365 Días

Today marks a year of being in the glorious city and calling it home.

I arrived here possibly still slightly jet lagged and most definitely still hungover from New Years four days earlier. So disorientated that a friend’s mum tried talking to me in Spanish but ended turning to her son and questioned “pensé que dijiste que ella puede hablar español” – I thought you said she can speak Spanish. I’ve been trying to make up for that comment ever since, everytime I see her its basically me trying too hard and being like I can speak your language!!

For my 365th night here I celebrated with Tessa, one of my best friends from home, Mic and Gel who have also pretty much been here for a year and a bottle of good Spanish wine – aka it cost more than 3 euros.

I told someone that for this post I could list 365 things I love about this city. They laughed, I laughed, I wasn’t joking. I could do it, but rather than boring you with the details of my unwavering love for Thursday nights at Joy and the busker that sits in front of Corte, I tried* to cut it down to my favourite 10 things.

*this was hard and I feel like I’ve missed so many things out but for now…

Puesta de Sol

You can never truly appreciate a sunset until you are sitting on a 2000 year old Egyptian temple (Templo de Debod) and are drinking warm 1 euro beers. Madrid’s sunset game is strong.

 

Retiro

Retiro is one of the largest parks in Madrid and is such a treat. As much as I am a ‘city girl’ and love the intensity of it all, there is no better feeling than walking through the gates to the park. It’s a little escape. In the summer my friends and I spent hours here. We would bring food and blankets and just lay in the sun listening to people play music alongside the lake (lake as in a tiny man-made one where you can hire little row boats).

Tessa and I walked around it today, and although the trees are totally bare and its freezing, there is still so much to do. There are a lots of cafes, the buskers are still around, and there are a couple of museums and buildings to check out. My personal fave is the Palacio de Cristal.

 

Transportación

Transport here in Madrid is such a breeze. I have a transport card which I only pay 20€ a month (roughly $30) and that allows unlimited use of trains, metros and buses in the center and just out of.

In all honesty if it wasn’t for the fact that I had to travel outside of the city for university and frequent trips to the airport, I wouldn’t have gotten a card. The city itself isn’t huge and almost everything is so easily reach by walking. Pro-tip: always look up when walking through Madrid, so much beauty is hidden on the tops of buildings.

In the same vain, being in the center of Spain has some definite perks travel wise. You can get some pretty great deals on buses or trains to explore other parts of Spain. Toledo and Segovia are two cities just outside of Madrid and are super easy and cheap to get to, while those further away (Barcelona, Valencia, etc.) also have multiple trains and buses leaving from Madrid on the daily. For travel out of the country, RyanAir and EasyJet are godsends! I mean… 9 euro flights to Morocco!

Comida

I could write a whole post on the food here (in fact check back here next week) but for the mean time:

Churros con chocolate
Paella
Jamón
Patas Bravas
Tortilla
Vino (it counts as food)
etc

 

La Noche

You know what, I totally am going to talk about my unwavering love for Thursday nights at Joy. Ernest Hemingway once wrote “nobody goes to bed in Madrid until they have killed the night” and tbh preach it Ernest.

You don’t start getting ready until at least 10pm, pre drinks start anywhere between 10.30-11.30pm and then there is no way you should be in a club until at least 1.30am. Most clubs here have entrance fees which for me, considering Wellington doesn’t have any, is a pain. It can make a cheap night out – I can make sangria for literally .93 cents – into the very opposite, entrance fees range from $15 to over $40… Usually it comes with a free drink or two but still.

Kapital and Joy are the big ones here in Madrid. My Spanish flatmates would rather die than step foot into either of them but they are winners for foreigners. Kapital, with 7 floors and lines that can take over an hour to get in, is the most famous – it also has the biggest price tag, 21€ so free student nights that they put on every now and then are a blessing (soz about all the blurry, long snapchats).

If big nights out aren’t your thing, fear not! Nights in Madrid aren’t just about that! 2am can easily feel like 10pm with hoards of people wandering the streets and plazas looking for a late night/early morning cereveza or chocolate con churros.

 

Malasaña

Looking Instagram worthy cafes, artisanal iceblock stores and the local self-proclaimed hipster area? You have found your barrio! Malasaña is one of the more trendy neighborhoods and has a huge student/yo-pro/’creatives’ population. It didn’t always have this vibe and apparently has gone under a pretty impressive transformation over the last few years but is now the place to go. For food and drink you can’t go wrong here. There is a great mix of older traditional Spanish bars, trendy cafes and pretty amazing restaurants. Think floors covered in sand and transformed into a ‘beach bar’.

As well as a haven for the foodies, there are so many other ways for this neighborhood to claim your time. There are second-hand shops galore, gorgeous little one-off boutiques and las calles are covered in street art to admire!

 

El Rastro

El Rastro is an outdoor market that takes place every Sunday in La Latina, the historic center of Madrid, and a two minute walk from my house. It is one of the largest markets in Europe with a maximum of 3500 every week! It pretty much takes up an entire neighbourhood and makes it almost impossible to walk through while on. Of course with the crowded streets and sheer amount of people makes it prime pickpocketing turf. I haven’t had anything happen to me but one of my friends did catch someone with their hand in her bag…

I read somewhere today that El Rastro “sells the same shit as every other crappy market in Europe” and well. They aren’t wrong. You just have to walk for a couple of meters to spot the Che Guevara shirts and fake Adidas, but keep walking and go down the smaller streets to find the real treasures. Local artists sell their paintings, traditional pottery is on display. The best part of the market though is the second-hand section, there is some pretty amazing stuff there. Lots of Jesus statues actually.

Wandering through El Rastro quickly became a favourite Sunday morning activity. Its a great way to soak in a lot of culture and with the literal 1000s of stalls there is always going to be something new to discover.

 

Sol

Sol, or Puerta del Sol (Gate of the Sun) as its officially called, in not only located in the center of Madrid but also the center of the country. A plaque is placed in the supposed exact center, and while their may be skepticism about the legitimacy of this (hola dad and Sam), there is no doubting that it is the centre of Madrid. It is home to some of Madrid’s most iconic features. The Tio Pepe (a Spanish sherry) sign dominates the area and is lit up each and every night, and there are street performers to keep people of all ages entertained. However, the most popular feature is undoubtedly a statue of Madrid’s most famous symbol; a bear eating fruit from a tree. Officially it is called El Oso y El Madroño, and according to legend original name of Madrid was “Ursaria” (“land of bears” in Latin), due to the high number of bears that were found in the adjacent forests. No matter what time of day or night the statue will always be flocked with tourists, trying to get a photo with the bear. I finally gave in and went and took a photo with it the other day!

Sol is one of the best people watching places I have ever experienced in my life. It is constantly bustling with tourists/locals/dancers/singers/Dora the Explorer impersonators. Ask anyone that has ever lived in Madrid and I can guarantee it will be the most common meeting place between friends!

 

El Tiempo

When it comes to the weather Madrid is #blessed. Sunshine is present for all four seasons, and while the temperatures may drop during the winter months there is hardly any rain. Infact, the weather app on my phone tells me that Auckland has had more rain in the last week than Madrid has all winter!!

Due to the incredible weather, people spend so much of their lives on the streets walking, eating at outdoor cafes, going to the park, and enjoying the sunshine. Even in the summer when the temperature can soar right up into the 40s, you are able to sit outside and enjoy a cold sangria because the air is so dry. Humidity is virtually non-existent in Madrid, making the high temperatures so much more bearable. No wonder everyone here is so happy. Good weather = happy people.

That brings me to my last point…

 

La Gente

The people of Madrid, madrileños, are also some of the most friendly and welcoming people you will ever meet. They are always so interested in where you are from and what you are doing here. A guy that worked in a dairy next to my old house would remember me everytime I went in. He would ask how everything was going, how I was finding Madrid, and would tell me about his cousin who lived on the otherside of the world, granted he was talking about Australia and didn’t realize we were different countries but I just rolled with it.

People here are also super proud and super passionate of their city. Want to ask for directions/places to go/help? Be prepared for a on explanation why said thing/the city is the absolute best/where else you should be going.

Like anything in life really the ones that make or break your experience. From the people I have lived with (20 different people in the last 12 months!), the friends I have made through exchange and those that I met at university, I have been pretty damn lucky.

 

Here’s to the next/last 17 days!

x