Sarah and I arrived a little late in Madrid – our AirEuropa flight did about four circles of the city before we were cleared for landing. Needless to say, after eight train / bus connections in Amsterdam to get to and from Keukenkof (and back to the airport) and a delayed flight, we were both ready to crash when we got to our hotel. Sarah occasionally mentions that we’re on our honeymoon when booking hotels (mostly for the purpose of making sure we get a room with a double bed, rather than a room with two twins) and the Hotel Claridge definitely took this to heart – we were upgraded to one of their two suites! We sprawled out in the spacious room and got to sleep early so we’d be fresh for the rest of our time in Madrid.
Given that Madrid is a little more spread out than some of the other cities we’ve been to recently, we decided to book two days on a hop on / hop off bus to get around the city’s main attractions. Before setting out for the day, though, we took advantage of the “spacious” gym in the hotel. “Spacious” is a bit of an understatement…this is the biggest and nicest gym we’ve seen so far on our trip! We got a great workout in, then headed to grab coffees and “hop on” the first bus.
Some views from the bus. Here’s the beautiful Plaza de Cibeles.
A courtyard off of Calle Mayor, one of the city’s most historic streets.
In a change from the usual Spanish architecture, we passed this building with cubist figures on the top.
After riding around the city for an hour or so, we got off near a restaurant Sarah had scouted out for lunch, Casa9. We are still adjusting to the Spanish eating schedule because we were expecting to be on the later end of the lunch crowd by arriving at 2pm…but we were the first lunch diners to arrive! (The place was packed by the time we left at 3:30pm, though.) The food was excellent – every day a new three course menu is prepared – and we left feeling a bit lethargic. Good thing we can just sit on the bus for the next hour to see the remainder of the city!
We rode to the Botanical Gardens and got out to walk around there for a bit. The Gardens, and nearby Retiro Park, are beautiful and not overly crowded. We had fantastic weather this afternoon so we took advantage and strolled through the greenery for a couple hours.
One of the many pathways through the Gardens.
Like Central Park, the Gardens are lined by buildings on all sides – a reminder that we’re still in downtown Madrid.
A statue of King Charles (a.k.a. Carlos) III, who created the Gardens here in 1774.
Pretty scenic views this afternoon.
Monument to General Arsenio Martínez-Campos in the Retiro Park.
The Park is so big that we were by ourselves in many of its more remote corners.
Looking into the Park at the Monument to Alfonso XII.
Though we were both enjoying the walk around the Park, Sarah’s not-so-well-broken-in sandals began to give her some serious blisters. So we headed out in search of some other footwear in the Salamanca district we passed on the bus earlier today.
The Alcalá Gate. We walked past it on our way to some of the shops.
Unfortunately we didn’t find any new sandals for Sarah. So instead we decided to find a place for dinner and perch there for a few hours. In need of some place to sit quickly, we popped into Triana for a drink. Little did we know that with each drink order you receive a tapa as well! So we let Sarah’s feet rest, sipped a drink and munched on croquettes.
The real tapas highlight was at La Catapa for dinner. The joint was jumpin’ with locals enjoying tapas on a Friday night so we had to wait a few minutes to find a place to stand at the bar. We stood out as Americans (since every other person there was a local) but that actually worked in our favor – the chef came out and explained the entire menu in very good English! We placed an order for a handful of small plates and were extremely happy for his delicious recommendations. Full of tapas, we headed home to get some rest after a long (but very fun) first day.
We had a very leisurely start to the day on Saturday – we slept in pretty late, then had another long workout at the gym. By the time we were ready to leave our hotel, it was already time for lunch (and by that I mean, it was already 2pm). Sarah found a place nearby, Rincon de Fogg, which we both thought would have more of a brunch-type offering. Turned out that restaurant is better known for burgers…fine with me!
After lunch we hopped on the bus again to explore the second route around the city. This route was reviewed as the “less popular” route and after taking both we definitely agree. I think the main purpose of this route is to get people up to the stadium where Real Madrid plays – not that many other interesting sights to see on the bus. We did get a good view of the Christopher Columbus monument, though.
The Christopher Columbus monument.
It was really hot on Saturday so by the time the bus had completed its route, we were both ready to cool off in the shade and re-hydrate. We grabbed some waters and sat down at The Cask to cool off. Next we headed to Grand Via for Sarah to continue her hunt for sandals. I hung in there for a couple stores, then decided an outdoor bar with free WiFi was a better place to pass the time!
Grand Via, one of the main shopping areas in Madrid.
Once Sarah was done shopping – though still no sandals! – we walked over to the Royal Palace of Madrid and the Almudena Cathedral. We’d passed these sights on the bus yesterday but wanted a closer look.
Some of the beautiful buildings nearby the Palace.
The Plaza de Oriente, just across from the Palace.
The Royal Palace of Madrid.
The Almudena Cathedral, next to the Palace. We saw a few couple taking wedding photos out front…but we don’t think any of them actually got married in there.
Our last stop of the day, timed to coincide with sunset, was the Temple of Debod, an Egyptian temple reconstructed here (the temple was donated to Spain in the 1960s). Sarah read that this was an excellent place to watch the sunset and her travel research proved spot-on again. Not the sunset view I was expecting in Madrid, but spectacular nonetheless.
Sarah’s favorite building in Madrid (we walked past it on our way to the Temple of Debod).
Dusk at the Temple of Debod.
As the sun set behind the trees, the temple became illuminated by lights in the ground. Easy to see why many flock here to see the sunset!
Most of the locals who came to the Temple of Debod to watch the sunset brought light tapas with them to snack on. We probably should’ve done the same (the sun didn’t set until 9:30pm!) but we hadn’t thought that far ahead. So as soon as we’d snapped some pictures we headed to two tapas places to eat. Entrevinos was our first stop, then we went to Origen. Entrevinos was very tasty, but more expensive than many of the other places we’d been; Origen had a more modern spin on traditional Tapas and we loved the unique dishes there (especially the caramelized tomato!).
Meat spread at Entrevinos – it tasted as good as it looked.
Tomorrow we are flying to San Sebastian for three days in what many describe as a “magical” town. Our good friend Jigar is meeting us at the airport to join our travels for the next week – so we have even more reason to be excited for this next stop!