Saying Goodbye

I am currently in my last week of my study abroad program feeling all sorts of emotions. I am looking forward to going back home, getting into routine and meeting friends and family, but at the same time I will miss my life in Madrid and all the new friends I’ve made here. For my last week, I had planned a trip to Mallorca for two days, which is a Spanish island. The rest of the week I spent walking around Madrid, eating at my favorite restaurants once again, meeting up with friends and finally, getting to the touristy things of Madrid. 

I started off the last week with the Mallorca trip with one of my friends from Chile. After all the travelling over the past few months, we wanted to plan a beach trip that did not involve a lot of sightseeing or walking around. Mallorca was the perfect destination for that. The water was so clear and blue, and to our luck, we had great weather too. We went to two beahes – one each day, and spent the whole day by the beach. There were not many people as well, since we went during the off-season. I am so glad I planned this trip because it was a great way to wind down. 

The main agenda for the last week was trying out more food and re-visiting the favorites! During my time here in Spain, I started to really like Tortilla de Patatas, a Spanish dish. So I have been having that everyday from different bars and restraunts. Some of my favorite places in Madrid for Tortilla de Patatas are ‘Caracola’ and ‘Pez Tortilla’. Another thing that I really wanted to try were the hidden Nun cookies at a cathedral in Madrid, called ‘Venta de Dulces Monja’. A lot of tour guides had recommended this as it is a way to get freshly baked cookies from nuns without actually meeting them. We rang the buzzer at the cathedral’s entrance and the nuns had let us in. We followed down the hallway to a small door and ordered the icing sugar cookies. They placed the cookies in a revolving door after we had paid for it. It was a fun experience to get it however the cookies were not up to our expectations.

Since another friend of mine is also leaving the same time as I am, we hosted a goodbye dinner with all our friends we met during the study abroad program. We had made reservations at a Pasta restaurant called Impero and right after, we went to the famous churros place in Madrid for Churros with chocolate! It was a very fun night but we did not enjoy the goodbye part, since we would all be in different parts of the world in a few days which means we can’t meet up easily. During this study abroad, I made so many close friends in a short period of time, because we all were able to find common interests – travelling, and took many trips together which made us become good friends.

During my time in Madrid, I had not been inside any of the tourist sightseeing attractions so I decided to visit the Royal Palace of Madrid. I got the discounted student ticket and toured the palace. It was very beautiful and grand, and having lived in Madrid, I felt obliged to see the palace. Another thing I really wanted to do in Madrid was renting a boat at El Retiro park’s lake and I did that one last time with all my friends, and is definitely a fun activity when in Madrid. I also had to buy gifts and souvenirs for friends and family back at home, so I used the last few days to do that.

Apart from all the activities, I just love walking the streets in Madrid, sitting by the benches and people watching. The people in Madrid are very kind and cheerful always, and the city has great weather too, which is why it is easily my favorite city ever. I am so thankful for the unforgettable experiences this city has given me over the past few months and I really hope to come back to live in Madrid sometime.