Week 4: Four Things I Learned This Week in Spain

This week has been incredibly fun and busy, and I think my decision to explore more of Madrid has paid off. I revisited the Reina Sofía, which is quickly becoming my favorite spot in the city, but also tried new restaurants and visited new neighborhoods. Here's what I learned this week:

{escaping the heat in Palacio de Cristal}

1. What 106 degrees really means. Temperatures this high mean feeling groggy, sleepy, and lethargic, which totally justifies the remedy of endless ice cream, cold drinks, and hours spent in the pool. Right?

{matcha ice cream with white chocolate chips at my new favorite place}

{Me and my friend Corrine in Puerta de Sol}

2. It's a small world, which means you may be lucky enough to spend a day in Madrid with someone you go to school with. As some of my au pair friends start leaving (I've already had to say three goodbyes), this is something to keep in mind. You never know who you might get to see again! :)

{photoception in Palacio de Cristal}

3. You can wholly and unironically be proud to be American. There are a lot of things that will distinguish you as an American abroad (including baseball caps, sneakers, the accent, talking too loudly on the metro, and saying you want a burger) but my personal favorite is that everyone in your country now legally has the right to get married. While there is more progress to be made, this is huge and it's definitely about time. I haven't felt homesick yet, but on Friday I really wished I was home visiting the White House and Supreme Court with all my friends in Washington, D.C.

{new piece at the Reina Sofía}

4. Horchata is delicious. As part of the #treatyoself lifestyle, I walked into La Mallorquina, an amazing bakery located in Sol, and bought myself a napolitano and horchata. While I have a serious sweet tooth, this was definitely too much sugar for even me. I'd never get the two together again, but I'm definitely going to enjoy horchata more often while I'm here in Spain. 

{napolitano de chocolate & horchata}

You may not hear from me for a while since I'm headed to Italy TOMORROW! My mom and brother are visiting me in Madrid and after a day in the city, we head off on a two-week trip to Venice, Florence, Rome, and then Barcelona. Can't wait to share the details with you all! Until then, enjoy a few more pictures from this week:

{view of Gran Vía}

{museum exploring}

{a #nofilter sunset from Templo de Debod}

{exhibition on gentrification in New York & D.C.}

~ V

Read also: Week 1, Week 2, Week 3

Week 2: Five Things I Learned This Week in Spain

This second week flew by so quickly. Every day was packed with new things to do: during the week, I visited el Museo Nacional del Prado for the first time and also got to explore two new neighborhoods, Chueca and la Latina. Then over the weekend, I spontaneously went to northern Spain with a new friend and visited León, Oviedo, and Gijón (new travels posts coming soon!). Here's what I learned this week:

{Plaza de Torros}

1. Exploring. This week has been a reminder that heading to the less-famous spots is sometimes the way to go. I finally wandered beyond Sol, where many of the au pairs often meet up, and found new neighborhoods, some cheap bars with good tapas, and the best view of the city I've seen yet. Likewise, the three cities I visited in the North aren't exactly the most popular tourist sites, and it was nice being able to escape the crowds for a while and see some lesser-known sights.

{admiring the buildings in La Latina}

{street art in la Latina}

2. The difference between alone and lonely. I went out exploring in Madrid by myself on Wednesday and really enjoyed being able to go where I wanted at my own pace. My plans with a friend fell through, so I walked around for a bit before exploring new neighborhoods. I got on the Metro and picked a random stop on the map and just went. I used to be really good at spending time by myself, but when I'm at home or at school, there's always someone around so alone time is more rare. I think it's important to have a good balance between introvert-extrovert and when I'm so far away from all my friends and family, it's nice to have a bit of space to enjoy time with myself.

{churros con chocolate from San Ginés}

3. Food. I came to Spain knowing that this trip was not going to be an endless food-venture; the country that prides itself in its jamón and seafood paella isn't exactly vegetarian-friendly. But I think I at some point this weekend I reached my breaking point. After all, there's only so much fruit, pastries, and tortillas de patata you can live on. Luckily, I found a vegetarian restaurant in Gijón and was able to enjoy just one meal on our trip that wasn't entirely white bread, fried potatoes, or fruit. And in about two weeks, I'll be able to eat all the authentic pizza, pasta, and gelato I desire when my family and I go to Italy.

{museum exploring}

{Catedral de La Almudena} 

4. Travel. With a five hour drive from Madrid to León, two hours from León to Oviedo, half an hour from Oviedo to Gijón, and seven and a half hours from Gijón to Madrid, I spent a lot of this weekend on ALSA busses, but I'm not complaining. For nearly all of the bus trips, we had decent wifi, ample leg room, and a trip that started and ended on time, which is much more than I can say for the Bolt Bus back home. 
Beyond that, while I haven't had the "traditional" hostel experience, complete with sharing a room with several strangers, I can now say I have experienced hostel life! Our hostels were easy to find online, fairly cheap, and centrally located in the cities we visited. I now feel much more confident planning my next trip around Spain.

{some greenery in Madrid}

5. Money. Compared to what I'm used to paying for lunch or drinks, everything here is so cheap! It's amazing to be able to get a beer, glass of wine, or full meal for the equivalent of a dollar. A new restaurant opened up in my neighborhood in DC and when I checked out their menu and saw a $7 sandwich I laughed; while this is a price I'm technically used to paying back home, I'd never pay more than 4€ here and in fact, I often pay just 1€.

All in all, it's been a busy week and I'm happy to be back in Madrid after a long weekend in the north. I found a quote somewhere that said, "Don't count the days; make the days count." While I can't help but do the former, I'm doing my best to make sure I do the latter as well. :) Have a good week!

~ V

Read also: Week 1

Ten Things I Learned This Week in Spain

Now that I've officially been here for a whole seven days (yikes!) I thought it might be fun to do a weekly series in which I highlight what I learn during my trip. I've learned so much already that I could go on and on about everything so far, but for the sake of brevity, I thought it might be best to stick to ten highlights. Here's what I learned this week:

 {from last week's trip to el Escorial}

1. Vale. I find myself relying on crutch words like "vale" or "sí" so much more than I'd like to admit. While coming to Spain is a harsh reminder of how far I am from being fluent, even the simple incorporation of the word "vale" in my vocabulary (they only use the word in Spain!) is a reminder of how much my Spanish is going to improve this summer.

2. Metro. I have such a big appreciation for public transport here since I can't drive and the only way to get into the city center is by bus and metro. While my commute from my host family's home to the city center is unfortunately a whole hour, I don't mind it as much when I think about how great the Madrid Metro is. It's so easy to understand, it runs so often, and it's incredibly clean and safe at all hours.

3. Nightlife. I went out for the first time this past Saturday and oh my goodness, Madrid nightlife is something else. Whenever my friends and I go out in DC, I take secret pleasure in starting at a decent time, anywhere between 8 and 10 PM, and being in bed (we're talking contacts out, PJs on, eyes closed) by 1 AM. I'm a grandma, I know. But my night out in Madrid lasted a whole 12 hours. I came home exhausted and slightly delirious from sleep deprivation, but no one batted an eye when I walked into the house so late. That's something I'd never had the desire to do (sleep is bae) but I'm glad I had a fun night out with some new friends.

4. Tinto de verano is overrated. This might be an unpopular opinion, but I'll take sangria over tinto de verano any day. Multiple people had recommended I try the drink after coming here, especially at 100 Montaditos, but eh.

5. That being said, 100 Montaditos is amazing. I don't care how basic of me it is to say so, but I love 100 Montaditos. Their drinks are so damn cheap and on Mondays, their montaditos are only HALF A EURO. That's insane you guys. I had lunch for 1 Euro, which is the equivalent of $1.11. It's cheap and still tastes good, so I'm in heaven.

{Retiro}

6. Being an au pair is fantastic. This is probably something I could (and will) do a whole post on, but for the time being, let me just say that being an au pair is the cheapest and best way to travel if you're looking to really know your country and be immersed in its culture. I'm trying to think of a time I've made a better decision for myself and I'm coming up blank.

7. Europe does it better. There's nothing like travel to make you better understand and appreciate your own home, and while I do miss the States and value it more when I'm away, I'm starting to think Europe is the place to live. Education is SO much cheaper here and flying from one country to another is such a small fraction of the cost of my flight to Madrid. Not to mention that many of the world's best cities are so close by, too. Casual.

8. Sometimes, people are amazing. My host family is incredible and I'm reminded every day how fortunate I am to be with them. I've also met so many other au pairs from all over the world, and they're all so friendly. Even strangers are really welcoming and patient with my Spanish, which makes me feel welcome and even happier to be here.

9. Spain is beautifully diverse. I'm kind of cheating with this one here, because this is something I knew before coming here but oh well. Spain is so incredibly diverse both geographically and culturally. There's such a good blend of city and nature and I can't wait to travel beyond the Madrid area to begin experiencing the cultural diversity Spain has as well.

10. The weather. It is so hot here every day and it's only moderately cooler in the late night and early morning. But when you think about how Madrid is right in the middle of the Iberian Peninsula, it's not hard to understand why it's not humid here, and the dry air is doing amazing things to my hair. For the first time in my entire life, I don't have any frizz and it's glorious. If your hair frizzes in Madrid, please do yourself a favor and never, ever go to Florida.

Now that this introductory week is over, I feel more comfortable exploring even more. Stay tuned for what Week 2 brings!

~ V