España pt. 3 and then back to life in London.

Sorry these have been so long in coming but I have been doing so much lately and trying to fit in homework, sleep and blogging is hard when your days are already full! So on the morning of the third day the first thing we did after having breakfast was check out of our second hostel an into our third one, which was just down the street and still in the same neighborhood.  This third hostel was the nicest one we had stayed in yet, it was like a nice Hotel not some cheap hostel, but it was cheap!  We each had our own beds, not even bunk beds, and we were the only ones in the room and we had a super nice bathroom, and a big flat screen TV and it was just wonderful!  So after we checked into that hostel and left our stuff there we went on a free walking tour of the city with this guy named Pedro.  He could speak English pretty well and he spoke it the whole time so I actually got something out of the tour, which made me happy.  One of the first places we went on the walking tour was the Plaza del Sol and there was this huge political rally/protest going on.  Our tour guide explained a little bit of what was going on, and basically the people protesting didn't even know what they wanted they just wanted change.  The unemployment rate was the highest its ever been and they don't feel like their two party voting system serves them very well, so they were trying to convince everyone not to vote in protest of the current system.  This was on Friday and elections were to be held on Sunday so it was kind of intense.  There were thousands of people in that square and they all had signs and were giving speeches and there were tents set up and it was kind of crazy.  After we were done at the plaza del sol we walked by the Royal theater, which actually didn't look very royal on the outside, and Pedro said the reason for that was at the time it was built no building could compete with the royal palace, they all had to look worse than the palace.  Also in front of the royal theater was a stature of Queen Isabella and he told us a funny story about herr. So it seems that Isabella was a very powerful queen but she wasn't married and so every eligible man in Europe with any royal blood  at all wanted to marry her so he could become the King of Spain.  She had lots of suitors but she didn't want to marry any of them because she was in love with her cousin.  So of course when she told her cousin that she loved him and  wanted to marry him he said yes, because he would have to be stupid to turn down being the King of Spain.  Here is the problem though, her cousin was gay.  So on their wedding night.... yeah she found out... and she threw him out of the palace... and out of Madrid! There was no divorce at that point in history so they stayed married, but the King always had to ask the Queen's permission to be able to enter the city.  The even funnier thing is that Queen Isabella had 12 children, and the entire time she never lived with the King. Ha! So I just thought that was an interesting tid bit from history.  After the Theater we went to the Royal Palace and we got a bunch of history on why it was built where it was and the events leading up to its being built, but I won't tell all of that.  So it was a big group of us from several different hostels all going on this free walking tour and we met these super cool guys from New York that were travelling around the world and we had a lot of fun talking to them while all this was going on.  Next we went to this vantage point where you could look out over the valley and seen the mountains in the far distance, and he told us all about the old Islamic rule before the kings took over and for centuries the mountains served as the boundary between the Christians and the Muslims.  Then he took us to the oldest part of town, and we got to learn some interesting things about the buildings there.  When Madrid became the capital the city was only about five blocks by five blocks, really small.  And supposedly the Madridians were kind of losers back then, behind the times etc.  So Pedro told us all about how Madridians have had an inferiority complex forever, and they are always trying to be "European" but they never think they are and all this stuff.  Then he took us down the Grande Via and told us all about that, and by this time we were pooped, and starving so as soon as the tour was over we headed over to this place where we heard the food was cheap and good. It was a beautiful little spot and I ordered Paella and Gazpacho and we ate it outside and took our time and relaxed.  It was delicious, and it is a good think I am adventurous because there were some sea creatures in that Paella that I had no idea what they were.  After that we just walked around and explored, we went to a few more shops and talked to some random people it was really fun.. That night we went back to the Gelato place because we just couldn't stop thinking about it it was that good, and then we wandered around listening to all the live music being played in the streets and then we went back to our nice hostel ad went to sleep.  The next day we all took showers and that was WONDERFUL, when you are travelling so light, a shower is the best thing that can happen to you. After we were dressed we found this little bakery call the Peter Panederia and it had so many unique pastries.  I ended up getting a triangulo which is kind of like a stuffed croissant and I had an apple custard tart, both were delicious. After that we had to go back to this one shop so that Ari could return something and we ran into the guys from New York that we talked to on the walking tour... they were very good looking by the way, and we talked to them for a minute.  then we went back to our hostel, packed up our things, and checked out.  Then we went to the park to relax until we had to catch a bus back to the airport, it was a beautiful sunny day, very warm, and we all took naps on the grass.  The trees in the park were so interesting because there was a mix of conifers and palm trees.  There would be a pine tree growing and then there would be palm trees right by it and it would be surrounded by deciduous trees of all kinds and it was just odd to see that mix of trees growing together.  Well the time came and we caught our bus to the airport and got on our flight without any trouble.  When I stepped off the plane into England again my first thoughts were, "Yay, I'm back!" and "Brr!" haha.  I love London and it feels like my reality now.  To get back to my flat and sleep in "my" bed again was nice, and to be able to shower whenever I want is a definite plus.  And everyday this week I have gone to a show and that is just to my liking! On Monday night I went to the ballet Manon done by the Royal Ballet Company and performed in the Royal Opera House.  It was so beautiful! For anyone who knows anything about Ballet This was the cream of the crop, the talent was incredible and the choreography was innovative while still staying true to the classical motif.  On Tuesday we went to Much Ado About Nothing in the Globe Theater, and it was definitely the BEST SHAKESPEARE play I have ever seen.  I know I am being effusively positive right now, but believe me... it deserved it.  The Beatrice and Benedick pulled you in immediately and I haven't laughed so hard in a long time.  They were perfectly witty while retaining the sexual tension, and keeping the audience in the loop.  Extremely well done production.  On Wednesday we went to a show at The National Theater called One Man Two Governors, it was based on an old commedia del arte play titled Servant of Two Masters that was originally in Italian.  It was one of the most effective comedies I have ever seen! It was meant to make you roll around in your seat laughing and it did!! IT DID!! One girl literally fell out of her seat! I can't explain the whole plot that would be useless but look it up online sometime. So funny.  So finally we get to yesterday, Thursday, we went to Kew Gardens yesterday! Kew Gardens are the Royal Botanical Gardens here and they have plants from all over the world!  We arrived at 10 o'clock in the morning and didn't leave until about 4 in the afternoon there was so much to see and do!  They had huge Victorian glasshouses with plants from Africa and South America and Asia.  There was a waterlily house with all different varieties of water plants.  There was a Japanese serenity garden that was very specifically crafted, and there were ponds and little groves of trees and a road called Rhododendron Dell.  Kew Gardens is huge, there are about 300 square miles. So that was lovely and i enjoyed it probably more than I should have, I just love gardens ok? And even though the whole time we were there there was on and off torrential rain I brought an umbrella and it added to the experience.  One part that was a little scary though was when were were walking around the tree-top walkway and the wind was blowing hard the the walkway (about 50 ft off the ground) started swaying, my friend Amber started freaking out.  That night we went to go see the experimental play Silence at the Hampstead theater, and it was filled with sound. It was basically a sound designer's dream come true! It is about a woman who has constant ringing in her ears, and her love affair with this Russian guy who has to go into the military and so she gets married in England... and yeah I'm not going to give it away but it was lots better than I thought it was going to be... I have developed an aversion to any plays with Russian things in them, we have already seen three of them and they have been very depressing, but this one wasn't so.... I liked it a lot better. haha. Well, now we are all caught up and I will do a lot better about keeping on track! Thank for reading!