Love at First Sight

I had started this blog post about Madrid before we got to Sevilla but then Blogger was down. So now that it's back I'll finish this post before moving on to Sevilla, because Madrid can most definitely not be left out...

I've never been sure how I feel about the whole "love at first sight" concept when it comes to meeting someone, but Madrid definitely showed me you can fall in love immediately with a place. After only the first day ideas of moving to Spain were fluttering through my head (sorry mom and dad). The architecture was unbelievable. One of the first places we went on our full day was the Plaza Mayor, which is a large square lined with buildings. At the bottom of the buildings are countless restaurants, tapas bars, and shops. People are everywhere in the plaza eating, shopping, relaxing, or playing with their kids. I would definitely recommend it as a place to go in Madrid.

Plaza Mayor

The plaza is where we had our first taste of my second love, Sangria. It was amazing to sit outside in the Plaza Mayor under a beautiful blue sky and share a pitcher of Sangria with friends. One of my favorite things about Spain so far is the absolute "no rush" attitude. If you want to sit for an hour just chatting or take 3 hours to eat dinner at 9:00 at night, no problema.  I wish we could find a bit of this mentality in America.

Sangria - attempt at an artsy picture

One of my other favorite places we went was one of the old palaces. Once it was no longer the palace, the building was turned into the bank of Spain. Today, it is considered their town hall. At one point, the inside had major reconstruction, turning into a magnificent mixture of old and modern architecture. I have never seen anything quite like it. You are able to go to the 8th floor of the building where they have an observation deck. When we got to the top, Madrid become even more breathtaking. Madrid is much bigger than I though, stretching for miles and miles across Spain. From the top, we realized we had only seen such a tiny portion of the magnificent city.

Throughout the day we also visited the Museo del Prado, which housed works of some amazing artists including my favorite, Goya. The sculptures were unbelievable. How someone can create works like that out of limestone is beyond me. We also saw the most amazing McDonald's I have ever seen, the Plaza del Sol, a cathedral during communion, and an awesome market with tapas, fresh fruit, meat, and cheese. 

I can say without a doubt that I want to return to Madrid for a longer period of time. The people were so nice, the atmosphere was wonderful, and the city itself was beyond beautiful. Words and pictures do not do it justice. I still don't know if it's possible to fall in love with someone at first sight, but Madrid proved you can definitely fall in love with a place at first sight. From what I have seen of Sevilla, I have a feeling I'm going to start many of these love affairs across Europe. And so far the best part is - these relationships never have to end.