Weird World [H.S]

78.

Out of visiting Italy and Sweden so far with Harry, I had to be honest with myself, but my absolute favourite so far was Madrid.

I mean, Milan would always hold a special place in my heart for what it had given me, but Madrid was something else.

We had arrived early this morning after flying in the early hours, and even though things were strained between everyone (mostly because of the whole charade between Phoebe and I yesterday), I kept myself to myself and perched my butt by the window on the seat next to Harry, so I could look out at the glorious view beneath me.

Of course, I was snap happy once again with my phone and continued to take shots of the gorgeous Spanish sky that I had flown through.

It was so, so, so beautiful to gaze at, especially during the morning sunrise.

On my way over, I managed to educate and get myself lost in a book that informed me that Madrid was a south-western European city, the capital of Spain (I obviously knew this already), and it was the largest municipality of the Community of Madrid.

The population of the city was almost at 3.2 million, with a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.5 million.

It is the third-largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and it's metropolitan area is the third-largest in the European Union after London and Paris.

Pretty snazzy.

For the next two nights, Harry and the boys were playing at the Vicente Calderón Stadium and according to Louis (who took instant pleasure in doing my head in about this) it was the home stadium of La Liga football club Atlético Madrid and was located in the Arganzuela district of Spanish capital Madrid.

Yeah, no clue here either.

One cool thing he did tell me about the stadium though, is that the seats are laid out in red and white stripes, which were the colours of Atlético's shirts and over the course of two nights, the boys would be playing to 130,372 people- which was just fucking crazily, stupidly, mind blowing to say the least.

Madrid was a cosmopolitan city that combined itself with the most modern infrastructures and had the status as an economic, financial, administrative and service centre, with a large cultural and artistic heritage, a legacy of centuries of exciting history- and that's what excited me the most.

If it was one thing that I loved about being on tour with Harry, was the fact that I got the chance to see these amazing countries and soak up in their history, so I couldn't wait to get out there and explore Madrid with my own eyes.

According to the book I read, Madrid was strategically located in the geographic centre of the Iberian Peninsula at an altitude of 646 metres above sea level, and has one of the most important historic centres of all the great European cities.

This heritage merges seamlessly with the city's modern and convenient infrastructures, a wide-ranging offer of accommodation and services, and all the latest state-of-the-art technologies in audio-visual and communications media.

These conditions, together with all the drive of a dynamic and open society -as well as high-spirited and friendly- have made this metropolis one of the great capitals of the Western world.

So exciting.

Near the Plaza Mayor is the area known as the "aristocratic centre" where the jewel in the crown is the Royal Palace, an imposing building dating from the 17th century featuring a mixture of Baroque and classicist styles.

Beside it is the Plaza de Oriente square, the Teatro Real opera house, and the modern cathedral of La Almudena which was consecrated in 1993 by Pope John Paul II.