Mirela has been living in Madrid for the last 4-5 months and this has been my first chance to go and visit her and 
Enrique. I’m planning to return again a little closer to summer so I guess I wasn’t so much focused on this trip on the touristy side of Madrid more than catching up and spending time with Mirela (whose Spanish seemed to have improved dramatically since she moved to Madrid. Although many people say she seems to speak it with an Italian accent to me her Spanish seemed practically fluent.) Having said that we did some quick trips around town to see some highlights. In particular when we saw that the weather was so good (when all the weather predictions had said it was going to be heavy rain ALL weekend!) It was even warm enough for me on the first couple of days to go without a jacket. If I’d stayed out long enough in the sun I’m sure I would have even managed a nice tan!
Photos, Photos, Photos.
| When? |
End Jan 2009 |
Why Go? |
Great character, Fantastic Food, Lovely People, Beautiful, The Art (if that’s your thing!) |
| Weather |
For January surprisingly warm and sunny for the first couple of days then snow (!) on my last day in Madrid! |
| Hint |
Madrid is inherently walkable if you’re happy to clock up some miles in your walking shoes. It also has a great public transport system with trips on the metro being only €1 or for ten trips cost only €7.90. Trips from the airport only cost €1 extra. |
The Experience
I always find that visiting a city when you’re visiting locals always gives you a different experience to when you’re visiting as a tourist outright. On the one hand you get to have a more genuine experience of what its like living in the city (including homecooked meals), and on the other hand you’re less likely to spend as much time hitting all the tourist sites. Therefore it will be interesting to see what I missed when I come back again for a shorter visit in June! Enrique says that Madrid is totally different in summer to what it is in winter – mainly because in winter it is usually super-cold so most people are indoors but when summer comes its like a whole new city with lots of open air cafes and just a general good mood. Oh, we also met up with Fabrizio and a couple of his Italian mates whilst we were in Madrid which was good timing!
So, some of the highlights of my weekend trip include:
Homecooked meals (even if they weren’t really Spanish!) Mirela surprised me on my first night in Madrid with some sushi that she’d specially prepared for me. I appreciated that she went to the trouble to do that. Additionally, we went to Enrique’s parent’s house for dinner one night where his mum whipped up one of her special pizzas. It, along with all the bits and pieces we ate that night, was delicious and I was so full that I didn’t eat again until the following evening! (Bearing in mind that in true Madrileno style we didn’t start eating until nearly 1am …)
Plaza Major. This is Madrid’s main square and even in winter had its fair share of visitors .The fact that on this weekend the square was also occupied by a the visiting Andalucian Horse Show probably helped quite a bit. I really liked the character of Plaza Major which included the elegant architecture and also the buskers in the square.
Any of the squares and buildings in Madrid. Although I’ve separated out Plaza Major above, in all fairness you’ll be charmed by any of the squares (Puerta del Sol (where you’ll find the centre of the city and Spain and also a statue of Madrid’s emblem the bear and strawberry tree), Plaza de la villa, Plaza de Oriente, Plaza Santa Ana) that you may randomly walk into. All surrounded by gorgeous buildings and with a character of their own you’ll want to spend some time just standing around, or sitting down with a cup of joe, drinking it all in.
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Chocolateria de San Gines. This is the place to go for chocolate con churros (a thick hot chocolate drink with churros)! At first I wasn’t quite sure what to do with the chocolate – it looked like the kind of think you’d dip things into rather than drink straight up but when the churros were finished I had no choice but to down it and it was delicious. Perfect on a cold winter’s day. The churros were gorgeous too – light and fluffy and crispy. They say it’s the perfect way to end your night too. After having had some I think I’d take chocolate con churro combo over a kebab or KFC any day!
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The Retiro. Parque del Retiro is the main park of Madrid. I guess think what Hyde Park is to London and what Central Park is to New York. Parque del Buen Retiro is no doubt one of the prettiest parks I’ve seen and what makes it charming that the entire park is the not the same throughout. We didn’t walk the whole thing but where we did I could see that the style and character of it differed as we walked. There was a nice glass building called the Palacio de Cristal, inspired by The Crystal Palace in London, which was hosting some pieces of work by a guy called Josiah McElheny which I really liked. The park is also very popular with couples for a romantic little trist. You could see how people could feel it’s the perfect setting!
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Templo de Debod was unusual as its not often you’ll find an Egyptian temple in the middle of a European city. It was donated by the Egyption government to the Spanish government for helping in salvaging archeological sites threatened by the construction of the Aswan High Dam. It got pretty crowded inside the temple so we were happy to go outside and instead enjoy the views towards the Palacio Real and surrounds instead.
If you’re in the area a visit to check out Estacion de Atocha (train station) is not be missed for two aspects: the indoor botanical garden and also the memorial for the horrific train bombings that killed 191 people and injured nearly 2,000 in March 2004 (a simple but effective memorial.)
What I didn’t get around to doing was hit any of the major museums and galleries. Of late I haven’t really been into such culturally significant attractions but Madrid does have some of the most important pieces of art in its museums, including Picasso’s Guernica, which I’m planning to hit next time.
Eats-wise, because I had a few home-cooked meals I didn’t get to eat out as much I had expected however I made sure to have some tapas, including some tasty potato bravas, but also having some paella and jamon. Jamon is certainly an interesting cured ham that is produced only in Spain. Mirela says that to slice it, because its all done manually, is a very important skill and that often people are employed just to do so!
I had a great time in Madrid so was very sad be leaving my friend Mirela. Can’t wait to come back again in four month’s time!
Enrique. I’m planning to return again a little closer to summer so I guess I wasn’t so much focused on this trip on the touristy side of Madrid more than catching up and spending time with Mirela (whose Spanish seemed to have improved dramatically since she moved to Madrid. Although many people say she seems to speak it with an Italian accent to me her Spanish seemed practically fluent.) Having said that we did some quick trips around town to see some highlights. In particular when we saw that the weather was so good (when all the weather predictions had said it was going to be heavy rain ALL weekend!) It was even warm enough for me on the first couple of days to go without a jacket. If I’d stayed out long enough in the sun I’m sure I would have even managed a nice tan! 
