This is part one in a five-part series.

Over the summer, I had the amazing opportunity to travel to Spain. Beginning with Madrid, I toured through seven cities: Toledo, Segovia, Burgos, Bilbao, Pamplona, and, finally, Barcelona.

I went with some of my friends from the Spanish class, including Elisa Ascencio, Alexis Schwartz, Jordan Gohs, Brianna Finley, Kelsie Rose, and Katelyn Weycker. There were also four adult chaperones: Ms. Laura Pence and Ms. Caitlyn Hudgins, both KHS Spanish teachers, and Mrs. Kelly Finley and Ms. Diana MacArthur.

We flew out of the Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport on June 18 via Air France. We arrived in Paris the next morning at the Charles de Gaulle Airport. From there we flew into the Madrid Barajas International Airport, where our fun finally began.

After getting our luggage, we got to meet our tour director, Raul. He was very friendly and excited to meet us.

From there, we went straight to the hotel to drop our stuff off, which fortunately was in the heart of the city. When we got our luggage and rooms situated, Raul took us on a walking tour of Madrid.

My first impression of the city was that it was ancient and beautiful. Every building, painted in bright and cheerful colors, looked like it could have been in a fairy tale or in the Epcot Center at Disney World. I could already tell from that short tour that I was really going to love Madrid and the rest of Spain.

I was a little nervous for dinner because I usually eat the same sort of food, but we had chicken and a rice-curry-type dish, which, thankfully, wasn’t too exotic. I thought that the meal was delicious, and this trip really expanded my tastes and made me more open to trying new things.

After dinner, we went back to the hotel, but we did not stay there for long. Our school group ventured out into the city (which despite the late hour was surprisingly packed) and went to McDonald’s. This is where I had my first experience to talk to a native Spanish speaker, and I think I was pretty successful. I got what I wanted and they seemed to understand what I was trying to say.

The next morning, we met with a local tour guide, Berta, for a bus tour. Along this tour we stopped at a few places, including Plaza de Toros de Las Ventas, which is a famous bullfighting arena. We took a few pictures there and then we headed off to tour the Palacio Real.

The Palacio Real (Royal Palace) completely took my breath away. I would not have been able to imagine a place so extravagant and beautiful before I toured the palace.

Even just being able to see the outside was lucky; it is humongous, and pristine. And if I thought I was impressed by the outside, that was nothing compared to what was waiting for us on the inside.

We were able to tour through several rooms including the original kings’ bedrooms, dining rooms, throne rooms, and great halls. Unfortunately, we were not able to take pictures inside of any of these rooms in order to preserve the ancient furniture within them.

However, I will attempt to describe these magnificent rooms. Each one had a unique chandelier, tapestry on the walls, and a clock. The tapestry — or sometimes velvet — on the walls ranged from deep blue to bright red to some sort of etching. Everyone in these rooms could feel the sacredness and was respectful and quiet. The fact that the clocks still worked and everything was so well preserved just blew my mind.

The next activity was possibly the most culturally rich thing we did on the entire trip. We went to El Corral de la Moreria, a famous flamenco club in the city. Flamenco is a type of music and dance in southern Spain.

However, our day still was not done; we still had the tour of the Museo Nacional del Prado (The Prado Museum). This museum holds the art of famous artists such as El Greco, Francisco de Goya, Diego Velázquez, and, while we were there, Pablo Picasso. I was really excited that Picasso was there because he is my favorite artist; I love his abstract pieces. Unfortunately, though, we were not allowed to take any pictures.

The next day we got to explore an even more ancient national landmark — the city of Toledo. The city is surrounded on all sides by a wall on one side and water on the other.

In the city, we toured the Primate Cathedral of Saint Mary of Toledo, which was built in 1493, and is still in use. Both the inside and the outside of the cathedral were beautiful and extravagant.

As an added bonus, the monks in the choir sang while we were touring, and it was melodic and beautiful.

From there, we went to the Mariano Zamorano Fabrica de Espadas — a famous steel factory. They gave us a demonstration of how they made their swords, and then we got to go to the gift shop. I bought a sword for my dad, which is styled after King Arthur’s Excalibur sword.

Sadly, after leaving the steel factory, we also had to depart from Toledo, but not before we stopped to take a picture of the city as a whole.

It was our last night in Madrid, and Raul gave us the whole night for free time. My group decided to go out for pizza and just walk around the city, enjoying the view.