Bye Bye Madrid, today I have to say goodbye again to you, to that city in which I feel more “at home” after home, the one in which I spent more time, to which I returned more times. And also, of which I had to say goodbye more times.
In the first farewell, seven years ago, I left wanting to stay, thinking how I could turn that desire into a reality that at that time seemed as far away as impossible.
In the second, a year and a half ago, I left with much more desire to stay still and with the certainty that those desires would gradually become reality.
And as they say, the third is the charm. This time, unlike the previous ones, I leave happy, because this does not feel goodbye. It feels just like a “see you later”, because I’m going close and I know I’ll be walking your streets again soon.
Meanwhile, I will miss you a little every day and I will remember this month that we share with a smile on your face. A month in which time took another direction and days passed like water. A month that went from being a trip to being life itself. A month that became so daily that just before I left, it seemed very strange to think that soon I would not see your subway signs, I would not walk on your slopes, I would not lose myself in your alleys, I would not see your balconies.
Thank you for making me spend the best winter of my life, which looked a lot like a spring. Thank you for a full month of sun in the sky. Thank you for your infinite squares where I read, wrote, ate snacks and enjoyed every minute. Thank you for your times, for your rhythms and for your customs. Thank you for having aroused my curiosity in so many ways, for so much inspiration, for letting me know you little by little.
I am writing this letter from a new place, because they say you have to write about places when you are gone. A place where I am for the first time and which I fell in love with at first sight, but don’t be jealous, because… there’s always a train that ends in Madrid.
Where do farewell letters to places come from?
Writing a farewell letter to a place is not something that occurred to me, but I borrowed this idea from the travel writer I most admire and who is a great inspiration to me, Aniko Villalba. I freshly remember reading in her blog www.viajandoporahi.com, her farewell letter to Biarritz, which made me come to tears (and you can read it by clicking here)
Do you want to read another farewell letter?
Here I leave the one I wrote to Morocco
