Hola mis amigos!

Even if you’re a die-hard Barcelona fan, I find that you will still enjoy scrolling through this post, scattered with artistic photos and funny recollections. Just don’t look at the last photo 😉 To make this an unbiased La Liga platform (La Liga is the professional soccer league in Spain), I’ll make sure to include a Barcelona post titled Mes Que Un Club.

A trip to Spain a few years ago presented me with the diverse setting of the country; the South of Spain by itself is so distinct, but I am told that the south contrasted with the north feels like two different countries.

My two week excursion in Spain started in Madrid, then in Cordoba, took me through the beach areas of Malaga, briefly rested to see La Alhambra in Granada, skipped throughout Valencia, and finally ended in the flourishing city of Barcelona.

A post on the entirety of Spain, really just two weeks of the south, would be an awfully long post but a post on its entirety should really sound intriguing and exciting; so here goes a short snip-it of Madrid!

Madrid set a positive tone for the rest of trip and it’s a city where I know I’ve got to come back. Here are some of the key features of Madrid:

The City Scene

The metro stations provided an easy route to see all of the city’s liveliness. It’s possible to do it all by foot, though: just ask my wonderful father who assumed walking thirteen miles in one morning was the way to experience Madrid. This is no plug for a FitBit, but when you travel, I highly recommend bringing a smartwatch to track how many miles you walk in a day— it’s really surprising! And you’ll low-key be really impressed with yourself 😉

The royal palace in Madrid has a few rooms open for public viewing. The depth of the engraving, the detail of the artwork, and the sheer extravagance should amaze you. The royal palace in Madrid was also the place where I learned how popular selfie sticks are but also where I found out how annoying selfie sticks are. Don’t take selfies on the stairs or you may break your stick and your phone. 🙂

The ice cream in Madrid was delicious; the best ice cream in Spain was from this ice cream shop in front of the Cathedral in Sevilla. The key lime flavored ice-cream really hit the spot in that arduous ninety degree weather.

Art & Architecture

Each city has its own unique art and style of buildings. Toledo, for example, a city right out of Madrid, had a lot of gothic style architecture. In Barcelona, the buildings and arts are heavily influenced by Gaudi, if not, they are designed by the famous artist himself.

There are numerous art museums in Madrid. El Prado, also the national art museum, features my mom’s favorite painting called Las Meninas by Diego Velasquez.

Retiro Park

The day we flew into Madrid, we had time to walk around Retiro Park: an artful garden full of shady trees and water fountains. No matter when, the park seemed full of people, whether it was having a remote boat contest in the water, or tourists, like my family and I, snapping pictures and finding the perfect photo for our Christmas card.

Madrid is a city that shows balance of nature within the city. The retreat from crowded shopping malls and narrow streets makes Retiro Park of Madrid feel like a different city.

… Oh, is that the Real Madrid Stadium?

Welcome to my soccer obsessed family: We literally tour soccer stadiums on vacation. Not joking. I’ll do a post soon about all of the different soccer stadiums we tour and maybe you’ll understand what it’s like to tour soccer stadiums at the request of my dad and brother and not ever go to the beach.

I feel that it would be an injustice to my family if I did not include a little segment about the Madrid Stadium.

It’s great if you love soccer: there’s my segment.

😉

Have a wonderful week, everyone! Thank you for reading and I wish you the best week. And yes, I have continued quite a cliché trend but not following it might discredit an earlier post. Here it is:

“He who travels has stories to tell.” -Gaelic Proverb

 

<a href=”https://www.bloglovin.com/blog/18872017/?claim=x7pm9gj5zv9″>Follow my blog with Bloglovin</a>