Last days

I miss Madrid.

It’s been only two weeks since I moved out. It’s not as hard as it would be if I was now in my home country, in my parent’s house, back to reality. Luckily for me, I am still living my experience abroad, and hopefully it will stay this way for a longer period of time.

I am now in Paris, which is a wonderful city, although stressful as hell (not to mention that it is twice as expensive as Madrid and whenever I see a price tag my heart stops for a second). And I am happy here, after all, I got another chance to explore the world: meet yet more new people from all around the globe, get to know another place, another culture and adapt myself to the busy life of Paris, the world capital of fashion and probably the most fancy city that exists on Earth.

Yet, Madrid stays in my heart. I have spent 5 wonderful months there and honestly, only now do I realize that I made some amazing friends there, who are still out there for me and who miss me; that I loved my flat, my little room, although sometimes I would get into a fight with my lovely Colombian roommate. Only now do I realize that how much I loved the Spanish culture, Spanish people with the open minds and kindness. How I loved the tapas and the sangria in El Tigre or hanging out with my friends in 100 Montaditos. The parties, the clubs, the bars, the music, those irritating yet handsome Spanish guys who would come over to dance with you whenever you would go out with your female friends to a club.

My last days in Madrid were surprisingly calm though. You would imagine that there would be a big goodbye party, that would last 3 days and that I would take my plane having a huge hangover. Well, this was not the case. I actually wanted to spend my last days saying goodbye to the city, be alone with it. I went to see all the sites that I like, that I had memories in. It won’t be a surprise for you if I tell you that my favourite spot in the city is Puerta del Sol. It’s a little bit clichéd, since everybody will probably tell you that, but I love it so much because there is always something going on and it is the heart of the city.

The second position on my list is Templo del Debod, the Egyptian temple, which I wrote about in another post, because of its spectacular view on the city. You can see the Almudena Cathedral lingering in the distance, along with Palacio Real. It is a perfect place to gather your thoughts and relax. And it was also a perfect place to say goodbye to the city and prepare myself for the new adventure that I was heading for. And then, there is Callao. Definitely amazing, with its lights and crowds and a great amount of tapas bars, where you can get a beer for 50 cents. If you have taken a walk on Gran Via, you must have noticed that restaurant with sparkling lights and music. It has always been one of my favourite places, although I have never eaten there, as the prices are really high. And of course, the majestic Plaza de España, with the fountain that lights up beautifully during the night.

I could spend hours talking about Madrid and how wonderful it is. There is also another thing that makes Madrid so special to me and I have probably mentioned that already when I was writing about how I got there in the first place. It is the fact that it helped me get over a really tough break up and got me back on my feet, made me happy again and opened new opportunities for me. It showed me that life was still going on and that I had to move forward and grab every single moment of it, because life is too short to spend your days crying into your pillow over something that already happened and stays in the past, that cannot be fixed or at least cannot be fixed at that precise moment. It taught me to be patient, to wait and let the time heal my wounds and open new doors.

I got to know a lot of new people and have been in plenty of situations that I have never been before. I learned a lot about people, but most importantly it taught me to be myself no matter what, because people… well, most of them just comes and goes, but some stay. And those who stay, stay because they love you, they love you for who you are, not for who you pretend to be. And every single of those people, even if he/she appears for just a moment, can teach you something. When you are out there, surrounded by so many different nationalities and personalities, don’t miss the chance to learn new things from them, grab it and use it.

Madrid taught me to embrace every single moment and squeeze it like a lemon to the last drop of happiness you can get from it.

Photo gallery