Madrid - Summer 2019

July 31, 2019

Madrid - Summer 2019

Our final city for our European vacation was Madrid. We made the short trip in to the city to our hotel and our lack of research on Madrid became very apparent the minute we looked at google maps in the taxi queue. What was that rainbow line showing up near our hotel?? As it turned out we had landed the night of the big Madrid Pride parade! Party time in Madrid ! After a late lunch (or Spanish normal lunch) we headed out for a quick wander around the streets. The massive Retiro park just down from our hotel was pretty cool and also offered some shade from the sweltering heat - we had not managed to totally miss Europe’s heatwave. From there we headed in to the city to check out the Puerta del Sol and also the Plaza Mayor which were fabulous Spanish landmarks but also very different as the Sol had been set up to celebrate the evenings festivities.

We stumbled upon the Mercado de San Miguel which was a gorgeous building converted in to a market eatery where you can grab a bite from many little stores set up with varying delicacies - very very crowded though. It was a different way to see the city and many of the main streets and roads were closed allowing us to get a different kind of look at Central Madrid - us and about 2.5 million of our Pride friends. It was a massive party that finished right next to our hotel and so sleep was a little difficult this night.

We struggled but found a nice little place for breakfast and realised that Sundays in Madrid (Spain in general I think) are slow, late starts and late opening if opening at all. We all enjoyed (well, most of us..... read the boys had had enough of city exploring) just wandering around Madrid and pretty much took it easy and enjoyed once again, blending into the crowd and the joy of having nice sidewalks, clean air and being able to just walk and discover little bits of a new city. We took in the National Archeological Museum and it was huge and very detailed with the added bonus of being free and air-conditioned ! They made it fun for the kids, as you could use a clue sheet to find 10 of the must see exhibits across the museum. As the heatwave continued across Europe, it was nice having a pool at the hotel for us to take some time out and cool down.

Final day of the holiday and we split up. Mike took the boys out via the train to do the Bernabeu Stadium tour while I took in the Museo del Prado to see some beautiful art. The Stadium tour was very good - similar to the Camp Nou tour however Real Madrid had 13 European Championship Trophies to show off! The whole tour was very well done and even though Real are not the boys chosen club it was a very impressive stadium and the boys absolutely loved being able to take a walk on the actual pitch and to imagine what it would be like to play in front of a packed house, especially a Classico match against FCB. On a complete different scale but similar in crowds, the Museum was very impressive with lots of incredibly famous artworks, including Rembrandt, Rubeun, Goya and many more. It was incredibly busy but arriving at opening helped to see most of the major artworks without too much hassle.

In the afternoon we decided to go and see something that we do not approve of but is very much a part of Spanish culture and history - the Las Ventas bullring. It was a very impressive stadium and was it was an interesting tour to understand the full performance that accompanies the bullfight and the history and pageantry of it but overall we do not approve of the sport.

A final tapas for dinner just around the corner from the hotel - one final jamon and cheese, one last pan con tomate, one final patas bravis……….and then it was time for bed for an early start to start the long journey to Bangalore.

We loved out time in all three countries - Spain, Portugal and Morrroco and feel like we only scraped the surface...... so maybe that means we will need to come back :)