Hi all, thought I would inaugurate this forum with a memory of Madrid.
Addicted to the Spanish language and everything related to Spain, I spent my youth studying and learning Spanish, dreaming of the day I would be able to go. Well, at the age of 22, upon graduating from college, that day arrived and I was off to Madrid for a year's language study. I arrived early evening and although tired from the flight, I could not sit still so I headed for the one place in Madrid that had dominated my dreams for the past 10 years. I entered the "Plaza Mayor" from "Sol" , taking the "Calle de Postas" and passing under the arch in front of "El Gato Negro" and as I passed under that entrance, I was overcome by a feeling that I have never been able to put into words.
Well, 8 years later I now have made my life in Madrid and still get that feeling but it is never as strong as it was the first time.
Hope you enjoyed my story and I look forward to reading your "memorias" of Madrid.

jer...

JINKS - this is just it . It's the same feeling I got as I entered the great plaza by the exact same way you did , and that little GATO NEGRO shop - just love it. What a thrill to view plaza mayor for the first time, and that sipping that first jarra de sangria sitting at one of the plaza's restaurant is a memory I WILL ALWAYS TREASURE!till the next time... chiara felice

Aaaaaahhh... Madrid's Plaza Mayor... I love it! Most/Many Spaniards and travelers who are in-the-know argue that Salamanca's Plaza Mayor is THE most beautiful in all of Spain, but I too prefer that of Madrid.

Sitting beneath the iron lamp posts and writing postcards or journal and just people-watching is something really special. Can't wait to get back.

Good work, Jeremy!

Saludos, MadridMan
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Hi All

Madrid - what can I say.

When I first arrived in Madrid it was from an overnight train from Paris and my wife and I emerged from the Metro, with the future wife of a friend of ours from Australia, it was as if we had been thrust onto a different World, or so we thought. But once we had settled into our Hostale and started walking Madrid we found a vibrant, alive City that sought of embraced you and you became part of it. We fell instantly in love with Madrid and everything that it has to offer and were sad to leave to return home.

However, both this site and madridman.com as well as our Spanish Friends keep us going until we can once again emerse ourselves in the life of Madrid.

David

Hey, David, my first trip to Spain was getting off the train, too, but we had just stopped briefly in Paris. The train I'd boarded was in Amsterdam---and you had to change trains at Irun/Hendaye in the middle of the night. I was an exchange student in 1962 and have never gotten over my love of Spain. I became a Spanish teacher primarily to share that with kids and secondarily to be able to travel free by hauling them with me! It took me 27 years to return....<br /><br />My most intense memory is not of Madrid, but of Aranjuez, where hand-in-hand with the host brother of another American girl, I got a feeling of deja vu and of "coming home"(surely not seeing "home" as the summer palace of the King of Spain?!) I still feel more at home in Spain than in Michigan!

I don't know where this edited version will show up, but I just have to put in my memories of the Quinta del Berro, or as it is sometimes known, La Quinta del fuente del Berro. I think "berro" is watercress...but the park is a lovely spot at the end of Calle Jorge Juan(wher e I lived a summer as an exchange student) I recently ran across a posting at virtualtourist.com from a madrileño who had just discovered it himself. It's just a small peaceful pocket, or was last time he went. I intend fully to go there in September when I visit this time, too! The last time I went was in 1989 with my daughter(2nd trip to Spain of several for me) It had crumbled a bit but was still sweet.http://www.actosdeamor.com/parquefuenteberro.htm