I studied abroad in Madrid 9 years ago and last month I got to go back. It was SO fun showing Drew around my old stomping grounds and exploring new places that I wasn't able to go back then (read: broke college kid). Madrid holds a very special place in my heart! For all my former students reading this: When you are in college, I highly recommend you study abroad!! It will change your life and is such an enjoyable experience. If you are reading this and you studied abroad or you love traveling: Would you comment and let my students know where you went and how traveling has impacted you?
Anyway, back to our Madrid trip!
We flew from Munich to Madrid on the last Saturday of December and landed mid afternoon. After checking into our hotel, we headed to get some tapas. (Tapas are small portions of any type of Spanish cuisine) We went to a place called Pez Tortilla and I highly recommend it! Tortilla is a typical Spanish dish made out of egg, potatoes, and onions. At Pez Tortilla they take the original recipe and twist it up a bit. Our favorite was the Tomato, Mozzarella, and basil tortilla. We also had croquettes. Croquettes are another typical Spanish dish which is basically fried bread crumbs filled with ham, chicken, cheese, and/or potatoes. We loved this restaurant!
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| Puerto del Sol - the main square in Madrid. |
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| Madrid was decorated for Christmas with tons of lights down every street. |
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| Tomato, mozzarella, and basil tortilla at Pez Tortilla- so delicious! |
After our tapas dinner, we headed to a Flamenco show at Cardamomo Tabloe. This show was SO much fun and very impressive. Below you can see some pictures and a video from the show. When I studied abroad I took a Flamenco class so it brought back so many memories. Let me tell you, I did not get an A+ in Flamenco LOL but I tried my best! Flamenco is very traditional and unique and includes dancing, singing, clapping, and drumming. We had a great time at the show!
The next morning we went and had some coffee and breakfast close to "Jardin Vertical." We then made our way to our meeting point for our first tour of Madrid. We decided to do a Segway tour of all the highlights of the city and it was a blast. Here are some pictures from our tour!
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| Jardin Vertical |
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| We got to take our segways through Retiro Park! |
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| The Royal Palace |
That evening, we had a typical tapas dinner and even got some churros con chocolate at the famous San Gines Chocolateria. YUM!
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You dip your churro in a big cup of hot chocolate. You are supposed to drink the chocolate once you are done with your churros but it is way too rich for me.
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On our last full day in Madrid we went to Mercado de San Miguel for an early lunch. This market is very famous and draws in all the tourists (meaning it is overcrowded and the food is not that great). However, it is still fun to walk around and see all of the different foods. After that we decided to try a new spot for churros and I actually liked this place better than San Gines. It was called Maestro Churrero. The weather was so beautiful during our stay in Madrid so we decided to go back to Retiro Park (one of my favorite spots in the world!) and soak up the sun.
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| A fruit stand in the Mercado de San Miguel |
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| My favorite was the cream filled, chocolate dipped churros!!! |
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| This photo was taken in 2011 when I was studying abroad in Madrid! |
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| This was taken on our recent trip. Can't believe these two photos are 9 years apart! |
The last activity we did in Madrid was a Tapas Tour through Devour Tours. This was an amazing experience. Our tour guide was so nice and very knowledgable about all things Spanish tapas. She took us to several local restaurants and at each place we tried different tapas. It was a great way to end our time in Madrid.
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| Patatas Bravas and fried eggplant - both SO yummy! The potatoes were my favorite! |
We had a very early flight the next morning to head to Barcelona to spend New Year's Eve :) Stay tuned for the Barcelona post!
Liz
Love this post!!! Traveling is my utmost passion in life!! My personal goal is to explore 100 countries by age 40: I have been to 87 countries around the globe, and have five years left to achieve that mission!! Traveling impacts me in myriad ways, but mostly because I love immersing into other cultures and experiencing different ways of life other than my own - from eating the local cuisine, to learning new languages, to getting lost wandering streets, I feel fulfilled by temporarily living the lifestyles of other populations. Additionally, I love the thrill of seeing, smelling, and feeling a new place; I feel rejuvenated, inspired, motivated, and elated when I visit a new country, region, culture, and climate. The rush of the "newness" is captivating!! Finally, I learn something new about myself - interests, passions, fears, desires - and other people when I travel. Constantly learning via travel is something I deeply cherish and encourage everyone to do when they can!! Traveling the world is simply the best thing in life for me :)
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