This city is absolutely amazing and I’ve only been here a day. I’m surprised by how much Spanish I remember from high school and it’s actually so empowering to be able to communicate in another language.
On our first day, Maddie and I spent time wandering and getting acclimated to the city. We must have walked miles just around the area of our hotel. We stopped into a few markets and grabbed coffee and an eclair, as well as stopped into thrift stores and cute boutiques in the area. I explored Retiro Park a bit on my own and El Palacio Cristal while Maddie napped. It was a beautiful area as the sun was going down and perfect for a picnic. I will definitely be going back.
For dinner we chose a traditional tapas place called El Sur right in our neighborhood. They had amazing Gambones with garlic, patatas bravas, and Jamón. We drank sangria with our meals and even got a shot on the house 🙂 after dinner we went to Plaza Mayor to sit and people watch. We stopped for soft serve vanilla ice cream on the way home, which was much needed. We then headed back to the room to watch tv before bed.
This morning we woke up slightly earlier and got ready to take on the day. The morning was spent in Gran Via doing some shopping. From there we wandered to el Mercado de San Miguel to meet my good friend Keemia for lunch. We got croquettes and some drinks and sat outside the market to eat. We moved from there to Plaza Mayor and several other historical sights in Madrid. Around 3:00 pm we parted ways with keemia so she could get to her next class. We rested a bit in the room and then I went out to check out a thrift store nearby. Madrid fashion is amazing and I’m definitely gonna end up buying some things but for now I’m mostly browsing to find things I like. I walked around central Madrid checking out some places on my list to see and then looped back to the hotel. There Maddie and I hung out for a bit before I went out to get churros for us to eat while we relaxed in bed. The churros from Chocolateria de San Gines were amazing and the chocolate they came with was rich and wonderful.
Tonight we have plans to have dinner at a great paella place a few minutes walk from us. Then we want to check out a rooftop bar a bit further away for a nice view and a few drinks. Tomorrow we booked a tapas food tour. I cannot wait!
The Bucketlister 