Seven days was all it was, one week over spring break, and then we were to go back to our regular lives. Each individual day we spent felt endless by itself, but they only seemed to keep passing by when we looked back each day. I personally chose to do a week abroad as I felt it was the perfect amount of time to be away and try out what study abroad is all about. We are all so happy now to be back home and at UMass Lowell, but I wouldn’t be lying if I said that I would want one more day back over in Madrid.

The First Day of Many:

The flight went by smoothly, and we had somehow finally made it to the land we had learned so much about. Madrid was finally within our reach. After meeting with our API guide, Fran, at the airport, we took our shuttle over to our hotel, which just so happened to be right in the geographical heart of Madrid. We were very hungry, so my group ended up getting churros with hot chocolate. After having settled in with our accommodations, we were in the fight to stay awake for the rest of the day. Some others and I decided to take a way around the city center to get acquainted with our surroundings. Somehow, by the end of it, we had found ourselves eating 99-cent cheesecake, which was what fueled me for the rest of the night. A rather poor decision was made to get tapas after dessert, but we searched around for recommended places to eat. We ordered some drinks and conversed until the tiredness took us over. After making it back to the hotel, we were finally in Madrid for real.

A Day of Rest and Royalty:

The main objective of today was to make it to the Royal Collections Gallery, which was over the Royal Palace of Madrid. We made our way over to Puerta del Sol, which is the center from which all streets in Madrid branch out. From here, we got onto the train for the first time. The cleanliness, ease of use, abundance of stops, and overall frequency of trains were leagues better than what I experienced back home. With this train ride and a small walk, we made it to the gallery. Every time we would be walking, there would always be some bits of info being thrown at us about the surrounding area. Every step you took was a step through a different part of history. The Royal Collections Gallery itself was fantastic, in large part due to the great tour guide we had. When the tour concluded, we headed over to El Rastro market, then grabbed more drinks and tapas from across the street from the palace. When we concluded with our meal, the final decision landed on the Thyssen-Bornemisza National Museum. Like everything else so far, the museum was fantastic and had such a variety of different works. When night fell, we decided to head over to Retiro Park after grabbing some dessert. It was quite rewarding to finally sit down and purely enjoy some dessert and each other’s presence by the moonlit pond that sat before us.

Here Comes Day Three:

By the third day we were all here, we were pretty much locals. There was no better way to start the day than exploring the city center and getting to really understand the Civil War from this perspective on a walking tour. The tour concluded at the ancient Temple of Debod, which was a gift from Egypt to the city and is the oldest structure standing in Madrid. We were told that there would be great views from this temple, and there were. More time was spent taking photos here than at any other place during the trip, and nobody is to blame; it was a stunning view. We were overlooking the Parque de Casa de Campo, which is another large park that spans most of western Madrid. From here, it was decided that we were to go to the royal palace, as we weren’t able to obtain tickets the previous day. By some stroke of luck, when we made it there, there was practically no line. The palace, upon first entry, was a sight to behold; it took me by such surprise to see every inch of the initial interior so beautifully decorated. As we continued through the different rooms of the palace, I was cooninued to be shocked by the elaborate decorations and design choices made for each family and the different eras that inhabited it. When in Madrid, you were aware of the history that surrounded you, but it was no more obvoius then when in this palace, surrounded by artifacts of old. Our visit to the palace made up most of our time that day, as it ended up raining. The best plan of action was to head back to the hotel to rest and regroup soon after. To close out the night, we went to EL Riojano, which was a nice cafe/bakery that was over by the city center. We used this as a time to regroup before we made our way over to Parentesis for a book talk hosted by Professor Z. The night ended shortly after, as tomorow mornings weather looked unruly and we had to leave earlier than expected.

Somehow Tuesday:

Although our trip was heavily focused on the city of Madrid and the history surrounding it, we took a day trip to Salamanca. Salamanca is a city to the northwest of Madrid with a much higher elevation. Their elevation was higher by such a significant amount that it started to snow during our drive over. When we reached the city, we were greeted with the sight of golden sandstone as far as the eye could see. It was obvious now why it is called Spain’s Golden City. I had never seen a place as unique as Salamanca in terms of how it looks. The Cathedral that sat high above anything else in the city was visible from anywhere, and its late Gothic architecture was incredible to see in person. We decided to spend some time in the cathedral, taking in the views after receiving a short lecture on the history of Spain at the University of Salamanca. We spent probably a couple of hours in this cathedral, which just seemed to keep giving more the further you went into it. The cathedral itself is a combination of the old and new cathedrals, which were built into each other, giving such a unique contrast between what we may think is old and what is really old. To close out our time in the city, we did a walking tour starting in their plaza mayor and went over history and interesting facts about Salamanca. This day trip out was the perfect breath of fresh air to show us what the country of Spain can be like outside of its capital city.

A Wednesday to Remember:

For me and many others on this trip, Wednesday was a day that was to be packed full of activities, with not a moment being spared for sitting around. By this, I mean some of us were headed to see Real Madrid play in a Champions League playoff match against Manchester City. Before then, we were set to go to La Reina Sofia and view its works. One of the more important pieces that it had, I was very excited to see, was Guernica by Pablo Picasso. This piece was made in response to the bombing of the Basque city of Gernika by German planes sent by the Spanish Nationalists. It was probably where I spent most of my time in the museum due to the sheer size and context surrounding it. Very quickly after doing a tour of the rest of the museum, the others and I, who were set on going to the match, met at the hotel. The anticipation for this match was like no other, and at times it felt like every day prior was leading to now. Taking the metro to the stadium was fairly easy, but obviously busy once we got closer. The feeling in and around the stadium was electric. European football culture is unlike anything we have in the US, and I am so glad I was able to experience it here with this group. We may have all had separate seats, but we were all there to support Real Madrid. The match itself was as exciting as expected, with Madrid somehow winning in a shutout, and one of the players earning himself a hat trick. The entire day until now had pretty much sucked the life out of me, so I was dead set on going to the hotel ASAP. I made my way over, where I was stopped in my tracks right in front of the hotel, as the members of the opposing team started to unload out of their buses. It appeared that Man City had been staying across the street from us, and I caught them at the right moment. This final unexpected encounter perfectly capped off an already perfect day.

The Final Two Full Days:

It feels wrong to not give each of these two days their own separate time, but a lot of the time spent between each of these was on relaxing and taking in the city as we approached the end. Thursday, we went to see the breathtaking Las Ventas. This bullfighting ring was the most famous in all of the country of Spain, but it was not currently in use during our time there. We were able to walk in and around the arena, guided by our tour guide Carlos, who was able to make an activley under construction bullfighting arena a lot more interesting than many others may have been able to. Like always, by the end of any activity, some of us became hungry and were craving tapas. The bar on the Rooftop of Zara over in Plaza de España was what was chosen, and it was a sight to see. The vast sweeping landscape of the city was so impressive to see from this elevation, and made me reflect on what space we were taking up during our time in Madrid. The food and drink that we received were okay, but we were mainly there to soak up such a great view of Madrid. In the final few hours of the day, when we were out, some of us decided to get into the Prado for free. The museum is free for all for the last two hours it is open, but the line we saw upon approach looked impossibly long; thankfully, it moved at a swift enough pace. The main piece that I was there to see was Goya’s rendition of Saturn devouring his son. It is a piece with such truly raw emotion that is very direct with what it is trying to be. In our last few moments there, we scrambled to find Las Meninas while also trying to appreciate all the fantastic art we encountered along the way.

When Friday rolled around, we had finally accepted that our time here was coming to an end. This time was used for shopping and making sure we had done all the things we thought we wanted to do during the short time we had there. I ended up purchasing a Real Madrid jersey at El Corte Inglés, which is a massive store by the way. It took me approximately 15 minutes to finally ask a guard where the clothes were, to which he pointed me across the street and said that there was another whole building. A store that had practically everything you could want felt so uniquely American, yet I’m surprised no store in the US covers this much. One final stop at Retiro Park was made before we headed over to the paella dinner as we sat down and relaxed by the pond, reflecting on all the things we had done and all the memories that had been made in such a short period of time. The time finally came for our paella, and it was quite emotional. We knew it was practically a long-winded goodbye, but it was hard to accept that. The speech that Professor Z. gave was profound and had great timing with the music playing in the background. I was not confident whether I was going to see any of these students again, because we all follow different paths, but I was grateful to be sharing this last meal with all of them.

A Bittersweet Goodbye:

The moments leading up to our departure on our plane in the afternoon were somewhat saddening, but also great moments to think about all of the good times that had happened during the trip. Of course, nobody got to do everything they wanted to do just by principle, but we were all satisfied with what we had accomplished. As said previously, we all follow our own paths, and that even applies on trips like this, where no two students had the same experience, and will leave with different takeaways. The plane ride back was much longer than the first one, and wasn’t anything special, which is honestly a good thing in the air. Being back in Boston was a comforting feeling, but I walked through the gates of that airport with a now Spain-sized hole in my heart. The time that we spent in Madrid may have been generally short, but it left me with a lasting impact that I will think about until my return.