My Favorite Things about Madrid

After graduating from college, I lived in Madrid for a month as an au pair for a host family. My time in this city was amazing! Madrid has both a rich Spanish culture and an internationalized population. Because of the latter point, more people spoke English than I was expecting. My own limited Spanish wasn’t as much of a barrier as I thought it would. (Although, this also backfired because learning Spanish was one of my goals. I often found that people would try to speak to me in English when they noticed me struggling in Spanish)

Regardless, Madrid is a fantastic place to engage with both Spanish culture and European culture at large. During my stay in September, the weather was quite perfect–sunny and warm every day. This gave me plenty of opportunities to get around and experience the area. Here were some of my favorite things about this city.

Metro

The metro in Madrid is GOATed. After growing up in a car-dependent small town and going to college in a car-dependent city, my mind was actually blown by Madrid’s metro. There are many cities in Europe with metros (I thought Paris and Lisbon also had great ones), but Madrid was my favorite of the places I spent time. I have never had so much trust in public transportation. The metro was reliable, comfortable, and convenient. It was well lit and clean. I never felt unsafe, even at night. It was cheap, too. Originally, I paid 8,50 euros for 10 trips. Then, after getting my public transportation card (tarjeta transporte público) (4 euro), I only paid 10 euros for a monthly pass! (To get this card, I had to wait in a brutal line, though… if you can get the website to work, I recommend that! www.crtm.es)

Lively Atmosphere

Madrid has an energy, a “lively atmosphere,” that felt pretty unique. I wasn’t the only person to describe it like this. When I spent four days on the Camino, I met one world-traveler from England who said this was the reason he thought Madrid might be his favorite city. It starts with the people. People in Madrid are generally quite friendly and open (from my experience, more so than the north of Spain, but also not as much as the south from what I heard).

I was particularly struck by the way people tend to live out. During my whole time in Spain, I loved the way many people preferred to live outside their homes. People eat and drink out often, socialize out, hang out, and seem to really enjoy being out and about. There are a lot of outdoor restaurant terraces and places for people to hang out at. Granted, many people living in the city have small living quarters. Still, this general mentality felt different from my time in the States–where the American-dream single family home and spending time in it is such a strong focus.

Parks

El Retiro–Madrid’s largest, most central park–is such a joy. Nature, art, flowers, people, musicians, and food all combine into a magnetic atmosphere. I came here many times, each time stumbling upon some surprise, whether it be a  peacock, a dance class, or a new fountain statue. A surprise: there are a lot of buckeye trees here too!

Madrid’s network of parks extend beyond El Retiro. The romantic, eighteenth-century style El Capricho Park is a hidden gem that I regret not getting to–I heard great things about it. Local neighborhoods often have their own parks, too. Peñagrande, the neighborhood where I stayed, had a very peaceful small park with a fountain and lots of green.

Football

Whether it’s attending a professional game (Real, atlético, rayo), going to your corner bar to watch a game, or playing the sport at the field in your neighborhood. I did each of these (read more at Fútbol in Spain – my experience), and had a blast. The common denominator to all these football-related activites: passion. At large, people in Spain, especially Madrid, are seriously devoted to this sport. It's a very fun part of the culture to engage with.

Nightlife

My nightlife experience is limited to only a few cities. Nonetheless, Madrid sits at the top, and it’s not that close. We’re talking laser lights, effects, performers (there were literal circus dancers in one place we went), cool architecture, and of course, great music–international pop, latin dance, club mixes, and techno. I had some of the most fun out in the discotecas with the friends I made in Madrid. There’s a reason so many international students love to study in Madrid ;).

There's a lot more I loved about Madrid, but these five were at the top!

Coming soon–a post about some of my honorable mentions!