Day 16: Almost Pickpocketed!

11:20 pm: Last night was an amazing night! The flamenco show was incredible. The band and the dancers were really talented. It was definitely worth the money. We were there for a couple hours enjoying the show and having some delicious sangrias and then while Britt's parents left for their hotel, Britt, Nat and I decided to go out and check out some bars. We wanted to stay near Nat's hotel which unfortunately wasn't in a very lively exciting nightlife area. We went to a jazz bar that my guidebook recommended. The Capiniheras (spelling?) were delicious and the bar itself was amusing but it wasn't that exciting. After that we walked down the street and were hounded by people trying to get us into their bars since I think we were the only ones out walking around. We walked by a lively bar blasted 90 music and knew we had found our bar lol. The place was full of drunk old people dancing ridiculously and we quickly found out that it was a work party. We decided that this could turn into some hilarity so we ordered some Mojitos (which were insanely strong) and waited. Before we knew it we were dragged onto the dancefloor with these people as they took Britt's camera and were taking pics with us. We should them all of our ridiculous dance moves (Nat even invented a new move that night - The Darkwing Duck). I have a feeling they were just as entertained by us as we were of them. We eventually had had enough and left. We walked by Cher's Karaoke bar and went inside after the guy outside practically begged us to go in. It was the sketchiest bar ever! The girls used the bathroom and then we just left. The best part about the place was the statue of Brian that we found in the hallway. In reality I think it was a statue of a pilot but he looked insanely similar to Brian. Around 3 am we wakled Nat back to her hotel and then Britt and I went back to our hostel. We noticed that one thing lacking in Madrid is places to eat in the middle of the night. Nothing is open! I could definitely have gone for some Stobies.

This morning we woke up super early and checked out of our hostel. I'm leaving tonight and Britt is going to stay in her parents hotel for the night and then meet me in Lisbon in the morning. We carried our bags to the Mumford's hotel to keep them there during the day. We went to get some delicious treats for breakfast and then we went to the Prado museum. We had a guided tour of the museum for an hour and then did our own exploring for a couple hours after. I saw some amazing artwork, especially a lot of the Spanish art by Goya and Velasquez. My personal favourite pieces were the Garden of Earthly Delights, Saturn Eating his Children, and a German paintin on the 3 ages of Man (I'll have to google the artist and name of that one). After the museum we went to this authentic paella restaurant my guidebook recommended. It was absolutely amazing! We've been talking about paella (or as I like to say Pie-Yay-Ya)since we've been in Spain and it was well worth the wait. It was so delicious and I even tried eating mussels for the first time (and loved them!). After lunch, the Mumfords decided to check out the Royal Palace and I decided just to walk around and look for souvenirs. Unfortunately I didn't end up getting very much at all. Most souvenirs are so crappy and useless. All the nice things are either too big or too fragile to take home in my backpack. After the tour of the Royal Palace, I met back up with the Mumfords. Britt's parents went back to the hotel and the three of us went to the Renia Sofia museum of modern art. It was free since it was after 7 pm which was an unexpected bonus. I'm not a huge fan of modern art (I can stick a pop can on a stick and call it art too) but we really only went to see Picasso's collection which included his masterpiece, the Guernica. It was really an amazing piece of art. After that we went to the hotel and I packed up my things and said goodbye to Britt's parents and Natalie. Next time I see them we'll be back in London, Ontario, going about our normal lives. It was really awesome to spend a week halfway across the world with them and Britt's parents are just so nice and accomodating. i felt like their unofficial son on family vacation with them. I'm taking the night train to Portugal and Britt will be meeting me there tomorrow when her flight leaves in the morning.

Soooo I almost got pickpocketed on the metro!!! This couple got on and stood really close to me on either side of me. It was packed on the metro so I didn't think anything of it. They kept pressing up against me and talking to eachother to distract me. the woman had a shirt draped over her arm so i couldnt see her hands. When we were approaching the next stop, the woman got way to close to me than I was comfortable with. I automatically knew something was up. I moved my side back in front of me and made eye contact with her. She told her friend to get off and they ran off the metro once the doors opened. I looked down and notcied 2 zippers on my bag were halfway unzipped. Luckily I nad read in my guidebook always to put a piece of clothing over all my stuff in my bag so they would have to dig deep to get anthing. They didnt take anything and all my most valuable stuff was in my money pouch in my pants but the fact that she unzipped my bag without me knowing was scary. I felt really violated. You always read about this stuff and think it wont happen to you but I guess anything can happen. I was upset with myself for taking so long to realize what was happening. The funny thing was that 2 stops later, a guy walks on the metro with no bags or anything and a shirt draped over his arm. He started making his way towards me. I immediately and non-subtly moved my side bag in front of me, stared him right in the eye and never stopped eye contact with him. As expected, he gave me a dirty look and got off at the next stop. Apparently this happens more often than i thought.I'll definitely be more aware of this in future travels.

I'm currently on my night train to Lisbon. Unfortunately, there were no more beds available so I'm just in a regular seat. The crappy thing is that when you're in a sleeper couchette, they come wake you up before your stop but in the regular seats, no one comes to wake you up, its your responsibility. So of course, I'm paraniod of sleeping past my stop. Furthering my bad luck with travel companions, I'm sitting beside an old foreign guy. Would it be that much to ask to have some young person who speaks english to talk to? It's almost midnight and no one is sleeping yet. Hopefully they turn the lights off soon. It's been an eventful day and I am beyond tired. Fingers crossed that I wake up when I need to!