spanish weekend like whoa

Jess, Maya, Vera, and I made it to the Warhol exhibit at La Casa Encendida on Friday afternoon and saw lots of good stuff...lots of cool collages that he did with photos of Mick Jagger and lots of Warhol in drag:

here we donned our best Warhol faces and took a picture in front of the sign...

After the exhibit Jess and I gave into a craving for churros (quisieramos churros...o no?!) and then I used my spidey sense to guide us home. We ended up at the Chocolateria later that night after tiring ourselves out by dancing at Joy.


After sleeping in on Friday Maya and I ventured out in our neighborhood to pick up some flowers for our Senora who was having a baby surgery on her toes. We both were really wanting some juice so, after wandering the streets for a bit in a desperate search for fresh squeezed orange juice, we convinced ourselves that it would be okay to step into Starbucks. Somewhat surprisingly, the Starbucks across the street actually has exactly what we wanted on their menu: Zumo de Naranja Natural!

(click to englarge, direct your eyes bottom right)

the juice apparently excited me...

Jess, Maya, Jess and I went to this little place around the corner to get some tapas for dinner and they were great. I especially liked the sangria and finished up everyone's glasses as Jess cleaned up everyone's plates...both of which seem to be recurring themes. ("are you going to drink that?" "are you going to eat that?")

On Saturday Maya, Jess, and I checked out the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia. We stuck to the second floor and saw lots of surrealist paintings, some cool surrealist photography, and a whole lot of Picasso. And of course a trip to the Reina Sofia would not have been complete without spending some quality time with the ginormous Guernica:

We met up with some other USC girls for dinner late on Saturday night at the metro stop La Latina. The place was great, the sangria was amazing, and the area surrounding it was very popular. We all walked together to the Sol area where Vera stepped in and used her special spidey sense for hookah to guide us to a hookah bar.

Calla Cava Baja, where we ate
and Sangria :)

the hookah bar

some pretty night pictures

After an interesting cab ride with Maya we decided to hit the hay early so we could go to El Rastro this morning. El Rastro was really neat. It's a big open air flea market that happens every Sunday from about 10 until 2. Maya and I arrived shortly after 10 and the streets were already buzzing. We clutched our "bolsas" tightly (pickpocketing is a big thing here!) and made our way through the growing crowds. The stands sell everything: souvenirs, shoes, underwear, playstation games, extension cords, antiques, etc. Maya and I each got Pashminas for just 2 euros. Although it's not really the kind of place I'll want to go every Sunday I definitely will venture back.

the very crowded streets

pashminas!

Earlier this evening at 7 we all went to a bar around the corner to watch the Real Madrid football game (that's soccer for you non-Europeans :P) and it was quite an experience. Although we were somewhat more concerned with trying to pick out the cutest players than paying attention to who was offsides we were all happy with Real Madrid's 2-0 win. Now that we have our team's colors figured out (blue and white...NOT red and yellow) we're totally on our way to become die hard fans. Unfortunately tomorrow it's back to class. I'm really getting used to these 4 day weekends though.

Speaking of 4 day weekends, Jess and I booked our first trip out of town! We'll be in Barcelona from January 30th until February 3rd, which we try to casually drop into every conversation we have with friends ("well we're going to Barcelona so...").

I also think it's important for everyone to know that mis hermanas y yo have developed deathly chocolate cravings after every meal. And after every snack. And in between meals. We're slowly but surely falling in love with the little cafe around the corner and eventually will probably be buying enough cookies to pay their monthly rent. I currently like the "corazones con chocolate."

Things to look forward to this week: a new washer and refrigerator are being delivered tomorrow (!), Jess and I will have some sort of adventure on Tuesday, and our group is taking a day trip to Toledo on Friday. Also someone is finally peacing back to the states...


Miss you Naisycats.