We pick up our story in Madrid, the last stop on our whirlwind trip up the East Coast of Spain.
We arrived in Madrid at the bus station at 10:00pm which was slightly earlier than we expected and set about finding our bearings. Lonely Planet had come through, and we had a rough idea of where we currently were in relation to our hostel, and where the hostel itself was situated with regards to the rest of the city. We took a quick taxi that gave us glimpses of sights that we would see the next day, and arrived tired but in good spirits at the Hostel, La Posada de Huertas.
Situated close to the centre of town, Posada de Huertas was a bit of a let down after our experience with the hostel in Barcelona. The man behind the reception was not at all welcoming and came very close to rude, which was not something we were expecting or pleased about. With our spirits dampened we made our way to our dorm where we met our Chilean room-mates (who were lovely)and found our feet before heading out to explore and find dinner. As we walked the streets in the chilly night air, we passed a Pizza place and decisions were made quickly as to what we would eat. It was actually quite nice, and the night came to a rather inconspicuous end as we made our way back up the staircase to our room after finishing our meal.
The next morning we awoke and headed down to breakfast early, as it was not only included but quite decent.
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| Paseo del Prado |
We arrived in Madrid at the bus station at 10:00pm which was slightly earlier than we expected and set about finding our bearings. Lonely Planet had come through, and we had a rough idea of where we currently were in relation to our hostel, and where the hostel itself was situated with regards to the rest of the city. We took a quick taxi that gave us glimpses of sights that we would see the next day, and arrived tired but in good spirits at the Hostel, La Posada de Huertas.
Situated close to the centre of town, Posada de Huertas was a bit of a let down after our experience with the hostel in Barcelona. The man behind the reception was not at all welcoming and came very close to rude, which was not something we were expecting or pleased about. With our spirits dampened we made our way to our dorm where we met our Chilean room-mates (who were lovely)and found our feet before heading out to explore and find dinner. As we walked the streets in the chilly night air, we passed a Pizza place and decisions were made quickly as to what we would eat. It was actually quite nice, and the night came to a rather inconspicuous end as we made our way back up the staircase to our room after finishing our meal.
The next morning we awoke and headed down to breakfast early, as it was not only included but quite decent.
After extensive consultation with our map the previous night, we
had decided to skip the walking tour and create our own, as everything we wanted to
see was within walking distance of anyone coordinated and able to read
directions (so we only just met the criteria really *giggles* )
After a weird ‘almost interaction’ with a local child who
followed us for a while (and whom I suspected of being interested in snatching
our bags) we walked to the end of our street and found our bearings. Our first
stop was the Paseo del Prado. We took in the Mueseo del Prado, and the Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, however as there were all closed (it was Monday) we continued walking on to
Downtown Madrid where, after a spot of shopping we made for our lunch
destination of Plaza Mayor.
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| Plaza Mayor |
Plaza Mayor, according to our sources (Hostel staff and
Lonely Planet) was “the place” to eat in Madrid. Around the outside of the
massive square was a myriad of little restaurants, cafes and bars-all filled
with tourists. We don’t have a particular affinity with tourist haunts, as they
tend to be more expensive and less traditional, so we decided to move on. We
arrived at an old building called the Mercado de San Miguel which whilst beautiful, looked slightly
like it was surrounded not by pillars as was intended but by ancient
scaffolding.
However, it was what was contained within that interested us. Inside the
Mercado is a range of little boutique stalls (think the Adelaide Central
Markets on speed) selling everything from yogurts to vodka to Tapas to fresh
fish. We decided that since we hadn’t had lunch, we would indulge.
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| Mercado de San Miguel |
We found a lovely little pastry place and grabbed a
‘gourmet’ chocolate croissant (as neither Eliza or myself were really hungry),
before continuing walking. As we walked, we continued to discover more stalls,
eventually happening on a busy shop selling fresh Paella. It is amazing how you aren't hungry until you find something that you really want to tea. As we walked up, the
sight of the large dishes was too much to resist, and we decided that “we just had desert before lunch”.
Paella, for those that have never heard of it before, is THE
Spanish dish to eat. When you ask what sort of food you should try in Spain (or
whatever small Spanish city you are in), the answer is always Paella. It is
basically a big dish of rice mixed with spices and then certain types of meat, seafood and vegetables. We ordered two types in the Tapas size to share and
automatically knew why this dish was considered special. It was unlike anything
I have tried before and absolutely delicious.
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| View of the Palacio Real |
After relaxing over lunch (we were lucky enough to find
space and table which is difficult-the Mercado is notoriously busy
with both tourists and locals) we continued walking. Our next stop was the
Palacio Real and some more Cathedrals. I have never seen so many cathedrals in
such a small area, all on a grandiose scale in beautiful gothic architecture
and design.
We finished our ‘tour’ feeling exhausted and ready to crash,
so we returned to the hostel early in the afternoon to plan out the next stage
of our journey (and have a hilarious catch up with the family in Adelaide). We sat in the
arm chairs in the reception (the only place that WiFi was available in the
hostel) for a good few hours as we ate Oreos and chocolate and joked while we
prepared ourselves for the next day’s travel. We ended the night with Pizza
(once again the cheap-arse and exhausted travellers “easy option”), before
packing our bags ready for our departure.
Our plan for the next day had been set in stone for months
as Eliza had managed to find cheap flights for both of us to Lisbon, Portugal.
We ate breakfast at the hotel and made our way to the Airport very early,
sitting with the masses before boarding our EasyJet flight to
Lisboa.
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| Street scape |
As we left I reflected. In 8 days we had seen 4 different
cities, all of which had their quirks and were quite different from each other
whilst still being typically “Spanish”. We had pushed ourselves to the limit by
travelling almost every second/third day and felt we were ready to take it easy
in Lisboa, the second to last part of our total journey.
Madrid was a beautiful city with stunning architecture (of
which we took many photos); however when compared with other places we had been
it left me rather cold. The city itself was lovely, but I didn’t enjoy it as
much as I had Barcelona or Malaga. We were ready to move on and find something
different, and Portugal held the key.
So I’m still playing catch up, but hey, I’m getting there! I am
writing this from Cordoba, however I am now on my lonesome because
Eliza has returned to Durham as the school term has just recommenced. I will
leave the details in between to the next series of blogs!
Until next time,
Love Love!
Clem xx
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