So this is my first time in Madrid and I’m very excited to explore the capital – the perfect opportunity to brush up on my rusty Spanish! As always, when I’m in Spain, I’m struck by the relaxed nature that everyone seems to have. Nobody seems to be rushing anywhere but everything is moving, ticking over nicely with, apparently, little effort (I’d love to know what their secret is!).
First of all I needed to make my way to the Enforex head offices, which meant navigating the metro system. I was instantly taken back to my own student days when I moved abroad and thought “Right, I’m here but need to be somewhere else. Fingers crossed I don’t get horribly lost!”.
As always, the Spanish are helpful and the ladies in the metro office offered useful advice as to which ticket would be best, even double checking I knew the route I needed. Great customer service.
A mere 30 minutes later and I was walking up the street to the Enforex offices, noticing the subtleties that told me that I was in Spain. One thing that kept making me smile along the way was the noise at road crossings. I can only describe it as an overly enthusiastic child shooting Space Invaders – oh dear, now that shows my age!
After introductions and a tour around the Enforex office, it was off to visit the Enforex and Don Quijote language school sites, which are both located close to each other and not far from the historic centre. Clearly a lot of thought has gone into the set up and layout of both schools. The classrooms are light and airy, the common areas are spacious with plenty of seating and all the staff are friendly and helpful.
Now it was time to get exploring the rest of the city, my first stop being the historic centre. I love exploring new cities and wandering around on foot to see what you come across.
Eventually I found myself at the Palacio Real and was stunned by the sheer size of it. It looks beautiful in the early evening light and the atmosphere in the surrounding public spaces can only be described as bustling. There was a great mixture of tourists and locals out enjoying the evening, especially the various street performers dotted around.
All in all a great start in Madrid! Roll on day two…
