When Emily and Mara came to Madrid it gave me the perfect opportunity to be a tourist in Madrid. I got to do many things I had wanted to do, but just never got around to! Tuesday night we went to a Flamenco show in a bar called Quimera. It was a small bar and it made the show feel very intimate. According to the performers (and I'm choosing to believe them), they prefer to do a more authentic Flamenco performance so they only have a guitarist, a singer, and the two dancers; no microphones, no unnecessary instruments, etc. Both the male and female dancers were very good, or appeared to be with my little knowledge of Flamenco. The female dancer had an old friend visiting, who happened to be sitting next to us, and it was fun to see him really get into the music, and she seemed to be giving her best effort for him! It was a fabulous show accompanied by delicious sangria! So now I can finally say I saw a Flamenco show! 
Wednesday night, we went to a football match! It was the quarter finals of the Champions League Cup, so it was a pretty important game. My favourite football team, FC Barcelona, was playing Atletico Madrid. The stadium was pretty close to my house, which I didn’t know previously! When we got to the stadium we were on the hunt for some Barcelona jerseys. Unfortunately, they were all 40€. So we all opted for some 10€ scarves instead. It had the match and date on it, which enabled us to appear like we could be for either team. This was good because we happened to be seated in a very passionate Atletico section even though secretly I was cheering for Barcelona! The game got off to an exciting start when Atletico scored a goal within the first five minutes! Unfortunately, at half time Mara and I went to get some refreshing beers only to find out that the stadium doesn’t sell alcohol. This would explain why everyone was chugging beers as we walked to the stadium! I wasn’t really surprised the stadium didn’t sell alcohol, I think the U.S. might be one of the few countries that does! We got some non-alcoholic beers mixed with lemonade and returned to our seats. Spanish people actually really seem to like their non-alcoholic beer, it often on tap and I hear people order it frequently. I don’t really understand it, but then again, beer isn’t my favourite beverage. The game was amazing. I got to see some of my favourite players and experience a real Spanish football game! Alas, Barcelona never scored a goal and therefore lost. But the whole experience was a dream come true! After the game, we headed to the plaza near my house and got some beers and food. It’s one of the cheapest places I frequent and it has outdoor seating right on the plaza, so it was a nice way to end the evening! 
Thursday evening we went to the Reina Sofia, the modern art museum in Madrid. I had been meaning to go here since I arrived, especially considering it's only a few blocks from my house, but I hadn’t made it yet. It had some pretty interesting artwork, including works by Dali and Picasso. Of course we made sure to see the famous Guernica, which I will say was quite impressive. I also saw a painting by Santiago Rusiñol, the namesake of the street my school is on! It was nice and I therefore now know that he’s a famous artist! After the Reina Sofia, we made dinner: a delicious quinoa salad and some pineapple. Then we had a few drinks as we got ready to go to Kapital, one of Madrid’s most famous nightclubs. We got there before 1:30, which is very early for Spanish people, so we decided to explore all seven floors (yes seven! each one having a different vibe and different music, aka Kapital is like 7 clubs in one building). Long story short, we danced the night away until 5am when we decided we should get some burritos and head home. Great thing about Kapital is that it’s only a few blocks from my house as well (it’s right across from the Reina Sofia)!
The next day it was off to Krakow to start my Spring Break! I had an amazing week and am so glad that Emily and Mara were able to visit. Not only had I not see them in quite some time, but it also gave me the opportunity to experience some awesome events with great friends!
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