I’m not even sure if that’s the right way to say welcome to Madrid, but that’s the Airbnb’s wifi password and sounds about right?
THIS PLACE, people! It’s warm, it’s full of green spaces, and the food is fantastic. Let’s come live here!
Oh wait…let’s come live here in Octobers only. Yip – if this is autumn I would be thinking twice before coming here in during summer. We will melt to pavement puddles.
We had some time to kill before we could check into our little (and rather fabulous) Airbnb, so husband took us on one of his legendary strolls. That type of amble that is aimless but manages to get you to all the best places. Eventually.
We managed to stumble upon Plaza de Espana – an accidental find and bit of a brain tease, the conversation went like this:
Husband: “I bet you don’t know who those two on the horses are.”
Me: “Meh?” (Meantime I’ve figured out it is Don Quixote).
Husband: “The one guy is riding a donkey.”
Me: “Aha. It’s Don Quixote.”
Husband: “And the other guy?”
Me: “His name starts with a P. Poncho? Panga? Who knows. I read the book.”
Husband: “Cool. The whole thing?”
Me: “Nope. The boring part. I never finished it.”
Husband laughs: “Cool.”
Me: “That’s Cervantes sitting behind them on the big statue.”
Husband “Who’s Cervantes?”
LOL. Now that we’ve proven we are not cultured and couldn’t care less, let’s move on.
We tried to have lunch at Mercado de San Miguel, which is a tapas market to weep for, but by the time we got there, the quiet, sleepy-Sunday town of Madrid had all but flooded into the old city center. We couldn’t really move through the market, and since my kids could only see other people’s bums they started to get really cranky (who wouldn’t).
We ended up having lunch in a very quiet spot hundred meters away from Mercado de San Miguel. Which was just perfect.
Cranky kids got taken home and I went off to Museum Prado – the 18th most popular museum in the world (I have to throw some random stats in here) – to see some art (trying to reinstall my sense of culture). After two hours of strolling my previous night’s two hours of sleep caught up with. This is day one of seventy-four, I’ve got to pace myself here!
We ended up going out again at around eight at night, kids in tow, to explore our neighborhood. This is a gorgeous time of day, with temperatures cooling at last, and the Spanish, their dogs, and children all out, drinking, barking, and in general being merry. What bliss. Thinking about it, one could do this, really, one could!
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TASTY TRAVEL TITBITS 