Ma-Day in Madrid — ALEXANDRA.MBK

Spain is magic. Before coming to Madrid, I had been to Barcelona (one of the greatest cities in the world), Valencia, and Mallorca on a family vacation, but those are all coastal cities and I wanted to be in the heart of Spain. Madrid is in the dead center of Spain and rich with culture, which prompted Matt and me to book a weekend trip in November. We thought that this would be a perfect time to go as there would be less tourists, more authenticity, and we could finally go somewhere without needing heavy jackets. While the first two were certainly true, Madrid was the first place in Europe we saw snow. So naturally, we were inadequately prepared and FREEZING, but the views of the landscape coupled with the medieval and Romanesque architecture more than made up for our lack of preparedness.

When we were planning our itinerary, we saw that many of the attractions in Madrid itself were museums (mostly art), the Plaza Mayor, and the night life generally. I started looking at various tours that we could do, but I kept coming across day trips to Toledo, Segovia, and Avila. Toledo would take multiple days itself to do it justice, so we decided to do a day trip to Segovia and Avila despite the fact that we would not really see much of Madrid. In order to compensate for our lack of time and ability to see Madrid during the day, we decided that we would go to Plaza Mayor at 7:30 AM before starting our tour at 8:45 AM. This was particularly difficult, as our flight got delayed due to fires in France the night before, and we did not get in until 12:30 PM. Luckily, our AirBnB host was amazing and picked us up from the airport even though we did not know when we would land and how late it would actually be. Before I get into our strange morning, I would just like to mention that our AirBnB in Madrid was the BEST experience we have had with the service. Our host, Wim, was incredible - he got us to and from the airport despite terrible times at both ends, told us so much about the city, offered day trips all around the area as well as great tickets to flamenco shows at night (which we are definitely coming back for), and had an absolutely incredible place. His terrace was like an outdoor living room, complete with pool, comfortable furniture, and an abundance of jungle plants. If you go to Madrid, you would be doing yourself a huge disservice not to look him up and stay with him.

But back to our strange morning. We took an Uber early in the morning to get to Plaza Mayor. Much to my chagrin, it was still dark outside, but apparently that fits Spain very well. As we were driving into the city, we noticed that it was like a ghost town. The only people who were out were people whose previous night had not yet ended, rather than people starting their day. When we got to the Plaza, it was completely empty, save for random construction crates, and it was still dark. We decided that we would go get breakfast somewhere, because surely there would be places nearby that had a great local breakfast. We walked around for 20 minutes and could not find ANYTHING and because Matthew needs to eat every five minutes, especially right when he wakes up, we caved and decided to go to the nearby Starbucks. As we walk up to the door at 7:45 AM, we noticed that it would not open. I was so confused, because I could see lights on inside and people working, but the door would not open. Matt said, “Alex, look at the sign,” and sure enough, Starbucks in Spain does not open until 8 AM. WHAT?! Spain is really on a different schedule than the rest of the world. They run much later than anywhere I have ever traveled to, but I needed coffee and Matt needed food so we waited. After breakfast, it was slightly lighter outside, so we walked around the Plaza and took some pictures before making our way to the tour.

(Click image above for more pics of Plaza Mayor)

Our tour started with the drive to Avila, which was a stunning scenic view of the Parque Nacional de la Sierra de Guadarrama, a mountain range along the Iberian Peninsula. I was distracted by the incredible mountain scenery, cows, sheep, and a climate that seemed to fluctuate before our eyes. We went into a long tunnel with blue skies ahead and came out to a cold and overcast world as we headed towards Avila. Our Spanish tour guide Rafa, who translated the tour in English and Spanish the whole time, had actually been to Lincoln, Nebraska before, which was thrilling for Matthew and me (Aunt Preeta, thank you for pointing out this grammatical tip - I now notice it constantly 😂). We made it to Avila and visited the Basilica de San Vicente, which is a gorgeous church honoring the Christian martyrs Vicente, Sabina, and Cristeta. We then entered the city itself, which is surrounded by medieval walls that I feel like every child dreams about and associates with the age of Camelot. In fact, these defensive fortifications are the most complete in all of Spain and they enclose the entire beautiful city. We walked through different plazas of Avila, noting the Romanesque architecture and insane amount of religious structures, before making it to the Church and Convent of Santa Teresa de Jesus. Mother Teresa was a Spanish nun, prominent mystic (though later it was decided that she probably had epilepsy), and theologian, who was deemed to be a Doctor of the Church 400 years after she died. Venerated within this town, her convent is in the location where she was born and where she was integral in reformation of the Carmelite order. Outside this area was an incredible view of the surrounding mountains - it was pastoral, colorful, and like nothing I have ever seen. We then walked by the Cathedral of Avila, which was actually a cathedral-fortress and part of the city walls. When we left Avila, our tour took us to a view of the entire city encased within the city walls and it felt like looking back in time. For Matt, this was the highlight of the entire trip.

(Click image above for more pics of the Basilica de San Vicente)

(Click image above for more pics of the Walls of Avila)

(Click image above for more pics of the square of Santa Teresa de Jesus)

(Click image above for more pics of Avila Cathedral)

(Click image above for more views of Avila)

(Click image above for more random sights of Avila)

After Avila, we started our journey to Segovia. When we got there, we had a lunch break where the tour included a beverage and a tapa (singular). It was…unsatisfying due to its small size, so we grabbed a quick actual lunch and walked around the aqueduct before rejoining the group. The Roman Aqueduct in Segovia was built sometime at the end of the 1st century AD and is one of the best preserved Roman aqueducts in the world. It was absolutely massive and breathtaking. Then, we went to the Cathedral of Segovia, which was one of the most intricately decorated and ornate churches I have ever seen. Inside, there are endless works of art, arches, and altars. Finally, we made it to the Alcazar of Segovia, which is a medieval castle overlooking two rivers and the Guadarrama Mountains. Without surprise, the majestic castle inspired Disney and his Cinderella castle, but now it is used as a military archives building and museum.

(Click image above for more pics of the Aqueduct)

(Click image above for more pics of the Cathedral of Segovia)

(Click image above for more pics of the Alcazar and incredible views from it)

(Click image below for random sights of Segovia)

After this LONG tour, we made it back to Madrid at sunset. We walked around busy shopping streets and eventually stumbled into a cute little place to get tapas, which were super delicious. We then went back to Plaza Mayor at night and there were literally thousands of people everywhere we looked. The locals in Madrid are always out and about at night, and it was some very fun people-watching for Matt and me. We decided to wait in a line 40 people deep for churros and fudge, which were surprisingly disappointing, and subsequently made our way back to the AirBnB because we were both exhausted. On the plus side, I had a very long conversation in (broken) Spanish with our Uber driver on the way home and felt very proud of myself while Matt understand basically none of it. Still, Spain is so unique and majestic - we both felt in awe at all of the incredible natural beauty surrounding us and the medieval structures that jumped right out of a storybook. Our time here was way too short, but it has made me decide that one day, I would love to take a 2 week road trip all through Spain because there is as much magic in the small towns as there are in the big cities.

Adios amigos y familia,

Alexandra

(Click image below for random sights and foods of Madrid)