This past weekend, I went to Madrid with a friend to visit my host sister, who’s studying in a university there. I had a fantastic time, and now Madrid is tied with London for my favorite city in the world! (Second place: Rome, Third place: New York). Here is an overview of the trip, complete with some pictures:
Friday: Mariajo and I take the bus to Madrid after school. For some reason, I neglect to pack jackets heavier than a sweater.
Saturday: Maria (my host sister), Mariajo, and I go sightseeing. We walk all around the city, and I fall in love with Madrid’s history, beautiful buildings, clean streets, complicated Metro system, and horrible weather (45 degrees Farenheit + rain).
Plaza Mayor:
Me: so, is everything really old, or is it just made to look old?
Maria: This is Europe. Everything is really old.
Catedral:
Spanish McDonalds!
Cibeles:
Notice that I was freezing, so I went shopping and bought a winter coat! (The shopping in Madrid is fantastic, though expensive. Everyone on the streets, including men, dresses as if they’ve just stepped out of a magazine… Not just cute jackets, but cute jeans, scarves, boots, and accessories to match. <3)
After a full day of walking, we go out later that night. It’s the night before Halloween, and we see some pretty crazy costumes! In America, girls tend to dress “cute” on Halloween, but here, the goal seems to be having the scariest costume.
Sunday:
After I sleep in and go to a cyber café to submit some college apps, we take the Metro to a famous dance theater, Teatros de Canal. Mariajo is friends with a professional ballet/tango dancer, and he is able to get us tickets to see that night’s performance of “Wonderland.” Fantastic!! Also, he introduces us to the choreographer/founder/owner, Victor Ullate, who is apparently very famous in Spain. Because it’s Sunday, all of the stores are closed; this wouldn’t be a problem except for the fact that we have no food in the house… we end up making pasta haha.
Monday:
We take the Metro to Madrid’s beautiful park, El Parque de Retiro, which is where Spanish royalty have spent their leisure time over the past four or five hundred years. For me, el Retiro is even more beautiful than Central Park. We buy fresh bread, and eat sandwiches (bocadillos) on the grass.
Because we leave el Retiro a little too late, and because we overestimate the Metro, Mariajo and I miss our bus back to Altea. To summarize a long and stressful ordeal that includes sprinting through the Metro with all of our luggage, a journey that takes 4 hours by car takes us a grand total of 15 hours. We arrive the next morning at 9am, and then, good student that I am, I go to school.
If you ever have the chance to visit Europe, definitely come to Spain. And once you’re in Spain, stay at least two days in Madrid. I didn’t have the chance to see the El Prado Museum, but I’ve heard it’s fantastic. When my host family and I go to Madrid for the holidays, I’ll tell you all about it!
