Study abroad begins!

After leaving Positano, my mom and I hopped on a flight to Seville with my roommate, Sara. For days, we explored the adorable city that Sara and I would call home for the next month. We went on a tapas tour, biked along the Guadalquivir river, visited the famous cathedral, and explored Triana, the birthplace of flamenco and home to the cutest indoor public market.

On Friday, my mom headed back to America. We were alone! In Europe!

The first thing we did after dropping my mom off at the station was book our train passes for the month. We secured our tickets to visit Madrid, Malaga, and Valencia, with the Madrid train leaving the next morning.

So, that very next morning, we headed right back to the station, jumping on our train, on which we had somehow booked the silent car. So for two hours, we communicated in whispers (a skill those sitting nearby informed us we were not very good at…). By the time we arrived in Madrid, we’d planned our itinerary for the day.

First: coffee. We headed to Etual Cafe for americanos and an incredible chicken quiche (I swear, Europe has a way of making everything just taste better). After breakfast, we started our walk to Plaza Mayor, stopping in vintage shops and bookstores on the way. We picked up copies of Pride and Prejudice and the first Harry Potter, both in Spanish (hablo mucho español!) and for only €15. It’ll never fail to amaze me how cheap things are here, even in the big cities.

When we finally got tired of shopping, we popped into the Mercado de San Miguel, where we bought a massive cup of fresh fruit. And I mean massive, like they filled this thing with kiwi, mango, strawberries, dragonfruit, papaya, you name it. We ate our fruit and watched both the locals and tourists do their shopping or stop for a meal. This massive indoor market contains every stand you can imagine, from tapas to fresh fish to entire legs of jamón. We were happy just to sit and observe (and avoid the 100+ degree heat outside), but finally got ourselves back up to visit the Royal Palace.

Now, in full honesty, I remember the palace being cool and all, but I don’t remember much of it compared to the insanely beautiful gardens behind it. Before Sara and I could get inside the palace, we were surrounded by the most perfectly manicured plants I’ve ever seen. Trees, bushes, flowers, all around stunning marble statues and fountains. We were so transfixed by the garden that we sorta forgot the palace was right in front of us. (But I’d definitely recommend seeing the palace if you visit Madrid… it’d probably have been very cool had we made it inside).

So, after wandering the gardens for probably much longer than is typically acceptable, we headed back into the city for a few of the side-quests we had planned. Said side-quests included: checking out the Humana thrift store, trying a palmera, leaving a wish in La Tienda de los Deseos, exploring El Rastro flea market, and getting a montadito (literally “little sandwich”). We started off successful, going three for three on the first few tasks. However, that’s where we met our downfall. The beginning of our quest brought us into the afternoon, heading to the flea market around 3 pm. Unfortunately, this is prime siesta hour in Spain, something we had until then avoided by hiding in our air-conditioned apartment in Seville. 

While all the restaurant and shop employees locked up their stores and went home to avoid the afternoon heatwave, Sara and I were left stranded on the steps of the very much closed El Rastro flea market. For twenty minutes, we just sat in the shade, drinking the very tourist-sized bottle of water we’d bought and refusing to move our feet. Finally, one of us decided we probably shouldn’t waste our only day in Madrid. We started the trek back to the center of the city, stopping briefly in a printing press museum (30% for the history, 70% to get out of the sun). When we finally got back to the more populated (more touristy?) part of Madrid, we were famished. We had a little over an hour until our train back, and had one last thing on our checklist to do: eat a montadito. 

We found a tapas bar that had somewhat shaded outdoor seating—good enough for us. Realizing a bottle of Cava would cost less than a bottle of water, we obviously had to be economical. We ordered a sparkling wine and a montadito consisting of jamón, tomato, and “crusty Europe-bread” as Sara calls it. Our server must’ve misunderstood my perfect Spanish (shocking, I know) because he brought us each a bottle of Cava with our sandwich. Oh well. Made the train ride home a lot more interesting. 

Oh—that’s the other thing. We almost missed our train, thanks to this little festival the entire city happened to be celebrating. Madrid was hosting Pride 2025 the very same hour our train was scheduled to leave. This meant what should’ve been an easy 20-minute walk to the station turned into Sara and me dodging the crowds of people that swarmed all around us. Even in the station, there was nowhere to breathe, with train after train letting off festival-goers by the minute. This on its own would’ve been overstimulating. Post two bottles of Cava? We didn’t stand a chance. There were multiple occasions we were nearly trampled by 6-inch high heels or slapped in the face by massive flags. Against all odds, we located our train and got to our seats, surviving a whole day in the capital. 

For those wondering how much this little excursion cost us, I’d like to start by saying Sara and I both possess the interesting quality of sacrificing comfort, happiness, and/or sanity if it’ll save us some money. As an example, when our train arrived back in Seville a little after 9 pm. that night, we did not follow the rational course of action by booking a taxi or an Uber. No, we decided to walk the 2 miles home, bringing our day to a grand total of 30K steps. So, taking into consideration our train seat reservations, food, coffee, and shopping, we each only spent €35 that day.

Books Bought:

Orgullo y Prejuicio

Harry Potter y la Piedra Filosofal

Spain Recommendations (in the summer!)

Madrid: early evening/night to the next morning (avoid the afternoon!), 6.5/10 rating