Madrid!!

So, today Krista and I went to Madrid just for a day trip.  It was a lot different than I had expected--and it was awesome!  I really enjoyed it a lot.  It's a big city and very busy, but it is still really beautiful.  The architecture is gorgeous, there are statues and fountains everywhere you look, and we even went to Museo del Prado.  I got to see a lot of paintings by El Greco (one of my faves!),  Rafael, and also a lot of Diego Velazquez.  That was really cool for me, because I learned about him in Spanish classes many times, as well as in art classes.  We would always study Las Meninas, which was at Museo del Prado.  It was so cool to actually see it in person.  It was beautiful. 

 

We did a bit of shopping in Madrid, I got a new purse and some really cute grey boots :), and we also grabbed some lunch while we were there.  I ordered Paella, always a good choice, and it definitely was this time, but it was also very different because of one thing.  There was a dead sea creature on top of my food.  It looked a lot like this, but it was a little smaller:

  Picture Sebastian from the Little Mermaid, just sitting on top of your food, and his dead, lifeless, beady eyes are just staring at you.  It's almost as if he was saying "Eat me, I dare you!" 

Well...I tried, but I actually had NO idea if he was for consumption or just for decoration.  I pushed aside the fact that this creeped me out a little bit and decided to try and eat it as to not look like a foreigner who wasn't open to trying new things. However, I ended up with a dismantled Sebastian on my plate with no meat to be found.  I hope I didn't offend anyone, haha.  I guess I will figure out soon enough why there was a hollow baby lobster on my Paella...but this was just an awkward and very funny moment that I wanted to share with you all :). 

All in all, I really enjoyed Madrid!! It was beautiful and I am already looking forward to going back.  

Here are a few more pictures I snapped of the city: