2 much 4 dinner

Yesteday my friends and I went out for dinner at the XXL restaurant. C, D and A ate a whole XXL hamburger by themselves... it is really crazy! And really big too! The rest of us didn't go for it... I can't eat so much at night!

And just in case there was some space in our stomach left, we headed of for some ice cream...but it was closed! So we went on a hunt for dessert :)

 It was sure fun, fun, fun! 

But I'm sure some of them (even if they don't want to confess it) were sure full, full, full!

The Secret Garden

M and I strolled around Madrid this afternoon. We took a walk around Gran Vía, Callao and Sol. The city is litted with seasonal themes and decorated with huge Chirtmas trees. One may even find a small skating rink in Callao.

We ended up in The Secret Garden. It is one my favourite cafés... I never know what to order. All the hot chocolates and desserts are so tempting. Brown sugar is always available and sweet chocolate bear shaped cookies are given with warm tea.

I always like to go here with my friends. J took me to this place 2 years ago and it is really magical, a very cute corner of Madrid indeed. Today, I treated myself to some "leche rizada" and M got some rooibos tea (isn't just the best?).

Merry Xmas!

Finally, the time of the year we all love: Christmas is here! Carols, sweets and no snow are always around. My family and I celebrated Christmas Eve and Christmas day  together. C had Christmas Carols for background music and really cool fire :)

 We had a great lunch with a complete dessert dish (5 desserts!). Yummy yummy yum yum! Cheesecake, flan, carrot cake, chocolate cake and cinammon with fruit. It was a shame I couldn't see my small cousins... next time! However, we had a great time.

Spread love this Xmas!

Dinner @ IKEA

Feeling hungry after so much xmas shopping? IKEA's cafeteria and restaurant offers cheap and healthy choices. J and I  had dinner there last night. J was thrilled with the meatballs with smashed potatoes and cranberry sauce :)

Salads are a little small, but the cakes are great (all under 2 euros). One can also have refills for around 1 euros. Oh! And the cafeteria also has pancakes and cinammon rolls! :) Yum yum yum!

Nocturnal Thermal Circuit

Relax! Everyone tells me so nowadays...but it is so hard sometimes. Too much homework to do, projects to hand in, exams to prepare, and so on.  A spa is always a good idea to leave our stress behind. I've been a couple of times to the one at the local sport center,  which by the ways is great price-quality :) One of my favorite's is Medina Mayrit, but it is a little expensive. Yestarday, J took me to Auditorium Spa.

It was a little different. First of all, it began at 11.30 pm, and lasted 3 hours (if you wanted to stay so long... they don't make you of course). There were different treatments one could follow: pool with different massage-like showers, turkish sauna, dry sauna, pediluvium, contrast showers, aromatherapy showers, heated recliners and jacuzzi.

They offered tea and water so we wouldn't dehydrate. So thoughtful! Also,there were canapes, bombons and champange. Simply...relaxing :)

Yves Saint Laurent

Yesterday, J and I an Yves Saint Laurent exposition at Fundación Mapfre. The most glamorous and exotic designs are found there. One can find unique dresses from the beginning of his collections (with Dior) to the last one in 2002.

One may visit his around 150 works any day, but the schedules vary. You can check it out here. It is very probable that one might have to wait a little in line, but it is definetly worth it ;)

They say that "Chanel made women free, and Yves Saint Laurent made them powerful". I was very surprised with the collection shown because most of the designs are well... very modern indeed. I mean, if someone wore almost any of his creations, it would not seem as if it was out-dated at all.

Cross Country :)

I know... I've been away for almost a month. Exams and projects have taken all from me, even my health. Yeap, I was pretty sick this weekend... in bed all day. However, I was able to get up to see my friends run one of the best Cross Country runs of the season: A, S, and C made the best. I missed M... I wonder why she didn't show up :(

The circuit is the rufst and hardest ever known. It is the park where I usually go for Cross Country practice.
The ladies were incredible: they ran up, down, always at there best.

After the run...mmmm hungry hungry hungry. E and R also came, so cute and adorable gals! We went to a pizza place near the competition and of course... we finished the afternoon with a Dolcelatte ice cream. A and I tried a hot chocolate with an ice cream float :)

R,E, and S.

 We were all pretty bloated from the pizza, but honestly. Who can resist to an amazing ice cream?? I sure can't. I hope to have a littlo more time this week and update my blog more often.

C,A,D, me, and J.

D's Birthday

Happy Birthday D!!!

Lucky isn't he? Celebrating his 22nd Birthday on 11/11/11.
Maybe it is because of superstition, but I think it is a very magical date.

We went to XXL Restaurant to celebrate. They have huge hamburgers, saladas, kebabs, burritos, pizzas, hotdogs, sandwiches and portions of french fries. J & D got a XXL Crispy Burger (it had cripy onions) and a XXL portion of french fries.

Both J & D have succeeded in a very daring proposal: eating a whole XXL Hamburger by oneself. My dad and friend A has also done it. And if you are asking yourself...yeah... you don't sleep so well that night. Your stomach has too much to digest. If there was a veggie burger...humm who knows, I might have also tried to eat one.

I like to go there to get food to go and eat it in a nice park. I really like the size of the salads they have. You can just keep on and on and on eating. The price is not bad, definetly cheaper and with better quality than McDonalds or Burger King.

Oh! And dessert and drinks are also XXL. You may drink 3 liters of beer or sangría or any other soft drink. They are usually to share of course :)

Halloween at TGI Friday's

Luckily in Spain, the day after Halloween is a festivity. My friends and I decided to celebrate it at TGI Friday's.  I had read they decorated it for the ocassion, so I thought it was the perfect encounter for us. We arrived quite early, around half past seven, because we wanted to enjoy the 50% off on cocktails and smoothies... but they had taken that discount down for Halloween.

Friday's Halloween Entrance

So... We decided to take pictures around the restaurant.  There were spiderwebs, skeletons, zombies, eyesballs and snakes in cups. Just perfect! The waiters weren't very friendly during about an hour but, honestly, it was perfect for us. We got to have fun with the camera. Just take a look:

The dudes

The boys went as MIB. Sexy agents, arent they? And then S transformed into... keep on reading ;)

My gals

Our costumes were diverse: the devil, catwoman, torture-me, and crazy-fashion-woman.
There was decoration everywhere...even at the restrooms!

    

This small photoshoot was fun. We laughed a lot and it kept us entertained. Here are some more pics:

Finally, when we were all there. The waiter took our order and mmmm... dinner was served. Al the options were a 2 euros more expensive than on other days, but I think it was definetly worth it. I think the best plates were the fajitas:

Fajitas

As you can see, the fajitas is served on three plates in a form of a tower. Pretty smart, hu? It sure saves room on the table :)

Salad & Chicken sandwich

Oh! D & A did order some cocktails... I can't remember the names but the one A ordered...yummy yummy!

Wonderful night, beautiful people and a spooky place made the best ingredients for a terrific Halloween night dinner.

Chocohalloween

As you all know, Halloween is tomorrow. Many malls and shopping centers offer different activities to attract customers. Pumpkins, ghosts, witches, monsters and skeletons haunt us at every corner. I think it is a very good idea, but it is even better if you mix it with chocolate.

Chocolate made Monsters

I attended to "Chocohalloween", offered by Moda Shopping in Madrid. They are on their 8th edition and it was my first visit. And... I'm definetly going to the next one.

Chocolate made RIP

There were many shops offering their products and there were free types of chocolates to try. We partipated in a Chocolate-tasting contest of the Chocolate Factory. There were three types of chocolates: milk, 60% and 70%. We had to guess which one corresponded with what percentage. It wasn't hard :) The price is a chocolate basket...hmmm who knows!

They also quizzed about chocolate itself and the origin of their shop. I think I might have got the country wrong... Ops! I thought it was English (because of the name of the different products), but they are actually from Barcelona.

They have so many types of chocolates and bombons... It is hard to resist. However, they are quite expensive. I also took a picture of J with this poster. It is so true! There is nothing better as a bar of chocolate for studying and keep your brain focused ;)

After walking around the mall, we went to another one and I got a free tattoo (it goes out with water, there is almost nothing left of it today).  I reminds me of henna ones. And ladies, don't forget it is Breast Cancer Awareness Month...so spread it out! Wear a pink ribbon.

Alternative eating

Don't know where to go for lunch? Don't have too much money for eating out? Well... here is a possible solution: the supermarket. Yes, I know, you might be dissapointed, but really... there are so many options!

Carrefour Planet's supermarkets offers cooked food for very reasonable prices. You can make your own pasta dish with different sauces, eat Chinese rice, traditional Spanish cousine or have a huge salad for a small amount of money.

The best time to go is for lunch, at dinner time they are usually cleaning up and the options available are not so wide. You can buy 1 kg of salad for 7 euros, great isn't it? I've tried one with goat cheese, walnuts, cherry tomatoes and balsamic vinegar. Yummy yum yum! But you can also find our famous Cesar salad for the same price.

So what do you think about this proposal? Are you up for it?
Fried rice, paella, cocido, green beans, soup, potatoes... they are all waiting for you to try them out!

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Gran Vía