Madrid is the capital city of Spain and is geographically located at the center of the country. It is home to world-class museums, grand parks and boulevards, lively plazas, and a vibrant nightlife.
Following a couple days in Barcelona, my friends Alec, Jack, Kabir, and I traveled by train to Madrid. This was the second stop of our week-long February break during our exchange semester in France.
After leaving the Madrid-Puerta de Atocha train station, we dropped our bags off at the hostel and walked over to the nearby Plaza Mayor. As one of the main squares in the city, it presents a wide open area that stands out from the surrounding sea of buildings and offers a space for community to gather. The Plaza Mayor had a handful of entrances marked by large archways and was surrounded by shops and restaurants. In the center of the square lies a statue of Philip III, one of Spain's former kings, on top of a horse.
We walked a few short minutes to another plaza nearby, Puerta del Sol. This is another one of Madrid's main plazas, featuring the old Post office with a bell tower on top (which now serves as the President of Madrid's office), a statue of Carlos III on horseback (another prominent former king of Spain), and numerous other statues/signs/plaques that I apparently missed while there. Fun fact, Puerta del Sol is at the center of Madrid's road system so there's a "kilometer 0" plaque on the ground to signify this. I'll have to look for it if I'm ever back.
Anyway, we continued east along the main road, Calle de Alcalá, until we reached a large intersection with a fountain in the middle. On one side sat the Palacio de Cibeles, an intricate looking palace that serves as the headquarters and city hall for the City Council of Madrid. Funnily enough, we noticed some Real Madrid buses parked outside on the curb, and a crowd of people had started to gather around. Of course we had to join in, and ended up waiting about half an hour before the players got off. However, much to the crowd's disappointment, this was the Real Madrid basketball team, not the soccer/football team everyone was expecting - and the crowd quickly dispersed.
Just a bit farther up the street we passed by Puerta de Alcalá, which sits at the center of a large round-about in the road. Right next to this round-about was the Parque del Retiro, a huge park near the center of the city. Conveniently, we had some time to kill in the afternoon and spent some of it exploring the park. We passed by the Palacio de Cristal, which was a large building made almost entirely out of glass, as well as some ponds and other structures that were scattered throughout the park.
A few hours later, we hopped on the metro and headed north toward the iconic Bernabéu, the stadium of the Real Madrid soccer/football team. We had timed-entry tickets to tour inside the stadium that evening. I wouldn't call myself a fan of the sport or team, so as someone with very little ball knowledge, I quite enjoyed it. We got to see Real Madrid's trophy from the 2022 Champions League (or Copa de Europa) victory, as well as a wall full of Ballon d'Or (or Balón de Oro) trophies. We also got to sit in one of the upper decks and overlook the field. Unfortunately they were doing some work at the time so the pitch was not there, but it was still unbelievable to see the sheer number of seats inside the stadium.
That night we met up for dinner with one of Alec's friends who was studying in Madrid at the time. We went to a place called 100 Montaditos, which was honestly such a cool concept. I didn't realize at the time, but it's a big chain throughout Spain and elsewhere. They offer a menu of 100 different "montaditos", which are essentially mini sandwiches with different meats or other fillings inside. I ordered a handful of different options to try along with a large glass of "tinto verano", which is a popular Spanish drink made of red wine and lemon-lime soda (i.e. Sprite). The food and drink were so good we all ordered a second round after finishing the first.
After dinner we all made our way to a club for the night called Teatro Barceló. We had some time to kill before it opened at midnight (yes, it seems everything happens later in Spain), so we hung out at a small park across the street. We climbed a jungle gym, shot the shit for a bit, and I even learned the art of taking a knee to relieve myself in some bushes nearby. Anyway, TMI, I know. Eventually we made our way inside the club, had a pretty good night dancing and drinking the cheap wine they were handing out. At one point someone knocked my glasses off my face, which scared the crap out of me since I couldn't see where they went. I felt like Velma from Scooby-Doo! But fortunately a nice guy found them on the floor unscathed and was able to return them to me.
We were out pretty late, at least until 5am, before returning to the hostel. And just like in Barcelona, we were once again bombarded by dudes on the street trying to sell us chicas and cocaína It is honestly quite comical how many of them are out there hustling. Anyway, I don't have any other photos from that night, so here's one of my sleeping arrangements in the hostel.
Of course, after such a late night, we chose to sleep in the next day. We didn't get moving until the afternoon, but quickly got ready and took the train to the Royal Palace of Madrid. We had a tour booked, so shortly after arriving, headed past the main gates and into the courtyard in front of the palace.
The sheer size of this thing was massive from the exterior. The interior was very ornate as well, filled with statues, banners, murals, and other works of art spread across the walls and ceilings. The entire tour through the palace was self-guided, and took us about an hour in total.
After leaving the palace, we walked around the streets of Madrid some more, grabbed some lunch, and even stopped into one of the largest Zara clothing stores in the world (4 or 5 stories tall, located in Madrid's Plaza de España). Later that day, we walked back over to the Parque Infantil Montaña de Principe Pio. This was a park on a hill that overlooked some of the city, offering a perfect view of the royal palace. We all took turns taking photos of each other with the palace in the background before heading back to the hostel for a quick siesta. If we had stayed later, this park would've made for a nice sunset spot as well.
At night, we stopped at a restaurant called Tiki Taco, where we, of course, had tacos for dinner. I also ordered a Jarritos drink which is SO good. And then later that night we stopped in at a pub to grab some beers and watch some soccer on the TV - certainly a chill evening. After, we walked back to the hostel, passing through the Puerta del Sol plaza and seeing the famous Tio Pepe sign glowing in all its glory.
We all had an early morning out the next day, headed to Lisbon, Portugal next. I had actually booked a separate flight from the rest, flying Iberia, so got to see the Madrid-Barajas Airport's Terminal 4. Maybe I just hadn't seen anything like this in the U.S., but I was genuinely impressed by the sheer size and amenities offered in this terminal. It stretches over a kilometer long, with glass windows floor to ceiling on either side, and even included a small playground for the kids! I'm sure it's nothing special compared to some other airports, but having had limited travel experience at the time, just something about this terminal caught my attention.
