This weekend literally flew by as I returned to London only to pack a backpack before flying out again to Madrid, what I thought was going to be an escape from the cold of the other countries. What I failed to realise, however was how high up the city was and being away from the coastal area, less temperate than some other parts of Spain.

Though not exactly warm, with sub zero temperatures at night, at least the days proved sunny. Much better than what London had to offer and the light snowfall in Berlin. What immediately struck me about Madrid was how closely packed everything was together. A short metro ride drops you off from the airport to the city centre for only €2 and from there, most of the central sights are easy to see. With plenty of museums and various alleyways, I actually enjoyed wandering around the slightly cold, windy streets where the residents went to great lengths to paint parts of their buildings with highly intriguing murals. Some, like the one below a little bit more striking than others.

Reminding me very much Barcelona’s famous Boqueria Market, Madrid has its own version called Mercado De San Miguel. This version focused less on the fresh market produce choosing to offer small plates and glasses of wine and beer to suit the casual and heavy social eating by the locals. I remember coming here quite late (almost midnight) and this place was entirely packed out.

Spain doesn’t tend to be particularly vegetarian friendly and Madrid is no exception. In fact, Madrid in particular seemed to have a huge fascination with ham (Jamon) with many stores like the one below serving many different types of cuts.

Shop after shop seemed to have the Jamon in their names.

One even seemed to be a chain of restaurants, translated as “Museum of Jamon” though I hope they served much fresher versions.

There’s plenty of things to do in Madrid, although this weekend turned out to be much more relaxing as I’m hoping to return later this year for a conference.

The people are friendly, the lifestyle very relaxing and best of all the food and drink is amazing. Did I mention that their a glass of their wine was consistently cheaper than their cerveza (beer) and all very good? What’s more not to like.