We were in Madrid just 5 years ago and enjoyed it a lot and we really wanted to come back. It has 3 fantastic art museums, excellent tapas scene and lots of squares to sit and drink while watching the hordes of people. This trip there were hordes and hordes of people. I can’t remember ever being in a city that was this busy in October. It was a holiday week known as Hispanidad which is celebrating Columbus “discovering” the new world. It is meant to celebrate the spread of Spanish culture all over the world while at the same time celebrating the culture of the different countries in Latin America. Seems a little bit a like celebrating imperialism but as an American I can’t say much because of our history.
Part of this celebration is the National Day of Spain on October 12th which includes a Military Parade. Hundreds of thousands of people lined the boulevard downtown to watch 4000 military troops marching in precision with rifles with bayonets. They were followed with tanks and other Spanish military vehicles and flyover from over 100 military planes. So many people were wearing and waving the Spanish flag bothered me a bit – it was a little disturbing that nationalist pride was focused on the military. Yes, I know I am an American citizen and lots of people in America have tremendous pride in being a “world power” but I am not one of those. I can’t remember the last time I saw a military parade. We just don’t do those much in the US. anymore unless it is just an airshow.
The big developments for us in Madrid was welcoming some travel partners. P and K will be traveling with us for a couple weeks on their first European trip together. We will be modifying our recent pattern of staying a week or more in each town in order to show them as much Spain as we can in 2 weeks. We will enjoy the fast pace for a bit, but we are also going to enjoy people to have fun with. M and I have been married for 31 years and sometimes only talk to each other for weeks at a time so it is great to be be with others. We are getting along great and It feels like it is a party every night.
We are the travel experts compared to P and K, and it is pretty fun to share our knowledge with some rookies. They are probably getting tired of our comments about how things are in Madrid and Spain compared to other places as well as our helpful travel hints. But they also came very prepared. K has done a lot of research for each destination on what to see and what to eat. They have lists of restaurants and other activities that have been really helping us out. M and I tend to do that kind of research the week or a day before we reach a place, so these kind of details is very welcome. We may need to hire K to be our researcher.
We were in Madrid a few years ago when we were still working, so we only had a couple days here. We ended up doing all 3 art major museums (Prado, Reina Sofia, and Thyssen) on the same day. We saw the major famous pieces by the big artists but most of the other stuff was just a quick run through. This time we limited ourselves to one museum a day, which is the right way to see a museum. After 3 hours in a place, my eyes roll back in my head and I can’t process what I’m seeing. We were able to appreciate the El Greco, Goya, Velazquez, Ribera, Picasso and Dali good stuff without feeling rushed this week.
Madrid still has several bars that still give you a free tapa when you order a drink. Free things like a little open faced sandwich, or tortilla (potato omelet), or patatas bravas or just some olives or potato chips. I love free stuff and am a little sad that this tradition is dying out in some places of Spain. While we enjoyed the free nibble, we quickly moved on to the tapas on the menu, or the ones sitting on the counter that just looked amazing. We had some fantastic food that wasn’t always free but was always a lot cheaper that the US. It is great to have 4 people now so we can share and try more dishes. There are Spanish tapas restaurants all over the world but none as good as the Madrid bars.
Our Airbnb was in the Chueca neighborhood in Madrid. Not too far from the big attractions, but also in a fun neighborhood with enough bars and restaurants to keep us busy. The 2 bedrooms were just fine but the only problem we had was a table that was too large right in the middle of the kitchen. The kitchen was also the hallway to the living room, so it always seemed a bit crowded there with 4 people. Overall we were comfortable here, and don’t regret our Airbnb choosing decision.
The 4 of us are traveling onward to the next destination- Sevillla, Spain!!!!