Madrid

Almudena Cathedral, Madrid

Madrid has been a must on my list to places to visit since I’ve been here.  I mean, how can I live in Spain for 5 months and not visit the capital?  My two friends, Maddy and Leah, traveled with me to Madrid back in March and we had a blast.

We left Thursday afternoon after classes for the bus ride to Madrid so that we could have all of Friday to tour the city.  I downloaded a few episodes of my favorite show, Pretty Little Liars, to keep me busy during the ride.  I drew the short straw and sat in a different aisle from Maddy and Leah, which I thought was going to make the trip a lot longer but as it turns out, sitting away from them actually gave me an opportunity to practice my Spanish.  The man who sat next to me was very friendly and kind to me.  Together we ended up holding a conversation for the entire trip (6 hours!!) and I was able to understand all of it!  We talked about everything from his two kids who are my age to what I study back at Providence.  I was amazed with myself that I could understand the accent from someone I was not familiar with.  Although I had planned on sleeping and relaxing during the trip, it was really nice to spend time practicing my Spanish with a native.

El Prado, Madrid

When we arrived in Madrid, we checked into our hostel and found a restaurant close by to eat dinner.  It was already late and we didn’t want to be tired in the morning so we decided to get to sleep early.  On Friday morning, we had breakfast and then walked to the Prado, one of the most famous museums in Madrid.  The museum was free for students (woohoo!) and we only had to pay a small amount for an audio tour.  We spent almost all afternoon inside the museum, following a guide that highlighted the most famous works.  We saw some incredible Renaissance artwork including Las Meninas by Diego Velazquez, La Maja Desnuda by Francisco de Goya, and The Three Graces by Peter Paul Rubens.  I have learned about a lot of artwork between my classes back at Providence and the art history class I am taking here in Seville and it was absolutely incredible to see so many familiar “obras” (works) at the Prado.

After finishing up at the museum, we went to a smoothie shop to meet up with one of Maddy’s friends from high school, Dona, who is studying in Madrid.  Dona spent the fall semester studying in Seville with CIEE so we enjoyed sharing our stories with her and hearing about her experiences as well.  We couldn’t believe that it was dark when we left the restaurant.  The days just fly by here in Spain!  We decided to buy tickets for the Madrid bus tour because most of the other tourist attractions were closed for the day and we thought it would be a great way to see the city at night.  Needless to say, the sights were beautiful.  There’s something about city lights that leaves a person speechless.

Friday night Dona took us to Kapital, a seven-floor discoteca filled with music and strobe lights.  It was nothing like I have ever seen before, and we had a great time together.  Unfortunately, staying out late made our Saturday morning a little slow, but we were determined to fit everything in.

Some entertainment outside of Reina Sofia

The second most famous art museum in Madrid is the Reina Sofia, filled with modern art including famous artists like Picasso and Miró.  We limited our time in the museum because our to-do list was still pretty long and were only able to see the featured exhibition and Picasso’s Guernica.  However, the exhibition was very moving and the artist was able to relay his messages with great power in all of his pieces.

After the museum, we stopped for lunch at a small restaurant called “El Brillante”, famous for their “Bocadillo de Calamares” (Calamari Sandwich).  I definitely would recommend the special to anyone who likes seafood, and I think Leah would agree with me.  It was delicious!

Since Madrid is the capital of Spain, “el palacio royal” (The Royal Palace) is one of the city’s most visited sites.  If the façade and front plaza are not impressive enough, the inside is sure to please all.  The decoration is mainly rococo in style, a more graceful-but still intricate-form of Baroque art.  Many of the walls are marked with royal monograms and hold famous portraits of past royalty painted by Velazquez and Goya.  

The ceilings were the most impressive of all because each room sported a different mural, most of them filled with angels and saints.  Out of all the sites we visited in Madrid, the Royal Palace was definitely my favorite.

After the palace tour, we met up again with Dona to spend the rest of the afternoon relaxing in Parque del Retiro.  The weather was unbeatable which made for a great afternoon to soak up some sun and escape from the city craziness.

Our bus left early Sunday afternoon which gave us just enough time to pack our bags and visit Plaza Nueva, the last site on our list, where we ate churros con chocolate for breakfast.  All in all, I would say we had a successful weekend, filled with some very impressionable site-seeing and a lot of laughs between the three of us.  I am definitely glad to have visited Madrid and very lucky to have traveled with some great girls.