Madrid: Day One

What started off as an early morning yesterday ended up being a wonderful day. We made it to our 8:00am bullet train on time, and we found it to be very spacious, comfortable, and effective. The wheels started rolling promptly at 8:00am, which guaranteed an on-time arrival to Madrid. The train ride lasted about three hours, so Sarah and I both got quite a bit of reading done. Once we arrived in Madrid, it took us a while to find out where we needed to go in order to get to our hostel. It turned out to be a very short Metro ride away, so we quickly purchased Metro passes and found our line. We found our hostel quite easily, but we were less than impressed with it. I know that is how everybody travels around Europe, but it really just was not our thing. It had a smell to it, and I really prefer having a private room. We did it, we got the experience, we know what it is like, but I can't say that we will be doing it again. We had it hanging over our heads all day that we eventually had to go back to Cat's, and when we are in London and Paris, we don't want that hanging over our heads all day. We want to enjoy the day and come back to a room that relaxes us, not one that gives us anxiety.

We should have known with a name like Cat's..

Anyway, after we dropped our bags off at Cat's, we headed out the door to try and find some lunch as it was almost 14:00 (2:00pm) at this point. We knew that the world's oldest restaurant was in Madrid, so we took advantage of Cat's free wi-fi (its only perk) and looked up how to get there. It turned out to be very close to our hostel, but alas, without reservations, we would not find a table at that time.We went ahead and made reservations for Sunday lunch, knowing that we would most definitely want to eat there before we left the city. We wandered across the street and came across a restaurant called Cantina La Traviesa with friendly waiters welcoming us into the restaurant, enticing us with the promise of paella. Our first paella! How could we pass on this opportunity? We came to Spain knowing that we had to experience this famous Spanish dish, so we decided to stop and eat there, despite the fact that it appeared to be rather pricey. We were given an appetizer of ham, cheese, and bread, on the house, and promised that our paella would be ready in approximately 20 minutes. The waiters were fun and really seemed to like us - they saw us taking pictures of our food and immediately whisked us over to the bar area so that we could have pictures with the meat (yes, there were two pig legs just on display), and with the cook.

Our paella finally came, and y'all, it came in a HUGE pan, but it was not very deep (at least, that's my justification for going back for thirds!) and it was absolutely delicious. People have told me that Spanish food tends to be bland, and while it doesn't have much flavor to it, I have found it to be wonderful. The paella was so, so good, and I am very excited to have even more of it in the weeks to come. Our waiter asked us if we wanted any coffee or dessert, and though we declined, expecting to receive our bill, he proceeded to bring shot glasses and some type of drink known as "crema" to our table. He kept telling us to drink even though we told him repeatedly that we didn't want it. He then proceeded to bring us out another type of alcohol that we again told him we didn't want. All we really wanted was our check! He then brought out some type of peach water (sin alcohol, finally!) which was actually quite delicious. Once we had finished that, we were once again expecting to receive the bill, but no such luck. All we received were a few winks, smiles, and waves. It turns out that you have to ask for the bill in Spain and it does not just get brought out to the table. That is a nice way of doing things, because I find that I often just sit at the table for hours after I am done eating, and the waiter often walks by, just waiting for us to leave. It can be hard to catch the waiter's attention though, so I guess there are positives and negatives to both situation!

 

With full bellies, we then set off to explore the rest of the city, on foot rather than by metro as we knew we would get to see more of the city that way. We only had about 36 hours there after all, and we were determined to see as much as possible. We headed toward La Plaza Mayor, where we were greeted with a beautiful courtyard that housed what we think was an apartment building of some type, a statue, many delicious-smelling restaurants, artists and their paintings, and many, many people. I was excited to see someone dressed up in a Mickey Mouse costume, seeing as Sarah and I traveled to Disney World about six months back, so I asked him for a picture. We got a couple of cute pictures before he began begging us for money. We quickly walked off and avoided any and all Disney creatures for the rest of the day. We continued walking down La Calle Mayor, where we came across many fun shops and cool monuments. We had a destination in mind, but we just had to make a few pit-stops! Our friend Katie traveled to Madrid over spring break to visit her brother who is currently living there, and she told us that we had to try this place that resembled our beloved Whole Foods. Those of you that have been reading for a while know that I am an avid Whole Foods fan. Sarah and I could not remember the name of the place for the life of us, and Katie is currently at camp right now sans cell phone, so we sort of just hoped that either the name would come to us or that we would somehow stumble upon it. Stumble upon it, we did! Though we were not yet hungry, we had to stop in Mercado de San Miguel and take a look around the place. We were met with hundreds of stands selling many different kinds of food and sweets.

La Plaza Mayor

Puerta Del Sol

Bakeries EVERYWHERE! 

Mercado de San Miguel

Candy stores are also everywhere

Hook'em all day long!

We knew that we had to come back before we left, as this place just looked too good to not try. We continued on down La Calle Mayor until we hit what we were looking for: the Cathedral de La Almudena, the Royal Palace, and the grassy area in which we would later rest our feet and read for a bit (I'm telling ya, we are big nerds)! Both the Cathedral and Royal Palace were stunning, and we actually got the chance to walk through the Cathedral and it was breathtaking. Imagine going to church there every Sunday! And the Royal Palace, y'all, it was incredible. It reminded me of the Palace of Versailles in France, and though we did not walk around, we gawked from outside of the gates, wishing we could sleep there instead of at Cat's. By that time, our feet had gotten the better of us, and we decided to recharge by sitting and reading in a grassy area that overlooked the Palace. The weather was absolutely perfect all day, and we ended up sitting there for over an hour! Walking everywhere can really take a lot out of you!

Front of the Cathedral

Palacio Real 

View from the grassy area

We then decided to take a page out of our Pinterest boards and put down the map and just walk, getting wonderfully lost. Well, we weren't quite lost as Madrid really isn't too difficult to navigate, but we just walked a ways, admiring all of the beautiful buildings and nature that surrounded us. We then caught the metro to take us back to Puerta del Sol, so I could stop in at El Corte Ingles to purchase the luggage locks that I so smoothly left at home. No worries, I found two for a great price! We were getting hungry by this point, but we had no interest in going back to Cat's, but we did want our computers so that we could take advantage of some of the cafe's that offered free wi-fi. Since we were close to the market, we headed in that direction to eat a light dinner before heading back to the dreadful Cat's. After walking around the entire market, faced with some very tough decisions as everything looked wonderful, I went with two vegetable kebobs and one salmon and guacamole topped piece of bread. It was delicious and really hit the spot. Sarah also opted for two kebabs as well as a mint truffle that she said was just wonderful. The desserts in this country are just unreal! I have yet to have one because I am still on the lookout for a dairy-free dessert, but when I do, I will go to town!

Hello, beautiful

Vegetable Kebabs 

Salmon and Guacamole - two of my favs!

With some delicious food in our stomachs, we began the long walk back to Cat's, where we made a desperate attempt at finding a hotel that we could stay at for the night, completely willing to forfeit the money at our hostel. We know, we know, we are being total divas, but this was just really not our kind of place. I am sure that other hostels out there are quite lovely, but this happened to be the only place that had any available beds the night before we planned to check-in. We decided to stick it out at Cat's, telling ourselves that it was just one night out of our lives and that it was part of the European experience. We grabbed our computers and sat in the bar to take advantage of the free wi-fi when I got to Skype with my sweet parents for the first time since I have been gone (granted, I have only been gone one week, but still!) It was so great to see their faces, and I absolutely loved getting to talk to them. I have not yet gotten homesick, but I do miss talking to my parents every day! I am hoping that now that they have figured out how to work Skype, there will be more Skype dates to come in the future.

Once the bar started getting a little rowdy, Sarah and I grabbed our stuff and read for a bit in the common room before heading into our actual room to get ready for bed. Some of our other roommates were getting ready to go out for the night (at almost midnight, the norm here in Spain) so we continued reading, trying not to think about the fact that we were actually spending the night at this place. We clearly blew things out of proportion in regards to this hostel, but it really was not our idea of a good place to stay. But, despite our less-than-glamourous sleeping arrangements, we had a wonderful day and were ready to hit the ground running in the morning!

Look for a post about our second day in Madrid - coming soon!