SPAIN: hala madrid!
Back in September, when I broke my foot, I missed out on a trip to Barcelona. I was devastated as it was a trip that I was looking forward to. Also, so many of the girls were going. I knew I was going to hate seeing it on everyone's private story. I will not pretend to admit I was not very jealous. When Faith and I talked about the trips we wanted to plan for the second semester, we had both agreed that Spain would be on that list. She told me she had been to Madrid before and thought I would like it. I am always ready to travel somewhere new, so I was extremely open. We had booked our flight and our hostel, so we were set. Faith knew more about it, so we let her take the reins.
Faith’s best friend, Lily, was coming to visit Rome as it was her birthday, so we planned this trip as it was her birthday and as a chance to go somewhere new. Lily arrived Thursday, and we were leaving Friday and staying till Sunday morning. When we got to the airport early Friday morning, we knew we had a busy day as our flight took off around 6-7 am. When we landed, we went straight to our hostel to see if it could be ready a little earlier. And they had told us 12:30, so they held our luggage, and we went to grab something to eat. As it was Lily’s 20th birthday, we let her pick the breakfast meal. It was so nice to have a full breakfast for a change. I always love Italy’s coffee and pastries, but sometimes it is nice to have some protein every once in a while. We still grabbed some coffee, and I decided to grab oreo pancakes, which were divine looking, and a side of eggs. After a long, relaxing breakfast, we walked around a little bit before checking into the hostel.
We then decided that a short nap was necessary as we were all exhausted and knew that it was not worth it to have low energy. We wanted to make sure that we would be ready for dinner as we had reservations and were planning on going to a club as well. We had dinner reservations at a really beautiful dinner spot called Circolo Popolare. We somehow found an Italian restaurant in Spain, but there were absolutely no regrets. The interior was stunning; the lights were dim, and there were leopard prints everywhere. The carpet had leopards crawling across it and leopard statues everywhere. Leopards are my favorite animal, and we all know about the infamous leopard lower back tattoo. We took an insane amount of photos, probably too much, but we did not care, as we wanted to remember this cool dinner spot. The food was delectable, and the cocktails were huge. We finished the night ordering a Baked Alaska, where they lit the tableside singing happy birthday to Lily. I wish I was being dramatic when I say we were there for two and a half hours; we were.
After dinner, we went back to the hostel as we had some time before heading to the club. Faith had suggested Icon as the club of choice, and of course, I trusted her judgment. We changed outfits and walked there. As we entered, we checked our jackets and took in our surroundings. A proper club playing a mix of Spanish and American hits where everyone was singing and dancing. The lights were neon purple, and the aesthetic was disco and shiny. After being there for about 15 minutes, a woman walked up to me while we were all dancing and asked me if we wanted to be a part of the show. I was so confused, but all I heard was “free shots” and “cowboy hats,” and I was sold. It did not take much. I grabbed the girls and followed the woman as we went backstage. She hands us cowboy hats and fringe shakers. We had no idea what was about to happen and were so confused. All we were told was that we were going to go behind the DJ booth and shake the shakers and dance. All of a sudden, a huge neon sign follows us that says “SHOT TIME,” and a Party Rock Anthem starts playing, with other songs referencing shots. We then see the boys that were behind us wearing cowboy hats start to pour bottles of gin into peoples mouths below us. It was the craziest thing we have ever seen and we had no idea why we were chosen. A memory that I will never forget. We go back into the middle of the crowd, dancing and having the time of our lives. Jumping to Dancing Queen by Abba and getting in the middle of dance circles, we knew that we were celebrating Lily’s birthday right. Faith expresses that she has to use the restroom, so we follow her only to be led to the bathroom where there is another DJ IN the bathroom with disco balls and a crowd dancing outside the stalls. I cannot imagine if you had to throw up and just hear house music booming through the walls. That sounds like my own personal nightmare, to be honest.
We go back out to the dance floor one last time, and then another woman approaches us and asks if we want to go into the VIP lounge. We were so confused once again about what we were doing for these people to keep approaching us as we were truly just dancing. After having some of the most fun I have ever had, we decided to leave the club and head back to the hostel.
On Saturday morning, we headed to a brunch place called Billy Brunch, where we all had the best iced vanilla lattes of our lives. We each got a different variation of breakfast with pancakes, toast, eggs, sausage, and bacon. It was delicious but I could not even finish because of how large the portions were. One of the main attractions we had planned in Madrid was the Prado museum, which I was very excited to see. It was huge and extremely beautiful, and the art pieces within the building were emotional and captivating. You were not allowed to take any photos, so it forced you to be present and in the moment, which was so refreshing.
After the Prado and walking around seeing the streets of Madrid, we decided we were hungry and to grab some dinner with margaritas. We found a restaurant that I wish I remembered the name of, but it was delicious. We all got an assortment of tacos and strawberry margaritas. The interior of the restaurant was lively and neon, which was aesthetically pleasing. One of the main things I wanted in Spain was tres leches cake, and that was my dessert of choice. I knew it would be heavenly, and it was.
One of Faith’s main requests is to go watch the Real Madrid game at a pub, as football is one of her main passions. We knew that Madrid would light up for this game, and it did. It was so interesting to see how lively the streets were till about 4 am after a football game. At the bar, it was so exciting to just see the game and experience it with locals and study-abroad students. We were up bright and early with only about 45 minutes of sleep under our belts. We headed to the airport to head back to Rome.
Madrid pleasantly surprised me, and I would go back in an instant.
