Going into Spain, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. After all, you can only learn so much by obsessively “googling” facts about the history of a country. My trip began on June 3rd as we flew into London and, from there, into Madrid. As soon as we landed, I wanted to explore the whole city, but first, my family and I had to get to our room, which turned out to be a challenge. I had to speak Spanish to the doorwoman in our building to let her know that we were using an Airbnb. However, given that my Spanish wasn’t very good, we had to go back and forth for a while before she finally realized what I was trying to get across. She told us that a lady would be coming to greet us soon. We waited outside and during our wait, two nuns happened to be taking a stroll around the community. They came over to us and asked us if we were lost. I quickly tried to remember how to tell them I wasn’t lost. I ended up repeating “Soy bien” over and over while occasionally throwing in other words. The nuns looked very confused and walked away. I am pleased to report, however, that as the trip went on, may Spanish improved greatly. As soon as we got into our room, which took some time given that we accidently went to the wrong room twice, my family and I went to go check out a local church. As we went around the church, I was struck by the beauty and glamour of the church as well as the prominence of the Virgin Mary. There was also a priest in a confessional waiting to hear confessions. I wanted to make a confession to see what it would feel like, but unfortunately, I found out you had to be baptized in order to make a confession. My mother put her foot down when I told her that all I need to do was convert to Catholicism.
The next day we visited Toledo, Spain and checked out many of the museums. In addition, we walked the streets and checked out all of the churched and cultural sites. Something that I found really interesting was the fact that the locals put tarps above the streets in order to keep them cool. I was able to see inside an amazing cathedral called the Toledo Cathedral, which has stood since 1227. We were a little disappointed that we had to pay to go inside, but we met a local parish priest who told us how to get inside another way, except we would see the real cathedral where Spaniards still go to pray, instead of the tourist part outside. We also got to see the Alcazar of Toledo which was a fortification used by the Romans all the way to the middle ages.
After arriving back in Madrid, we spent a lot of time in el Plaza Mayor which has stood since the 1500s and was used as a site for the Spanish Inquisition. We managed to eat at nearly all the restaurants in el Plaza Mayor throughout our trip. We also managed to go check out the Prado Museum in Spain, which turned out to be a real treat, given my love for history. We spent nearly all morning in the Museum and then moved onto the free walking tour. The free walking tours are done by college students who give people a chance to check out the city. Our guide showed us around the city and explained the history of Spain as we walked through the streets. We learned and visited many of the important sites of the Spanish Inquisition and the Royal Place. We went out later that night and saw different parts of Spain while I used my own knowledge of Spanish history to give my family a tour.
On our final day in Madrid, we went for a stroll around our neighborhood and went to go visit the Royal Place. It was truly incredible to see the culture of embedded in one building and explore the crevices of its history. We spent nearly all afternoon looking around the magnificent building. Later on, we went for chocolate churros, which were truly worth all the hype. We finally finished our trip and went to the airport to go back to London and then Houston.
