Weekend in Madrid September 19-21

It was so amazing to be back in Madrid. When I got there on Friday afternoon, I went straight to Jessie’s apartment, which is on the street where Tara and I did a lot of shopping when we were abroad there. She lives right above a Zara and near a bunch of other great Spanish and international stores. Financially dangerous place to live! She has a fantastic apartment with great Spanish roommates and I’m envious of how much they’re going to improve her Spanish just be living day to day together. 

Friday we walked all over the city and I got to see all my old haunts. I showed her the two places I lived and one of my favorite cafés (Lolina) and we just walked all over the place. It was great! We made dinner and went out and met up with some of her new friends from her program and it was a great time!

Readers, I’m not sure you know about this, but Jessie and I are cable car enthusiasts. After going on cable cars in New York and Portland together, we decided that we wanted to ride every cable car in Europe this year. This turned out to be WAY too ambitious and expensive a goal, as Europe is home to a large amount of cable cars, including one in Switzerland that is the world’s longest but also costs like 80 euros to ride or something like that. We did, however, get to go on the gondola in Madrid that goes from the west side of town into a big park and back for only 5.80 euros! It was awesome and the views were incredible.

Saturday night we went out with the three Spanish roommates for tapas and cervezas. There were a lot things that were “classic Spain” about that night (didn’t leave the apartment until 11pm, walked for a good 30 minutes just to end up at a chain restaurant that has a franchise down the street from the apartment, listened to the Spanish ladies say some questionable things about non-white people, etc.) but it was a fun evening and I felt like it helped my Spanish come back SO MUCH by just being with them for a few hours.

On Sunday, Jessie and I went down to the southern part of the city to meet up with her friend Melissa and my Spanish friend from the study abroad days Sergio. We had a cheap lunch at a cafe in an complex of beautiful old brick buildings that were once a slaughterhouse but are now art spaces. It was great! Jessie and I then walked back up toward her pad and I went to buy a new raincoat because I left mine in Istanbul :(. 

Today I got up early and caught the one-way train to Vigo. It was a pleasant ride and Vigo already seems beautiful, though I’m just in the train station cafe right now. My landlord’s office is closed from 1:30-4:30 for siesta every day so I can’t move in until then. I can’t wait to see it!