5 Reasons Why I Love Madrid

“You must be mad to go to Madrid so many times!” Okay, so no-one’s ever said this to me but it’s true that I have been to the Spanish capital a fair few times over the course of the year. Why is this? In true BuzzFeed style, here’s a non-irritating list of reasons why:

1. It’s a stone throw away from Soria

Transport-wise Soria is quite poorly connected. Whenever we want to plan trips, we have always had to travel by bus. This hasn’t been too much of an inconvenience as it’s cheap and Spanish motorways are virtually traffic-less so it’s fairly quick too. With Alsa, a bus service that has services to Madrid running approximately every 2 hours daily, you can get to Madrid in 2.5 hours with a return trip costing under 30 euros. (PS – There is a train service but it takes around the same time, if not longer to get there. Add that to the incredibly rocky journey and infrequent journey times, you are left with a very unappealing method of transport).

2. The bigger the better

Madrid is to Soria, like the US is to the UK. Everything is bigger, better and more extreme. Living in Soria, a city of around 30,000 people with a relatively old population means this 20-year-old can’t stay cooped up there for too long. Soria’s bar and restaurant options can seem quite limited at times, so going away to have a more unfamiliar routine or a bigger night-out with friends is always on the cards. There are just so much more things to do in Madrid: you can never see everything in a weekend which is why spontaneous getaways to the capital continue to be so tempting. Even things that I’ve done before are must-do’s on every visit, like walking around the Retiro park or the gardens around the Palace.

The Royal Palace of Madrid

3. Variety is the spice of life

Being the cultured individual that I am, Madrid’s ‘capital’ status gives it the size and diversity that can be encountered in any capital city. Museums and changing exhibitions showcasing the rich heritage of Spain mean there is always something to see in the Prado or the Reino Sofia. The Prado, especially, is too big to see in one afternoon so invites second visit. But if you look past these main two galleries, you’ll realise you haven’t even scratched the surface of the enormity of what Madrid has to offer in terms of art and culture. There are gems hidden in ever corner and you only have to look past the tourist brochure to find them.

Entrance to the Prado which houses famous paintings by Goya and Velazquez.

4. Love thy neighbourhoods

Madrid’s largeness means there are little neighbourhoods scattered all around the city, each with characteristic charm and features. Take Barrio de las Letras, for example, named because it was once home to Spanish literary greats Quevedo and Vega so Calle de las Huertas has excerpts from famous works pasted on the pavement in gold metal lettering.  In fact, you could just hop on Madrid’s superior Metro system and just get off at any random stop outside of the centre to wander around and experience a different, and often more authentic, view of the city.

Barrio de las Letras

5. Stuck in the middle

Its geographical location means sometimes you have no choice but to stop off in Madrid while waiting for a connecting flight/bus/train. But as well as that, Madrid is an ideal place to stay while going on day-trips to surrounding smaller cities of importance like Alcalá de Henares, Toledo, Ávila and Segovia, the latter I visited on my last weekend in Madrid a couple of weeks ago. It was a beautiful day, we met up with an old friend , saw all of the sights (the aqueduct, the Alcázar – which famously inspired the iconic Disney castle – the Cathedral), had a lovely picnic…all was well in the world and I ended up having one of the best days of my Year Abroad.

Friends and I with the ancient Roman aqueduct in Segovia.

So that’s that. 5 reasons why Madrid is wonderful and makes for a great spontaneous getaway after a hard week’s work as a language assistant. As lovely as Madrid is, I’m glad I wasn’t placed in Madrid, or any big city for that matter. They are full of tourists which might make it hard to actually speak any Spanish and it’s so big that it might be more difficult to make friends or any kind of plan. I would love to experience living in Madrid one day, but for now fleeting visits are enough to keep me in touch with busy city life.

Marcha a Madrid

Lessons continued this week. I’m slowly starting to get into the whole Science thing and bits and pieces from my studies at GCSE are coming back to me! I can tell the teachers are desperate for me to do something other than just read passages from the textbook; one has even asked me to prepare an activity on eclipses for next week. A step that I hope the other teachers will take too!

Other than that the only other thing of note that happened in the classroom this week was when a pupil stayed behind after class to explain to me why the Welsh dragon isn’t included in the Union Jack (as I couldn’t explain why during my introductory presentation the week before). He even brought in a book in English and pointed to a passage as he tried to explain. These are the reasons people teach: to stimulate and inspire thought and knowledge. Hopefully there will be more moments like this throughout the year. (For those, like me, that don’t know: Wales is a principality, not a kingdom so they are excluded from the UK flag)

The main source of excitement this week, however, came from our trip to Madrid, mainly in aid of the British Council Orientation that had been arranged for us on the Friday morning but we decided to make a weekend of it. We set off on Thursday afternoon; we were quite tolerant of the 3 hour bus ride thanks to our tiredness and a rather provocative George Clooney film.

I genuinely love underground Metro systems. Having visited Barcelona last Christmas and experienced London’s Tube for the first time over the summer, I really can appreciate the engineering of such networks.  Madrid’s underground system is, according to my well-travelled friends, one of the best in the world and it’s easy to see why. Spacious platforms, beautifully air-conditioned carriages…I do crave a busier, more stressful lifestyle so I can use them on a daily basis!

We arrived at our shockingly-good-value-for-money hostel after some shoddy direction and quickly became acquainted with the local bars and cuisine.

The next day was the day of the conference which was useful…in places. The thing is, being in Castilla y Leon meant we had started ‘teaching’ a lot earlier than everyone else. So we already had obtained our NIE’s, opened our bank accounts and settled into Spanish life. Hearing people worry and ask about every single detail was a bit frustrating but all in all, the day was a good opportunity to meet other assistants and find out more about our role.

…and then it was sightseeing time! Unfortunately the weather was typically British for our arrival and I was not prepared for the rain and cold that accompanied our excursions to tourist attractions. The architecture in Madrid is truly beautiful; from the compulsory Plaza Mayor to the exquisite surrounding Palacios, it definitely has something for everyone.

Plaza Mayor, quite grand and special

The Reina Sofía Art Gallery was also a stand-out moment from the weekend. Seeing Picasso’s ‘Guernica’ was definitely an experience. Having heard so much about the history of the painting and the symbolism, to see it in its enormity (11ft by 26ft) was quite breath-taking. I always feel like I want to learn more about art and artists after visiting art galleries and it was definitely the case after this visit. Now seems as good a time as any to pursue my interest in Spanish art; Picasso, Goya and Velazquez are just some artists that I would love to find out more about.

Reina Sofía from afar, home to Picasso’s ‘Guernica’

We decided the Retiro park was a good thing to do on the last day to nurse our hangovers and it turned out it was the best day to do so. The sun was shining on our pale faces as we wandered through the beautiful park, 50 million times bigger than Soria’s equivalent, La Dehesa. There was a nice pillar feature near the lagoon which was an ideal spot for group photos and to sit, chill and chat. I don’t think we got to see the whole park as our trip was slightly rushed towards the end; it being the last day we had to make sure we caught our coach back to Soria in time, but still it was a short but sweet encounter with the famous landscapes.

Well-pruned trees in the Retiro

Alas, I can finally say I’ve visited the capital of Spain. The constant hustle and bustle, abundance of English speakers and high cost of living does make me partially glad to be in a much, smaller city like Soria but I can’t help wonder what my life could’ve been like if I had been placed there. In a short space of time, we joined a random street party (literally on the street!), helped an American with her bags across the city, came up with an exciting, plausible business concept, bought (and lost) some fake Ray-Bans and found ourselves in the middle of the riots! 29-S, we were there! I definitely intend on visiting Madrid again multiple times; I think the next visit will be in Winter when Spain’s preparations for Christmas begin! Hasta Diciembre!