I set my alarm this morning to wake up at 11:30, just in time to make it to El Rastro. To quote from my Lonely Planet guidebook, "to call El Rastro the largest flea market in Europe is to tell only half its story." The name El Rastro, or "the stain," comes from the fact that it used to be Madrid's main meat market, and a trail of blood would be left behind. Luckily, there are no animals for sale; only millions of purses, dresses, jewelry, paintings, and chochkees galore. As my friend Kevin Credo called it, El Rastro is a "clusterfuck in the streets." It's a little cooler today than the past few days (about 78 degrees today) which made inching down Ribera de los Curtidores slightly more bearable. My friend Alyssa and I live close to each other, so we met up and discovered we're only a ten minute walk from El Rastro! We couldn't believe how many people come to this market, and apparently do so every Sunday. She and I each found a 3 euro scarf and a 3 euro AWESOME ring! Pictures to come.
After exploring the market, we found some IES people and wandered a block or two away to find an awesome bar. It was filled with madrileños watching some soccer game, and Alyssa ordered a cerveza muy grande. I had a delish tostada con queso de goat. Their burgers were only 1,90! Excellent find. After, I went home because I knew Rosario would have lunch for me. What did I find? Spaghetti with calamari, and two large sardines staring at me. I went for the spaghetti first (eating around the calamari) and decided I would be virtuous and try the sardines. They weren't bad. Tasted sort of like tuna. My dad would be so proud.
Addition to this post @ 12:43 AM: Rosario and I just had a long convo because she needed help with her English. She is taking an English class, I think, and had to transliterate and realllly has some trouble. After I helped her for awhile she asked what Spanish class I'm in at IES and I said we weren't placed yet, and she told me I should be in a bilingual class! Made my night :)
After exploring the market, we found some IES people and wandered a block or two away to find an awesome bar. It was filled with madrileños watching some soccer game, and Alyssa ordered a cerveza muy grande. I had a delish tostada con queso de goat. Their burgers were only 1,90! Excellent find. After, I went home because I knew Rosario would have lunch for me. What did I find? Spaghetti with calamari, and two large sardines staring at me. I went for the spaghetti first (eating around the calamari) and decided I would be virtuous and try the sardines. They weren't bad. Tasted sort of like tuna. My dad would be so proud.
Addition to this post @ 12:43 AM: Rosario and I just had a long convo because she needed help with her English. She is taking an English class, I think, and had to transliterate and realllly has some trouble. After I helped her for awhile she asked what Spanish class I'm in at IES and I said we weren't placed yet, and she told me I should be in a bilingual class! Made my night :)
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