First day in Spain part 2

In the first part of day one we had just exchanged the dollars we had on hand for euros.  We then went outside to find a taxi cab to take us to our hostel.  We were lucky to find a taxi driver who spoke some English and also gave us a nice tour of some of the sites to see in central Madrid.   Now, we had heard stories of taxi drivers over charging foreigners so..... we paid the man €50 (I had to look up how to do a euro sign, on macs it is option+shift+2) to drive 16.9km (10 miles).  However, he did tell us that because we had so many bags we would have to be charged extra, which seems reasonable to me.......

We were probably over charged.... but whatever.  After a confusing conversation in spanglish with our taxi driver we finally arrived a block away from our hostel.  Now, because we had so many bags we decided that Jenine will go look for the hostel and I will stay with the suit cases.  As Jenine was walking around looking for the hostel she came across a woman who spoke English and said she would take her to a hostel.  After 5 minutes of walking Jenine realized that she wasn't being taken to the hostel we had already booked but, instead, taken to a new hostel that this woman owns.  After showing her around Jenine politely declined and returned and found our hostel.  FINALLY, we arrived at our hostel, but we were early (it was 10am) and the hostel wouldn't be ready until 12pm.  So we went on an adventure (for food).  We walked down to Sol, and here are some pictures

Here is a picture close to the center of sol.  This fine morning we really didn't take a lot of pictures because of how tired we were.  We found this nice chocolate & churro (which apparently they have for breakfast in Spain).

An interesting choice for breakfast but, obviously, it was delicious.  After a long conversation and a short walk over to a nearby park

After our tour of the park we went back to the hostel and checked in all our stuff, took a quick nap, showered and went out to see a movie and look around central Madrid.

 Madrid really is a beautiful city, we decided to try some tapas at this local restaurant nearby. 

 The food was good and the wine was good (and cheap).  After the tapas we went to see a Spanish movie.  I could barely understand what was going on but it was an interesting experience. 

 I took a picture of this because it really creeped me out.  It is a bunch of old dolls...... D:

Finally we concluded our night with some deserts at café & té.  Now, as you can see in the lower left of the picture I ordered a glass of milk, the waiter looked at me weird when I requested milk, and then I received a steamed glass of milk.  I will later come to the realization that ordering a glass of milk with a dessert is uncommon in Spain.

-Tommy