Quick Update

Here's a quick addendum to yesterday's post.  I realized later that I should have included some photos of my hostel, and the area around it.  Nothing has really happened today.  I have the beginnings of a cold, so I'm trying to fight it off.  I successfully got Claritin D at the farmacia without using English, and I unsuccessfully tried to get my monthly metro pass when I found out that you need a photo of yourself for the pass.  Also, the only place I found to get a photo of myself is closed today.  O well.  Other than that I've been lazy, trying to relearn some Spanish phrases I wish I remembered from high school when I've been talking to people, and I took the pictures of the surrounding area.

These pictures are of my room.  There are seven beds, and all of them were filled last night.  My bed is the one with the two huge black backpacks blocking my way into it.  Fortunately, I'm next to the window because if it weren't for the occasional cool breeze, I would have died from heat last night.

Above you can see the common room.  It's about twice as big as what's in the photo, but I didn't bother taking another shot because the other wall has the exact same couch, and there's nothing else to see.  It's an incredibly comfortable place to use my laptop and charge various electronics.  There's also a TV with a DVD player and there are a bunch of DVDs with Spanish dubbing or subtitles for anyone to watch for free.

This next set is of the kitchen.  It's fully functional with a fridge and all the pots, pans, plates, and silverware you would want.  I'm thinking of making myself dinner tonight.  It would be fun.  This is also another place I use my laptop and charge things.

These doors are for the hostel and the building containing the hostel, respectively.  To an American, the outside door might seem trashy, but this is actually a relatively small amount of graffiti for Madrid.  All the walls and doors in the city are covered in it.  It would be more shocking to see a door that was entirely graffiti-free, unless it was brand new that day.

This tiny elevator in the hostel's building can barely fit two people in it, but it was a life savior when I arrived with all my luggage.  I haven't used it since because the hostel is only on the third floor (or what is the second floor in Spain; ground floor is 0, and anything below ground is -1,-2, etc).  However, the apartment that I posted pictures of yesterday also has one of these elevators, which is another plus because that apartment is on the fourth floor (third floor), and it would suck to carry food, or furnishings, up those stairs.

This is Chueca Plaza. Chueca is the burrow that my hostel is in.  That first picture is the "street" I didn't think was a street, that made me misread my map and get lost on the way to the hostel.  It's a beautiful plaza with a bunch of stores and restaurants.

I swear I didn't know when I booked the hostel, but Chueca is the gay district of Madrid.  This is a bar/cafe in Chueca Plaza that looked a lot nicer when it was open last night.  This was taken during siesta on Saturday, so there's people sleeping where there used to be tables and chairs. There are rainbows, everywhere around here ...

... even the tapas bars are gay.  There's more rainbows in this small district than in Provincetown or San Francisco's Castro District.  Seriously, I've been to both.

There are some beautiful and amazing places here in Madrid.  I'm sure Sanel and I are going to love it here.