Dayton Knobloch

On February 23-26, I took a trip to Madrid, Spain. I stayed with Adri, a girl who had done an exchange program at my high school last year, and her parents. After a short flight from Heathrow to Madrid, Adri and her parents picked me up at the airport.  

One thing I learned about Spanish culture is that they eat their meals later than we do in America. For example, we eat lunch at noon, but they wait until 3 p.m., and for supper, we eat around 6-7 p.m., but they eat at 9 p.m. So, when I got to Madrid at 2 p.m., it was time to eat. They took me to an Italian restaurant on top of a mall for lunch. Another difference from America was that when you order water at a restaurant, you get a cup and a glass bottle of chilled water. I don’t know if it cost anything because all my meals were paid for. The rest of the day was spent at my friend’s apartment before she and I met two of her friends for supper at VIPS, which is like an Applebee’s for Spain.  

The next day was Friday, and Adri and I walked around Madrid’s central square area. I saw the Spanish Royal Palace, which in my opinion, looks cooler than Buckingham Palace in London, and it has a view overlooking a part of Madrid. She also took me to a place with a fantastic view of the city. That place there were also Egyptian Ruins that had been taken from Egypt. Weird. We then walked around and saw a statue of Christopher Columbus in the middle of a roundabout before we headed to the Spanish National Library. We ended our day in a park sitting by a lake, enjoying the beauty.  

Saturday was more relaxed. Adri and I left the house around noon to start my second full day in Madrid. She took me to a huge park that used to be a royal hunting ground but has since been turned over to the public. Then, we went towards the north side of Madrid to see four skyscrapers. From what I saw, those are the only skyscrapers in Madrid, and they are huge. Most buildings are at least four stories in Madrid, but those skyscrapers were much taller. Next, she took me to see a bullfighting arena. I wish we could have gone inside, but it cost money, and I am a broke college student. We returned to her family’s apartment and briefly napped before watching a soccer game between Madrid’s two professional teams. I have never watched soccer, so nothing made sense, just like how a game can end in a 1-to-1 tie.  

Then, came my last day in Madrid. I woke up late because I had started to assimilate into Spanish culture. That meant I couldn’t see any more of the city before my flight at 2 p.m. So, I packed up my bag, and Adri and her dad drove me to the airport, and quickly, I was back in London to start another week of class. The way my friend Adri put it, “A really loaded weekend with many cultural shocks and beautiful sightseeing,” sums it up nicely.