I have arrived: Madrid, Spain!

Hello hello! I'm back in full force for blogging, Madrid edition!

This morning at 7:25AM (Spain time), 1:25AM EST, I arrived in Madrid, Spain to begin my four month study abroad adventure! My journey here was uneventful compared to the excitement on the east coast now--that is, hurricane Irene. She's bound and determined to delay flights out of the east coast. I flew from Cleveland to Washington, DC to Madrid in about 11 hours of total travel time--not bad! I slept a bit here and there, but most of the time I was reading, playing Sudoku, or watching movies ("Water for Elephants", anyone?)

I was starving by the time "dinner" rolled around at 8:30PM! Who knew the air crew was going to withhold food for that long?! The meal choices weren't too bad for airplane food--a choice of rosemary chicken with potatoes or ricotta tortellini in a tomato sauce. Well, that was a pretty easy choice for me seeing as I've been on a major ricotta cheese kick and I love Italian food. The entree came with a "side salad" (aka wilted greens), a dinner roll, and an oatmeal chewy brownie.

I'm feeling pretty good for getting about 3 hours of light napping on the plane ride from Washington, DC. I'm hoping to push through the day without sleeping and then crashing tonight to get in sync with Madrid time.

When I did finally make it off the plane I had to wait for my luggage for about 30 minutes. I then found my car service (I know, sounds fancy, but it was so convenient and worth the extra $$!) and had a quick 20 minute ride to my apartment. I met my landlords in the lobby and was welcome with the traditional European double cheek kiss--so cute! My landlords are some of the most kind people I've ever met! They are so excited to have me here and even took me out for my first Spanish meal--desayuno (breakfast) of té (tea), café (coffee), pan tostado (toast), and churros (referred to as a Spanish doughnut). I wasn't able to take a picture, but it looked a lot like this:

Source

After our breakfast, Segrario y Carlos (my landlords) drove me around town a bit to show me where los supermercados (supermarkets) and las farmacias (pharmacy) are as well as several well-known places in Madrid--Plaza Mayor, el Palacio Royal, el Prado, and many cafeterías (coffee house, small eating establishments). 

I am now back at my apartment working on unpacking my things to make this place home for the next 4 months. Check it out!

My room!

Nice window with a view of the great Madrid outdoors

Living Room

Living Room/Dining Area

Bathroom

Kitchen

Bedroom #2

Bedroom #3

Our apartment is huge! It's pretty cool that we each get our own bedroom! I'm waiting for my friends to arrive, I can't wait for them to get here so that we can start this adventure!

I'm thinking about heading outside soon to explore a bit, I just don't want to get lost, alone :/ So we shall see!

Catch ya later with an update on my first day in Madrid!