Madrid!!

This past week I went to Madrid to visit the friend I met in Rome!

It was so great to see her and also see the amazing city of Madrid!

I have also had my two new roommates move in and it's been hard to get good wifi, so that's my excuse for this taking me so long!

She took me to one of her favorite restaurants to begin.

They served a drink called Tinto de Verano, which is red wine and fanta. 

It was like a simple sangria and so delicious!

This place served 1 euro tiny sandwiches that were so amazing!

Of course I had to get queso and guacamole as well!

She then took me on a little tour of Madrid before heading to church.

And this is the church we went to. Cool.

The organ was so beautiful!

The next morning I woke up early to catch a train.

Madrid in the morning is very quiet...

I decided to go to Toledo to see the original capital of Spain.

These two side chapels were inside of a Jesuit church.

Shoutout to JCP

St. Francis Xavier

St. Ignatius of Loyola!

A bunch of creepy/cool relics

This was a cloistered convent that had partial access to the public.

I got lost going to the bus station, but I happened upon this peaceful park so it was al okay!

I got back in time for lunch and had the most amazing chorizo empanada sitting on the steps of a fountain in the glorious sun!

Then came the shopping part.

I included these pictures on here because I had to justify why I, who hates shopping, spent a whole afternoon on the shopping street.

That night, Alyssa and I went to La Castafiore for opera and dinner.

This was definitely the highlight of my trip!

I feel ashamed to say this, but this was the best bread I have had my whole time in Europe.

They brought it out fresh and it was just perfect.

The next day I went to Segovia. 

If I could've, this is where I would've spent the rest of my trip and I later figured out why.

It was a town heavily influenced by the Romans so it had a very Roman feel to it!

The Roman Aqueduct! 

Palace or church?

I assumed palace, but boy was I wrong.

This was a giant gothic church that took my breath away.

The style of the stained glass windows were unlike any other I've seen in Europe so far and reminded me of the ones at my home parish in Dtown.

It was spectacular. 

I ate my lunch and read a book right next to the aqueduct and enjoyed the nice sun.

If you can tell by my pictures, I am getting darker and darker as this trip goes on!

When I made it back to Madrid, I decided to go for a walk in the park.

I happened upon this cable car place where I purchased a roundtrip ticket and took in the sites!

I was feeling a bit ~dangerous~ and tried to stick my head out to get the perfect selfie. 

It didn't really work.

Alyssa and I went to her favorite sushi place that night which was quite amazing.

And I finally got to try the famous sangria.

It was just as amazing as I'd imagined.

This was the Mercado di San Miguel! 

Absolutely magical!

I had heard on my walking tour of this place where you bought cookies from cloistered nuns.

I got there at 1:01 and they closed at 1:00 and they wouldn't answer my ring... I was so upset

But they had a shop around the back that sold lots of treats from different cloistered nuns!

Madrid is so funny because they have these mascot characters running around.

My last stop before the airport was a place to get the churros con chocolate experience.

This is literally a cup of melted chocolate that you dip the churros in.

It was perfect.

My whole trip to Madrid surpassed my expectations.

I got to see so much in such a little amount of time, and yet feel like there was still so much to see.

I love Spain and hope to make it out there again soon.