For those reading this, HELLO! I hope you come to know me as one of your favorite writers within Stories from Abroad. Hopefully, this post will give you a clearer picture of how the GW Madrid program works, and if it's the right fit for you (I guarantee you it is).
This April, our program had the amazing opportunity to visit the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium, alongside Maria Angeles, one of the two Madrid coordinators who make everything possible. For simplicity and moral correctness, I will refer to soccer as fútbol.
Now that we have that out of the way, our Bernabéu tour kicked off (get it?) by doing a walk-through of the extensive hallways of Spain's second-largest fútbol stadium, filled with dioramas, initial jersey designs, and old famous players. We went from admiring the 2024 Euro Cup to reading an exhibition about Real Madrid's history from 1905 to the present day.
*Disclaimer: I am not a Real Madrid fan, but even so, I found myself fully immersed in this tour.
From Ballon d'Ors to National League Cups, I was truly impressed by the number of trophies on display. It's to be expected of the team, globally considered as #1 worldwide.
The coolest thing on the tour was hands-down the virtual "Meet the Team" room, where you could take pictures with a digital copy of one of your favorite Real Madrid Players-- I got some with my goat Bellingham!
After that, we passed by a couple more rooms until we stopped to take a group picture with Maria Angeles (and the Champions League Cup).
We were in luck that day, and access to the field was granted to us, so we were able to get down to where the real matches are played! We were so thrilled and actually got to sit in the same seats as the players! Everyone was so excited to be on the field where many legends once played. Here is a picture of Maria Angeles acting as our coach during halftime (we were all deeply in character).
Lastly, we got to visit the Real Madrid locker rooms, where I could finally fulfill my wish of taking a picture with Camavinga's #6 jersey.
This was an unforgettable experience, and one that I definitely recommend to anybody thinking of participating in GW Madrid. While the tour was longer than I expected, encompassing two hours, it was not guided, and students can go at their own pace. This was a great way to learn more about Madrid culture, and it's all thanks to the great program coordinators for their insightful planning.
Lucas Bouchard
Spring 2026
GW Madrid (GW Study Program)
School of Business
Business & Finance Double Major