I’ve now been living in Madrid for nearly six months. It’s not too much different than living in the US other than the fact that I live in an apartment in the center of the city. Unlike the rest of Spain, stores are still open on Sundays, I go for my runs, and I go to work. However, there are some things that I’ll never get used to, no matter how long I live here.
There’s something absolutely magical about London. Admittedly, I was a little salty about going back to London at Christmas time after I found out the Tottenham Hotspur game was postponed until AFTER we left. I have no idea why … London is 100% my favorite city in the world. I could live there if someone would be willing to hire me and go through the whole visa process. Haha. Half-jokes. But here’s why.
Paris is one of those cities you either love or you don’t. Some people fall in love with the perceived romance of the city, other people say the city smells. For me, Paris has always been one of the cities I knew I needed to go to, but I wasn’t very interested. Honestly, the main reason I wanted to go was to take a day trip to Normandy and see the Omaha Beaches (but that tour was cancelled …) Still, there is plenty to see and do in Paris, and I felt that I needed a little more time.
Being back overseas means getting to spend a Christmas abroad. This year my parents and I had decided on going to Paris for Christmas and London for New Years. To be honest, Paris is one of those places that I know I needed to go to but didn’t really have much desire to visit. The main reason I wanted to go to Paris was to go to Normandy and see the D-Day Beaches. We booked a tour, but unfortunately our tour was cancelled ten days out.
Once we decided on our destinations, we had to decide our order. Should we do London first or Paris first? Unlike London, things are actually open on Christmas. If you’re looking for a European destination at Christmastime, Paris is a great place to go for this reason. The trains and metro are open, which is fantastic! We used them both several times on Christmas day.
If you’re like me, you love Game of Thrones and eat up everything there is about it. A few years ago, I stumbled upon a filming site for the series and was enthralled. I needed to go to more places. Luckily, here in Spain, there are tons of places to go to. So, when my friends left for San Sebastian, I stayed in Bilbao and took a half-day trip to San Juan de Gaztelugatxe.
Wow. It’s been a long time since I’ve written anything. The truth is, I haven’t had a lot of time to travel and do things. Between working in a concertada, having Masters classes on Friday evenings, and working for an internet company on the weekends, I’ve been grounded to Madrid. But I had to do something. We had a long weekend, or puente, so I chose to go to Bilbao.
Guys, I’ve been so lazy. I haven’t written anything since the Real Madrid game I went to (I have another coming next week!), and I never wrote about my trip to Zaragoza. So finally, a month later, since today is a national holiday and tomorrow is another day off my school, I thought I should finally get it together.
Zaragoza is located in the Aragona region of Spain. It’s a decent sized city, with a population of over 600,000. If you’re looking for a wedding dress, you’re in luck! There were wedding dress shops on nearly every street. The best were the ones right next to baby stores. Get ready! Zaragoza has some pretty neat things to see and do, while still being affordable. I’ve picked out the best for you.
I was having a conversation with my friend about soccer last weekend and we were talking about Champions League. I thought it started later in the month, or even in October, but after checking an app, I found out that Champions League started this week! The Champions League is a multinational soccer competition among the best teams in Europe. It makes for some exciting fútbol. Real Madrid is the current reigning champion from the past two years (and the most-winningest with 12 titles), so I had to go to a game.
When I saw the game was in Madrid, I got extremely excited. I live a mile away from the stadium, so I don’t even need public transportation to get there. So I checked online and there were seats available! There were seats available in the front sections, even! Compared to the cost of American sports tickets, these were cheap. At first I thought it would be a bit weird to show up by myself, but then I thought, “Oh well, who cares?! This is an incredible chance that may never happen again!”
I was sitting on the bed with that feeling like I couldn’t do it. I wanted to book the next plane home. Then, someone walked in, I wiped away the tears, and took a nap. Since then, I haven’t had any more doubts.
I’ve been in Madrid for five or six days now. After living in Catalonia for two years, I was scared in how it would be different to live in the capital. So far, so good. I’ve been lost and found my way, I’ve wandered around, I’ve learned new things. This is Madrid.
Yesterday, August 17, I was putting on my make-up, getting ready to go run some errands. I had it on the news because that’s the channel my mom had been watching. I wasn’t really paying much attention. Then, about 11:30 EST, they announced a vehicle had run into a crowd of people. I texted my parents right away. There wasn’t much information coming out, though. People were still walking around, maybe only three or four people were hit, maybe it wasn’t terrorism. I left my house.
I came back an hour or so later. One person confirmed dead. Thirty or so people injured. The death and injury toll kept rising though. I felt anger. I felt sad. I’ve walked those streets hundreds of times. That H&M on the corner of the start of La Rambla and Plaça Catalunya was a favorite of mine. I’ve eaten at a restaurant down there even though I didn’t want to because only guiris eat on La Rambla. I’ve strolled down the street, taking in the essence of Barcelona and enjoying the culture.
And now someone has attacked it.
To make matters worse, later that night, we saw a story about Cambrils. Five people were shot dead by the Mossos (Catalan police) with bomb belts after running over several people and killing one. I lived in Cambrils for six months back in 2015. It’s a quiet beachside town with no more than 35,000 people. In the summer, the tourists come to enjoy a quiet beach vacation.
And now someone has attacked it.
I have friends still over there. I asked some of my old students if they are ok. They are ok. But they are scared. Who wouldn’t be? I’m scared. I leave for Madrid in ten days and I don’t want to be worrying about terrorists when I should be enjoying it. That’s what they want, though. They want us to be scared. We can’t let them keep us down.
The next few months are going to be hard. Security is going to amp up. It’s going to be hard to ever walk down La Rambla and not feel a sadness. I was nine years old when my country was attacked and I learned we aren’t as safe as we think we are in our country. Now, my poor students in Tarragona are learning the same thing. They’re being told to stay at home and their festivals are being canceled.
The worst part is that most of these people were tourists. They were visiting another country on a vacation. Maybe some people had saved up for years to be able to travel to Barcelona and now it’s been ruined. I don’t want people to think bad things when they talk about my favorite city. I don’t want people to not feel safe to travel to my favorite city.
We can’t let them win. Tots som Catalunya.