¡Hola! Welcome to my España trip album. First, let's meet las chicas guapas.

In January, HA planned the trip but only she and her sister could commit. HA may be tiny, but she can EAT. She also insists on taking pictures of all the dishes before we eat.

STEPHANIE is 4 months pregnant (eeeeeeek!). She decided to join the trip 1 week beforehand. Throughout the trip, Steph had the most energy and was always the first one up.

HANG is Ha's younger sister, but like a little sister to all of us. She's in her 2nd year of medical school at UCLA and will become an obstetrician. So naturally, we had great conversations about the uterus, fetuses, amniotic fluid, etc during our trip!

This is me! I'm so broke, but decided to join the trip 2 weeks prior. I've known the girls since high school and have missed out on their other big trips, so couldn't pass this one up. This was my first time using my passport. Watch my journey through pictures as I gain 5 lbs during the trip!

One of many naps on the way to Madrid. Steph and I flew separately from Ha and Hang. We flew 4 hours from SF to Atlanta, 5 hour layover in ATL, and another 9 hours from ATL to Madrid.

Día 1 en Madrid: Steph and I arrive at 9 am (MAD time) the next morning. H&H's flight is delayed, so we wait another 3 hours at the airport.

Our first of many bocadillos con jamón.

¡Finalmente!

In an attempt to save money, we took El Metro to and from the airports. This was sometimes difficult since we were carrying our luggage up and down stairs (there were not always escalators) and through long tunnels during multiple transfers.

Being BART experts, El Metro was very easy to navigate. This was our main mode of transportation other than walking.

We finally arrived at our stop, but walked around in circles for almost an hour trying to find our hotel.

Our Yahoomap was bad and the streets and alleys were not easy to find in our tour books.

But we did love our boutique hotel, el Vincci Soho. I'm feeling Euro glam...you're gonna see a lot of this black sweater/pink scarf getup.

4 girls can easily sleep in the king sized bed (two twins pushed together).

...but it does help that 2 of them are under 5 feet and less than 100 lbs.

The hotel was gorgeous. It was featured in Elle en español.

After settling into our hotel, we set out looking for our first Spanish meal.

Bocadillos (small sandwich) restaurants are everywhere.

We tried a little bit of everything. El arroz negro is made with squid ink. After lunch is naptime...

Ha did all the food research for our trip. Across the alley from our first restaurant, we find out what the locals like to eat.

We had reservations at Los Galayos for 9 pm. Apparently, this is pretty early for a Spanish dinner. We had our first taste of sangria and last taste of paella here.

Los Galayos has been there since 1894.

Hang sucks whatever she can out of a tiny crayfish.

The paella was delicious and the seafood very fresh. This pan actually serves only 2 but after the 4 of us ate, we had plenty left over.

After dinner, we visited el Plaza Mayor. In the past, it was the site of public executions, bullfights, and juegos de fútbol.

¡La plaza es muy grande!

spirits of the plaza?

Outside of Plaza Mayor around midnight (it's now Good Friday), we witness the procession for Jesús Nazareno y Virgen de la Soledad .

The procession was quite somber, but a little eerie for us.

The people follow the procession...

...but we set out looking for dessert!

This building being renovated is draped by a printed covering.

HA follows her nose to la Chocolateria San Gines!

La chocolateria is famous for churros y chocolate. It stays open for the masses until 6 am! This place was packed.

Unlike American churros, they are not covered in sugar and cinnamon. The chocolate sweetens the churros.

People drink the chocolate like café.

We thought the churros y chocolate were good but we weren't wow'ed, so this was our only visit.

The Spanish love their jamón. We stopped by the Museo del Jamón, which is a chain in Madrid. Inside it smelled like a combination of fresh bread and yup, HAM!

...we never ate here.

Día 2 en Madrid: First thing on the agenda is food, of course. We go for an early lunch at Finca de Susana since the day before we came too late to be seated. The restaurant's popular for its affordable 3-course meals. At this restaurant, we also found Filipinos...they were the majority of the waiters and waitresses.