A kitchen in Madrid

I never know what to expect from a hostel, but I have to say that when we paid 10 euros per night for a bed in a 12 bed dorm in pretty central hostel, my hopes weren't that high. Four nights later, it's our last night in Madrid and I'm leaving impressed.

Not only have we got free breakfast each day, linen included and hairdryers and internet but we've also met lots of interesting people here. The crazy swiss girls who like clubbing, the girl from London looking for a flat, the Slovenian mother, the Canadian girl who's backpacking around Europe on her own, some Australians, a Guatemalan and a Puerto Rican. The Californian boy who let us try some cheese he'd made earlier, and some red pepper humus he'd made up the recipe for. The friendly Roman who cooks huge quantities of food to share with whoever was in the kitchen so we've got to try pear and onion risotto, salmon, mashed potato and chicken with a vegetable sauce. (Don't worry, I'm still a vegetarian - Allie tried the meat.)

Allie and I are currently cooking our last evening meal and the kitchen is bubbling with people: our Italian friend Alex, who lives in Indonesia but is currently travelling around Europe to compete in surfing competitions is skateboarding around the kitchen. The boy from the Isle of Wight is ironing a shirt on the table: he's starting his new job tomorrow and his notebooks are strawn across the table, covered in his lesson plans written out neatly as he prepares to teach English to various business clients from Madrid, and the quiet Mexican guy is sorting out his boxes and instruments, getting ready.

The Mexican is a professional tattoo artist.
The receptionist is getting a tattoo.
So's the girl from Perugia.