Madrid

The night train was definitely not as bad as the one we had to Munich. The beds were much more comfortable, and despite sharing it with two other ladies, I got to have a few hours of sleep.

I woke up with the pretty Danish girl just staring eyes wide at me from her top bunk onto my top bunk and I was like "HOLY JESUS, GOOD MORNING…?!?@!?!#!"

We chatted for a bit, after a while I filed her back into the normal category in my brain.

I love these door knocking things!

The smaller group of thieves I saw… yep looks more like tourists than gypsies if you don't do a double take

We caught the metro to our hotel but we had arrived in the morning and check in wasn't till later so we dropped off our luggage and did our tourist run. 

Cathedral under repair

We walked towards Plaza Mayor and on the way mum was nearly a victim of thieves. She felt them too close to her as she walked so she swung around and they ran then she goes to me… "See those two tourists? They were walking so close -"

"MUM YOUR BAG IS OPEN!!!" 

So we realised that they weren't tourists but were actually attempting a robbery. Its amazing because we had so many safety precautions on the bag and mum couldn't feel a thing. It was only because they were walking a bit too close to her.

Most colourful Catholic church I've laid eyes on!

Anyway when we went to visit other tourist spots like Plaza de la Villa, Cathedral de la Almudena, Royal Palace, Plaza de Oriente etc. We saw them there again and again.. sometimes in groups of 30 thieves or back to their original pair. Ohh boy, there were so many but we knew our two that had tried to attempt to rob us.

He was actually sleeping, he was nodding off it was so funny! Imagine making a few bucks while sleeping!

SO.. MUM AND I decided to be Spanish Vigilantes and follow them, I mean they were walking in the direction we needed to go for the tourist spots. They moved so quickly, you can't quite comprehend how swift they are until you see it. They hold maps like tourists, and walk behind people like they're all friends, and then unzip their bags so quick. So off I went, I sprinted to people screaming "HEY WATCH YOUR BAG!" "HEY YOU'RE GETTING ROBBED!!!!" 

And the two thieves would give me shit face and run away. They totally hated my mum and I but revenge is totally sweet. I just am so shocked at how smooth and swift they are.. you don't realise it until it happens. And no one takes the advice, "Watch your bags" seriously enough because we think, "yeah yeah we'll feel it happen."

The ones in Madrid are the most vicious and swift I've seen, and they blend in more with the crowd - while in Italy you can really tell.

Amazing guitarist actually.. they get so creative~

We saw him 3 times in different spots today!

Anyway, a few hours of walking around, shopping around, seeing the gourmet Mercado food market, we went back to the hotel to check in. We put our feet up and rested for a short bit then headed back out again. Mum enjoyed the hydro massage shower that we have in our hotel room, I'm yet to try it. Never heard of such a thing either. 

Ronald McDonald travel photos collection set

We took the metro to Retiro, to go to Parque del Buen Retiro where the Monumento a Alfonso XII sits. I don't know who the bloke is but the view is amazing! The monument is huge in the middle, then in front sits a beautiful big man made square lake and then there's lots of dinghies rowing about available for hire. It just looked really romantic. I told mum I would row her around but she didn't want to get black in the sun so we moved onto go see the Cybeles Fountain - which wasn't that great as they had put barricades all around it.

Not so romantic when its four half naked dudes...

Afterwards we walked around Serrano which is known for shopping and was slightly disappointed so we went back to the hotel. Oh yeah, some people thought I was Spanish because I said hola - maybe they just assumed I was Filipino or something as there's quite a few around here!

"WEI??!??"

Bored waiting for mum in change rooms!

I googled online for good local food and so we went to a standing Tapas bar that's known for its own specialty brava sauce. Yeah no joke, every dish was swimming in it and we didn't care, IT WAS DELICIOUS!!! 

It was the first time my mum really stood and ate but it was good fun. We were surrounded by locals that were just staring at us because we were totally out of place. No tourist in sight!! Hahaaha! Only half an hour later, the Puerta del Sol square that is close to our hotel was FILLED with policemen and protesting people! I think it was about the banks, I'm really not sure but holy crappola it was super loud and lots of fun to watch! I saw TV crews and hot cops lined up with shields and batons. Don't worry, I didn't see them use it ;)

Then mum and I went into a music store and mum went on a search to find her beloved old Spanish singer and I bought an Elvis Presley collection. Mum also got a Lionel Ritchie collection haha! Aren't we funny!

As soon as we walked out of the music store, the protest had finished and the square was quiet again, so strange!

First time I saw someone play wine glasses in real life and he was really good!