Madrid – August 2017
It was not my first solo trip, but it was during this trip that it really felt right for the first time. After seeing that my boss has given me 4 consecutive days off in the middle of August. I immediately look up the cheapest airfares out of Zurich and book a ticket to Madrid. The Spanish capital never really caught my attention before. I was always more drawn to Barcelona.
10 days later I am on the way from my airport to the Airbnb in Chueca. The first hurdle is buying a metro ticket. With my high school Spanish knowledge, I fail to operate the ticket machine and have to ask someone for help. When I finally hold the ticket in my hands, I feel like a big failure and ask myself how I will possibly be able to make the next days worthwhile if I can’t even complete a simple task of buying a metro ticket by myself.
As soon as I step out of the metro station, all my doubts are gone. The colorful buildings, the summer heat, the trees lining the streets. It’s love at first sight. I reach my Airbnb without getting lost and meet my host on the 3rd floor of one of the beautiful buildings. We speak Spanish (her more than me) and I immediately feel at home. She asks me if what I am planning to do and I tell her about all the sights I want to visit and food I want to eat. She asks if I know about the “Fiestas de Agosto”. I say no and she quickly explains the on-going street festival to me and tells me that her favorite place to experience it is in the barrio “La Latina”. I make a mental note to go there and leave for my first shopping spree.
When I get back to the Airbnb a couple hours later, I take a short break in the air-conditioned room and plan which places I want to visit in the evening. I decide to finish the first day by treating myself to an incredible sunset at the Templo de Debod and dinner at a bodega on Plaza de España. Remembering the recommendation from earlier, I head towards La Latina. Somewhere on the way I suddenly hear sounds of a live concert. I turn right and walk down the streets where the music comes from. Once I reach a big plaza, I can see tons of people standing at the dozens of food stands, sitting on a short stone wall and dancing in front of a big stage. The atmosphere of this warm summer night is accelerating, and I wish for this moment never to end.
Even though I went to bed after midnight, I can’t wait to keep exploring the city the next morning. I decide to tick off another must do when in Madrid: Churros & Chocolate for breakfast. And is there a better place for that than café close to the big pond in Parque El Retiro? Full of energy I then visit the impressive Palacio de Cristal and walk to the southern end of the big parc to see the famous rose garden. In the afternoon it is time for a ride with the cable car from Parque del Oeste to the zoo. It offers incredible views of the city and the skyline. After walking back to the apartment, I take a well needed rest. A couple hours later I head back to La Latina to continue where I left off the night before. I look at all the foods the different stalls have to offer and decide to try Tortilla Española. As the chef assures me, the right beverage to go with it is Sangria – how could I say no to that. A little while later I give the mojitos everyone is drinking a try too and they did not disappoint.
On day 3 I finally take things a bit slower. After visiting the royal palace (or rather the gardens around it), I aimlessly stroll around the center with its beautiful old buildings and take turns whenever I feel like it. The place for this evening’s sunset is at the roof top bar Azotea del Circulo. Later I walk the Plaza Mayor to have the first dinner at a proper restaurant. The people next to me are eating Paella which looks delicious – so I have that too. And then it’s time for the last late-night walk through this city which really comes to life after sunset – and doesn’t go to sleep until the early morning hours.
And just like that my short city break comes to an end. Before my flight in the afternoon, I do some more shopping and finally work up the courage to enter on of the many super cool (and therefore a little intimidating) looking tattoo parlors. I explain the tattoo I want with my limited Spanish skills and the lady tells me to come back in an hour. So I go for a quick lunch and return to the shop at 1.30pm. 15 minutes later the fine wave outline on my left ankle is done and I head back to the Airbnb to pick up my luggage.
On the train to Lucerne I ran into a friend of mine who asked where I was going with my suitcase. I told her, that I in fact just came back from Madrid. She then went on to asking with whom I went. And as I told her that I went by myself, she responded with “Oh I’m sorry”. Coming from someone I knew, I second guessed myself if travelling alone was something I should be ashamed of. But as soon as I began to tell my mom about what I have experienced and how much fun it was, that feeling was gone and never returned.
Things I learned:
- It is ok to ask for help.
- Always listen to recommendations from locals & using Airbnb is a great way to get in touch with them.
- Dining alone at a restaurant is only weird the first time.
- Others might not understand how and why you do what you do, but that’s ok too and shouldn’t bother you (still working on that myself).
- A trip to Madrid in August should be on everybody’s bucket list.
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