Daytripping: Alcalá de Henares

I'd been in Spain for over 6 weeks, but not once ventured outside of Madrid (except to Stuttgart, Germany). There are many smaller cities and pueblos within a stone's throw (if you can throw a stone so that it stays in the air for an hour) of Madrid.

Assuming I would wake up at a decent hour on Saturday morning, I planned a day trip to Toledo, the former capital of Spain. When I woke up at 1 pm, feeling ill, and generally uninspired to move, I knew Toledo wasn't happening. I Googled a more manageable option, Alcalá de Henares, and announced to my roommates that I was going on a trip. [Neat trick for very lazy humans: Tell other people that you are going to do something, especially when you are on the verge of not doing that something and chain-watching Youtube videos instead, and then imagine that they will judge you very harshly for not doing that something.] With my monthly pass, the roundtrip to Alcalá cost just 4.50 Euros, and trains run frequently, so I was on my way easily.

Traveling alone when you aren't used to it can be a bit jarring at first...You might feel the urge to cry at passersby, "I have family and friends who like me! I am here alone by choice!" But resist.

At first, I walked around feeling lost. I was thankful to come across gardens and parks that gave me a chance to squint discreetly at the tiny map on my iPod. I tend to pay more attention to birds when I'm on my own.

Just when I started to think that this city was rather plain-looking, I came across this archway, which was my portal into the old, fortified, and pretty areas. "Alcalá" means citadel in Arabic.

When I reached it was early afternoon, so not many people were out and about.

The giant storks and their humongous nests are a common sight throughout Alcalá de Henares. The city is home to the University of Alcalá, founded in the late 1400s.

Catedral de los Santos Niños. "Constructed between 1497 and 1514, it houses the remains of Saints Justus and Pastor, two Christian schoolboys martyred near the city during the persecutions of the Roman Emperor at the beginning of the fourth century."-Wikipedia

For a moment, I thought I had taken a Portkey back to our ancestral village in Karnataka. The older homes there look exactly like this!

Plaza de Cervantes. The main square in the city. As the sun began to set, lots of families with their insanely energetic and loud children came out to play.

Cervantes, I found you! I sat here and read a chapter or two of Don Quixote, feeling incredibly lucky.

This was a beautiful museum, showcasing the Muslim influence on the city's architecture and culture.

I ducked into Café Hemisferio to reward myself with a delicious hot coffee drink for successfully spending the day alone.