Today was going smoothly until... I logged on to print my boarding passes for my flight to Berlin only to find that my flight had been cancelled due to a strike in France! My first reaction was, of course, to panic - especially upon having to communicate with the EasyJet customer service representative in Spanish and hearing that the next flight to Berlin didn't leave until Friday at noon. How could I afford to miss eight hours of my precious time in Berlin? I ended up settling for the replacement flight and making the most of my time here in Madrid. [My program director was actually somewhat happy that I was finally staying in Madrid for part of a weekend!]
Anyway, here's how it all panned out. On the way home from school, Daisey, Meredith, and I stopped for a famous chocolate Neapolitan pastry at the classic La Mallorquina pastry shop in Sol to temporarily remedy the situation. Afterwards, I headed to el Museo Nacional del Prado (free entry after 18 h.), and I got about halfway through Rick Steve's tour of the best of the best. I particularly liked returning to see Goya's The Third of May (after just having visited his tomb at La ermita de San Antonio de la Florida the other day).
With Sol as my final destination, I then navigated through some winding backroads before conveniently coming across Viva La Vida, a vegetarian/organic market/buffet. [I can't wait to go back to pick up some food for a picnic at the nearby Royal Botanical Gardens once the weather warms up!] I topped the night off with a delicious dinner with Adam at Sobrino del Botin, the world's oldest restaurant according to the Guinness Book of World Records! I had three specialty courses: the Botin salad, roasted suckling pig, and a meringue cake!
After all, I ended up having a perfect afternoon in Madrid, despite the minor traveling glitch!
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