Public sauna // Session 10

When I arrived in Madrid, I couldn't handle my life at first. I thought Sevilla was warm, but when I stepped out of the air-conditioned train station, I was overwhelmed... It didn't get any better in the following days and the street thermometers showed 46 degrees during the day. Even at 1:30 am it was still over 30 degrees. Unfortunately, unbearable. So I couldn't enjoy Madrid that much. But that was also not a problem, because I didn't like Madrid sooo much anyway. It's too big, there are too many people, beggars and street vendors that annoy you.

Well, I arrived at the hostel, which was more like a hotel for backpackers, checked in and went to the room. The rooms, like the entire hostel, were very modern and good. I didn't have a family feeling in the hostel, but the facilities were perfect. Good rooms, pleasant size and pleasant price. In the room, I met a French guy who invited me to have a drink with him and another acquaintance in the evening after some talking. But since it was still noon, I settled in and went to a burger place that was like Mcdonald's or Burger King, only slightly better. They even brought your food to the table. Well, when evening came, we (the French guy, a Venezuelan girl, and myself) walked around the city and finally sat down in a bar. We had a great conversation (as good as possible), but we went home at 2 am because we were all tired.

The next day, the French guy gave me his number and told me to call him if I ever visit Paris. I thought that was nice. (FunFact: Apparently, there are many European nations where young people don't use Whatsapp. I have noticed this several times now and have asked about it. Apparently, it's generally not a thing in Scandinavian countries, but apparently France is also affected. However, people from other countries were just as surprised when I said that some people don't use Whatsapp.)

Well, this day was reserved for sightseeing, so I tried to see various things. However, I was sweating so much, even though I was just sitting in the shade and reading, that I couldn't do much. I looked at a temple, various squares and gardens, a glasshouse, a bridge, and that was it for the day, I think. I imagined the bridge to be much cooler and the glasshouse was okay, but I expected more there too.

Otherwise, I tried to survive and ate.

So the next day, I treated myself to the expensive breakfast at the hostel, but it was decent, as it was basically an all-you-can-eat (small buffet) and it tasted good too. On that day, I also planned to visit the cathedral and the Royal Palace. Said and done, and I must say that the Royal Palace was mega impressive and beautiful. Unfortunately, photos were not allowed. There was also a medieval weapons collection in the Royal Palace, which I thought was really cool too. Here I took a few sneaky photos, but they don't reflect what it was like at all. The collection was also really cool!

The cathedral, on the other hand, was nothing special, but worth a visit. Here I took photos, of course. On that day, I also wrote a blog, did my laundry, which had accumulated a bit (the problem is that I need 2 outfits per day because it's so hot), and went to eat a steak. It was delicious 😊

The next day, I went to Barcelona in the evening, as that's where my ferry to Italy departs from. But before I took the train, I went to the Retiro Market (a street market) where everything possible was sold. There was a funny situation at a clothing stand where there seemed to be a short sale and so many people gathered there and rummaged through everything like their lives depended on it...

In addition, I also visited the Museo del Prado. It's an art museum with many paintings and statues to see. It was free for students, so I took advantage of that, but I'm not a big fan of art museums in general. Oh yeah. I always pretend to be a student with my old student ID to get discounts. I feel like many people see through it, but they don't care 😅

Well, that's it for Madrid. I couldn't do much because it was too hot and I always got a headache when I stayed outside too long. But Madrid wasn't my city either.