This past weekend I went to Madrid with mis amigos! There were 6 of us total and we spent 3 days and 3 nights there. It is so fascinating for me to see the difference between the Sevillano culture and the Madrileño culture. First of all, the Spanish is slightly different. In Sevilla, they cut of the “s” at the end of words, and usually only say half of the entire word. It is pretty difficult to understand and they talk very fast. On the other hand, in Madrid, believe it or not they pronounce the entire word, every single letter! No wonder people have been saying if you understand people from Sevilla, you can understand all types of Spanish. So I was to be able to (nearly) fully understand people in Madrid. However, the lifestyle is very different there, because Madrid is a huge city, and a melting pot of all different people, including people from all over Spain as well as South America, etc. Anyways, we got there Saturday night and went to an amazing tapas place called “El Tigre”. A lot of people recommended it to us so we had to check it out. This place was awesome. For 6 euro you got a huge cup of Sangria and loads of tapas. The original history of tapas is that you’re supposed to pay for the drink, and the food comes with it for free. Really wish this was a thing back in the states. (Pictured below is less than half of the food we got)
This place had the best croquetas I’ve ever had. For those that don’t know, Spanish croquetas are fried balls of heaven filled with béchamel sauce and sometimes ham or other things. I wish I had an endless lifetime supply of them (without the consequences of clogged arteries). I dreamt about them, THAT’S how good they were.
On Sunday, me and 2 friends went on a tour of Madrid (given in English, because we didn’t feel like trying to translate #lazytourists) and it was really interesting. Normally, I hate learning about history but I loved the tour because I could actually see the history right in front of me. 
The Almudena Cathedral
After our tour we continued to walk around and navigate through the city. We ate more amazing food and I impulsively bought a chocolate filled/covered churro before we went to the Reina Sofia art museum…
Then at night we went on a tour called the “tapas experience” where we went to different tapas places (wine included 🙂 ). We learned how to drink wine out of a “bota” (boot) and I obviously bought one at a gift shop before returning to Sevilla.
Paella and more croquetas hehe
Tortillas con patatas, jamon y salchica, y queso
Bottoms up?
On Monday we did some more exploring, ate authentic churros con chocolate from “Chocolateria San Gines” and walked through the Parque del Retiro. Then we went to the Prado Art Museum, perhaps the most famous thing about Madrid (unfortunately couldn’t take pictures inside).
Churros con Chocolate (the reason for my future obesity)
Parque del Retiro
On Tuesday the 6 of us hopped on a train and went to Toledo for the day. Once again a lot of walking and exploring, and we decided to be our own tour guides for this one. Toledo is famous for their mazapán, a little ball of sunshine consisting of almond meal, sugar, and honey. It’s sooo yummy. The cool thing about authentic mazapán is it is made by nuns in a convent and when you buy it you have little to no interaction with the nuns.
Entrance to the convent
After Toledo we headed back to Madrid for a quick bite and then for our flight. However, we underestimated how much time we would need at the airport and ended up sprinting across the entire Madrid airport after initially getting denied access to check in. Apparently some airlines have a rule that you have to check in at least 45 minutes before your flight takes off (did I mention we were running late…). So after arguing/begging with the airport staff in Spanish, they gave us “fake” boarding passes and screamed “corre! CORRE!” aka run for your life. Good thing the gate was on the opposite side of the airport hahahahahaha. Did I mention how cold Madrid is? I was wearing two pairs of pants, a sweater, leather jacket, and winter coat. Probably sprinted about a mile to our gate. Got some nice cardio in am I right? Well we were the last people on the plane and were sent all the way to the back. The 6 of us endured our walk of shame with repulsed glances from the other travelers, but in the end WE MADE IT.
Madrid was fun but I am glad to be back in Sevilla. Even though I stick out like a sore American thumb in Sevilla and sorta kinda blend in in Madrid, I feel more at home in Southern Spain than in the capital of the whole country. I am currently planning the rest of my trips for the semester! Do you hear that? It’s my credit card crying in my wallet. Sorry mom and dad ❤
**This post took me 3 days for some reason so look out for my next post about my first legitimate soccer game comin’ right up
Mi Vida en Sevilla 