On Friday I caught the Gatwick Express for my flight to Madrid. I've been to Barcelona and enjoyed it. Thought I'd try a new city, and I wanted one with a direct flight onto Florence which is my next stop.
After a two hour delay on the plane at Gatwick, the flight on Iberian was fine and just under two hours. Plane was packed.
Easy process through immigration, and I caught a taxi to my AirBnB. There's a fixed rate of EUR33.
My AirBnb is small but decent in a great location. This is the view...
Went for a walk to explore my local area.
It's lovely weather but colder than expected.
The first square I came to was Puerta del Sol...
Then close by is Plaza Mayor, the main square and it was very busy...
Walked back via Gran Via which is the fancy shopping area. It's now 19:40 and it doesn't get dark until 21:30.
Went to somewhere close to my accommodation for dinner and had gazpacho...
And steak that was effectively served on avocado toast...
The next morning, I had to do some work, so I found a cafe and spent about two hours there.
Coincidentally, I had a mate staying for a month, so I headed to his place and did some laundry. It was a fair walk, about 30 minutes. I got my haircut on the way.
Madrid is a lovely city with wide, tree-lined streets and well dressed people. It feels very big and very busy.
I then headed to Retiro Park which is really nice...
And then on to the Prado Museum. There was a queue to get in and it was late in the day now, so I just walked around it.
I then kept walking to the Royal Palace...
This buildng is close by in Plaza de Oriente...
I worked out the subway and bought a 10 trip ticket. Very convenient and I wished I'd done it before walking all over town!
The second night I want to 'Tapas Street' for tapas with my mate and his friends.
It was okay but not amazing...
I wanted to see the Temple of Debod, an acienet Nubian temple. So I walked across town to find it. I would have gone in but there was a queue so I didn't bother.
The last night which was a Sunday, I had dinner near my place. Food was fantastic. It was packed and I got talking to a guy from New York who was sitting next to me.
Aubergine pamigiana...
This was a great cocktail. I think it had tequila in it...
I then walked to a bar I had read about close to Gran Via...
Known as a secret bar, it was behind this door. Entry was EUR15 but included one very large cocktail.
I texted the guy I met for dinner and he came to join me. I had a great time and left him there about 1am as I have an early start tomorrow to fly to Florence
The cocktail. I had two!
Woke up early the next morning and caught an Uber to the aiport. Easy process and sat in a cafe waiting for my flight to Florence. I reflected on how dependent on our phones now...
Goodbye Madrid, I had a great time!
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