I landed in Madrid about two weeks before the school term officially ended. This was a chance to find some vacation memories in a place I had never been. I had planned to come alone, having researched and written on the history and culture of Spain at length during the preceding term. I had made one earlier trip to Spain, but that was a short stay and I returned eager to embark on some life changing travel. My trip to Madrid, Spain provided memorable travel in an exotic setting.
I spent most of my first day in Madrid wandering the open thoroughfares and exploring some of the back alleys, winding passageways, and hidden cobblestone squares or plazas situated across the capital. I had a room near the Plaza de Santa Ana. I had chosen the location for its convenient location. The older city still had many historic places to offer. In particular, I wanted to visit the cervecerias in the nearby plaza popularized in Ernest Hemingway's fiction. Several establishments dated back a hundred years or more. Some of my best memories are of the long, endless walks.
The historical backdrop—the city streets and monuments—made simple pleasures like eating and drinking in Madrid an inspirational travel experience. In the late afternoon, I met up with a friend of mine who was also visiting Madrid. We ended up meeting a business man from Ireland who joined us for dinner and had been in Madrid for a European Union conference on transportation infrastructure. As a result, he provided us with remarkable insight into the changing economic and cultural climate of Spain and Western Europe.
I spent most of my first day in Madrid wandering the open thoroughfares and exploring some of the back alleys, winding passageways, and hidden cobblestone squares or plazas situated across the capital. I had a room near the Plaza de Santa Ana. I had chosen the location for its convenient location. The older city still had many historic places to offer. In particular, I wanted to visit the cervecerias in the nearby plaza popularized in Ernest Hemingway's fiction. Several establishments dated back a hundred years or more. Some of my best memories are of the long, endless walks.
The historical backdrop—the city streets and monuments—made simple pleasures like eating and drinking in Madrid an inspirational travel experience. In the late afternoon, I met up with a friend of mine who was also visiting Madrid. We ended up meeting a business man from Ireland who joined us for dinner and had been in Madrid for a European Union conference on transportation infrastructure. As a result, he provided us with remarkable insight into the changing economic and cultural climate of Spain and Western Europe.
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