Hoy es Domingoooo!

I'm finally getting to kick back (a little, tiny, tiny bit) and enjoy Madrid.  One week from now I think I will be even more relaxed, but for now, I'll gladly take what this Sunday Funday gave me: Peace of mind.  I was initially very skeptical as to whether or not I would be able to make this town my own, but I'm starting to find the nooks and crannies that I fit into perfectly.

Attempting to navigate Rastro's crowds

I started the day off by, most importantly, sleeping in.  Afterwards, I wandered down to El Rasto, one of the largest flea markets around.  I cannot even describe the magnitude of people that were crammed into the streets of the La Latina and Embajadores neighborhoods.  In the future, if I want to get aaaaanything done at El Rastro, sleeping in won't be a luxury that I can enjoy.  Stalls were filled with vintage clothing, tapestries, jewelry, leather bags, and endless amounts of various knick knacks.  Definitely will be somewhere I'll return once I'm happily in my own home.

The day before my adventure to El Rastro, I did some thrift shopping in my new neighborhood, Malasaña. Mercado Fuencarral was one of the funkier places I found.  Vendors rented out different stalls within the three level Mercado, and most were refurbished or original vintage pieces.  Between Mercado Fuencarral, El Rastro, and the magnitude of other Tiendas de Segundo Mano, I might actually come up with a pretty fun wardrobe here.

The entryway to Retiro

Back to the Sunday Funday adventure… Ran into a million and a half people from my teach abroad program while we were still wandering the thrifty streets, and decided we needed to get into the polar opposite of the area we were in.  We ran into a local grocery, bought some fruit, salad, cheese, and wine, and made our way to the Parque del Buen Retiro. Despite forgetting blankets, we laid in the grass for hours.  Our group fluctuated in size as people joined and departed, and we happily enjoyed our quiet afternoon solstice. This park was easily the hardest place to pry myself out of since arriving in Madrid.  It reminded me of the ease of life back home at my parents lake house.  The kind of place where you could sit around for the entire day without a worry (which I currently seem to have too many of).

Ended the day by attempting to get into an Irish sports bar to watch the Patriots with one of my fellow Boston-lovers (that lovely lady in the picture below…), only to discover that they weren't open on Sundays.  The search will continue for the New England sports venue, but I'll save that to be an adventure for another day. For now, more wandering! And more tapa-ing and clara-ing (clara: god's gift to Spanish beer… a splash of lemon soda in the shitty local draft)!

Lauren in all her glory