Awesome, except for the hostility…
Initially we were super impressed by Madrid. It’s one of the 5 largest cities in Europe (~5M people) and the capital of a country that once controlled ~13% of the world’s landmass, so it makes sense that it is a great city. We were surprised at how modern and cosmopolitan it feels – very different than say Rome which has a lot more of a historical feel to it. If anything, Madrid reminded us of New York. We were only there for a couple of days, so certainly didn’t see all that much, but it gives the feel of a well designed, bustling metropolitan with lots of stuff going on. It does NOT feel like a tourist destination which is nice. Early impressions were that it might not be a great tourist destination, but would be an awesome place to live.
That said…
We started to notice that people were not being very friendly to us. At first, it was just the hotel check-in and the bus ticket taker seeming grumpy and unhelpful, but within a day or two, we had enough negative interactions with locals that it was hard to chock it up to being a few people having off days. We did encounter a few friendly and helpful people as well, but by and large the vibe was unfriendly. It’s not clear why… it could be just how people are to everyone there…
or it could be because we were with kids… though they are quite well behaved
or it could be because we were tourists… though we speak enough Spanish to get by
So, I don’t know… but, it was enough that we went from very excited to potentially extend our stay there after our first impressions to being eager to leave within 2 days. Maybe we’ll go back some day and try again. Would be curious if anyone has had similar or different experiences?
