First Days in Madrid!

The beginning of my adventure starts in Madrid! The NYC of Spain! After a 15 hour plan ride filled with layovers, connections and delays I have finally made it to my first destination. I FINALLY understand the term "Jet Lagged", I am not only exhausted but I am also feeling anxiety! Emily , a fellow UT Rocket and I decided to travel together from the states and explore Madrid prior to our arrival in Alicante, Spain. I honestly do not know what I would have done without her because traveling across the world alone would have been terrifying! We arrived in Madrid and I immediately felt culture shock ! Literally every single thing was in Spanish! Being a Latina, I was pretty confident in my Espanol and my speaking abilities but as a silly American I assumed someone would know English eventually.... WRONG! We head to baggage claim to grab our luggage and to my surprise no one is there to help and no one cares! So yes, Princess Melo was helplessly wandering the airport with more luggage then necessary ( never again). Now the next step was finding our way to the Hostel. Emily and I looked at each other, hoping the other would have a plan and surprisingly enough we had no clue what we were doing. Luckily the airport has a booth set up for taxis where you input the address and it calculates the estimated total and the attendant leads you in the direction of the next available taxi. We head out to the taxis and the two very good looking drivers hopped in their cars racing towards the two pretty American girls with ALOT of luggage. We finally were on our way to the hostel. Driving through the streets of Madrid was INSANE! People literally have no right of way, its literally a mad dash!

We arrived at our temporary home, a cute little hostel in the heart of Madrid called Cat's Hostel. Now, if you know me at all , you know I wasn't nicknamed Princess Melo for no reason. Coming into this experience I truly expected the worst when it came to staying in a hostel, bunk beds,public bathroom, international tourists and smells, is all i imagined. Surprisingly, we arrived at the hostel and were welcomed so graciously by the Spanish attendant. It was beautiful and Moroccan themed! We checked in and headed to room 6. Emily and I settled into our cozy twin sized beds to rest up before exploring the city!