*Edit* It looks like I deleted that rant HAHA

Enough blabbing, time to get down on business. Well, in case no one knows what TAN is (not like anyone reads my blog, but I always pretend that I am writing to a bunch of readers), TAN is an acronym of a group that I am in which stands for Tracy-Alice-Nora, hence TAN. And in case no one knows who Alice and Nora (hereon A and N, just because) ((and again, not like anyone is reading this but you get the gist)), both A and N are my course and flatmates. 

So let's hear about our trip, but from my point of view (duh).

~Madrid~

DAY 1

Although we left to Madrid on the 14th of June, but we did not properly start our day in Madrid til the next day mainly because our flight was at night, so we spent most of the 14th travelling from Cardiff to Bristol Airport, then our flight got delayed for an hour and a half because of traffic control and did not fly until 7.30pm (UK time). By the time we reached Madrid, it was already 11pm (Spain time, Spain and Italy are an hour ahead of UK). N offered to pay the taxi fare, so we took a cab to her place, and from her place, A and I walked to our place. 

Our Airbnb was fairly nice though A could not stop complaining about for the first two days HAHA. But she got used to it in the end. I would say our place in Madrid was a traditional house, hence its appearance and most furniture were old, but it was a great experience!

The next day which was the 15th was our first proper day in Madrid. Our days in Spain and Italy always start late. There was not a day where we woke up early and go out. I am telling you, this was a proper chill holiday. Anyway, our first stop was Plaza Mayor because we had to pass by here on our way to the Palace.

Honestly, I don't know much about Spain history so I have no idea what is Plaza Mayor about.

Okay, I just googled and apparently Plaza Mayor is just notably known as an architecture work of Juan de Villanueva. And back in the days, this place was used for markets, football games, bullfights and public executions (from Wikipedia). Today, as can be seen from the pictures, there are many restaurants, cafes and little shops that sells miscellaneous things. And of course, there were many immigrants (?) refugees (?).... I honestly have no idea what to call them, okay, maybe merchants who were trying to sell knock-offs and always flee when they see a public authority officer around. There were people who dressed themselves up to scam tourists to take a picture with them and then collect a 'fee' from them. I was not convinced but N gave in and we (as in A and I) reluctantly got dragged along as well. She is too kind I tell you. But anyway, I had a nice picture with the said costumed guy, albeit forced to take a picture with him.

Then we headed to San Miguel market since it was on the way. 'FOOD PARADISE HERE I COME'. That was what I thought, in reality, everything was rather overpriced. Well, I am not that surprised since it is one of the top tourist spot.  Definitely not a place for a poor travelling student like me. If I went with my family, maybe it will be a different story.... 

We passed by the Almudena Cathedral, wanted to go in but unfortunately they have dress codes and we definitely did not dress what would be considered appropriate for a cathedral, since we were wearing short skirts that were above our knees. 

And alas, we arrived at the Royal Palace of Madrid. The design of the palace was really beautiful. Truly fits a Royal family.

I was inspired by Sim Yin (hereon SY, just because) to have a mandatory jumping shot at different locations that we have visited. So of course I did a jumping shot in front of the palace.

OKAY. TO BE HONEST.... that was all we did on the first day. Well after that we did grocery shopping and cooked at N's place. Hey, we were really on a budget so we've decided to cook for dinner and try not to eat out that often.

Additional pictures from day 1:

DAY 2

As usual we start our day late. We walked to the Gran Via shopping street because I wanted to go to Primark to get a pair of black jeans. Oh my, the moment I walked into Primark, I had to restrain myself from losing control because the store WAS HUGE. And they had a lot of nice clothes that I have not seen in the Cardiff Primark outlet. 

A and N went to the nearest Starbucks shop while I shopped. I tried not to lose self-control and only got what I need to get which was just a pair of black jeans. I need a round of applause for having so much self-control 👏

When I went to Starbucks to look for A and N, they were sitting outside the cafe so it was easy to find them. Then I was struck with a news. Apparently, someone (a girl around my age, I am 21 this year by the way) went up to them, hold a piece of paper on top of the table and tried to take N's phone away (she placed her phone on the table). Luckily, she was quick enough to understand the situation and quickly grabbed that woman's hand, and took the phone from under the paper. I've actually seen an article on this before, because it happened to BEAST's Doojun when he was filming a reality TV show in Spain as well (though in Barcelona) AND he was at Starbucks when it happened as well.  So here's a tip folks, NEVER leave your phone on the table when you're travelling, especially in the Europe.

Anyway, after that we had our first Spanish lunch at El Sur, one of the top rated place in Yelp, but from personal experience, it was really terrible. Honestly, I don't even know why it is so famous on Yelp, but hey, one man's food is another man's poison.

We took a REALLY, REALLY long walk to the Crystal Palace located in El-retiro park. Partially it was my fault because I just took a glance at the map and mainly walked based on my instinct. BUT the park was REALLY AMAZING so it was worth the walk though it was a long one....

Since the park was HUGE, it had sections. So the first place we stopped at was the rose garden. It was so beautiful. Normally, people would only know red roses, but after visiting this garden, one would learn that there are actually other coloured roses (pink, yellow, etc)

Whereas for the crystal palace itself, I was expecting something more out of it, but upon seeing it, I was quite disappointed with the presentation of the palace itself.

I have to say, the lake outside the palace was nice. I actually sat at the stairs for a good five minutes to take in the view. 

Apparently I made a new friend as well. 

And according to Alice, I am the duck whisperer.

There was a big lake in El-retiro park where you could go boating. And at the side, there was a big monument.

The view was certainly breath-taking.

And as we walked out, we came across these weird looking trees. Trees that remind you of Alice in Wonderland.

And of course, we headed back early to N's place to eat dinner as usual.

Additional pictures from day 2:

To be continued....