Mark with his "Hareem"
So today was the day of the "Madrid meet-up!" There wasn't that many other tb's coming to it either then the ones already in the group who were staying at the Pop Hostel. It was Tirso (who lives in Madrid) and then Cameron (a TB from Australia who currently lives/works in Africa) and then JC who is also from Spain. JC and Cameron wouldn't be arriving until later but we had plans to meet up with Tirso at the Bear Statue at 3:30pm. For the earlier portion of the day everyone just decided to do what they wanted to do and then meet back at the hostel around 2:30ish so we could head out to meet Tirso together.
Dave, Mark, and Alex went to some sports stadium and I am not too sure what Lauro, Ben, and Estephanie did but Ruby, Hannah, and I went to an internet cafe just near our hostel to check up on some e-mails and tb, fb, etc.
The palace
Kat met up with us there later and then after that we went and bought some food so we could cook at the hostel. We made some past and we got penne noodles to cook with my KD cheese packets. Was so weird to be eating KD without the proper pasta noodles but it still tasted alright!
Eventually everyone made it back from what they were doing and we headed out to meet Tirso! He took us on a mini walking tour of the city and we went to the palace. Unfortunately my camera died at the castle so I got only a couple pics. After the castle we went to a little outdoor cafe and got some beers to cool down from the heat. The we went to another bar to get some Sangria...again to cool down from the heat :p. And it was just sooo hot that day that after we went to another bar for beers and some tapas.
The group in Madrid! Ben, Alex, Mark, Hannah, Me, Russel, Ruby, Kat, Lauro, Dave, and Estephanie!
Tonight, continuing the meet-up, Tirso invited us to a private pool party that his friend Christina was having as she just got her doctorate. Of course we accepted!
After the beers and tapas we all headed back to the hostel to grab our stuff for the pool party and to meet Jeff who was finally arriving! after getting our stuff we went back to the Bear statue to meet up with Cameron and JC. We met Cameron but JC was running a bit late so we went to KFC to get some delicious mash and then met up with him after. Ben, Dave, Hannah and I went to the store to get some mixers for our booze and by time we got back to the square everyone was gone as they didn't wait for us like they said they would!!
We made some calls and got directions from Ruby but either she didn't know what she was talking about or we weren't listening properly but we ended up going in the complete OPPOSITE direction of where they were.
Thanks for the roses Mark!!
After a few million calls and Jeff coming to find us we eventually caught up with the gang and they were in a little restaurant having some drinks and tapas. We had some Sangria and Mark got me and Hannah one of the most disgusting Mojito's EVER! Nice gesture and all but no one can say it was nice lol. He also got us Hareems some roses :)
We were supposed to meet Tirso at a metro station at 10pm but we were running a tad bit late. Eventually we made it to the party though and it was awesome!! First of all there was an ALADDIN BOUNCY CASTLE!! How brilliant is that?! And there was the pool which was really nice and lots of food and lots of people. And not to mention...the BOOZE table. I got a pic of it and I have never seen so much booze in my entire life! It was great!
Out of the whole party only us lot from TB went into the pool.
BOOZE TABLE!!
Well and one random Spanish guy who jumped in and then jumped out. I bet everyone was thinking who are these random crazy people?? But even though it was freezing cold it was really fun and I had a great time! Half way through the party though I had to say goodbye to Lauro which was really hard. Our group had been travelling together for the last 10 days and it has been an amazing trip and I was very sad it had to come to an end. But, we will do it again some time! Also had to say goodbye to Dave and to Estephanie! Alex left with them as well as he wasn't feeling good.
We all got pretty smashed drinking all the different booze and jumping in the bouncy castle and it was pretty sweet. I think we left around 2am and somehow Mark managed to lose his shoe.
Nothing new here...
..and he didn't go in the pool! So here we are walking in the streets of Madrid and Mark has 1 shoe...nice! We didn't really know how to get back to the hostel so we just got two taxis to take us back. Was only 6 euro so wasn't bad. All in all it was an awesome night and who can say that got invited to a random pool party in Madrid?? Well, besides the other tb's who I was with...haha!
Not bad hostel in Madrid!
This is the hostel that I chose for our group in Spain to stay in. Basically the criteria that Lauro set out for me when he gave me the task of choosing the hostel for Madrid was cheap, and this was the cheapest we could find. It was 17 euro a night which isn't too bad for Europe and it was the cheapest we could find with the most amount of beds. Online it says that if you have a group of 6 or more (even if you book seperatley) you will be kicked out. Don't listen to this as they don't care. Everyone at the hostel is really laid back and cool and doesn't have a worry in the World. It's great. I couldn't even pay when I arrived as their card machine was down but the guy was just like, "don't even worry about it." So back to the rule...yeah we had about 12 people staying here and it was quite evident that we were a fairly large group and they didn't say anything. You can get rooms from 4 beds to 12 beds. We were in a 4 bed dorm and it was a decent size with out own ensuite bathroom that honestly wasn't disgusting. The beds weren't uncomfortable but you could tell they were hostel bunk beds as they sagged down quite a bit. Basically the whole hostel is a giant square and you can just go round and round. There is a common area with some couches and a tv and then another area that has a whole bunch of tables and 2 computers with free internet (there is no access to the internet after 11pm). There is also free breakfast in the morning which is toast, cereal, coffee, tea etc. Classic backpackers breakfast! But if that doesn't fancy you there is a decently equipped kitchen to cook your own meals and a big fridge and freezer to keep it all in. Location is not too bad, right near a metro station, some fun bars, and within walking distance to the city centre and tourist attractions. All in all I would recommend this hostel to anyone. If you are travelling alone it seems pretty likely you would make some friends in the common areas. If your travelling in a group it's a great place for you to drop your stuff and hang out when your not exploring Madrid!
Common area
Internet
