Four of Four

I know that this is probably going to make me sound like the biggest brat ever, but I have a confession to make. I really wasn't much of a fan of Madrid. I know that sounds awful because so many people would love to go there, but just something about it rubbed me the wrong way.

Retiro Park in downtown Madrid

Maybe it's because I was already spoiled from the beaches of San Sebastian, or I didn't like the big city feel, or maybe it was just the overall uncomfortable feeling that I had the whole time. Regardless of what it was, I think the Madrid was a nice place to stop while traveling from one coast of Spain to the other, but I don't think I would make a trip specifically to go there. It was more of a living and working city rather than a vacation tourist spot.

The most delicious sandwich ever

Don't get me wrong though, there were some really great parts to Madrid. It was so full of Spanish culture and history that were the hightlights of my trip.

The first thing we did after we got all settled in our new hostel was go grab some lunch. The reception guy sent us to a little cafe around the corner and said, "Get the house special...And try not to fall in love with me after you eat this sandwich." He wasn't kidding at all. I had no idea what to expect, but my "double-decker-everything-you-could-err-want" sandwich didn't disappoint.

We indulged in some more Spanish culture that night and went to a flamenco dance show. I had always heard about flamenco in my various Spanish and music classes, but it was crazy to actually see it in real life. It was amazing how talented the dancers were. They could keep perfect (and different!) rhythm with both their hands and feet, all while performing a beautiful dance at the same time.

La Almudena cathedral

Despite not getting any sleep the first night due to my beyond creepy male roommate from the Netherlands (ask me that story sometime...it's a good one), I madecit to the 3 hour walking tour the next morning. We covered alot of ground and a lot of history in 3 hours. Madrid has alot of interesting history behind it and has gone through a ton of changes, but I won't bore you with all that here!

La Plaza Mayor

After our tour, we were pretty worn out from all the walking and sun, but we decided to go to the Real Madrid soccer stadium. I really wanted to get the whole stadium tour, but it was ridiculously expensive so I just hawked at it from the outside and enjoyed looking at all the jerseys and cool stuff the official store had to offer. It was really awesome to be reminded of just how great this sport that was such a huge part of my life really is!

Real Madrid Stadium

We took a little siesta along with the rest of Madrid before heading out on a Tass tour with our hostel. They weren't as good as the pintxos that we had in San Sebastian but I had some really good drinks (including my first real spavin sangria...yummy!) and made some cool new American friends who are also studying in London!

Our new friend and us on the tapas tour

So even though it wasn't my favorite and probably the bottom of the list of the four cities that we have been to so far on this trip, Madrid wasn't all bad.

The end of the Spanish part of our trip is Barcelona which I am really looking forward to. Nathan is finally meeting up with us so it will be fun to start sharing this experience with him too!

I'm hoping for some sun tomorrow so I can finally have my day at the beach!!