Small Town Girls in the Gran Ciudad

A weekend trip with the girls to Madrid; from palaces, to art, to bulls, and more.

Standing outside of the Plaza de Torros

Another weekend trip, but this time it was just a weekend with the girls to one of the biggest cities in the world: MADRID! The weekend was filled with tons of tourists, confusing metro rides, amazing art, and a bloody bullfight.

After living in a smaller city, such as Oviedo, where the only people who speak English are the exchange students, it was really strange to go to Madrid, where English was spoken almost as much as Spanish. It was so different to walk around the streets, hearing English after 3 months being surrounded by Spanish.

_{Statue of Don Quijote and Sancho Paza}

Traveling around Madrid of course included taking the Metro, which was confusing at first (we made a couple mistakes) but after 3 days, we had it down.

_{Learning how to use the Metro (more or less)}

We of course visited the big art museums: El Prado and Sofia Reina, which was a day all in its own. The art museums are absolutely amazing, and I could have stayed there all day. At one point, I stood in front of one of my favorite Picasso paintings and actually began to well-up. It is so overwhelming to see all that amazing art in one place, I still can barely believe it.

_{Picasso's "La Cabeza de la Mujer" (the painting that made me teary-eyed)}

We also saw the Palacio Real, which is one of the most intricate things I have ever seen. The outside was beautiful, surrounded by fountains and gardens. The inside of the building is what really took our breath away. Every wall, ceiling, floor, and piece of furniture is covered in gold, or carvings, or paint, or some sort of decoration. My friends and I just sat back and thought about what it must have been like to actually live in the palace back then.

_{View of the Palacio Real from the gardens below}

And the most memorable event of the weekend was the bullfight! “La Corrida de los Torros”, was definitely an experience to remember. I advise everyone to really think twice before attending a bullfight, and if you do be prepared for some gore (I won’t get into detail for those with a weak stomach). Initially, we were all disgusted with the bullfight and couldn’t even watch. However, as the fight progressed, we began to see how bullfighting is a real art for the toreros. Although I can’t say I’d do it again, it was definitely an experience that I am glad I had while in Spain. I can now say I’ve been to a bullfight in Spain.

_{Bull and Bullfighter staring eachother down}