Ruby and Chris slept in this morning (Ruby was still recovering), and Lauren slept in, too. C and I went down to the cafe right next to our building. I can’t remember a name, but it started with a “G” and it was right outside Gran Via 44. We had churros y chocolate and cafe con leche with a criossant. It was 4 euros! I can’t get over how much cheaper things are in Spain vs. Norway. C and I had a very nice time together in the cafe. He and I don’t get to spend a lot of time just the two of us.

I read a whole newspaper in Spanish (mind you, I only have 3 years of high school Spanish to go on)! Why can’t they speak Spanish in Norway? It’s so much easier than Norwegian…

We visited Atocha station today (one of my favorite railway stations, there is a big arboretum section in the center of the station, it’s really nice). We bought our tickets to go to Barcelona.

In the afternoon there were thunderstorms and we ate an early dinner in a cafe to avoid some rain. Afterwords we visited the gardens and cathedral near the palace, Catedral de la Almudena. They were actually having a service in the cathedral, so we didn’t stay long. I like that cathedral a lot, because it reflects traditional cathedral styles while feeling very modern. The colors of the design on the ceilings are so bright and vibrant.

After our visit to the cathedral we slowly made our way back to Hostal Helena and had a quiet, slow evening. Ruby was still not feeling 100%, and neither was Chris. After everyone went to bed, I wasn’t feeling tired at all so I went out to the balcony to do some sudoku and enjoy the Spanish air. It started to thunder and lightning, and eventually to actually rain so I packed up to go inside. But the door was shut, and there are no handles on the outside! I banged on the door for about 10 minutes (felt like much longer!) before someone heard me and let me in.

Katy(posted on Jun 29, 2006 at 8:56 pm)