new week, new decisions

Monday of decisions. The original plan was for me to leave this Wed. Well, the original original plan was to leave before the weekend. But then Cris told me his bday was coming up, why didn't I stick around 'til then. Angela loved the idea and also wants me to stay more, plan more outings... I'm having a blast. I am barely starting to really absorb Madrid and its culture. I crave more. I have great friends here. Good company, great fun, a great setup... Easter is coming up, and traveling is a pain... I like it here, and no matter how much I want to continue and see more people and explore more places, I find myself procrastinating on finding my way to Paris.

So I have decided. And I hope all the people that are waiting for me will understand. I am sticking around Madrid until after Easter. It'll be a total of a whole month here. It's been 2.5 weeks. Sometimes I feel it might be too long to stay here through Easter. But I already have plans for most of the days that are left, and I feel I won't have enough time to do all I still want to do!

This sets my visiting plans back a little, and I know I told many I would be there by now (I was supposed to be in Germany this past weekend!)... but the whole point of me taking off and doing this trip was to live life. Why not enjoy the good stuff while I have it? You never know what tomorrow will bring. Forcing yourself through a schedule is for when you have a job and responsibilities. None of that now :D

So, while I still look forward to see all, bear with me while I relax and enjoy myself here another 2 weeks :D Plus, at least calmed down... and Germany won't be underwater anymore.

Easy start on Monday, but I spent most of the afternoon walking about in search of book and comics stores. I think I now know all of the two used english bookstores, the area of comic bookstores, and where to find new books in english. Very few places, but they exist! And I found a EU-only publication of Battle Chasers! (yeah, Apuy, copies are on their way to ya ;) ) It's odd to see everything in Spanish, all the same titles you see in a regular store in the USA, but inside is all translated. Kinda cool that they're so popular! Although I do wish I could find original titles. This was my first real shopping day. I probably shouldn't have done it, no point carrying books traveling... and no point wasting precious savings... but damn it felt good to mill about the books for a couple of hours, and to have something to read on all the bus and train rides ;)

The night consisted of bday celebrating at a Jazz cafe (yeah, kick me, I didn't think of bringing the camera...). Since it was a Monday night it was hard to get ppl to go, but the show was really good. Live music with a band of Latin Jazz, I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the show!

Today Tue I started a very late day, left Cris at the train station so he could make his way home, and I headed off to the park. No camera today, either (damn thing is heavy to carry around...) but I spotted a couple of cool places to go back to (6pm at the crystal palace looks awesome!) And I saw an art exhibit at the "Casa de Vacas", a gallery in the middle of el Retiro, right north of the big pond where people rent boats. Fermin Ramirez de Arellano, a series of snowy, melancholic landscapes, very nicely done. It was a gorgeous day, I laid in the grass for a while, planning my next sight-seeing tour. Found lotsa cool new things on a new travel guide that my big all-of-europe guide doesn't have space to mention... So I have a marathon planned for tomorrow. Let's see how much of it I manage to get in. I think I have enough for 3 days worth of walking!! Wed is a free day for many of the public museums, so I can't waste the opportunity. Maybe I'll leave the outdoor stuff (like the Tower of Picasso, Spain's tallest building) for Thu.

Yey! I'm all up to date! Time to go do more stuff :D