Hola!!
I can’t believe I’m finally here able to write this blog post. This is going up a bit late because its been so busy, but this entry will talk about my few days in Madrid before some Barcelona travel! (which I’ll get into in the next blog) (August 18th-August 21st).
I landed in Madrid on August 19th with both my parents and best friend from back home. My plan was to get some help settling in and then travel for the week with my friend before she had to return home! (I highly recommend doing this if you can. Arriving to your place in a foreign country all alone can be really daunting. It helped me a lot to adjust to my new reality with some company so that when they did eventually leave I felt a lot more comfortable and familiar already! It’s to be noted though that I did get solo accomodations so if you have plans with roommates from back home you should be just fine!)
The first two days I spent in Madrid I did some settling in and sight seeing. I went on a walk to find my local grocery store and get some basics (be prepared to either practise your Spanish or use Google Translate because you’ll find a lot of people here don’t speak English! Don’t worry though because everyone here is so kind. I hardly know a lick of Spanish and I’ve been doing just fine 3-weeks in!). I also got to get my Metro-Card (2.50 euro for the card and 7.30 euro to load 10 trips) and try the Metro which is so easy to follow here!
Some sights I saw in those first two days were
- Temple de Debod: a 2nd Century Egyptian Temple donated to Spain as a thank you for saving their temples from flooding during construction of a Dam- This one is gorgeous to see and photograph at sunset! It’s also in a lively area where theres usually people busking playing beautiful live music that everyone is singing and dancing to!
- Gran Via: A famous long bustling street that is the main entertainment and shopping hub of the city! You’ll find huge versions of some of your favourite stores here. Be sure to check out Primark, a European store we all quite liked here. It has a little bit of everything for decent prices!
- Puerta del Sol: The very center of Madrid (it even has a KM 0 plaque on the floor) as well as some statues. A hun for lots of other transport!
- Plaza Mayor: A grand and historic public square in the heart of Madrid (its just a few minute walk from Puerta del Sol), its boardered by little shops and restaurants and is generally a lively fun area!
- The Royal palace
- ’Restuante Botín’: The oldest continuously running restaurant in the whole world known for its suckling pig (though I did not have that lol!) Be sure to book in advance especially if you want a good time slot, its also a expensive restaurant
- ’Chocolatería SAN Gines’: The most iconic place to try traditional churros dipped in chocolate (this one isn’t a cinnamon sugar kind!) This is close by to Plaza Mayor.
- ‘99 Cheesecake’: 99 cent cheesecake. It’s not authentic but it was the best cheesecake I’ve ever had so I had to include it.
Overall, Madrid is so easily walkable and so easy to explore conveniently. A lot of the biggest sights are quite close together!
On my third day we went on a day trip to Toledo! A town just about a half-an-hour speed train from Madrid. If you go I recommend you go to ‘Montesario de San Juan de los Reyes’ its center courtyard is gorgeous and an amazing photo opportunity. I also recommend for lunch you find a place to try whats called “Carcamusas” which is a slow-cooked pork stew said to be the Spanish version of chili but trust me it is a million times better than that!
I think I’ve talked for long enough! See you in my next blog about Barcelona!!