Madrid, At the First Glance

1 July 2010. This date was one of a big occassion in my life. I was ready for a trip to Spain that would be my first journey to a dream continent, Europe!  Qatar Airways QR 671 [Jakarta – Doha] and QR 71 [Doha – Madrid] was ready to serve and take me to a country I could only see in my dream before. 

I arrived in Madrid on the same date at around 15:00 pm and my old classmate ‘Fauzan’ picked me at Barajas Airport. ¡¡BIENVENIDO A MADRID!!

I know it’s not Liverpool nor Rome – the cities I want to visit the most – but I’m sure it’s just the beginning. A good start for another big dream.

I stayed in Irene’s flat for 3 days before leaving for Valladolid in day 4. She’s also my old classmate at Fasilkom UI. Irene shared a flat with her 5 friends from different countries. Nga ‘the vietnamese’, Paulo ‘the peruvian’, David ‘the colombian’, Michal ‘the czech man’, and Teddy ‘the ethiopian’. 

Actually, Irene and Nga were in Morrocco by the time I arrived in Madrid. Irene returned to Madrid a day later. So, she left me alone with those 4 men in the flat at that night, but don’t worry they’re all nice guys :D


2 July 2011. Had reunion with my old Fasilkom buddies: Irene, Fauzan, Freddy. We strolled around Puerta del Sol – Plaza Mayor – Palacio Real.

Puerta del Sol

Puerta del Sol, meaning the gate of the sun, is the Km 0 of the radial network of Spanish road. This place is always full of people. It is surrounded with some well-known sights like the statue of the bear and madroño tree, the statue of Charles III of Spain “El Rey Alcade”, etc. I went to Sol on my 2^nd day in Spain. Later on, it was the place that I also visited on my last 2^nd day in Spain. 

Not far from the Sol, in the southwest lies the Plaza Mayor. Plaza Mayor is the central square of the city which has a rectangular shape. At the center of the square, there is a statue of King Philip III. For your information, most of city in Spain has its own Plaza Mayor.

Paella

We had early dinner at one of the restaurant which was located at the corner of this plaza. Fauzan just graduated from his master few days ago and decided to treat us “paella” to celebrate it. Yay, finally I can eat Pepe Reina’s favorite food!! Paella is just like fried rice but a bit oily. The weird thing here is that you have to eat this paella using fork and knife. No spoon!!

Finished with our early dinner, we headed to Palacio Real which can be reached from this plaza on foot. Palacio Real is the home of Spanish Royal Family. It was already dark when we got there. The building looks more beautiful with the beam of lights from every corner.

Palacio Real

3 July 2011. Irene and Freddy accompanied me to continue exploring Madrid. First stop was Nuevos Ministerios Metro Station to buy a train ticket to Valladolid. Having found out that the ticket office was closed, so we headed to another metro station ‘Chamartin’. 

Took some pics from Chamartin with the background of 'Quatro Torres’ meaning ‘Four Building / Tower’. What make these buildings special are the fact that they’re the tallest skyscrapers in Madrid. It doesn’t have to do with La Furia Roja striker ‘Fernando Torres’, but a little bit affected my decision to take a pic there.

Our next stop was Plaza de Castilla. The main attractions in this plaza are the obelisk and the twin towers called ‘Puerta de Europa’. The obelisk is located at the center of the plaza. Puerta de Europa is the second tallest twin towers in Spain.  

Estadio Santiago Bernabeu was the first football stadium I visited in Europe. I’m not a Real Madrid fan though, but who will leave the chance to visit one of the best stadium in Europe while you were in Madrid? At the end, this stadium was also the football stadium I visited the most. I went there for about 3 times. This day was my first visit. I had the stadium tour. Bought a ticket for 16 euros. Got a chance sitting in press conference room, walking near the pitch, and sitting on the bench just like Xabi Alonso.

Plaza de Colon was our next stop as we finished the stadium tour in Bernabeu. Interesting part here is a flagpole which holds a Spanish flag which happens to be the biggest flag in Spain.

Plaza de Cibeles is the icon of Madrid. The fountain of Cibeles which is located at the center of the square, named after Cybele/Ceres ‘the goddess of fertility’. Almost all of the events & celebrations take place in this square. And this day, there were the gays party. Really rare experience on my 3^rd day in the capital of Spain. It’s also the first time I knew that the rainbow is the symbol of gay. 

Later in the afternoon, we returned to Santiago Bernabeu to watch the quarter-finals match of 2010 World Cup between Spain and Paraguay. There was a big screen in front of the stadium. The atmosphere was really amazing. Unforgettable day gathering with all Spanish people supporting La Furia Roja.

I can say I had 3 fantastic first days in the capital of Spain. Enamorada con Madrid!!