The Departure and Madrid– Smmr22

I teachered the shit out of my summer plans. Seriously, I booked and paid for my daily activities in advance so that all I needed to do was show up for my trip and be ready to enjoy myself. I suppose this is what travel agents do, too. Taking this approach—for a 37 day, three country whirlwind adventure—helped me to be intentional with the variety in activities I was doing and evince idle time, which only breeds boredom and homesickness. It also enabled me to know how to pack. Here is the only stuff I packed for my "luxury backpacking" trip:

The other major planning I needed to complete before the trip was making sure my houseplants and cats were in order. Last year November, I adopted two, three month-old sister kittens. I couldn't in good conscience leave Leona and Guagua for over a month without taking them to the vet for a full medical review. My empleada took on a couple of additional days of work for me this summer, and we worked out a schedule of when to water the plants and a protocol of taking care of my cats. My plants looked as vibrant as ever on my return, and my cats were so good-natured and happy and healthy.

My first stop on this trip was Madrid, with a direct flight to there from Bogota. Never have I ever slept as well* on a flight before, which helped with the adjustment to the time zone change. Upon landing, I had only a couple of objectives on my agenda: figure out how to get to my accommodation and stay awake as long as possible to fight against the inevitable jet lag.

*I must have gotten six hours of light sleep on the ten hour flight.

ASIDE: As with this accommodation and the subsequent ones on this adventure, I selected places where I was guaranteed a single room and private bathroom. Priorities. The other criteria that mattered was its proximity to public transportation and centrality to landmarks and tour departure points. Then, I pre-booked all transportation from planes to trains to boats. My trip itinerary was solid and left little room for road bumps or detours or delays. I needed to be in specific places at precise times each day. On the upside, it allowed me to book the most convenient departure/arrival times for my accommodation check-in/out hours. On a personal health level, it kept me active and from cooping up in my accommodations.

The Madrid airport (MAD, Adolfo Suárez Madrid–Barajas Airport) is a mess. Looks great, beautiful, modern, unique. But it has terrible organization and signage and indicators. Getting through immigration and customs felt like an accomplishment. I decided ahead of time to take the subway to my hostel in the Chueca district. The stops and transfers were relatively easy to figure out, but I misselected my final stop. I became that person with the roller suitcase walking back-and-forth down brick and cobblestone pathways. I mean, the stop I got off at wasn't a bad one, it just turned out to not be the nearest one to my hostal. During my four days in Madrid, I used the subway system several more times including to return to the airport and it is one of the simplest and cleanest public transports I've used.

Guayasamin in the MAD airport 

After dropping off my bags, I headed for the streets with my new camera and determination to win against jet lag. Along the way I discovered the Paseo del Prado, Puerta de Alcalá, Parque El Retiro and Puerta del Sol. With a belly full of Taco Bell, I attempted a good night's sleep before my tour the next day. 

This tour was quite comprehensive, spanning four hours (link) walking past many of the places I saw the previous afternoon but through much more of the Center of the city. Including the guide, there were seven of us and we walked through time from the Moorish origins of the city to the 20th century. A few of the people in my group went out to lunch after the marathon walking tour, consuming a recommendation we received on the tour. A bocadillo (sandwich) filled with deep fried calamari. Game changer, y'all. That night, I followed another recommendation and ate dinner at the San Miguel market, famous for its tapas vendors. Again, I ate some things I never imagined I would including types of unfamiliar seafood. Yep, this central city is known for its incredible quality seafood because the monarchs of yore desired it fresh daily from the Mediterranean. If you visit Madrid, order the seafood.

My second full-day was a day excursion to the cities of Ávila and Segovia (link). We passed through fortresses and cathedrals on the literal single cold and rainy day of my entire 37 day trip; otherwise it was clear, sunny and hot (averaging 105ºF/40ºC daily, and peaking on several days at 115ºF/46ºC). The coolest thing I saw were the Roman aqueducts in Segovia. These are my first Roman Ruins I have ever seen and nothing less than an impressive feat of human ingenuity.

I had a free day for my final day in Madrid, only needing to be on-time for my cooking class that evening. I thankfully researched that Picasso's Guernica is on display at the Reina Sofia Museum, a painting that I have always wanted to view in-person. The museum has other modern and current exhibitions. The one that moved me to public sobbing is a display in memoriam of the 2014 Iguala mass kidnapping, where 43 male students in Mexico were kidnapped and disappeared. Families embroidered, honored and yearned for these victims still missing. That day I also visited the botanical gardens and completed some souvenir shopping. It helped me to grow my hunger because my dinner involved a tapas cooking class through Cooking Point (link). It was quite the experience, facilitated by surprising connections we each had with each other (small world, for serious) and learning how to prepare and cook seven tapas dishes. An ongoing theme of eating in Spain was that everything I ate were a gastronomic explosion on my tastebuds. Learning how to cook the dishes was arguably one of my favorite things I took back with me home.

I greatly enjoyed Madrid and have left some things remaining to return for another time. Something that started to come up repeatedly in tours, etc. is the historical coexistence of Jewish, Muslim and Christian Faiths across the Iberian Peninsula (+ Morocco) as well as why it changed and how that impact is still living itself out in present day. My experiences in and around Madrid set a solid foundation for understanding and appreciating the experiences to yet to happen later in my trip.

Next destination: Barcelona.