When we arrived in Madrid we could have taken one metro just one stop and gotten off and walked to our hostel. But, somebody misread the directions/subway map (ahem...me) and we ended up taking (I think) 4 trains...for many stops. We were also doing this just before lunch time, when most Spaniards leave their jobs for 3 hours (or so) to go home for lunch and siesta... So it was some hilarious bumper car action with the three of us and all of our bags on our awesome tour of the Madrid subway system. oops.
But we made it there eventually. Settled into the hostel (and since we only had about 18 hours in this city) headed out to see the sights. Saw the Park De Retiro, with an awesome rose garden and a huge man made lake with people out in rowboats. We also took a yoga class with a friend of a friend of Megan's. It was an Anusara class and while I appreciated the attention to correct alignment in the postures, I missed the awareness of a Kundalini Yoga class and I REALLY missed meditation at the end of class. In my mind that is where a lot of the yoga schools in the West fall short. The practice of yoga was originally designed to prepare your mind and body for meditation and many forms of yoga don't include ANY meditation in their classes. I always leave feeling like something was missing...but I am still glad we went. And I think it is good for me to take some other forms of yoga because we focus so little on alignment in KY and I do need the reminders...
Eating, as a vegetarian, is extremely challenging in Spain. Everything has Ham or seafood in it.... but we finally found a Japanese restaurant that had some Vegie choices. We each ordered something and then played musical dishes so we got to try everything. yum! After that we had to go back to the hostel and sleep. Madrid is known for having some amazing nightlife...but we were still feeling like poo...so no nightlife for us. We made up our minds that once we got to Malaga and could seriously relax for a few days we were going to feel better.
The next morning AE and I got up early (Meg decided to keep sleeping) and headed out tosee a few more things before catching our train. We saw Palacia Real, the gardens and the Cathedral. I really like this cathedral because the colors were so bright and everything inside just looked so vibrant and alive...much different than the heavy, ornamental Churchs of Rome. As we were walking back AE noted that this church seemed sort of tacky inside..."almost, Spanish." We had a good laugh at that...
Then it was back to the hostel, grab our stuff and Meg (well, we didn't grab her, I guess), and to the train station for Malaga. In Malaga we took the Subway to the airport and after quite a bit of searching found the car rental place and got our rental car!! We thought we were getting a itty bitty car called a Ford Ka...but we ended up with a really nice (and quite spacious, really) VW Polo. It was WAY nicer than any car I've ever owned. :)
Then we followed the (almost) precise directions to our hotel and checked in. I should mention for those who don't know that we were given an amazing gift from Megan's parents of the use of their timeshare for one week of our trip. So we got to stay at this beautiful resort for free. Wow. The room...was..amazing. Two bedrooms, two bathroom, a fully stocked kitchen, our own laundry, a living room/dining room and a balcony! Seriously the lap of luxury. It was perfect. After about a month of living out of our backpacks and staying in variable conditions hostels...it was SO great to settle into a place for a whole week. :) We also found the grocery store adn loaded up for the week. (how awesome to be able to make our own food!).
The next two days were pretty uneventful: sleeping in, laying on the beach, going to the sauna, going to the pool, watching movies...exactly what we needed. And our colds totally disappeared, YEA!
I'll finish up with what I am sure you've all been waiting for. The Spanish beaches have a reputation for LOTS of naked sunbathers...I mean totally nude, and just on regular beaches not specifically designated ones. I was underwhelmed by the nudity when we got to the beach. There were a few women without their tops on...but not what I had been lead to expect. Then, I went for a walk along the beach. Somehow we had picked the one modest stretch of beach because as soon as I started walking I started seeing nakedness. Lots and Lots of it. Naked walking, Naked swimming, Naked Sand Castle Building, Naked Squatting...oh, yes you heard me. At first I was sort of shocked....but then it wore off and became no big deal. Until I noticed that the naked male sunbathers were periodically shiftingheir penises around to get an even tan. That was too much for this little Midwestern girl and I headed back....
Just so you know...in "real time" (as my Dad calls it) I am back at the Yoga Borgo and loving life. But in terms of the story we still have a lot to catch up on: Sevilla, Gibraltar, Barcelona, Venice and Munich. But we'll get there.
Hope you are all doing well and settling into your Fall routines.
Blessings
KNL
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