Up until this point, I've really been enjoying the fish here - mainly because it is fried. I've had lomo, trucha, and a number of other varieties indigenous to Spain and the Mediterranean. This fish, unfortunately was extremely fishy.