by S.L. Jordan
“I am not the same, having seen the moon shine on the other side of the world.” – Mary Anne Radmacher
A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of visiting Madrid, Spain.
It was love at first sight.
It's been five years since I have been to Europe. Five years ago, for my 35th birthday I went to Barcelona in March, Cartagena in August, and London/Amsterdam/Paris in late October. I didn't think I'd be able to top that year of travel, but this 40th year is BLOWING that milestone birthday out of the water.
Hopefully, you've read my blog post on my trip to Quito, Ecuador earlier this year. If not, here it is for you. My experience in Barcelona was amazing and I had heard about the differences in the cities, and in my opinion Barcelona had more of a hipster vibe. The street fashions were amazing!! I remember coming back and wanting a pair of platform oxfords SO bad. Spoiler: I ended up getting the Fenty x Puma patent leather grey platform oxfords and have YET to wear them.
I know. MOVING right along.
Madrid exceeded any expectations I may have had, down to the absolutely perfect weather. As some of you may know, I am native to Detroit but have been living in Houston the past 18 years. Houston had one of the HOTTEST summers this year, and while I love the sun. It was super intense; I couldn't even enjoy it how I wanted too!
Madrid gave me the summer weather I needed. BEAUTIFUL 80-degree days, with NO humidity. For some reason, I expected it to be cold because I arrived in late September/Early October.
In school while taking Spanish, I was taught about the Siesta after lunch and how dinner is later in the evening. So, when I arrived late Saturday evening and the streets were alive with people I shocked. I loved seeing the Squares alive at night with people of all ages and ethnicities. Madrid is very diverse. That's one thing I love about Europe and Central/South America period - the people be outside honey, and not in that club party way we mean in the states, they are outside IN NATURE.
Sunday was the first official full day there. We stepped outside of our Airbnb and into a Sunday Market. I believe it's held every last Sunday of the month, and we were lucky enough to be there. We stopped into a bar for a glass of wine, which we drank PLENTY of during this trip, and wandered around looking at the vendors.
To know ME, is to know I HAD to get something! Spain is known for their tile and ceramic work - I found a cute little dish to display.
My favorite thing about the city was the walkability. We were located in a central area and pretty much everything we wanted to see was within a 15-minute walk, that gave us more time to view the different enclaves. We walked through their LGTBQIA neighborhood and flags were proudly displayed. There was a very distinct Indian community, and we even ran into the African spots.

I feel like ham, specifically Iberian ham, is KING in Europe but there were quite a few vegan spots and my favorite cookie spot had vegan cookies - which my friends said were good. I took their word for it. I got the praline cookie like every day.
I would describe the city as a nicer, cleaner NYC. They have public transportation, and we took that once because everything was so close by, AND I am that friend that would prefer to walk and SEE the city over driving or riding the subway. We popped into the Thyssen-Bornemisza Art Museum and the Royal Palace of Madrid. The amount of GOLD filigree was absurd, and indicative of how colonial powers were GAWDY for no reason at all other than to flaunt the wealth of the places they occupied. * BUT I DIGRESS.
Another surprise: nearly everyone spoke English, so I didn't have to struggle through with my broken Spanish. A friend told me they take English in school as their second language. Is it just me or does it seem like the percentage of children from other countries that are bilingual or even trilingual is higher than the US? AGAIN, I DIGRESS.

The highlight of the trip for me was the day trip we took to Toledo and Sergovia. Talk about beautiful!! I felt like I was in the village from Beauty and The Beast. I bought a Steel blade while there because it reminded me of Arya and Needle from Game of Thrones.
I still regret not buying this one.
I find when I travel that the tour guides are lowkey Historians, the level of detail they add to a tour puts me in nerd heaven! I learned so much about the layered Christian/Jewish/Muslim history in Spain. As a Tudor fan, I am familiar with Catherine of Aragon and her mom Isabella and Ferdinand II of Aragon.
To quote one of my favorite movies, DaVinci Code :
As long as there has been One True God, there has been killing in His name. - Sir Leigh Teabing
Basically, the tour guide said at one point all three religions lived together peacefully, but the Monarchy of the time decided to make Spain a full Christian country and when that happened you either had to "Get Down or Lay Down". Convert or leave. Converts were still harassed, as they weren't trusted. Which is like, "uh duh I'm just saying this so you wont kill me!" The complicated history is displayed in the Cathedrals, Synagogues, and Mosques - the modern buildings show residual signs of the designs used by each religion. Churches turned into Mosques turned into Synagogues and back again. #CircleOfLife
Seeing the aqueduct in-person was astonishing! Did you know there is no "grout" in between the stones??? Our guide told us there was an Earthquake in Sergovia and because of the engineering ingenuity used THOUSANDS OF YEARS AGO, the aqueduct wasn't destroyed because it rolled with the quakes! Meanwhile, streets in America crumbling like the crust on a piece of cheesecake. BUT ... I WHAT??? DIGRESS.

On the last day, I found a yoga studio to go to!! #AumYogaAroundTheWorldWithSLJordan and yall already know it WASN'T a powerful flow class. It was another Ashtanga class, at Ashtanga Yoga Madrid, this time Mysore.

For context: Ashtanga Mysore style is how ashtanga yoga is traditionally taught. In a Mysore class, each practitioner flows through the set sequence at their own pace following their own breath. At first, this can seem intimidating for a beginner. And yet, with time it slowly becomes a more internal practice.
Now, I thought Mysore meant I could go in there and do my own thing at my own pace. No girl, you go at your own pace doing a specific portion of the Ashtanga Series. WHOMP WHOMP.
I know that teacher was like, Silly American Girl. LOL. She kept saying, "well since you are only here for one day and just want to practice." MY BAD. The class was a 90 minute session and the teacher was gracious enough to come and break down the series for me. The class was small and I could see that the other practitioners were regulars.
I liked how the studio was set up. Once you finished your portion of the asana, there was another room you could go to and have savasana.
Critic in real time:
For our last night we wanted to experience an authentic Flamenco show. We decided on Tablao Flamenco 1911, which is described as - "The premises of the Villa Rosa, the oldest flamenco tablao in the world, recovers its shine offering a place to enjoy an authentic show of singing and dancing."
Now, when I got home and did my "Googles" I learned that Flamenco actually started in India!
The roots of flamenco, though somewhat mysterious, seem to lie in the Roma migration from Rajasthan (in northwest India) to Spain between the 9th and 14th centuries. Here is the article I read from Britannica.
I would definitely describe the music as soulful folk music, or cante jondo. I couldn't understand what he was singing, but I FELT it. He was going OFF.
C'mon!! You hear the passion in that voice!?!? Whatever he was saying, he MEANT THAT.
I am from Detroit, and JITTING was a thing growing up. This Flamenco footwork was going hard too! I was thoroughly impressed with the show!
I showed up saucy for the show!
After the show, I spent the last few hours in Madrid walking the streets. What's a trip without random yoga poses in the middle of the street at night???
I have been on the hunt for a completely remote job since I left - because I want to go back to live there for a year. #AumYogaWithAroundTheWorldWithSLJordan

I could go on & on about Madrid and I have tons of videos, but I think you get the picture.
Meet Me on the Ma'at.
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