My first impression of Madrid

Do you know this feeling when you get out of the plane, put your feet on the new ground, breathe the air and smile to yourself at the thought of the adventure that you are about to begin?

This is what I felt the first moment when I landed in Madrid. I am a traveler, I love travelling and I have been doing this since I was a little girl. This feeling of excitement always accompanies me every time I travel to a new place. But this time it was different. It was different because it was not just a simple, two weeks’ vacation from my ordinary life in Poland. This time I was coming here with a thought of staying a whole year in this city. And this is basically why I chose it - I love Spain for its language, its culture and its people. The weather, the parties, the nightlife and the siesta as well. Here I feel at home. Do you know this? When your soul feels at peace? Everything falls magically into place, everything makes you happy...

Madrid. The capital of Spain. A cross-cultural city with an amazing architecture and hundreds of thousands of tourist in every corner of the city.

I landed on the Barajas airport on the first of October. The first thing I did was to take a taxi to the city center, which cost me around 20€. I didn't know yet how the underground worked, but now I do – to get into the airport as well as to get out, apart from the regular ticket for the metro, you have a pay a supplement of 3€. Believe me, it is better to take the taxi, especially if you don’t know the city. The airport is not so far from the city center, the ride took about 20 minutes, and the taxi driver was female – I have never seen a female taxi driver in my country in my whole life! So, after unpacking my things at my new flat, I decided to take a walk through the neighborhood.

I was living in Salamanca district, the most expensive and fancy district of Madrid, with a lot of restaurants and bars every step, and really close the Goya street, where there are a lot of shops and the main shopping center in Madrid – El Corte Inglés.

But, the first thing that I noticed on the street were the elderly people walking hand in hand, and young couples kissing publicly. I don’t know about your countries, but in mine you don’t see that very often.

Another thing is that Spanish people, although Spain is in a very deep financial crisis and everybody can feel it, they spend a lot of time eating at the restaurants. Especially in the evenings, you can see that the restaurants and bars are full. That’s because the Spanish dinner time is around 9 pm, and they love to accompany it with wine or beer, which is very cheap here in Spain by the way. Try San Miguel or Estrella Levante, I think these two are the most popular Spanish beer brands here.

And of course the Spanish siesta – in the city center it is not so visible, but if you go to a smaller neighborhood, between 2 pm and 5 pm you won’t see a single shop open. This is quite annoying to those of us who aren't used to it. Besides, the banks and the important offices here in Spain work between 9 am and 2 pm. And this is also really annoying if you have classes in the mornings or if you work between those hours. It seems like I am only telling you about the bad things, doesn't it? Well, don’t worry – Spanish culture has its disadvantages, but it is definitely wonderful once you get to know it better.

The people are really friendly and helpful, though sometimes they can be really rude, so don’t be surprised, and don’t be offended – this is just the way they are. Oh and the timing. The Spanish timing is… Well, they don’t really have a sense of timing at all. They will always come late to a meeting, even up to an hour or so, don’t be impatient, or do what I do – be late too.

And party a lot. This is what Spanish people do. Que viva la fiesta!

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