Friday Favorites: Madrid Top 5

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Almost five years ago, my husband and I decided to visit Spain for our honeymoon. We had brainstormed a lot of conditions for our chosen locale with the criteria that we had to fly across a major body of water to get there and it had to be somewhere that neither of us had ever visited. Spain came to the top of the list for several reasons, but one of the best was thanks to a flamenco-inspired piece of music my husband composed not long after we started dating and mutual paella pan gifts, but that is a story for another time.

When we started debating about which actual cities to visit during our honeymoon, we leaned heavily toward Barcelona, but also knowing that we wanted to spend a good deal of time in Andalusia, we decided to stay in that area to give us more time to enjoy ourselves and less time on the go.

Our journey both began and ended in Madrid. We staying in a hotel right on the Puerta del Sol and enjoyed what the city had to offer for two days before we headed out for our next destination. We returned to Madrid for one more night before we came back to the States.

Madrid was bustling, but it felt more like being somewhere similar to New York City or Chicago than the other destinations we visited. Still, we enjoyed ourselves immensely! These are the sights I wouldn’t miss…

Palacio Real (Royal Palace) – The decadence is real in the Royal Palace. With 2,800 rooms, we decided to take the guided tour and snuck in a couple of pictures when we could. The grand staircase is one sight in the palace not to be missed. It is actually carved from a single piece of marble and is decorated with classic pieces of art! There are murals on the ceilings throughout the palace and the furnishings are just beautiful. We visited midday and had to wait in a pretty long line for entrance to the palace but the line moved quickly and what we so inside was so worth it! After we finished our tour of the castle, we spent a bit of time in the gardens just strolling around and checking everything out. While out on the palace grounds, we noticed a line of what we would call “skybuckets” traveling across the top of the city and decided we would need to check those out as well, so keep reading to find out about what we discovered.

Guernica at Centro de Arte Reina Sofia – I remember the first time I saw Guernica. I was in an art class in elementary school and I think it was quite possibly my first exposure to Picasso and Cubism. I was so struck by it that I remember having an internal emotional reaction even at a young age. But, as a picture that was passed around the classroom during that lesson, I don’t think I ever really understood what a powerful thing it is to see in person. I really wish that the exhibit hadn’t been swarming with people when I visited, because I could have stood there for hours. The scale of the piece is so much larger than I was expecting. I guess if I had done my research I would have known that it was over 11 feet tall and over 25 feet wide, but to enter the room of the exhibit and see that. It put my elementary school reaction to shame. The value of seeing Guernica in person far surpasses the 10€ admission price to the museum. The rest of the museum is fabulous as well, with a lot of opportunities to take in modern artwork by artists such as Dali, Picasso, and Kandinsky.

Prado – If Reina Sofia is the Spanish equivalent of MOMA, the Prado is the equivalent of the Met. We spent a bit of time touring Prado and taking in all of the classical artwork. We were able to see several paintings by Raphael, Peter Paul Rubens, and Spanish master Deigo Valazquez. There is so much classic artwork to take in while visiting the Prado, it can get a little overwhelming, but we enjoyed every minute and wandered around the Royal Botanical Garden for a bit before we found a great way to relax!

El Retiro Park – As we came out of the Botanical Garden, we came upon El Retiro Park. We didn’t really know what to expect, but we were in the mood to wander, so we went with our instinct. After a short stroll, we came upon a man-made lake, El Estanque. The lake is lined with tables and people were just sitting and enjoying the gorgeous weather on the afternoon we visited. We were thirsty, so my husband obtained an adult beverage and a tapa for us as we sat and watched people spending their afternoon on boars on the lake or strolling through the park. It was a great way to relax after our visit to the art museum and spending our morning walking around.

Madrid Teleferico – It took us a while to stumble on to this one. As I mentioned earlier, the day we visited the Royal Palace, we noticed “skybuckets” traveling over the city and wanted to know more about them. We couldn’t find anything in our awesome guide book we had been using and we only had limited internet access during our visit, so it took us until our last day in Madrid to finally get to the Madrid Teleferico. We took a train down from our hotel and then walked to the station at Pintor Rosales. The trip is about 2.5 km one way and we really enjoyed looking over the city on our last day in Spain. It was quite relaxing! The endpoint is at Madrid’s largest park, Casa de Campo. Unfortunately, it was misty and damp, so we decided against spending any real time in the park. The day we visited the food options were quite limited, so we ended up drinking a beer and looking out on the park from the terrace before we got back on the Teleferico to head back into the city center.

While these are great sites to see, don’t miss out on the great food and drink Madrid has to offer!

El Tigre – This was our first stop for tapas in Madrid, and by far our favorite experience, even it wasn’t the best food we ate while there. We arrived early in the evening for Madrid thanks to jet lag and exhaustion so the place was practically empty. We ordered two glasses of wine and with our large tumblers of wine received two large plates of tapas: one of patatas bravas and another with a mixed assortment of things including some croquettes and bread with jamon and cheese. Upon ordering our second glass of wine each, we were handed three plates of food. The third plate contained a kind of salad that included potatoes, tomatoes, olives, and some other vegetables that were dressed with some light type of vinaigrette. Tasty and filling. Our price tag at the end was 10€. Yes, 4 tumblers (much more than a glass) of wine and 5 plates of food for 10€. We left with our hearts full, our heads fuzzy, and our bellies stuffed. This spot was a Yelp! find and after that experience, we knew that we could safely rely on Yelp! to help us find good food even if we couldn’t read all of the reviews ourselves!

Chocolateria San Gines – I’m fairly certain that I lost track of how many times we went here for churros con chocolate while we were in Madrid, but it had to have been at least three times! We typically showed up at about 11 PM after a leisurely dinner and the lines were always long. Seating was a challenge as well but it is a large establishment with more seating downstairs. The churros here were crispy and delightful, but the chocolate was just out of this world. Like a liquid chocolate pudding, it is rich and not too sweet. We enjoyed everything with a cafe au lait each time we went and then slept like babies each night!

El Caldero –  This ended up being our big expensive dinner for our honeymoon trip. When we first arrived in Madrid, the desk agent at our hotel booked our reservation for the our final night in Madrid. The reservation times were limited even at 10 days out, so if you want to eat here, I definitely suggest making your reservation as far in advance as possible. Even so, our meal did not disappoint. Our appetizer was pan-fried baby squid. It absolutely melted in your mouth. I’ve never come close to having squid that delicious anywhere else. We also enjoyed a seafood paella with a bottle of Spanish wine. Our after dinner was some type of vanilla liqueur that we have not been able to hunt down again. Our service was outstanding even given the language barrier. It was an absolutely delightful meal and I would visit the restaurant again in a heartbeat.

So, those are the big highlights from our trip to Madrid. Look for the next post about my favorite five from Sevilla next week!

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