Woah, cool place ya got here!

I staggered out of the Barajas airport at 10 AM local time (4 AM central, ewwww) groggy, tired of walking (it's skimpy on escalators: lots of stairs), and rubbing my cranky eyes. But of course I perked right up when we drove thru the city and arrived at the hotel I'll be staying at for a few days. Madrid is cool!

So today I've been chilling with my new friends from CEA and doing my first explorations of the city! The buildings are gorgeous and studded with balconies (my room, too) and looks like there's lots of interesting stuff to explore.

1st Stereotype: all Madrileños smoke. And probably drink. It's kinda smelly. Also, they take forever to eat lunch.

But, hey, everybody! I speak Spanish! It actually works! Oh-so-many awkward conversations already. And the promise of many more to come...Well, I'm off to take some pictures and leave no one in doubt of my touristy-ness. (Here's a view from the street looking up at my hotel room)

















And here's the view from my hotel room balcony. A cool church with lotsa gilded Catholic stuff in it (yes, I already wandered in).