Madrid

BEWARE OF PICK POCKETS!!!!!! Thats the very first part of my advice for Madrid. The metro system looks very clean and you tend to let your guard down as there are police and station guards everywhere. But of course in any packed train there are always these risks and I happen to have been one of those unlucky ones. Happened on the first day of our trip so we were left to wonder around the streets of Madrid looking for the Police station. After searching for 2 hours, we finally managed to file a police report. There were dozens of others waiting to do the same thing!

Not to be deterred by this experience, we still tried to enjoy the day and the rest of the weekend. The first thing we actually did was find lunch.

Our first place we tried was Botin (which is the World's Oldest Restaurant as recognised by the Guinness Book of Records). The restaurant was closed by the time we got there for lunch.

So we walked up the road and stopped at this cafe near Plaza Mayor (in Sol) as it seemed to have a good selection of tapas. After being seated it took a while to get the menus and then we were wondering why we had been seated at a table for 8 rather than for 4. It appears the waiter thought we had 8 people (how that happens when you only hold up four fingers is a bit of a mystery). He could tell we were pissed off. However, what did make up for his lousy service was the really good tapas (which were served in normal plates for most of the dishes as opposed to small tapa plates). Calamari, tortilla, garlic prawns, potatos and egg, Yum! It was good and we were all starving!

After eating lunch we explored Plaza Mayor and Gran Via and there were so many hawkers around dressed up as Micky, Minnie, Winnie the Pooh, bull fighters, bulls, monsters and so forth. We then proceeded to the Royal Palace (in Opera). On the way there we passed Plaza de la Villa which is a historic square and home to the 15th Century Torre de Lujanes, 16th Century Casa de Cisneros and the 17th Century Casa de la Villa. These are essentially all town halls in their times.

The Royal Palace or Palacio Real is Madrid's largest building and possibly its most beautiful. it was located next to the Plaza de Oriente square. This is a big garden with white statues surrounding manicured lawns. These statues were meant to be placed on top of the palace but due to their weight, they left it around the palace instead. The Palace is suppose to be the biggest palace in Western Europe. However, cause we couldn't get any closer, it didn't look very big.

The palace faces Madrid's most famous church - the Cathedral de Santa Maria la Real de la Almudena. There was a service happening when we went inside so only stayed for a short time inside.

That evening we explored Puerto de Sol and before long we were searching for our next venue for more eating... the recommendation for Paella was at a local restaurant called Restaurante La Baracca. They did a nice Sangria and the Seafood Paella was good as well...however it wasn't as crunchy or crisp as we wanted...rice was slightly soggy but still was good.

So after an eventuful Saturday we retired to our hotel rooms and tried to forget how our trip started...another day ahead in Madrid.

On Sunday, we caught the 'dreaded' Metro to Ventas to visit the famous bullfighting stadium (Plaza de Toro) where the famous bullfighting happens every week on Sunday evening. We joined the guided tour which ran for about 45 minutes which made it much more informative. You are considered a bullfighter if you manage to kill the bull with single strike of the sword. There are only a handful spainish bullfighters who have been successful in doing this a number of times over the years.

After visiting the bullfighting ring, we went back to Sol to find this churros place called Chocolateria. Must admit we were really looking forward to churros cause funnily there weren't alot of places which were selling them in Madrid. The churros weren't covered in any sugar so it tasted pretty plain even with the chocolate drink.... so I'd recommend trying something else. Churros isn't that tasty.

Just before heading to the airport we visited the Plaza de Cibeles and Retiro Park. The plaza's most famous sculpture is in the middle of a roundabout opposite a bus station at the end of Retiro Park. Its of a horse drawn carriage but we couldn't get closer cause it was cordoned off.

Definitely recommend Retiro Park as its got a really nice lake in the middle of the Park and there's heaps of entertainment, tourists (of course!) and food. It was a great place to finish our trip cause it was nice and relaxing. I actually thought it was nicer than Hyde Park in London. There's no animals around though so don't expect a squirrel to come up and eat your food. Kat & Linda picked up a pack of sunflower seeds and did as the locals did, munch and throw onto the ground! haha.

Another trip added to our list and again until our next trip.

Kat & Will