Madrid

We’re back!  We had a fantastic time and we had the opportunity to see so many great cities and sites.  We started in Madrid and also went to Consuegra, Sevilla, Ronda, Marbella, Puerto Banús, Granada and Cordoba.  And, we went to Chefchaouen, Morocco and that was quite an adventure.  I will be posting as I can about each part of the trip.

For now, Madrid…

We only spent one day in Madrid, but made the most of it considering we had been up all night on the flight and arrived early in the morning. Our room wasn’t ready, so we left our luggage at the hotel and went out for breakfast. I had my first of many tortilla españolas (Spanish Omelet) and it was delicious. A funny thing we noticed was that we you order coffee here (cafe con leche or coffee with milk) they bring the cup with the espresso in it to your table, along with a pitcher of hot milk and they pour it at the table.

Next, we set out for Parque del Buen Retiro. The park is huge and right in the middle of the city, kind of like Central Park. There’s a big lake where you can rent paddle boats, but we didn’t do it since there was no shade. Story of my life being so pasty. I have to hide from the sun.

Jet lag was setting in, so we went back to the hotel for a nap.  Not wanting to waste any more time, we quickly set back out and went out to the Puerta del Sol area and did some shopping and then checked out the Plaza Mayor. We thought it was ingenious how they used huge pieces of fabric strung between the buildings to give the wide pedestrian streets some shade.

Where to Stay

We stayed at Hotel Regina and found it to be a great place for a great value.  We only paid 55 euros!  It was centrally located, only a block or so away from Puerta del Sol and Plaza Mayor, with the “Sevilla” metro stop literally at the front door.  We had a nice room that was very small, but very modern.  (I have heard that not all of the rooms are renovated, though.)  And, the people were great.  The morning we left, Erick had accidentally locked our suitcase and key was inside.  We asked them for help and they quickly and efficiently got it open for us, using some tool they had.  (The only problem was that parking was like 28 euros for 1 night, in a public underground lot right by the hotel.  However, this was the case at most places.)