The one with the Madrid exploration...

This morning we got up (Sam and Kirsty were early - YAY) and met for breakfast at the sofas. We then went to the buffet, and had once again a massive choice of foods for breakfast, plus the much needed cups of tea/coffee, fruit juice and water!

Kirsty spoke to the man at the Reception desk about how to get into the centre of Madrid, and returned with clear instructions about how to make it to the Metro station, and a map of the Metro, backed by a map of the city - well done Kirsty!

So we set off out, clad in our navy Guiding uniform and international neckers and headed for the Metro station.

Well done Rach and Linz who successfully bought 6 return tickets (€2 each - bargain we thought!) We met two friendly spanish people on our journey, who gave us hints and tips on how to keep our belongings safe in the City. Muchos Gracias!

We boarded the Metro and travelled towards the city. We give a thumbs up! to the Madrid Metro, the trains are airy and clean and this made for a pleasant journey. We arrived near the centre and followed the map across the city to the Palace. On our way to the Palace we were asked "(in a Spanish accent) excuse me! What part of the States are you from?" We told them that we were Girl Guides from the UK, to which they responded to have a nice day.

We wandered on towards the centre, seeing many lovely buildings along the way (the closer we got to the centre - the bigger they got!)

A plaster stop - as prevention is better than the cure! - and we sat in the middle of a lovely Plaza enjoying the sights and the people.

We continued our journey to the Palace, this time meeting an Australian couple who were really interested in who we were, where we are from, where we are going and why, so we managed to have our first conversation about GGUK, GOLD and our marathon to get to Chile!!

We arrived at the Palace - which we decided had many similarities to Buckingham Palace. The next job was to find our way to the Metro station to get back to the hotel. A pit-stop at a shop on the way back and we found the Metro. One train change and we were back in Barajas. Back to the Hotel for lunch!

Lunch... Hake head bilbao style or mixed meat skewer... a very interesting meal!

The afternoon was spent learning Spanish in the Hotel Gardens, we swam lengths of the pool, held our own Olympic diving competition, and then sat to dry off.

We got ready for tea, sat around having a chatter about everything and nothing (including that you can post vegetables with only address labels and stamps with the Royal Mail). And slowly made it to tea.

Tea looked lovely, and everyone enjoyed their tea, Sam sloped off to bed as she was first to flake out, followed gradually by everyone else, too much sun for one day maybe? Me gusta el Sol!

¡¡Hasta luego!! El equipo de Chile x