The Spanish Experience
Okay I don’t really know how to start this, but I guess I can start by saying. The sickness has not let up. Whatever was picked up in Lisbon continued Through my time in Madrid. This is likely my fault, but I just wanted to put that out there. I was told I’d get sick, but I was not told it would last this long. Anyways, now for the Madrid experience.
First Impressions
The alright stuff
My initial run into this city was a little rough. I made the mistake of taking an Uber to the hostel (Onefam Sungate) which happens to be right in the middle of the city center. Don’t do this. European cities are not big on driving. Optimal short-distance travel is done on public transport.
My next surprise was the environment in the hostel. It was filled with relatively young people who were very much the life of the party. Pretty much all of the people working at the hostel were travelers as well, working at the hostel to cut down on travel costs. Much like Home Hostel in my previous posts, there was a schedule of fun activities to do every day. Breakfast in the morning, walking tours, trips to Toledo, and bar crawls/club outings at night. This was great to have considering I didn’t really have a list of things to do in Madrid.
Another thing I noticed about this city: It’s absolutely packed. I would walk through the city center during the day and there would be literally hordes of people covering the street walking in every direction. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a city this packed to be honest.
The great stuff
Tapas tapas tapas! Literally every corner was a place to get some tapas with whatever drink you choose. I went to El Respiro by recommendation and boy was it good. I ordered a beer and got a plate of some tapas to go with it. Each order was different tapas which made for an incredible experience.
Pretty much all the food in Madrid was pretty dang good. I can’t complain about anywhere I went. Also, the architecture of the city is absolutely incredible. Probably one of my favorite cityscapes I’ve ever seen.
First exploration
I’ve only been to 2 different cities so far, but it feels like I’ve already picked up a habit of going for a walk at about a half-mile radius around my hostel to see the sights. One thing I noticed is the extremely high quality architecture of the buildings in the area. I went by the Royal Palace of Madrid and was not disappointed.
Right next to this was the Cathedral of Santa Maria which was an absolute spectacle on the inside. The shear scale of that building looking at it on the inside is incredible.
Hostel Activities
Every night, the workers at the hostel would cook something for dinner. It wasn’t a lot, but it was very kind of them to do so. My first night was various tapas.
And every night after that was various dishes cooked by the friendly volunteers at the hostel. All of which were delicious by the way.
That night was a club night. This Hostel very much enjoyed going to clubs and had a group going out every night for different clubs. There were some special perks to going out with the Hostel too. Most nights there were discounted drinks and some nights were special VIP treatment at the clubs. Very much worth it to go out most nights. Here’s just a couple pictures of the clubs they took us to:
Day-to-Day
The days in Madrid were pretty simple. I would go out and find something to eat, then find something interesting to look at. It was pretty much enough to just walk around and look at the incredible architecture at every corner:
Another expedition I took on my own was to Museu del Prado. I wasn’t allowed to take pictures inside, but the art inside was incredible! Many famous artists and their best works were in there making for an amazing experience. There was so much art that I actually couldn’t get through it all. I made through the first and second floors in 2 and a half hours before calling it quits.
Toledo
My favorite day trip was to the town of Toledo. The Hostel had a “guided” (not really) tour through Toledo the day before I was supposed to leave. Essentially it was just someone who’s been there before telling us how to get there. We did all eat at the same restaurant where we ate some traditional Spanish food (still unsure on the specifics). The sangria was incredible though. I was obsessed. We spent the rest of the trip walking around looking at all the incredible sights. We even hiked up a hill overlooking the city which made for some amazing pictures:
We also went to an old cathedral. It was explained to us that the cathedral was built on top of a mosque and has previously acted as a space for 3 different religions to practice: Islam, Christianity, and Judaism. The inside was absolutely beautiful but the outside was incredibly detailed like many other cathedrals in Spain.
More lessons
I guess each step of my travels, I need to learn lessons:
- Don’t keep going when you are sick. (It’s gonna suck, but 2-3 days of rest will solve a lot of problems)
- Don’t be afraid to walk into a resaurant and ask about it. (people are typically friendly and will speak a little english)
- Don’t take Ubers into the city. (It’s packed and the streets honestly aren’t meant for cars)