Madrid, España

A couple of weeks before I'd been talking to Tim, one of my bezzies from Austria, and he'd said that he was keen to come and visit me in Spain. We discussed dates briefly and realised that we either had to do something pretty immediately or else it wasn't going to happen. Madrid then come up in conversation as a place we'd both like to go and in less than 24 hours his flights, my train and the hostel had been booked and we were off! One of the most spontaneous trips I've ever booked, and I was very excited for it!

I went to work on Friday with my suitcase in tow, as I had booked the train to Madrid straight after work to make the most of the short weekend. It all went smoothly and I arrived early evening after just over a 2 hours journey. Tim was there to meet me at the station, and was with his college roommate who was living in Madrid, and it was very exciting to see him again! We went straight to our hostel, which was right in the centre near the Puerta del Sol and then followed Vincent, Tim's friend, as he took over as tour guide and lead us to the Mercado San Miguel, Madrid's food market. As it was a Friday night it was absolutely packed so we weaved our way in and out of the stalls, marvelling the Spanish delights they were all selling. The temptation became too much and we all ended up trying a few cheeky things. Tim tucked into a plate of 'pulpo' (octopus), while I stuck to some 'montaditos' (little bits of frenchy style bread with yummy things on top!!). We then headed to El Tigre, a local bar which was full to the brim and standing room only. It's the kind of place you'd call typically Spanish - very noisy, waiters running round frantically, lots of food and drink and laughter. With every drink they brought you a huuuuuge plate of tapas, and I mean HUGE! They had stuffed mushrooms, patatas and chorizo amongst other things. The food itself wasn't worth shouting about, but the atmosphere really was something else! Once we'd finished off our food we headed somewhere different in the search of dessert (and a seat!). Tim's friend recommended a churros place so we made a beeline for it. I've fancied churros a LOT since coming to Barcelona, but it was Lent whenever people have been eating them and so this was my first time trying authentic churros. They went down an absolute treat. By this point we were both so full that we decided to waddle back to the hostel and call it a night.

We had discussed going to Toledo, a city south of Madrid, on Saturday, but I was anxious to see all of the city of Madrid itself and so in the end we stayed and had a massive day of sightseeing. We spent the morning wandering all over the city and saw lots of impressive and important buildings, palaces and churches. We visited an Egyptian temple as well, which is very pretty from the outside, but turned out to only have one tiny room inside! The city was very pretty and there's definitely lots to see, especially if you like art. The atmosphere was very different to Barcelona, however. I couldn't put my finger on it but it seemed to me that Barcelona was a little more 'quirky', and had a little more character than the capital city. For lunch we went to the Plaza Mayor, a hot tourist spot, and sat outside having tapas for lunch.

Breakfast!

The tiny Egyptian temple

We shared some delicious peppers, mussles and patatas. We had a slight miscommunication when ordering the patatas, as we were originally in search of 'patatas bravas', which they didn't have on the menu and so ended up ordering 'una bolsa de patatas fritas', which literally translates as 'a bag of fried potatoes'. We burst out laughing when the waiter brought over quite literally that - a bag of crisps! We were able to change the order and eventually ended up with some soggy chips, but they were surprisingly tasty! The square is absolutely stunning, the temperature was perfect (if anything a little on the hot side!), and we were having a great day exploring the city.

After lunch we headed to 'El Retiro', an absolutely massive park for some ice creams, and ended up spending the rest of the day there. We saw the crystal palace, lots of turtles in the pond, wandered through the rose garden and eventually just flopped onto the grass exhausted from the heat and all of the walking.

Nap time was upon us, and so we went back to the hostel for a cheeky sleep, before heading out to meet Vincent for dinner. We went to a different food market which has a restaurant on the top-floor, which overlooks the market below. More than anything, we were happy to be able to sit down for dinner after such a long day, unlike the night before! I had ox lasagne, and a chocolatey pudding, which went down very nicely. We said goodnight to Tim's friend and continued in search of a place to sit down (sitting down became a huge priority over the weekend due to so much walking and the locals seeming very fond of standing while they eat!) and have a few drinks. We ended up searching for a little longer than anticipated, but eventually stumbled upon a lively little square where we both opted for a melon flavoured cocktail. It was deliciously refreshing on such a hot evening. We finished our drinks and on the way back bumped into a cute little bar on the corner so stayed for another drink each. By the time we got back it was nearing 3am so we agreed to set the alarms a little later the next morning and allow ourselves a bit of a lie in.

On Sunday morning we headed to Madrid's famous market, El Rastro. It was absolutely gigantic, and there were stalls as far as the eye could see. There was live music blaring and it was a cool experience to be walking admist the hustle and bustle of it all. From there we went to see the bull ring, which unfortunately had closed just 2 minutes before we got there, so we were confined to walking around and taking photos from the outside!

Busy busy market

Plaza de Toros

We then went back to the Plaza Mayor again for lunch, and this time we were determined to find real patatas bravas. No bags of fried potatoes would do this time!! We eventually opted for patatas bravas, tomato stuffed omelette and steak on camembert. All of which were lovely flavours, and Tim was really enjoying the change from Austrian food, which can be bland at the best of times! We sat for a last ice cream in a square near the hostel and before I knew it, it was time to pick up the suitcases, head to the station and say our goodbyes.

The weekend had been nothing short of perfect. It was fantastic to explore a new city with such a great friend, laughing and joking along the way. The weather came up trumps, and Tim even managed some impressive tan/lobster lines (most notably on his forehead right by his hair line - hilarious!!). For me, as well, the timing was brilliant as it broke up the month of April where I was still working on my friendships in Barcelona and had no visitors planned, and so had given me something to really look forward to over the last couple of weeks.

A fantastic weekend all in all, and I will not hesitate to put together more spontaneous trips in the future!

Biggest flag ever?