I was supposed to write about Madrid back in June 2017 (yikes) when I returned from my little three week getaway in Europe. Life got in the way! I had started the post so here I am at an Italian restaurant in Bangkok waiting for my pasta writing about Spain! (I’ve eaten Thai and Burmese food – fusion of Indian and Chinese – almost solely for the entire trip and I needed a break).
Louise and I met two, no three, years ago in Budapest on a pub crawl and we both have an interest in the important things in life, travel and eating, ideally eating good food while travelling. I knew a few days in Madrid would be a great trip!
It was at the end of my whirlwind Europe trip and during term break for Louise so we both needed a little relaxation and were looking forward to embracing the Spanish way of life, aka the siesta. Despite only being the first week of June, it was already hot!
We arrived and had a relaxing day wandering the city and drinking some cocktails (gin and tonics for Louise and beer for me if I remember correctly).
On our second day (first whole day) we did the free walking tour and explored all reaches of the city. It was Louise’s first time Madrid and my second after spending a couple of hours there between trains in 2014. Free walking tours are normally great as the guide is really working for tips. Our guide pulled out all the stops and we ended the tour on a rooftop overlooking the main plaza in Madrid, Plaza Mayor. We climbed through a construction site to get there and it was a unique view that was completely unexpected.
We spent a day at the xxx art gallery viewing the ccc and then went to see the turtles at the train station before exploring Retiro Park.
We also spent time exploring the hipster area of xxx and went to the largest Primark I’ve ever seen as well as the Zara flagship store. They were both too overwhelming so we both left without any purchases.
Our all consuming search for the best churros came to a close one morning when we both burnt our mouths inhaling chocolate ‘sauce’ (think thick hot chocolate).
A night stopover in Paris and drinks with friends before I was headed back home again.
South East Asia posts coming soon!
Until next time,
Amanda xx
nomadic spoonie 