Mad Madrid

The final city (well we also went to London but I was already there so there’s no point in writing about it) was Madrid in Spain. Madrid feels much more city-like than the other places we went to, with much more people and stores around. It’s also very similar to Italy, with the siestas and the importance of eating as a social activity.

There’s also a lot of art around the city. Both the Prado Museum, the really big art museum, and the Reina Sofia, the modern art museum, have free entry for the last 2 hours that they’re open (6-8 for the Prado and 7-9 for the Reina Sofia). The Prado can get really crowded so get there early, but I didn’t have a problem with getting into the Reina Sofia. The main attraction for the Reina Sophia is Picasso’s “Guernica” which is a huge and spectacular painting! It’s worth it to go in just for that. There’s also the Caixa Forum, but I would just see the outside of that one during the day. It’s really cool.

There’s another popular walking tour of the old town of Madrid that meets in Plaza Mayor. It focuses more on the history of the city, which I thought was really cool. It covers the Madrid cathedral, which you should definitely see the inside of, and the Madrid palace. I went inside there (apparently there’s also free entry for that during the last two hours) and it’s absolutely beautiful. The Egyptian temple is pretty close to there as well, would definitely recommend seeing that. Check the hours though, they can be odd.

If you can get into the Bolsa (the stock exchange) definitely do it because it’s spectacular as well! There’s also the congress building, which is only open for 2 hours on Saturdays, so get there early if you want to see that.

The big park is El Retiro Park, and it’s insanely huge, so it’s a great place for a walk. Try to see the lake in the middle of it with the boats, and the Crystal Palace. The Crystal Palace is part of the Reina Sophia, so there’s an art exhibit inside that consists of fossils hung from the ceiling. Lovely building in a lovely park.

Good food in Spain includes croquettas (have them all day every day), fried squid sandwich (I had this and it was great), Spanish omelette (egg and potato), and paella (can take a while and be pricey but it’s worth it). The tapas are great but can be expensive so watch out. And if you’re doing lunch look for the menu del dia, the fixed price lunch of the day. And for churros the Chocolateria San Grimes next to Plaza Mayor is a must, get them with chocolate.

Spain was pretty cool, I didn’t totally love it because I don’t speak Spanish but it was still cool nonetheless.