May 25th

Today was a relatively low key day. After getting up and eating breakfast a group of us headed over to the famous flea market. That place was so bustling with people that I felt like a cow being herded for slaughter.

Jeff, Brent, and myself got tired of feeling like cattle and it started to rain, so we took the metro to the Hard Rock Cafe to pick up some souvenirs and eat lunch. When we were done with lunch we headed back to the hotel to meet a larger group of folks then head to the bull fight. Unfortunately when we got there the arena was already sold out...a couple of us headed back to the hotel (myself included) and a few decided to try to find a bar near the arena to eat, drink, and watch the fights.

When we got back to the hotel Jamie and I decided to go for our daily run to the park. I found out the reason that she has been running circles around me is because she ran cross country in high school. When we finished our run we took a walk around the park to take some pictures before heading back to the hotel.

A group of people, my roommate included (surprise), decided to go out, but I decided to crash for the night since we have class tomorrow.

May 24th

Today was a pretty lackluster day seeing as I didn't get out of bed until 2:30 PM. Once I got up, showered, and got ready I went downstairs to check my email and ran into Mariya. We discovered that we were the only ones in the hotel besides the staff, so we ran out and grabbed a quick bite to eat.

By the time we got back a few people had stumbled in from their excursions, we gathered a small group and headed over to the Real Madrid soccer stadium. We walked around the stadium and took some pictures then found the team shop. I wanted to buy Aidan a Real Madrid soccer jersey, but they were around €65 (which is about $100). Luckily I was able to find him a really cute team shirt (and made sure to get it several sizes too big so he can grow into it instead of out of it).

Upon returning from our little excursion I took a short nap, then walked to the plaza with Jeff and Sherry to get some Ben and Jerry's. When I got back I called home to talk to Autumn and Aidan, and now I'm off to bed.

May 23rd

I was awakened at 6:15 AM this morning as my roommate stumbled in from yet another late night. After my morning run, Sherry, Michelle, and I went to the Royal Palace. Once again it's ashame that pictures are not allowed inside because words cannot describe how amazing the architecture and interior design is. Just about every room is lined with gold, as well as has amazing sculptures and paintings.

When we finished we headed back to the hotel to meet a group to shop and eat dinner with. After dinner we again met back at the hotel to meet up with more people for drinks and dancing. I'm trying to sharpen my dancing skills so Autumn and I can go dancing on our cruise! :)

May 22nd

Not much to talk about today...everyone slept in until after lunch time because everyone was out clubbing last night. I didn't wake up until 11:45 AM, ate breakfast, went running, crashed for an hour, got ready for class, grabbed a bite to eat, and headed off to class with my classmates. We talked about marketing in Spain with a lady whose accent was so rough that at times no one knew what she was talking about.

Upon returning to the hotel from class, Jeff (one of the gentleman from the Exexutive MBA program that I may end up coaching soccer with) and I walked over to the plaza to get some Ben and Jerry's ice cream. It was really cool, his daughter turned 15 today and he asked me to take a picture of him holding up a "Happy Birthday" sign written in Spanish so he can email it to her tonight. When we were done eating our ice cream we walked over to the palace to take some pictures, then headed back to the hotel to crash for the night.

May 21st

We spent this morning visiting the manufacturing facilities of Gestamp, an auto part manufacturer. It was an interesting trip as they really picked our brains for improvement ideas.

When we were done with our meeting we went to Toledo. I had fallen asleep on the bus drive to Toledo only to wake up to the most breathe-taking view I've seen on the trip so far (just wait until you see the pictures). The first thing we did when we arrived was to find a place to eat. I'm starting to get used to having wine at every meal!

After lunch we went to the Cathedral of Toledo. No pictures are allowed to be taken inside of the cathedral...so you need to look it up on the Internet. Words cannot describe how amazing and beautiful it was...if I had to describe it in one word it would be Massive (it's the third largest cathedral in the world).

After an hour of rest a large group of us met up in the lobby of our hotel to go to a nearby Irish pub to watch the European Soccer Championship game. It was an awesome game that ended with a shootout! When the game was over 16 of us met up at the best dance club in Madrid...and danced the night away (I didn't actually dance, I sat back and enjoyed the company of good people/new friends).

May 20th

Instead of having class today, we had a tour of a Spanish auto
manufacturing facility. It was awesome, they walked us through the entire assembly line process, and we were actually on the factory floor!

After we were done with our tour we went back to our hotel to grab a bite to eat and get some rest before heading to the Prado Museum. I so wish that we were allowed to take pictures!!! It was funny, I was in such awe and amazement (and quiet) that one of my class mates joked with me, "You must really like this because I've never heard you this
quiet." The museum had some of my favorite Renasaince artwork from Italy...including paintings from Raphael and other gray Spanish artists.

When we got back...did I mention that I've been walking everywhere? It's been great exercise! I even got up early this morning and ran two miles with one of my class mates. It is harder to breathe here though because we are 600 feet above sea level. Interestingly enough, Spain has the second highest elevation of any European country (behind Switzerland of course).

I inter mingled with some of the Executive MBAs and one of our professors and went to dinner. I was amazed to get back to my room at 10 and find my room mate sound asleep.

May 19th

Day one of class today and it seems like we've been here forever already! We had a gentleman from Scotland who has a degree in Spanish history give us a presentation about the history of Spain. It was interesting to hear a combination of a Scotish and Spanish accent. Interestingly enough we found out that the symbol for the dollar ($) comes from the Spanish crest which depicts the pillars of Gibraltar wrapped in ribbon.

We were done with class by 1:30 PM and had the rest of the day to see the sites. Sherry, Megan, Joya, Mariya, Jaime, Jeremy, and myself found a nice place to eat right across the street from our hotel. When we were done with lunch we spent several hours walking around the streets of Madrid. We walked by the palace and several very old and beautiful churches before I finally came back to the hotel to crash.