Our Final Hours in Spain Were Unexpectedly Perfect

Mornings are always tough and yet tougher when you have a 6:30 AM train to catch. Up and out of our hotel in the morning darkness, we made our way to the Barcelona train station, ready to see this city behind us.

Using the rather long train ride to catch up on some much needed rest, we found ourselves rolling back into the ever familiar Madrid Atocha station for which seemed like the tenth time.

Fortunately this would be our last time at this station as that had been our last and final train journey of the entire trip.

As we emerged from the station, it was a different mood walking through the capital as the skies were a dark grey and with a brisk chill in the air. We also realized this was our last day of the trip so our emotions were also somber.

A short walk from the station, we found ourselves in line at the Reina Sofia art museum. The museum exceeded our expectations and we were fascinated with it’s clean and simple layout and the works on display.

Unfortunately we had also planned to go to another art museum shortly after this one and we rushed through the many exhibits. A rather simple museum, without any elaborate displays, was still striking and Picasso’s Guernica was the main highlight.

Countless works from Picasso were on display and the museum featured multiple floors and levels which held such striking treasures.

Within an hour, we had rushed through the countless floors and marbled hallways and were out in the street heading to the next museum, Museo Del Prado.

The walk to the Prado was relatively short and yet all we could think about was the countless paintings and artworks we had likely missed in our rush to meet our next timed entry. Should I ever find myself back in Spain, I would love to return. Before long, we found ourselves shuffling our way into the next museum and shoving our backpacks into small lockers; ready to see more famed works.

This museum was one of the largest and most highly regarded in the country yet we were pretty quickly disappointed. Countless signs dotted the area proclaiming no photos or videography. Should you manage to sneak a quick photo, a worker would appear from the shadows and scold you. However, some of our favorite paintings in the world were held here and we managed to sneak a few photos (even though Austin was not as lucky and got an earful).

We spent two hours here before heading back out and trying to find something for lunch in the maze of winding streets and alleyways. We found a small sketchy bar/restaurant and had an overpriced meal while the other patrons kept us under their ever watching eye.

It was at this time where we began the check in process for our flight back home for the following day and unfortunately I was at a standstill. No matter what I submitted, I was receiving an alarming error. This simple little pop up would begin to haunt me for the rest of the day.

After our meal, we continued our casual walk through the city and entered the large open plazas of the Plaza Mayor and Plaza de la Armeria.

Now firmly in the end stage of the trip, we had just one finally attraction on our itinerary. As we walked up to the Temple of Debod (an ancient Egyptian temple now located on a bluff overlooking the city), emotions were pretty somber.

Overlooking the city below, we began to hear the soft faint sound of music and it could not have been more perfect. This is where our trip ended and we had our own movie moment with a soundtrack. I turned to look at Austin and he said “It’s kinda funny, the music at the end of our trip”.

You cannot script moments like this and that's what makes it all the more special. We stood in this spot for several long moments just trying to soak it all in. This was the ending point of our trip and it was just a moment of reflection. Ready to move on and check into our hotel, we began a long journey to the outskirts of Madrid.

Our journey took us out through the rows of high rises and instead was replaced with smaller suburbs and dilapidated parks.

As it was just before 7 PM, we still had much of the evening and didn’t want to spend it locked away in our room. On Austin and I’s first trip, we went an saw a movie at a local theater and found it to be a very interesting experience and thought it would be a good idea to try it here. We were fortunately a short walk from a local theater so we booked tickets to see Mickey 17 (with Spanish subtitles) and it was such a strange experience.

Outside of one lone worker, we were the only ones there. Everything was empty, almost like a ghost town. We were the only ones in our auditorium and it just enhanced the experience.

Once the movie had concluded, we made our way through the abandoned lobby and out into the cold and now wet evening. Rain had begun to unleash from the heavens and we quickly phoned a taxi to take us back to our hotel. Once back in the room, we began to pack our bags for our flight home the following morning and spent much of the night reminiscing about the various adventures we had over the week.

(Should you be curious about the check in error, I was “randomly” selected for an additional screening)

To see the previous day’s adventure, click here.