Happy Valentines Day!

Happy Valentines Day to everyone back home! They do have Valentines Day here but its not very celebrated/commercial. Sorry it has been so long since I have last posted but I have been keeping busy!
Lindsey, a friend who's studying in Italy, came to Soria on Thursday. Friday we went to breakfast at my favorite cafe and then we walked around a lot. We visited San Juan de Duero, which is a church built in the 12th century and was originally occupied by Moors, after their defeat the Christian King then gave the church to the Knights of Templar. Its located just over the river from the city.
After San Juan de Duero we had Chinese for lunch and we took another walk. We walked out to some old farm land outside the city that has some beautiful views and tons of Storks, there are pictures on my picasa website (I will post it at the bottom of this post).
The next day we had breakfast again, at the same place then it was off to Madrid by bus. Once in Madrid we checked into our hotel and went out for dinner. We found a smaller restaurant that was showing a soccer game so there were plenty of fans there. We had portions of rabas (calamari), patatas madreanos (fried potatoes with garlic and vinegar) and alitas de pollo (chicken wings). After dinner our waiter insisted on giving us a shot of something very yellow, I'm not sure what it was but it BURNT! Then we ended the night with coffee at a coffee shop.
The next day was Sunday and we went to El Rastro, which is Europe's largest flea market and takes place every Sunday. It was great! It went on forever and I'm sure we didn't cover half of it. The streets are flooded with people and booths of vendors. I bought a Spanish fan and a poster. Afterwards everyone flocks to the surrounding restaurants for lunch at about 2:00. We found a spot with an empty table and had lunch. Lunch was amazing, we had the roasted chicken with patatas bravas (fried potatoes with a spicy red sauce). The food was great and we washed it down with a couple beers. Next it was off to El Parque de Buen Retiro. Its a large park towards the center of the city. It was packed on Sunday with people taking a stroll. We watched street performers and then rented a boat to row around in the lake in the middle of the park for a bit (There are plenty pictures of this on the picture site). When we were finished walking around in the park we walked around the city some more and happened across Starbucks, we had to stop in. Then we walked to Puerta del Sol for tapas (also pictured!) and a few beers. It was a brewery that we stopped at and they had great beer and a free tapa with each beer. Finally it was time for dinner and we went to El Sobrino de Botin, the world's oldest operating restaurant. Everything was great! We had appetizers, wine, dinner and dessert. Just as we got our dessert a "tuna band" came in, a university band that roams the city playing all night. It was perfect timing and they were great. The actually invited us out for drinks afterwards (we never did make it to the bar) but it was wonderful!
Monday we went to the museum Reina Sofia, which has a huge Picasso exhibit right now on loan from the National Picasso Museum in Paris. It was really great to get to see so much of his work, including Guernica (which is permanently on display in Reina Sofia). Dinner on Monday was Indian food which I haven't been able to have since I have been in Spain. Dessert that night was churros con chocolate from San Gines, which is a really cool place hidden behind San Gines Church in Madrid, they have the best churros and chocolate (churros are fried dough and they are dipped in something like a warm chocolate pudding).
Well it was a great weekend and now I am back to work. I will update you all on school later this week. I hope everyone has a great Valentines Day! Best wishes to you all!
Cheers!!!

*My pictures are posted on the following website: http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/robisodl/MadridAndSoriaWithLindsey