Warrior Nun Locations in Madrid; Part 2
Hello, my fellow Halo Bearers, it’s Kass again and welcome to the second part of the journey around Warrior Nun locations. Our route includes visiting the rest of the sites in Madrid and a small town Navacerrada, which played the role of “Switzerland” in our favourite series. Moreover, we will take a look around our bar (THE BAR, nuns) and even talk with the owner.
So, are you ready?
On the first trip, we visited the majority of the WN locations in the Spanish capital, except four: Adriel's Cathedral, the place where Ava falls in 2x05, the Church where an epic fight and the bridge where Miguel and Ava talked.
We'll start our journey from Adriel's Cathedral. Located on Calle Pintor el Greco, this impressive building is actually the Spanish Cultural Heritage Institute, designed back in 1967 and considered one of the first modern buildings in Madrid, and also became a cultural heritage site.
It can already be seen from several streets away, and when you approach it, carved peaks on its roof create a feeling of fantastic-ness of the entire structure. It's understandable why Simon chose it. Towering over you for many meters, this monumental building truly radiates some kind of mysterious energy as if Adriel is truly there and plotting some world domination plans.
I was ready to go inside and see if it was true or not, but, unfortunately, had free time only on Sunday, just when it was closed (and I didn’t have Beatrice as my back up so decided not to risk it. Don’t judge me, nuns, I am not trained in martial arts 😉) All other days, though, there are guided tours available and you will be able to see the interior with its huge windows on the ceiling, wrapped in an iron structure in the form of a cobweb. It also often hosts exhibitions of artworks and photographs, as well as master classes.
The most incredible thing is that this building is popularly nicknamed by citizens of Madrid as the “Crown of Thorns” (Got it, warriors? THE CROWN OF THORNS!!!😮)
Twenty minutes from this building is the second point on our map, namely the hotel where the secret conclave in the 2x05 episode took place. This hotel is called Princesa Plaza Madrid on Calle de la Princesa, and that moment when Ava, Beatrice and Michael walk in with cool music and look so badass was really filmed in the lobby of this hotel. To tell you the truth, when I walked in, I had this music playing in my mind and couldn’t help but strike the power pose like Ava. (😊Well, duh). Unfortunately, it was not possible to go up to the floor where the chase was filmed, allowed only for the people who reserved a room. So, I had to leave the hotel but went around it on the left and found the door from which Mother Superion, Beatrice, Yasmine and Michael came out. Just a few steps back is the very place where they filmed the heartbreaking scene between Beatrice and Ava, after the fall.
I could not stop myself and looked at the sky, good thing Ava wasn’t suspended in the air. After that, I approached the small secluded square and have to say that my heart clenched when I saw the very place where crying Beatrice clutched Ava to her chest. This is one of my favourite scenes in the second season and I was completely blown away by KTY and Alba’s acting. Just standing there and thinking about it, almost made me tear up.
After daydreaming a bit about Avatrice and their love, which is so beautiful, pure, deep and touching (I can talk for hours about it, so it’s better that I stop 😊), the next stop was the bridge where Ava and Michael talked in 2x04. It is located at the other end of the city, so it took a fair amount of time to get to it. Let me pause my ramblings for a minute and give you one more piece of advice: manage your time ahead of your trip and arrange the locations according to how fast you can get there. I didn’t do that, so almost all the places that I had left to see ended up on opposite sides of the city and I spent an hour on the road to each of them.
So anyway, after a long subway ride, I finally made it to the bridge, which is on P.º de las Yesería and called Puente Monumental de Arganzuela. It does look impressive with its two parts made in the form of cone-shaped pipes and these pipes are spiral iron "ribbons" that divide the bridge into small sections. The footpath itself inside the bridge is made of wooden slats to lighten the entire structure and you really just enjoy walking through it, as it offers a beautiful view of the Arganzuela Park, the Manzanares River and the beautiful Toledo Bridge.
It looks especially beautiful at night, when the lanterns flood the space with bright milky light, which, reflected from the iron ribs, creates an impressive and unforgettable view. So, if you want to experience the exact atmosphere of the moment when Ava walked on it, it is better to visit the bridge after sunset.
The last point of our route is where the Church Fight was filmed. It turned out to be not just one church but a huge Cementerio (cemetery) de la Almudena on Av. de Daroca. Unfortunately, there isn’t much I can tell you about this place, as I couldn’t get inside. Nuns, please, listen to my advice in the first blog and check in advance the opening and closing hours of the places you want to visit. I didn't listen to my own words (yep, that’s on me) and arrived just when the guard started closing the gate literally in front of my nose, while saying that I was six minutes late. Apparently, I had a very funny expression on my face at this information as this… man was holding back a smile. I will not write here my thoughts at that moment as I would hardly be able to translate them into English.
So here it is, warriors, we went to all the filming locations in Madrid, and I have to admit that Simon found really unique and fascinating locations that only brought more colors to the series. I will never be able to thank him enough for this.
Now we come to the second area where the shooting took place, namely the one that was Switzerland for our girls. It is located just an hour from Madrid and this small town is called Navacerrada, surrounded by forests and mountains, and its beauty is indescribable when everything is in bloom. No wonder this place is so popular for hiking.
We have four filming locations here and will start with the gas station which is right in front of the entrance to the town. To be honest, I don’t know what to write about it. Actually, I would never have thought that a gas station could be one of the goals of my trip, but here we are and I have no regrets. It is not really different from other stations, but it does look the most beautiful to me (yeah, maybe I am biased, so what) but the view of the mountains behind it is very scenic too, especially in summer.
After fifteen minutes of walking, you step onto one of the main streets of the town, filled with picturesque walking paths, charming cafes and friendly residents. And for the next hours, you find yourself walking along narrow stone streets and buildings of previous centuries.
Personally, I love small provincial towns like this one. With their incredible smell of antiquity and history. I like to walk slowly, watching the peculiarities of local architecture, the carvings on the shutters, to get acquainted with local residents, ask a little about the history of the city, the region... and also bring a trophy from this place (I did get two daggers from the flea market.
All in all, this city unsurpassed charm will not leave you indifferent. Moreover, in addition to being in an idyllic natural setting, it is very beautifully decorated for Christmas, its stone houses and cobbled streets take on a new look in winter, with its beautiful facades and lights, as well as a Santa Claus sleigh with reindeer and a mailbox where children can leave their letters. The street where Ava and Beatrice help Michael in a fight is called Tr. De Cuartel and when you step onto it you do feel like any moment Bea will run from the corner to Aikido everyone into submission. Although, of course, in the evening, when everything is lit by the beautiful yellow light of lanterns, it makes you feel even more of a part of this story.
Another cobbled street that we visit is the one where Ava and Beatrice saw Michael after their Dance of Romance. It is called Plaza del Dr. Gereda and is indeed located in front of the main square of the city and yes, you guessed it right, in front of THE BAR. The one, where Beatrice and Ava spent two whole months together and where happened all of the cuteness, including Ava’s Oh moment, cheek kiss and both jealousy scenes.
So, we got to the most anticipated and unique (at least for Avatrice fans) Warrior Nun filming locations. It is on one of the main streets of the town, P.º de los Españoles, and definitely stands out from the rest of the buildings.
First of all, it is worth saying that this is a restaurant, called el Portillón, and unlike its neighbours, it does not look like an ordinary modern house. Dark wood and stone cladding make an impression of a small corner of calm and peace. And I really loved that they didn’t cut down the trees but built the restaurant around them, as it adds its own character to the place. I also saw pics of the restaurant in winter and, let me tell you, it’s beautiful. It immediately made me think of all the Christmas Avatrice fics and how much Ava would have loved to see this little town and their bar in festive decorations.
Inside, the restaurant is divided into two parts by wooden glazed doors, which were opened in the series, creating a feeling of spaciousness. The first thing that comes to mind upon entering is… it is so cosy. The place has its own special charm, with a fireplace and wooden tables and chairs, stone cladding, and a pleasant atmosphere. And walking in, you will feel like you just stepped right into the series of our beloved show.
The bar counter is exactly the same as in the scenes, except for the sign La Vasseur instead of el Portillon. I must admit that for a couple of seconds, I waited for Ava to run out from the storeroom and offer me Cuba Libre, but maybe it’s good that she didn’t, as in that case I would hardly be able to function. I guess she is travelling the world with Beatrice.
Hans wasn't there either, pity as I wanted to tell him how dear he became to this fandom. So, I went through and found the table where Beatrice sat and got breakfast while watching the first episode of the second season (Watching Avatrice scenes in the bad in that same bar is a unique experience). And at that moment, time just stopped. There was no fuss, cars, billboards and chatter… just a quiet measured life in a small town, where people easily shout to each other over the streets about local news, where even cats are so simple that after one caress, they already climb up to you.
I really hope that everyone will have the opportunity to not only visit this bar but to also have some tasty food here and just sit for a couple of minutes to take everything in and calm yourself from the emotions of being in Avatrice bar. And it is better to come early as it turns out that this place is very popular with the locals and in an hour almost all the places were taken.
Moving on to the cheek kiss scene. I must say that I expected it to be in some type of back room, but it turned out that this restaurant has two more floors. The second, as far as I know, was not involved in the filming, but on the third, they filmed that cute conversation. Just at the beginning of the scene, you could see that Ava was climbing the stairs. Of course, the room was rearranged for filming and now it’s all full of tables as a part of the restaurant, but despite that, you still can immediately recognize the scenery, where Ava teased Beatrice about chatting with customers… I felt deeply honoured to be able to visit the place that meant so much to our girls, so, please, excuse my shaking hands in the video.
The people working in this restaurant were all very friendly and allowed me to take pictures of everything. Moreover, I had the opportunity to talk to the owner about the filming. Can you believe it?
He confirmed, with great pride, that the series was filmed here and all the cast and crew were very friendly and a pleasure to work with. Additionally, it was very interesting for him to watch their work from the side and it was immediately clear that they are real professionals in their field. And he also especially pointed out that they did everything they could to not interfere with the work of the restaurant and from time to time all the filming crew dined there. And it made me so happy that they are such sweet and genuine people and choose to support the restaurant further.
This place definitely has its own soul or aura, call it what you want. And, you know, sometimes you can feel whether you will like the place you are visiting or not, whether its vibrations correspond to the vibrations of your soul.
And this bar will definitely play a beautiful melody on the strings of your heart! And when you walk into it and see these familiar walls and tables and counters, these small but cosy rooms, it seems that you are not in a real restaurant, but inside that story, like you are a part of OCS!
So, here it is. The second part of our journey around WN locations and I really hope that you enjoyed it and were able to experience all these places even for a moment!
Hope you will join me in my next adventure!
Lastly, I just wanted to say that I have been on Twitter for 9 years now and have never seen a fandom like ours: people in it are so friendly and kind and talented, I have never seen anything like it and if there is any fandom I truly believe in, it is this one. I am so proud to fight alongside every one of you!