Submitted by Anna Hemelt on the 2018 fall semester study abroad program in Granada, Spain…
This weekend I went to Madrid. To fly there, it only takes about 45 minutes. It’s only a 45 minute ride, but it’s a whole different world. With both cities being in Spain, I wasn’t expecting them to be as different as I think they are. The only other Spanish cities I’ve been to have been in Andalucia and Extremadura; both regions are relatively similar and have very similar characteristics. There are differences for sure, but the similarities outweigh them.
First things first, Madrid is huge. Living in Granada, where you can walk across the city in about an hour, it was crazy to see just how far apart things were in Madrid. Madrid also has so many museums, exhibits, and tours because it is such a tourist attraction.
On Sundays in Granada, everything is closed. There aren’t any open stores at all, and if you find an open grocery store, you’re lucky. In Madrid, this was not the case. Everything was open on Sunday. All of the stores and shops, as well as the tourist attractions, like the museums and exhibitions. I was thinking before I went that I wouldn’t do much except walk around the city on Sunday because I just assumed everything would close. Andalucia is the main region in Spain that continues the tradition of having a siesta and closing stores on Sunday. In Madrid, it didn’t seem like there was a time for siesta either. Every place I went to was simply open all day with no breaks in the middle.
I really enjoyed being able to explore another Spanish city and understand more about the culture in central Spain as opposed to just southern Spain.
