Mary in London- 2019: Madrid, Spain: Apr 15-16

Our next stop was Madrid, Spain. We took a morning train from Valencia and were there in under two hours. We checked into our Airbnb and made a game plan for the day. We also got Madrid transit passes that were a lifesaver. The metro was super easy to figure out! The first stop: food. I had researched this tapas place ahead of time and it hit the spot. If you're ever in Madrid, I recommend Bodega de la Ardosa. It's as authentic as it gets. Next we saw the outside of the palace of Madrid. It's huge. Next to it is their famous Almudena Cathedral. We went inside because it was free. I'm glad we did. The ceilings were insane! We also saw the Plaza de Cibeles and strolled along the Gran Via which is Madrid's main shopping street. We had the pleasant discovery of finding store called Lefties which was super cute and affordable. We later found out it's owned by Zara which explains why we liked it so much. Next stop: Churros. We went to Chocolateria San Gines which came highly recommended. It was 10/10. Another must. The churros were great but what was unreal was the chocolate you dipped it in. It's almost a month later that I'm writing this and those churros have crossed my thoughts multiple times since. That night we were pretty tired so we just went to a takeout burrito place and called it a night.

The next morning we shamelessly slept in and then went to a brunch spot called Federal Cafe. It was also delicious. Madrid really had good food. We thought it might be pricier since Madrid is the capital but it really wasn't then again everything compared to my home city of London- ha. During our lunch, we hit our first bump in the trip. We found out there was a labor strike and that our train the next day was cancelled. This was problematic as this train was already incredibly expensive as it was Spain's holy week. Fortunately because it was so so so last minute we were able to book cheap flights to our next destination and got refunded for the train. After that chaotic hour, we went on another free walking tour (surprise!). I learned a lot about Madrid. I didn't realize their relationship with the Hapsburgs from Austria and basically there was a ton of incest - shocking, lol. Anyway I really didn't retain the history but it was super interesting at the time. Another funny thing was that it was SO warm and sunny in Madrid but all the locals were in winter coats!! After the walking tour I had it on my list to go to this famous Circulo de Bellas Artes. While the view was great, the rooftop was slightly disappointing as the bar and roof actually closed relatively early at 8:30pm. We went around 7:30pm in aims of catching sunset which we did but next time we would go earlier to enjoy it more and have the bar actually be open (important things). That night I made Sam wait in an hour line for this famous taco place called Takos El Pastor. We would both do it again! The tacos were 1 euro each and the had pitchers of frozen margaritas. Another cheap, 10/10 dining experience in Madrid and a great way to end our time there!