Submitted by Stephanie Rodgers on the 2016 winter session program in Granada, Spain sponsored by the Department of Languages, Literatures and Cultures…
This weekend was a huge success. Somehow Hallye, Erica and I managed to navigate the city of Madrid with no major problems. Having such a terrible sense of direction, I am always very proud of myself in the rare occasion that I can make it through a weekend in a new city without getting lost.
In addition to our awesome navigation skills, we had a great time exploring the city. Friday night, we arrived to our hostel with time to settle in a bit before dinner. The owners were very friendly, although a bit pushy about inviting us to their (always expensive) events. There were also a few hidden charges that I wasn’t too fond of – $5 room key, $2 towel, $3 lock – but overall it was a good experience in a clean, spacious, well-located hostel. We went out for tapas that night before settling in for a good night’s rest in preparation for the days ahead.
We were up and ready to go by 10:00 am on Saturday. We began our day by checking out the Plaza Mayor and Puerta del Sol. Both were pretty, but not able to compare to the other sites.
Before lunch, we visited the Museo Nacional del Prado, a wonderful art museum with a vast collection of paintings and sculptures. I believe this may be my favorite museum to date, with works by three of my favorite painters: Goya, Rubens and Rembrandt. There was also a temporary exhibit by Ingres who I learned a lot about in high school without seeing any of his work in person. It’s amazing how much more a piece of art is able to be appreciated after seeing it in person. In addition, the building was easy to navigate and had the artwork arranged in a logical way. After a small lunch in a local sandwich shop, we continued our journey with a visit to Parque del Retiro where we rented a rowboat. It was such a relaxing visit and the scenery was absolutely gorgeous.
Our last big stop of the day was to Primark on Gran Via. Absolutely amazing. My host mother had said that it was the largest store in Spain, but I was not expecting anything even close to its actual size. It’s filled with five stories of clothing at reasonable prices. I bought a swimsuit so that I can go to the Arabian baths and a leather jacket.
Near the Primark was a nice restaurant with all organic food and a huge selection of vegetarian options perfect for Erica. She seemed really glad to finally be able to order something other than a Spanish omelet. The atmosphere was very calm and it was a nice place to relax after a long day.
On Sunday, we didn’t have a lot of time to explore, but we made the most of what we had. We walked through a huge street market on our way to the Royal Palace, which is probably the most extravagant building I have ever seen. The amount of time, detail and money that had to have gone into designing each room was unbelievable. Before heading back to the bus station, we made a pit stop by the San Miguel Market where I bought the world’s cutest ice cream cone.
Although I am usually not a huge fan of large cities, Madrid is now definitely the exception. The easy to navigate streets along with the friendly people and gorgeous architecture made Madrid one of my new favorite cities.