Palacio Real

"Do it all while you can"

 Sangria, Paella and Tapas. Those were three things that essentially epitomised Spain when I thought of it. Although I knew I was here for a while I was adamant that I would experience Madrid as though I was simply there on a holiday. That meant seeing all major landmarks, visiting museums and generally documenting the trip as the tourist that I really was. I wasted no time getting to explore the area and first stop was the the Royal Palace. Experiencing and experimenting with the metro system was kind of interesting, less daunting than I anticipated and definitely an experience on a whole. I had to have this sort of bravado to face it all plus I still wouldn't know what to say if I needed help anyway. One thing I could say for sure was that travelling alone meant I had to figure out a lot on my own; this wasn't such a bad thing as it meant I had to learn a lot more a lot faster and at times I really had to put myself on the spot to get through the most basic of tasks. Seriously it's surprising how many basic words and phrases I realised I didn't know until it came to a situation when I needed to use them. At worst I couldn't even remember things that I had practised and memorised. Learning Spanish was definitely not the same as applying it.

Visiting the Palace was definitely worth it. I even managed to get in for free because of the day and time. I couldn't complain. I took my time to look around and then my friend and I decided to try some famous Paella. Granted that if it was Spanish it was bound to be delicious. Alongside an impromptu gathering, sangria and some free tapas, it was definitely an enjoyable first night in the town.