Madrid
Traveling to Madrid was a not really planned for trip. One day my husband said, “Book a flight to Madrid,” and I am not crazy, I was not going to ask questions, I just needed to book!
We went for a week the first week of October and it was lovely! The weather was amazing and we stayed so close to the city center that we were able to walk to everything we wanted to see and do.
We only packed backpacks, so there were no delays at the airport, except for on our way back…. Our flight was cancelled the morning it was supposed to depart! They were able to get us on another flight…… 3. DAYS. LATER. Hahaha so other than that little snafu, everything about Madrid was incredible. After leaving the airport, we took an Uber to the Airbnb which, with traffic, was close to around a 45 minute ride.
Here is a bit about what we did and what we saw along the way!
Food/Drinks
Tortillas-omelettes these are so delicious, like a tasty potato omelette-my favorite!
Sangria- ALLLLLL the sangria! Also Tinto which is like sparkling bubbly sangria.
Casa Toni-This was our favorite restaurant, it was small and not too flashy, but we ended up stopping in. While we were there we overheard a table next to us who were on a food tour and the tour guide was telling them about the foods to order, so of course we did that! Blood Sausage, Sweetbreads, Fried green chilis- EVERYTHING WAS SO GOOD!
San Gines- Churros with Chocolate …. Enough said
Tapas - El Tigre- buy a small beer, get so much food!
Markets- Mercado de San Antón- food stands, drinks, we sniffed truffles and stopped to drink a truffle beer- pretty good.
The Mercado de San Miguel- so much food and so much going on. Hubby accidentally ordered us oysters with caviar and champagne hahaha - maybe it was the fact that his Spanish isn’t awesome, or maybe he was just trying to treat us…. Either way, it was still gross.
Rooftop bars- There were so many options with beautiful views and lovely (overpriced) drinks/food. Some rooftops had entrance fees but all in all they were a fantastic way to see the city from above.
Walking tour - I use Pinterest a lot when researching and planning itineraries, we used the Self-Guided Walking tour from the blog, Lauren on Location- which has a map and information about all of the squares, gardens, and must see places that were all walkable and free.
Airbnb experiences- Our Airbnb was an adorable and nicely decorated apartment within Plaza Del Carmen, there were gates that locked at a certain time at night and needed a code to get into. It was so close to the main streets of Gran Via and Sol and we paid $67/night.
When you search on Airbnb for places to stay, they also recommend experiences or things to do while you are there. We decided to book a few of these!
Discover the world of "ibérico" ham- This was one of the first things that we did in Madrid and it was really cool. Alberto was literally the nicest human ever and he was so passionate and excited to share and teach us about all about jamon. We got to taste different qualities of jamon and drink some amazing wine. Alberto gave us recommendations for where to go, and what to eat.
Pub crawl - This was about $12/per person and it was nice to do this on our first night out. There was a group of folks and a guide who took us all around, got us into a number of bars, and clubs, and gave us drink tickets for wine, beer, and cocktails along the way.
Paella cooking class- Paloma was the host for this experience. She met a group of us in Chueca, across from the San Anton Market, and took us to her home. She was fabulous! We laughed, drank wine, cooked, and learned so much about the history of this super scrumptious meal! Paloma was an amazing and generous host. Even after the experience, she sent us guides, pictures, and recommendations for the rest of our trip!
Flamenco class- This was so fun! We learned some extremely basic Flamenco dance steps, of course drank wine, and had grand finale performance. We learned a lot about the history of Flamenco, and I have to say, hubby was probably the best dancer there!
Paloma from the cooking class, recommended that we go to a Flamenco show at La Taberna de Mister Pinkleton- AMAZING! They have a dinner service, but we went and only ordered drinks. We were sat in the very front row and this was such an incredibly powerful musical experience!
Shopping:
Primark- soooooo many things clothes shoes accessories, there were multiple floors and so affordable. If we hadn’t only packed backpacks we would have definitely done some more damage here!
Gran Via- the main street- just walking down this we saw all of the stores and all of the things.
Random:
Nose pierce- So I have been talking about piercing my septum for a long time. One morning we left the Airbnb and headed out for the day, we walked passed a tattoo/piercing shop and I made the comment, ‘I should pierce my nose.’ Hubby was like ‘do it then.’ which to me was all I needed to convince me to go for it. We walked in and the woman behind the counter did not speak English, so with some pointing and hand motions, I picked a black titanium horseshoe septum ring, paid 25 Euros, went up some stairs with a random dude (who also didn’t speak English), 5 minutes and a stream of tears later… SEPTUM PIERCED.
Funny game shows- Okay this is super random and like, ‘Why would you watch TV in Madrid?!’ I may have enjoyed taking my time to get ready, so hubs turned the TV on while waiting and we witnessed some of the best game shows! In Spanish, and yet we understood the concepts and it may have taken me even longer to get ready that day because we had to see who would win! El concurso del año- Guess my age, and Spanish- Boom!
Prado Museum- One of the last days we were there the weather got cloudy and rainy. We spent our time at the Prado Museum which was incredible! We went closer to closing time, and it was free to get in. We could have definitely spent more time here as there was so much to see!
Tech we carried:
Our phones
Teppy-we rented a pocket WiFi from Tep wireless- this was soo nice to be able to look things up, find directions, and contact people either through WhatsApp or iMessage.
Portable charger with multiple ports and a cord with multiple adapters so that we could charge our phones, and the teppy at the same time -GAME CHANGERS
Things to know:
Siestas are real and dinner is late
Staying out late and sleeping in- the party don’t stop til 6 in the mornin’
Madrid is beautiful, historic, and so much fun. We know that this is a city we will definitely visit again!