When we got to Madrid, I found a youth hostel to stay in with Shawn and this other guy we met, a 26 year old from Texas named Fred. Very tired, we all slept the afternoon away (extended siesta). We woke up for dinner and a walk around Madrid. The city of Madrid reminded me very much of Manhattan. Lots of buildings, traffic, tons-o-people, and sex shops by the dozen. The main differences that I noticed were that I felt safer, the streets didn’t quiet down at all at night, and no one spoke English (well, I guess that’s the same). Spain has the most incredible night life I’ve ever seen. Many of the bars and clubs (discotecas) don’t even open until 1am and it’s not unusual to be out partying until 5 or 6 in the morning. I got to know the city pretty quickly thanks to all the walking I did and my obsession with maps. We spent most of Wednesday at el Museo Nacional del Prado where I saw entirely too many pictures of Jesus and some other really fantastic paintings (my favorites were Goya’s black paintings like the one where the god Saturn is taking a huge bite out of the chest of his son) and had some wonderful Spanish food at various little restaurants.