Rome is one of my favorite places I've ever been. Something amazing to eat or see was always around the corner, from 2000 year old Roman monuments to a Renaissance statue to a local market to an amazing family-owned sandwich shop or pasta place. It was overwhelming in a good way. I could spend a year in Rome and still probably not see and eat everything there is. Even after 5 1/2 weeks, there were still parts of the city I hadn't explored yet.
The food and coffee culture in Rome was a dream come true for me. Chain restaurants were practically nonexistent and all the restaurants emphasized fresh, quality ingredients: two hallmarks of great restaurants in my eyes. It made finding a good meal incredibly easy. I felt spoiled by all the great food around me all the time.
Rome had also become a bit like my therapist. Whenever I was feeling lonely or a bit down, all it took was a trip to downtown and a delicious lunch and/or gelato to lift my spirits. The highlight of many of my days in Rome was exploring the city, because if there's two things that will never fail to cheer me up, it's exploring somewhere cool and eating great food (also baseball, but I had to go to
Bologna for that).
I was really happy where I was and if I could've, I would've stayed another month or even two in Rome. All seemed right with the world and I didn't want my time there to end. I started missing the city from the moment I stepped on the plane.
Hola, Madrid
 |
Allow me to throw Spain
in your face for a moment |
This is the attitude I came to Spain with. It led me to look for reasons to dislike Madrid and focus on what Rome had that Madrid didn't instead of trying to appreciate the new city. To add to this, it rained nearly every day for the first week and a half, which literally put a damper on things made it hard to go out and explore the city. Also working against me was the fact that my apartment and the study center are both a solid half mile out of the way of the center of town, so I can't just go exploring if I have a two hour gap like I did in Rome.
All of this made me not care for Madrid for a while. I've since realized that the more I try to compare Rome and Madrid, the less of a chance I'll have to enjoy my time in Spain. The cities are so different culturally and historically that it's impossible to approach them in the same way. I still like Rome more, but I've finally started to take in Madrid and I've really warmed up to it. So, here's some notes on it:
 |
| Look how clean and modern it is! |
-Public Transportation is a dream: Everything is clean, on time, fast, and you can get anywhere in city and even its suburbs by bus or train. The Metro and the bus system work like clockwork and are extremely reliable and fast. Coming from LA, where it's practically nonexistent, and from Rome where it's a chaotic, overcrowded mess make me appreciate it even more. It's hands down the best I've ever seen. It's so good that I actually don't mind taking the bus, something I try to avoid if at all possible in other cities. This is the public transportation all cities should aspire to.
-
I'm less likely to die crossing the street: This was the case in Italy. I think I talked about the chaotic traffic in a couple different posts about Rome, which is why it was shocking how nice the drivers in Madrid are. If a driver sees you standing in front of a crosswalk waiting for you to cross, more often than not, they'll stop and let you go and make sure you're enough out of the way before going through. this is unlike Rome where the drivers all thought they owned the road and would aggressively maneuver around anything in their way.
This caution extends to pedestrians as well. In Rome, you had to be opportunistic and go whenever you could, regardless of what the signal said. In Madrid, most people hesitate to go until the signal is green, even if there is absolutely no traffic.
 |
| Madrid really is beautiful |
-Siesta: Yeah, it's real. For those who don't know, Siesta is socially acceptable nap time in the afternoon in Spain, usually between 2:00 and 5:00. All the restaurants are open during siesta, but if you want to go shopping anywhere in the afternoon, it might be hard because many of the stores are closed until later. Siesta traffic is also a thing. I took a bus to get lunch in the 2-3 hour and traffic was so bad that the bus got gridlocked to the point where the driver let us get off in the middle of the street if we thought it might be faster to walk. I have yet to try siesta myself, though. My class schedule makes it hard since I have all afternoon classes. It's because of siesta that...
-Everything happens later in Spain: Most Spaniards don't eat dinner until 9 or 10 PM and the bars stay open way past I'm willing to stay up. This is probably the biggest culture shock I've experienced since being abroad. A late dinner for me is 7:30-8 PM, but a lot of dinner places in Spain don't even open until that time. It can make finding food tricky when you're hungry at 6:30 or 7. Lunch also happens later, as a lot of the lunch places don't open until 1 or 1:30. I'm actually ok with this because I procrastinate enough that I usually end up eating lunch around then anyway. Speaking of food...
 |
Paella from the Mercado de San Miguel. Probably the best
meal I've had since coming to Spain |
-It's harder to find good food: I keep hearing Madrid is a great food town, but
I haven't seen that so far. I've had a couple really good meals and found a few good places to eat, but the food as a whole hasn't blown me away. I haven't had a "holy shit" meal yet, one that makes me say those words after taking a bite (AKA the best kind). Tripadvisor was my best friend for finding restaurants in Rome, but it hasn't been that so far in Madrid, as all the "top" places are the fine dining, which is not my thing, nor is it something I have the money for. Spanish culture also seems to place an emphasis on meal time as a sit down, social experience. I didn't like this for a while because I had gotten used to of Italy's cheap, quick, and quality culture when it came to food and sit down is boring if I'm on my own exploring, which I usually am. This was initially my biggest complaint about Madrid, but recently I've been trying to put more effort into finding good places, so hopefully I can in the time I have left.
 |
My first meal out in Spain was
literally just a plate of chorizo |
-Pork: There is so much pork and ham here, it's ridiculous. From chorizo to the famous Jamón iberico (it's pork that's been fed acorns, apparently) to every form of cooked pig you could possibly want, Madrid has it. There's even a restaurant chain called "Museo de Jamón," or "Museum of Ham," as the ultimate homage to ham.
I think pig is the tastiest animal, so I can't complain at all. My friend who's been here all quarter told me the pork culture comes from the expulsion of Jews and Muslims in the 15th Century, since a good way to test whether they had truly converted was to see if they would eat pork or not. I'm not sure if that's true, but it makes a lot of sense.
 |
Take one walk down Gran Via and tell
me it doesn't remind you of New York |
-Madrid feels a lot more like an American city: It's new for Europe (founded in 1500s) so it's certainly closer in time to cities like New York and Boston, and even Los Angeles. The buildings and parks also look new and clean and it makes the city feel modern. If I were to describe it in one sentence, I'd call it the Spanish-speaking European lovechild of New York and Washington DC, since there are parts of Madrid that feel like each city. It has both the upscale commercialism and style of New York and the political buildings and monuments of DC.
 |
| Yay for government buildings |
International brands are also much more prevalent here than in Rome. You'd see the occasional McDonald's or Burger King in Rome, but otherwise, everything would be local. Here, it's common to walk down the street and see McDonald's, Subway, Dunkin Donuts, etc, and this makes the city feel really American. I think this is also one of the reasons I didn't initially like Madrid, since I was expecting something that felt more different than America.
-Madrid has money: The biggest difference between Rome and Madrid is money. In Rome, the really touristy areas were well-financed, but the side streets were often left deteriorating. There was trash and dirt in the streets and it seemed like the government either didn't have the money to maintain everything or decided to spend it elsewhere. Madrid is not like this. Everything looks really well-funded. As I mentioned, the metro is fantastic and about as clean as a metro can get, all the buildings look sleek and modern, all the public parks are well-watered and taken care of, and the city just has a very clean feel to it. It's clear that someone is pouring a lot of money into the city because it's absolutely spotless and gorgeous. From what I've learned in class, this is the only region in Spain that can afford it.
 |
| Crappy pano shot of Plaza Mayor |
I still like Rome more, but Madrid is definitely growing on me. It's an absolutely gorgeous city and I feel like I've just begun to give it a proper chance to win me over. I'm sure I'll have more to say in a week or two.
No comments:
Post a Comment