Spain Trip 2010: Madrid!

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After landing in Madrid around 10:30 Friday morning, we found my sister Tiffany and her husband, James, and rode the metro into town.

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Stepping out into the city for the first time was so exciting! Friday was a beautiful day – a little chilly, but blue skies and sunshine.

We walked from the metro station into town to get some lunch (or breakfast, for us).

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After being up all day Thursday, flying overnight without getting any sleep, and  having to ride the metro and start walking with our bags, we were all worn out.

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We took a few breaks on the way, but we finally made it to our lunch destination.

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Of course, we toasted our arrival with a Spanish beer called Mahou.

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By this point, I was starving. The meal on the plane the night before wasn’t that great, and I didn’t eat the crappy pastry they gave us for “breakfast” before we landed, so I just wanted food!!!

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I had some bread while waiting for the meal – Nick and I decided to get 2 dishes and share them, and both were delicious!

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We ordered a serrano ham and goat cheese salad to start. This goat cheese was warmed before serving, and it was the creamiest and most tangy goat cheese I’ve ever had. We devoured the salad between the two of us.

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The other dish we ordered was serrano ham croquetas.

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Fried cheese + ham? They didn’t last long ;)

And we didn’t get any pastries, but they were tempting.

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After finishing lunch, we headed over to our hostel to check in and drop off our bags so we could walk around the city some more.

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The inside was so neat. It had a stained glass ceiling and tiling all throughout the courtyard area.

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Sadly, even seeing such a cool place couldn’t keep us awake! Almost all of us took naps in the courtyard while we were waiting for our room keys.

But once we were able to sit in the room for a few minutes, rest our feet, and drop our bags, we were ready to go.

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Staying in hostels was an experience, to say the least. All the ones we stayed in were nice, but it was strange having random people in your room.

We took a short nap and headed back out.

Tiff and James took us through part of this humongous park in the middle of the city.

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One of the coolest things we came across in the park was this glass building.

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It was already closed for the evening so we couldn’t go in, but it was so neat! Apparently, you can have receptions and parties in it.

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It was just starting to get dark as we were leaving the park and we were basically walking-while-sleeping, so we grabbed some quick food for my mom and dad and took them back to the hostel to go to bed.

Even though I was super tired, I was a little hungry and not ready to go to sleep, so Tiff, James, Melissa, Nick and I headed back out for some food and fun.

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For “dinner”, I finally had the churros + chocolate I’d been dreaming about since seeing a picture that Tiff put up on Facebook.

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Delicioso.

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This chocolate drink was almost like a dark chocolate pudding – it wasn’t as thick as normal pudding, but it definitely wasn’t like regular hot chocolate. It was great to dip the churro in because the churro was sugary-sweet and the chocolate was really dark and rich.

Before heading back to the hostel that first night, we walked to a plaza where this guy was hanging sideways and playing a piano AND we went to the center of Spain.

It was quite the first day in Spain :) And I enjoyed every minute!

Next up – Madrid, day 2 and Toledo!

 

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34 comments

  1. Madrid looks GORGEOUS! You really had some yummy food. :)

  2. Wow, it is gorgeous! It looks awesome!

  3. Fabulous pictures! It reminds me of my summer spent in Spain. Toledo will be nice but you have to visit Sevilla. It’s my favorite place in Espana….oh how I miss the tapas.

  4. I LOVE the photos!

    Have a great day!

  5. Fabulous photos and recap!! Can’t wait to hear/see more…! And churros and chocolate! My favorite…!!! YUM.

  6. I totally missed the fact that you guys were staying in a hostel! Definitely must be strange to sleep with random people, but I it looks like a pretty nice place anyways!

    I’ve never been to Spain, but I’ve been to other places in Europe and one thing I cannot get enough of is the amazing architecture over there. Looks like it’s just as incredible in Spain as in France!

  7. Amazing! That building is so incredible, wouldn’t it be amazing to have your wedding there? Can’t wait for more of Spain!

  8. amazing pictures.. and your sisters husband looks like quite a character! (hehe)

  9. Oh Madrid!!! Oh Toledo!!! I remember being in both of those places… sooooo long ago!

  10. How beautiful!!! I love your pictures :)

  11. Love the bunkbeds!

  12. beautiful! looks like day 1 was wonderful

  13. How fun! Why are your sister and brother in law living there?

    • They’re teaching English at schools in a small town in Spain for a year.

    • How fun! I applied to do the same thing in South Korea but declined an offer due to some family issues. I don’t regret it, but still think it would be an incredible experience!

  14. The pics are beautiful! I can’t believe the hotel room had bunk beds lol. Not gonna lie, I’d probably think it was cool ;)

    P.S. I get Mary’s Crackers at Kroger. It’s in the organic/gluten-free section!

  15. Ahhh!! SO PRETTY!! I’ve never stayed in a hostel – it seems like it would be very interesting. By the way, I love your sister’s purse!

  16. Just got caught up iwht your blog.. loved all of the photos and reading all about your trip… sounds like you guys had a great time and nice weather…

  17. I’ve always wondered what staying in a hostel would be like. It looks really pretty and nice.

    That salad with the goat cheese and serrano ham looks to die for. My sister Sarah went to Spain a few years ago and raved about the ham!

  18. Looks incredible! ESP the churro and chocolate!

  19. So much fun! Loving these recaps. Keep them coming girl!

  20. wow what a fabulous trip so far! and i hear you about hostels…i’m warry of them now since last time i was in AU i got bed bugs…it was horrible!

  21. I LITERALLY STAYED IN THAT EXACT SAME HOSTEL WHEN I WENT TO MADRID. THIS IS CREEPY. I HAVE THOSE EXACT SAME PICTURES OF THE INSIDE!!!!!

  22. All the food looks great and that house is awesome! The hostel is really pretty. I always picture that one scary movie whenever I think of hostels now, haha.

    • I never saw that movie, and I’m glad I didn’t before we traveled! I would have been terrified, more than likely.

  23. Welcome back! I went to Spain in high school, and your pictures are bringing back memories. I recognize so many of those buildings. Looks like you had a fabulous time, and I’m so happy you got your churros and chocolate.

  24. Oh the memories that flood my mind looking at your pictures. Churros were such a good treat at the chocolateria down the street from my apartment and croquetas were my favorite thing my Senora made.

    And those sights are gorgeous :-)

  25. awww, looks amazing, can’t wait to see more pictures :)

  26. Oh wow! You’re pics are great! I am so jealous :)

  27. WOW, i love all the photos! this post is great! i lived in europe for awhile and lived out of hostels, it is a fun way to meet people but you are right, it is a tad weird at first! so glad i have 5 more posts to look at this morning :)

  28. Great pics!

    The hostel pics brought back some good memories of when I did a study abroad program in France and a bunch of us went to Switzerland for the weekend and stayed in a hostel. It’s like one big slumber party!

    So jealous of that churro and chocolate. Yum.

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