Speak Now

When I first flew to Spain, I flew into Madrid. Okay well actually I flew into Frankfurt, Germany, and then flew to Madrid, but basically I had seen the airport and bus station of Madrid and I had zero interest in ever returning except when I would fly back home. But then something changed… Taylor Swift’s world tour went to Madrid. And naturally, we got tickets!!

At midnight Thursday night, March 17^th, I left my apartment with Lindsay and Sarah for the bus station. We met up with Sarah’s two sorority sisters, Rachel and Stacy, at the bus station and we left at 1:30am Friday morning, March 18^th, for Madrid. We basically slept throughout the bus ride and got to Madrid at 6:30am.

We got to our hostel and got our rooms, then we had breakfast and then went back to bed for like 4 hours. At 3pm we went to the free walking tour of Madrid in the Plaza Mayor. We all wore jackets but that was a mistake because it was soooo hot out!! We met the other people on our tour group because there weren’t that many. I had done the same tour company in Ireland, but this one was much smaller, but just as interesting! We had people from Canada, Illinois, the Ukraine, France, and other States in our group, and our tour guide was from London. We learned a lot about the history of Spain which was very helpful in my History of Spain class.

plaza mayor

this is the oldest restaurant in spain. the king has been here.

me in front of the palace!!

us with the biggest palace, by rooms, in europe

the bear is the symbol of madrid

where cervantes lived- the guy who wrote don quixote

On the tour we also got to see some important famous building in Madrid. We saw a palace, the Parliament building, places where old famous writers lived (like the guy who wrote Don Quixote- it’s a famous Spanish book), lots of statues of old Spanish kings, the oldest restaurant in Spain, and a Starbucks.

We ended our tour at the Prado Museum, which we got in free to. We saw lots of art, and one of the paintings we learned about in my literature class. We didn’t stay long at the 5^th most visited museum in the world, then we went to the Corte Ingles, bought Tinto de Verano, and went home and changed. We met up at the Plaza Mayor again at 10pm for the pub crawl with the same tour group. We met a lot more people from Canada, Arizona, France, Spain, and other States. It was so interesting to meet people from all over the world!! We went to 4 bars and a club, and one of the bars was a salsa bar! We didn’t stay long at the club because we were tired and we had a big day tomorrow!!

roommates!! sarah, lindsay, me

all 5 of us! (my eyes arent closed, i just squint when i smile)

me and rachel

On March 19^th, my grandpa’s birthday, I had a fabulous day!! We did get to sleep in until 11, then showered and got ready for the day. I wore my strapless dress. We got Sbarro Pizza for lunch and ate it sitting in the Plaza Mayor. It was super hot and sunny and we tanned while eating our food. Then we went shopping and I bought my cousin his Real Madrid soccer jersey. Then we split up for awhile- Rachel and Stacy went to the Reina Sophia Museum and Sarah, Lindsay, and I went to Starbucks. They wrote my name on my tall fresa (strawberry) frappachino: Cristy. That is now my Spanish name!! We sat under these umbrellas and palm trees and drank our Starbucks.

We all met up at 5 at the hostel and got ready for Taylor!! We walked to the Metro and took it to the concert venue. It was a huge green building with big white stars on the sides. I was sooo excited, obviously. There was a huge long line outside and we talked to the young married couple in front of us. They were from Dallas and they are traveling the world for 6 months. They were so interesting to talk to, plus super nice and friendly! Then we met the girl behind us in line, Cameron, who is a Tri Delta from the US but she is living in Europe now. We invited her to hang out with us at the concert!! She was so nice!! We took a picture of the 6 of us doing our sorority symbols.

At the concert, since we had general admission, we got to stand right in front of the stage!! Which is weird because the people who actually paid more for legit seats were behind us. The arena was pretty much empty at first, and there weren’t even that many people there during the opening act. The band that opened consisted of 2 guys and a girl, and the girl could have passed as Miley Cyrus in like 20 years. They spoke in Spanish but sang in English. They were actually really good! Finally the arena started to fill up more. And then, finally, at like 9:30pm, it was time for Taylor!!

Sparks Fly was the first song that came on. Taylor wore a sparkly gold dress and sang while her band played the music. She flipped her hair a lot during the song. There was a humongous screen behind her that showed close ups of her singing. She did absolutely amazing, and at the end of the first song we all were clapping and screaming so long that Taylor almost started crying!! It was so awesome to see that look on her face that she was so surprised how much we loved her. There were a lot of Americans there but also lots of Europeans, some who only spoke Spanish. I guess it must be so weird to travel the world and see how many people there are who don’t even speak your language but who love your music. Taylor was so sweet and she said how much she loved Madrid.

Then she played Mine, and then she talked to us in between songs. She said “Yo no hablo español muy bueno, pero me encanta Madrid!” which means “I don’t speak Spanish very good but I love Madrid!” Then she talked about how she normally sings about love and heartbreak, and how those are themes that everyone all over the world can relate to. She said that no matter what language we speak, we are all the same. Then she sang Story of Us and Better Than Revenge, and then her band did a guitar solo and she went in the back to change. She came out in a blue dress with her hair in a ponytail. She sang Speak Now, and at the end of the song, she walked through the crowd to the back of the section we were standing in. Stacy got to touch Taylor’s hand!! I was literally 1 foot away from her. It was so awesome!!

speak now

fearless

you belong with me

She then sat up high on this platform and sang and played the guitar all by herself. She did Fearless, Fifteen, and You Belong With Me from her 2^nd album Fearless, which was the first album of hers released in Spain. She said she wanted to see the people in the back, and she faced a different way during each of the songs so everyone could see her. She told us to sing along during You Belong With Me, and we all sang with her. Then she went back to the front of the stage and changed again. She came out in this long white dress with a big skirt and sang Enchanted with a fog machine on. During the song, she ripped off part of the skirt so she had on a white dress.

enchanted

love the sparkly guitar

Then she sang Dear John and Long Live, where she introduced her band to us, and then Back to December. Then she changed again into a white sparkly dress and sang her encore, Love Story. When she was done, confetti and streamers rained down from the ceiling. Then a red curtain went up and Taylor was gone. It was seriously the best concert I have ever been to!! Taylor seemed to really really love Madrid!! She promised to return someday. She seemed so down to earth and really honored that all these people love her! After the concert we took the Metra home and went to sleep, still taking in how awesome the concert was!!

its a love story baby just say yes

Sunday March 20^th was my grandma’s birthday!! After an amazing day yesterday, I was sad that it was our last day in Madrid, but today was really fun too!! Plus I was still excited from the concert!! We woke up early and got ready. I french braided my hair and it looked fantastic. :) We took the Metra again to the Real Madrid soccer stadium. It actually has a name, like you don’t say the White Sox stadium, you say Comisky Park (or now you can say US Cellular Field, but that sounds lame) or like the Cubs play at Wrigley Field. The soccer field was called like Bernabeu or something.

We took pictures outside, and then we did this tour. Despite my zero interest level in soccer, my short attention span for museums, and my lack of ability to comprehend Spanish, it was actually kinda cool and I had a lot of fun! The stadium was huge, but it kinda reminded me of like a normal sports field. (Btdubs, they call soccer football here, which is beyond confusing…) We went up to the top and took pictures at the panorama view, and then we went into the museum part. These Spanish people love their soccer!!

So in this museum there were tons of old soccer jerseys and trophies (we actually could touch the trophies!! Well I don’t know if we were supposed to…) and I’m not totally sure what a lot of the stuff was. Then- get this- we got to go on the field!! And we got to sit in the benches where the players sit and go in the visitor’s dressing room!! We got to go in the press room too and we took some pictures there pretending to give a press conference. Then you end in this huge 3 level Adidas store where you can view your photoshopped photos with a famous soccer player of your choice. I chose Ronaldo because he is the only soccer player I have ever heard of, besides David Beckham, the one who married Victoria Beckham, the Spice Girl. Did you know they’re both British?

trophy room. lots of mirrors, lots of trophies. love it!

We took 2 Metra trains back to Plaza del Sol, near our hostel, and we decided to get lunch. We opted for McDonald’s- very cultural, but actually I’ve only had McDonald’s twice since I have been in Europe- and ate in the Plaza Mayor again. We sat in the sun because it was even hotter than the days before! We tanned after lunch by laying on the ground in the plaza, and I even fell asleep for a few minutes…

Around 4ish we went back to our hostel, caught a taxi, got to the bus station, and took the 5pm bus back to Granada. I listened to Taylor Swift music on my iPod the whole way home, obviously, and we got home at like 10ish.

I was honestly surprised with how much I loved Madrid!! I thought I would love Taylor but hate the city, but I actually had a really fun weekend! I’m so thankful to Taylor Swift for coming to Madrid so I could see her, but also for giving me such a positive view of the capital of Spain. I had an unforgettable weekend and I loved spending it with Lindsay, Sarah, Rachel, Stacy, and Taylor Swift!! <3

PS This was my first weekend of being 20!!!