September 27 – 30, 2019
Thursday, September 26- the long journey there
It was a long day for me en route from GSP – MAD. Luckily I found an amazing deal on a flight from the airport near my mom’s house to Spain for only $315! The catch was I had to fly out at 6am on Thursday to Newark, wait around for 3 hours, fly to Boston and then sit in the airport all day from noon until my 11pm departure that night. Usually my fabulous Priority Pass takes care of me and I can relax in the lounge all day and just eat and drink for free, using their WiFi and showers to help pass the time. This time, Norwegian Airlines would not take my bag to be checked in until 7pm so I had 7 hours to kill with all my luggage in tow.
I gave my girl Sarah a call just in case she was around. She lives on the Cape now and it’s a good hour and a half to the airport, but she jumped in her car after work and came to meet me for dinner! It was so wonderful to see her and catch up in person after over a year of Facetiming each other from around the world!
So happy at dinner with my girl Snorty
Then back to the airport, checked my bag, right through security and still had almost 2 hours at the Air France PP lounge before I had to board! Long day but ended up pretty awesome and a great way to start my trip to Europe!
Friday, September 27
Wake up, MADRID! But whoops, I think I took too much sleep potion. When we land I’m in a total daze. So much so that I honestly don’t really remember deplaning, picking up my bag, going through customs and getting some cash. I start to remember things when I went to get the bus from the airport that would take me to the Metro into the city. I was nodding in and out of consciousness the entire ride into the city but finally I arrived at the Opera Metro stop around 1pm and my Airbnb was only steps away. It’s a marvelous building right behind the Opera building where I’m staying in a private room with Javier and his sister Maria, who have lived in this place for over 50 years!
My beautiful Airbnb location
I had to sleep immediately. Just an hour or so nap, but man I needed it.
I was woken by a knock on my door and my hosts graciously invited me to join them for a paella lunch with their family and friends visiting from the United States! Javier’s son has a friend who studied in Madrid for 3 years, but he and his fiancé live in Buffalo, NY. They were in Madrid for a week and Javier cooked his famous paella and they all came over for lunch. They were all such a warm and inviting group of people and made me feel so welcome that afternoon!
My charming hosts and their friends and family
Beautiful spread
Check out the size of those gin and tonics! Spaniards love them!
The Opera building and Opera plaza right outside the window
The younger people left to go visit with some of their other friends and I stayed and hung out with Maria, Javier, and his best friend. None of them spoke much English, but Javier and I discovered we could communicate in our butchered French. It actually worked out amazing and I was able to speak French with him for the rest of my visit! It was great practice for me and I was proud of my ability to communicate.
After wine, gin and tonics, hashish, and a joint, I decided I was going to go out on my own and have a wine or two to see the Madrid nightlife. I went to a bar and met some of the nicest people! The owner of Leka Opera, Raul, and one of the servers, Sophia, took me under their wing and I was out until 5am having the most amazing time. This is quite normal in Madrid and when I was walking home, there were still people out everywhere. It was an amazing first day in Madrid!
Cheesy drunk smiles with my buddy Raul
Saturday, September 29
I slept in, what a surprise. Luckily I didn’t feel bad or hungover so I was able to jump right into touring around the city. I started with the Royal Palace that was just about 5 minutes from my place. There was a queue a mile long, so I opted to not go inside unfortunately, but it was spectacular to view from the exterior. It’s the largest palace in Europe!
The amazing Royal Palace of Madrid
Immediately next to the Palace is the lovely Cathedral de la Almudena. It has one of the most beautiful and intricate ceilings I have seen! Absolutely amazing!
I then just started wandering around, slowly making my way to Sol, the heart of the city. The buildings are so intricate and each one impressed me more than the one before! Truly a beautiful city.
Saturday back home means football. Since I had such a big night last night, I decided to just get some snacks at the supermercado and snuggle in with my laptop to watch the Clemson game. Kickoff was at 9:30pm and I expected to be able to shut it off at half time or the third quarter, but the game was too close for comfort. We almost lost but somehow pulled off a win in the end. But by 1:30 when it was over, my nerves were shot and I was not able to go to sleep at all! I read and tried to calm myself down but it was around 3am before I could fall asleep.
Slicing jamon straight from the leg right in the supermercado
Sunday, September 30
I hopped the handy Metro this morning and went over to Parque de El Retiro, similar to Central Park. 
Monument of Alfonso XII where you can rent boats in the famous central lake
Gorgeous Palacio de Cristal
Next I just strolled up the Calle Gran Via and admired all the gorgeous architecture. It took my breath away how each building was so detailed and unique. I was in my happy place for sure, and just feeling so grateful for my time roaming around this spectacular city.
I happened to walk past a cool store that had tarot cards, incense, candles, and all those baubles I love. I purchased a beautiful Spanish tarot card deck for myself and couldn’t be more pleased with this as a unique souvenir to remember Madrid!
Monday, September 30
The Renfe high speed train from Madrid to Barcelona is a scenic 3 hour journey! So excited to see my Wonderland friends in Barcelona!
Where's Lindsey? 