October 19 - 21
My last few days in Spain, and infact the last few days of my whole European summer adventure, were spent in Madrid. Yet another Spanish city that I am in LOVE with.
After a teary goodbye in Talamanca, I arived into Madrid early in the evening. I spent the night chatting to new friends in the hostel bar. Someone claimed to know a club we could get into for free, with an open bar til 1.30am... How could I say no to that?! I sipped on sangrias and had a little dance to some beloved raggaeton tunes.
In the morning I met Raphael. Over breakfast we gathered ideas for the day, the first of which was an art gallery - recommended by another traveller. La Neomudejar. The strangest art gallery I've ever been to. And yet...kinda cool!
It was in a run-down warehouse found on a backstreet a little bit away from the centre of town. We saw various videos made over the last 40 years, many of them with somewhat disturbing content! The setup of the place was funky - each video had just one chair facing it and most of the chairs were old and worn out.
Upstairs, there was an exhibition of contemporary art that included mostly paintings and sculptures. We were also allowed into the artists workshop to see what they were working on.
Walking back through town, we caught the 3pm carrillon show at the Plus Ultra building. The carillon, an instrument made up of various bells, was accompanied by five figures that move about on the balcony. Cute.
For lunch went to Museo de Jamon (translstes to 'museum of ham!') Not surprisingly, I had delicious ham and cheese. What was surprising was that it only cost €2.80! Why did I not discover this place sooner?!
Once our bellies were full of ham, we walked towards the Royal Palace.
It's free for EU members for two hours each afternoon, so of course the queue was outrageous. Luckily, it moved fairly quickly and we were shepherded around the many stunning rooms. We weren't allowed to take pictures inside, so you'll just have to take my word that it was ridiculously stunning. Every room was intricately decorated and had its own purpose - for example one room was the room set aside for the "routine of dressing the king." There were endless al fresco paintings and beautiful chandeliers hanging from every ceiling. Simply amazing. I can't imagine ever living somewehere like that. So fancy! Not so homely.
As we left the palace it started to rain, and so I decided that the best place to be would be in the shops! I headed to H&M and Primark, both enourmous, as well as some local shops, before going back to chill out at the hostel.
Raphael and I, along with Nicky who we also met at the hostel, went just down the road for a flamenco show that night! When booking this, I had been expecting an epic dance show. But what I hadn't taken into account was that flamenco is just as much about the music as it is about the dancing. Three singers, three dancers and one guitarist absolutely wowed us with their skills. An incredible night!
I spent my very last morning in this beautiful country roaming around the streets of the Lavapies area. This neighbourhood is best described as "full of life" but "rough around the edges." I liked it!
I found a really cool market that was very quiet but I reckon around lunchtime it would be choccas full of locals grabbing a bite to eat, having a glass of sangria or picking up some fresh produce.
It makes me very sad to say goodbye to Spain...but new adventures await in London.
