El descubrimiento en Madrid

Today we only walked about 7 miles...it did not feel like that much though, so maybe mapmyrun.com is lying. I started my morning with looking up more apartments just in case the apartment from yesterday didn't get back to me today. I picked out about eight and called them. Four places were already occupied, two didn't answer, and I was able to make an appointment with two places, but they weren't scheduled until later in the afternoon. Karin had one visit scheduled for the day so at around 2 p.m. I met up with her to go to that visit. It was a nice place, but I thought it smelled kind of funny, but I wouldn't be living there anyhow so it doesn't matter. We then had a big gap of time until our next visit so we decided to walk to a nearby park that we saw on the map. When we got to the park, we both fell in love. It's a beautiful park right on the river that passes through Madrid. We wanted to look around more, but Karin got a call from another apartment, so we walked there to get a look at it. It was a pretty small apartment, but I really liked it and would choose to live there, if it was an option. It was very homey and just seemed like a place that I would like.

After that place, Karin and I couldn't help but go back to the park and check out more of it. She did however get another call from an apartment and we made an appointment for that one, but not before we got to hang out in the park for a little bit. The park seems newer and it has a series of fountains that you and run through. People were laying out and sunbathing and Karin and I decided that that is where we will be going tomorrow...no questions asked. There is also an awesome footbridge (see pictures below). We also witnessed a group of guys playing soccer lose their ball in the river. One guy was going to go down and get it, but there was a police officer on the other side of the river yelling at him. We sat at the park for a little bit then started walking to the next appointment.

Estadio Vicente Calderón

On the way to the next we stopped at a place called Madrid Dance Center that I had spotted before. I love taking dance classes so I went in to check the place out. I got a brochure of their classes and prices and there is a nice selection. I would love to start taking a class right now, but that is just not going to happen. Hopefully, I can fit it into my schedule and budget for later on in the year. Anyway, the next apartment was a nice place and the roommates were nice; however, it was out of our price range and there was a security deposit of two months, which is just kind of ridiculous. We then went and looked at my two appointments that I had. The first one was a dud and the second one I really really liked; however, like yesterday, I was told that they would let me know tomorrow if they choose me. Our search for the day ended and we both went our separate ways, both having not heard about the apartments from yesterday. When I returned back to the hostal, I did have an e-mail from the place yesterday that they wanted me. I had a huge debate in my head on whether to take it or not, because I really like the place I saw today. It's a little risky, but I did decline the offer. One because it's in a different district as where I am looking now and two because I'm really hoping that the place today wants me. I know you're not supposed to put all your eggs in one basket, but I really didn't want to tell the place from yesterday yes, when really I was unsure about it after today. We will see what tomorrow brings, but I can tell you right now, it will probably involve laying out in the sun at the newly discovered park and more apartment hunting. Wish me luck. Hasta mañana.