Madrid and Toledo

This is the second post about my Spring break with my family in Spain!  This post covers Madrid and Toledo.

On Wednesday morning, my family and I flew from Barcelona to Madrid where we would spend the next few days.  It was surprising to learn that for the days we wanted to go, it was cheaper to fly than to take the train.  We were meeting family members, Carl and Cheryl, who were also in Madrid for a few days.  

Once we arrived, we walked around Madrid and found the Marcado di San Miguel.  This was a very classy market and was more catered to people who wanted to eat there.  It is hard to explain, but it wasn’t the typical fruits, vegetables, and meat market that I am used to going to.  This had premade food, like tapas, sandwiches, small pizzas, desserts, and gelato where people were standing around tables, eating, and drinking.  I highly recommend going here if you are in Madrid. 

Carl and Cheryl met us in the market and we decided to do a 1.5 hour guided bus tour of Madrid.  I did not realize how large the city of Madrid is!  Since we had only been there for a few hours it was nice to be able get a layout of the city and see some things that we would not have seen on our own, like driving by the Real Madrid stadium, and some of the parks.  

We got off the bus at the Prado museum and headed inside.  The Prado museum houses many of Goya’s masterpieces, and some of Caravaggio’s Rembrandt’s, and Raphael’s artwork to name a few.  Dinner was interesting to say the least and it served a more typical Spanish cuisine.  I was definitely missing my Italian food.

On Thursday, we all took a day trip to Toledo.  It was a really interesting city and it is known as the “city of three cultures”!  The city has three religious groups that co-exist: Christians, Muslims, and Jews.  The architecture is very medieval and there are many sights to visit.  Included in our bus ticket to Toledo, was this “train” ride around the city.  This provided us with some of Toledo’s history.  We also got an incredible view of the city.  

We walked around and saw many of the most important sights.  We also stopped to ask one of the locals where to eat.  We were all so glad we did because lunch was amazing!  We ate at La Enredadera and I highly recommend it if you are in Toledo.  It is not a tourist trap and they served so much food for a great price.

Once we arrived back in Madrid, we headed back to the hotel to freshen up before heading back out.  We went to the Egyptian Temple and then headed to the gardens of the Royal Palace.  We walked up to the Royal Palace and saw a line.  We originally thought they were offering free admission to the Palace because it was after 6:00 PM, but then we learned that they were having a free concert inside the Palace.  We thought this would be cool to go to, so we stood in line.

Unfortunately, it filled up before we were able to get in, so we went into the Cathedral next door and then went to dinner and churros.  Because everyone was still full from lunch, we found a pizza place and ordered a few pizzas for everyone to split.  Our next stop was Chocolateria San Gines.  It is open 24 hours a day and serves churros!  We had to get more churros before leaving Spain!  I prefer when the churros have the sugar coating, but these were still very good and the chocolate was delicious.

Friday morning, we woke up and headed to the Royal Palace.  We were the first in line, so it was not crowded when we got in.  Rachel and I took MANY more pictures in front of the Palace, and then we headed inside.  We had to get around many tour groups, but overall the Palace was stunning.  It is a newer Palace, compared to some of the others that we have visited.  The Royal Family of Spain no longer lives there, so it is now just used for special events.

We walked into a room that had many Stradivarius violins.  My dad asked one of the workers if these are ever used anymore and they were actually used in the concert the night before! So that would have been really cool to be at in the Royal Chapel. 

We had a flight to catch back to Barcelona so we went back to the airport.  My family had an early flight to catch on Saturday morning back to the United States and I had one a little later in the morning back to Rome.  I was able to speak some Spanish with people in Spain, which I was happy about.  I definitely do not remember everything I learned from high school, but some of it was coming back.  It also helps that Italian is similar to Spanish. 

Overall, I had a great time in Spain with my family.  I was happy that I was able to spend time with them and that they could come to Europe.  Unfortunately, Suzanne could not join us because she was rowing in Florida, but I loved that they still came.  It was a nice break from the same 220 students at JFRC J.  It was also nice being able to meet up with Carl and Cheryl in Madrid. 

Thankfully, with midterms over, I did not have too much to worry about when I got back to campus.  I waited for Colleen to arrive from Paris and then we shared a taxi back home.  We ordered some Chinese/Japanese food for dinner and put on a movie on Netflix.  It was a nice way to spend the night after a week of traveling!

I spent the rest of the week in classes and then went to Pisa and Florence with Marissa.  That blog post is coming up next!  

Arrivederci!

~Christina