MAR-GOES

Hi reader! I am currently writing this on a plane back to Prague from Madrid while enjoying some peanut M&M’s and Haribo gummy bears. I have no clue what Europe’s obsession is with Haribo gummy bears, but they are EVERYWHERE. When you are reading this though, I should hopefully be back and comfortable in my bed with Wi-Fi. I’m just excited that I can write this while on the plane instead of sitting here and worrying about my ear (explanation to come).

Greg and I woke up at 6:00 am on Friday to catch a 9:00 am flight out of Prague. On the way to the airport I was upset because I thought I forgot my sunglasses. As I was searching through my bag I found them in a zippered pocket, BUT that pocket was in the section that I thought I put my toiletry bag in. I realized that I was worried about sunglasses when I actually forgot to put an even more important thing in my bag. On top of that, I had my contacts in my toiletry bag therefore I had to wear my glasses all weekend. Wearing glasses = no sunglasses. (Of course I blinded myself for a minute to wear the sunglasses anytime I wanted pictures). Oh well. Besides that, all went well in the Prague airport and we were off the Madrid! The flight was about 3 hours long, which was longer than I thought it would be but that was ok. When we were about 10 minutes away from landing, I felt a sudden pain in my ear. I’ve had ear pressure before on planes, but this time it was different. My ear was fully filled with pressure, was painful the touch, and I couldn’t hear really from my left side. I can’t fully explain the pain, but if you’ve had this problem, I’m sure you know exactly what I’m talking about. I blame it on my chronic sinusitis and current head cold. I couldn’t wait to get off of the plane. I imagined that my ear would “pop” right when I walked on land, but unfortunately it was about 4 hours later when I finally regained full hearing and feeling to my ear. Needless to say, I am praying that my ear cooperates with me on this flight. I’m fully prepared with gum and water (if only I had my Nana’s magic plane ear drops). I’ll let you know the status of my ear at the end of this post because I know you are all so interested in my ear problems. ANYWAY, so Madrid. Madrid was absolutely wonderful. It may be my favorite place I’ve ever been. Don’t hold me to that though, because I’m sure I’ll say that a few times from now until I’m on my plane back to the States. Speaking of the States, I have gained a whole new appreciation for America. I have the urge to explore my own country now, and if you are in the US reading this, please appreciate where you are and the English language. Also, you need to appreciate the fact that you can get a McDonald’s hash brown at any hour of the day and at all in that matter. Europe is still amazing though don’t get me wrong, just appreciating where I come from. I could write a whole blog about what people in America shouldn’t take for granted. I actually probably will one day when I am frustrated over the closest Wawa being 4,084 miles away.

Okay actually NOW I will talk about Madrid. We landed in Madrid around 1:00 pm. Our hotel was very nice; I haven’t seen a bed bigger than a twin in a month now so a king bed was heavenly. We immediately put our stuff down and went out to adventure the city, we didn’t want to waste a minute of our short weekend. As I walked outside, I immediately felt a ray of sun beating down on me, HALLELUJAH. I was finally in 50+ degree weather. Madrid just had good vibes. The people were all extremely friendly and lively, the language was something I studied for 7 years, and it was warm. All three of the things I can’t say about Prague yet. There is a main street in Madrid called Calle Gran Vía. This street was full of great shopping, good food options, and cool street performers. Greg and I spent some time walking along this street popping in and out of various stores. We made our way to a park called Parque de El Retiro, which was a little off to the side of this main strip. The park was so alive with people, animals, and activities. It was big, it reminded me of Central Park, but not quite as huge as the actual Central Park. It was so refreshing. There was a small pond in the middle of the park and there were couples, friends, and families rowing around in small boats. Greg and I went to go rent one and we missed the ticket sales by 10 minutes. Bummer. I know you can rent canoes and paddle boats in Prague along the Vltava river when it is nice out, so we will make sure to do that then.

 

After the park, we were on a mission to find dinner. I’m not sure why we still haven’t learned our lesson about making reservations for restaurants in Europe.. but after a few failed attempts we sat down at a traditional Spanish cuisine restaurant. Of course we both got paella. We both thought the paella was just ok (we prefer Greg’s mom’s, shout out to Mrs. Bresnan’s great cooking). We both just accepted the fact that we had to try paella while we were in Spain. After dinner we were on the hunt for dessert. My phone led us to a gelato shop that didn’t exist and we couldn’t find anywhere else so we went back to the hotel.

On Saturday morning we slept in a little and went out to find some brunch. Spain is kind of weird because they don’t seem to be into eating breakfast. Correct me if you know I’m wrong, but it just didn’t seem like a thing. They have a very laid back culture, everything opens late, they take their “siestas” which are midday breaks (apparently everyone naps in the middle of the day), and dinner is late. The “siestas” are awesome, basically all of the stores close from 2-5 pm and restaurants close from 4-8pm. This isn’t so awesome for the hungry shopper, but I’d love to work with a deal like that. We came across a cute, rustic restaurant and I got “The American”: scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, and hash browns. It was a perfect start to the day. (Side note: I’m currently flying over some awesome snowcapped mountain ranges.)

After breakfast we made our way to the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium, Real Madrid’s stadium. I didn’t mention this part yet in my blogs because, 1. I was so excited about, I wanted to tell you about it all at once. 2. We bought our tickets from a 3^rd party website and I wasn’t sure if they would actually work, and then you’d all think I was going to a game but potentially come to find out I was scammed. HOWEVER, if you saw my Instagram post, you saw that I did indeed get into the game. I had my scarf and the Bale jersey I bought Miles on (Miles was generous enough to let me wear it) and Greg had his Real sweatshirt on and we found our seats.

The seats were right in the first section off to the side of the goal. They were amazing seats and the team warmed up literally right in front of our section. Greg and I got some great pictures and videos of them close up.

I’ve heard how amazing soccer games in Europe can be, and once I knew I was going abroad, it was the first thing on my bucket list. Did I know I was going to get the chance to see arguably the best club in Europe at their home stadium and be a maximum of 20 yards away from Cristiano Ronaldo and new found celeb crush Gareth Bale? No, but 24 hours ago I was. It wasn’t an easy road to get there though. About the 3^rd party website: Real Madrid’s website does not accept American credit cards, which was a headache in itself and forced us to look elsewhere for a ticket. Greg and I literally moved plans around to go to Madrid this weekend specifically to see Real Madrid play, so I was not about to not go to this game. Obviously it all worked out and it was an incredible experience. I watched my brother play 18 years of great soccer, played 10 years of bad soccer myself, and grew up in a soccer-loving household. This was something I’ve always wanted to do. I wish I could bring the passion for soccer from Europe back to America, but after being at Penn State, American Football has a place in my heart too. Real Madrid won 2-0 and Bale got one of those goals as it was his first game back from being out injured for three months. That was pretty cool. The crowd was so alive and passionate. They have a fan section that does not stop chanting/singing/beating a drum for the entirety of the game. You haven’t heard loud until you hear a stadium of people who watch Ronaldo get tripped in the box and the refs call it as Ronaldo being offside (which he wasn’t, I was directly in line with him).

I left the game so happy but sad that it was over. I will cherish my memories from the game knowing it may be a while until I get to see them play again, if I ever do. Exhausted, Greg and I went back to the hotel with hopes to relax a little and then head back out onto the town for some dinner. We ended up giving up and used Uber Eats and ate burritos and crepes (surprise) in bed. (Uber Eats is a food delivery service ran by Uber.)

We woke up early this morning, ate at McDonalds, and walked the main strip one last time. I am sad to be leaving such an amazing place but am excited to get away from the Euro. The best thing about Prague? Everything is so cheap. It was an extremely expensive weekend, but it was extremely worth it. I know I will be back to Madrid in my life. If you ever get the opportunity to visit Madrid, please do, and see a game if possible. My best friend Lauren is studying in Madrid next Fall semester, and I am so excited for her, she will love it.

Another week approaches and school is looming, but hey, I can’t really complain about 4 days of class when my weekends are filled with jet setting to new countries.

Next weekend: (drum roll please) COPENHAGEN.

Thanks for reading about my weekend, I really enjoy writing for all you wonderful people.

P.S- I’m now laying in bed finishing this and my ears did decide to cooperate with me today. Yay!

P.P.S- This weekend was THON weekend, and I am so proud of all of the dancers and participants for another successful THON. (A THON that JOE JONAS showed up at to do a surprise show…maybe he’ll come back next year when I’m there). Also, if you donated to THON through me for Pi Phi & SAE, or just in general through another organization, THANK YOU!!! THON is amazing and is doing big things for the little kids who deserve the best lives.

xx