We arrived in Madrid after a six hour bus ride and checked into our AirBnB which was in a neighborhood called Justicia. Shortly after arriving, we met up with two of my good friends whom I met while they were studying abroad at Cal Poly. They are both named Ane and they are originally from San Sebastian, Spain but have been living in Madrid for a couple of months. I hadn’t seen them in four years so this was a long overdue visit. We went to a nearby restaurant and got drinks and tapas but this time we had native Spaniards ordering for us, which was nice! We got a plate of fried peppers, two hot bites (different toppings on bread) with pork and onions and another one with blood sausage, and a scramble with eggs, potatoes and jam on. They even had gluten free bread at this place so Al got to try it all. The next day we got an American style brunch, pancakes and all, for the first time on the trip. It felt like we were back at home. I guess you could say we are missing our comfort foods a bit. We walked along the main shopping street, Gran Via, and went to a store called Primark which the Anes (we call my Spanish friends “the Anes”) had told us about the day before. It was a department store that was five stories high with reasonably priced clothes and accessories similar to H&M. It was packed with people and overwhelming but we managed to buy a few things trying to kill time before our walking tour. The content of our walking tour overlapped with the ones in Seville and Malaga but it was still interesting learning about some Madrid specific things. One of the first things our tour guide mentioned was how the “cultural things” you think of when you think of Spain - siesta, flamenco, tapas, sangria - describe more of the Southern Spanish state, Andalusia (which is south of Madrid). Madrid is the capital city of Spain, has 6 million people, is smack in the middle of the country and is a mix of people from all parts of Spain. People from Madrid are called Madrileños and only about 10% are what they call “Los Gatos”, meaning that at least two generations are from Madrid. We also learned the origin of “tapas” which date back to medieval times when hungry peasants came back after a long day of working in the fields and had to choose whether to get food or drink since they were poor. Most choose to get a drink and thus they went back to work with an empty stomach which resulted in lower productivity. So bars started including a small portion of food with drinks when they were ordered. Voila, TAPAS. Our tour guide also mentioned how some people in Spain tend to hide the negative parts of its history (even in education). There aren’t really museums about the Spanish Inquisition or the hardships of the Muslims/Jews, like in some other European countries. Although most of the “swept under the rug” history has to do with the more recent Spanish Civil War. The market crash in 2008, also had a big impact on the country and unemployment for people 30 and under went up to 47%! As a result, many of this generation left Spain to work elsewhere, which our tour guide said was has led to a more diversified and knowledgeable mindset in Spain. Towards the end of our tour, Al started to feel a fever come on (sickness had been brewing for a couple days) so the rest of our time in Madrid was pretty relaxed. I met up with my girlfriends a couple more times for a drink, while Al rested. Unfortunately, our AirBnb was situated right above a bar that played loud music until 3:30 AM so we didn’t sleep that great but we like to say we “stayed up” as late as the locals as a result. Our last morning we got up at 5:30 AM to catch our 7 AM bus to Barcelona and as we were walking to the bus stop, there were still tons of people out and about coming back from the clubs. CRAZY! Seriously, there were drunk people stumbling into the subway station with us.
It was great seeing my friends and getting to ask some local Spaniards the truth behind the late nights and pushed back days. They told me that they try to utilize sunlight as much as possible and dinner is the last part of their day before going to sleep. They come back from work and go to the gym, go grocery shopping, etc. and then eat dinner whereas we may tend to do some of these things after dinner (or at least Al and I did). I also got to really experience the whole bar/tapas culture where people meet their friends in the evening, grab a drink and a tapa and stand at the bar socializing, and then go to another one. It was hard for me (and expensive!) to keep up with the drinking and I ordered a coke my last time meeting them. Other than that, my friends had 9-5 jobs and lived pretty similar lives to what Al and I did back in San Diego. I’m so glad I got to see them but I did feel bad that Al got sick again and I did my best to get him better! (Al wasn’t happy about it either and was bummed we didn’t get to explore Madrid more.)
Our bus to Barcelona (trains were more expensive in Spain - flights were the next cheapest option after bus) was eight hours long although it went by fast since we left so early in the morning and were still sleepy. We got to Barcelona and checked into our accommodation. This time we stayed at a hotel we got through a Priceline Express deal. It claimed to be four stars although Al and I do not think it deserved that rating, but it was still nice. We had two full days in Barcelona and we hit all the main spots and walked ALOT. Luckily, Al felt a little better after we got a solid nights sleep in our quiet hotel room. We explored Park Guell, the 1992 Olympic stadium, La Sagrada Familia (insanely beautiful stain glassed windows), walked along the boardwalk/beach (although it was colder and not as crowded) and we attempted to do a free walking tour but after the first five minutes we left because our guide was bizarre (we think he was on drugs or something). This was my second time in Barcelona and now that I have other Spanish cities to compare it to, I don’t think its my favorite. We found it a little dirty and less charming. But it was a great place to end our time in Europe and La Sagrada Familia is an insane building that is like no other we’ve seen. Everyone who is able should visit it once (maybe when it’s finally finished).
It is crazy to think we are half way through our trip and have been officially traveling for over 90 days. While it feels like it went by fast, thinking back to our time in Copenhagen feels like forever ago. During our 90 days, we visited 31 cities spanning 11 countries. We learned an insane amount of history, gained some new perspectives on life, saw some insanely beautiful scenery, met some new friends as well as old, learned how to cook delicious Italian food, laughed alot, cried sometimes, got sick, got hangry, and enjoyed every single second of it. We learned a lot about ourselves, each other and our relationship as well as what is important to us in life versus what isn’t. And this is all just from Europe, a more Westernized part of the world.
As we now head to SE Asia, we are nervous but excited for the challenges and new insights we gain. While we could’ve visited a few more countries in Europe (not in the Schengen region - can only stay 90 days there), it was impossible to see EVERYTHING, the weather was getting cold and all the cities were starting to look the same. We also started to crave something different, maybe a little more culturally shocking. But I have no doubt we’ll be back to Europe one day.
On to Asia!