Once we landed in Madrid, we called an Uber to take us to our Airbnb since we were on a time crunch to get to our soccer game, and we didn’t want to chance the metro. We went straight to the Airbnb to check in and get the keys.  Our Airbnb in Madrid could not have been in a better location; we were on the top floor of a building overlooking the Plaza Mayor, one of most important squares in the middle of the city. You’ve almost certainly seen pictures of it, and now we got to wake up to that view. This Airbnb was one of the coolest places I’ve ever stayed.  We were greeted with a spanish omelette, some wine, and a baguette from our hosts. We hadn’t really eaten anything all day so this was very welcome! We then took an uber over to the new stadium, Wanda Metropolitano, to see Atletico Madrid (one of Madrid’s two soccer teams). We had gotten tickets in advance and we were both very excited to experience a soccer game while in Spain.

Guess what?! We did another free walking tour (shocker, right?). This one was provided by Sandeman’s again. The meeting point for this tour was right in the middle of the square where we were staying and, since we had used Sandeman’s in Lisbon, we were excited to see what they had in store for Madrid. Our tour guide Ramon took us to the Eastern side of the city, and we learned a little bit of the history. I’m not a history buff but my gut says that they don’t even try to cover that much because the history of Spain is so sordid. Think: incest and Kings that looked funny as a result of said incest. Either way, he took us to the Royal Palace of Madrid, the Almudena Cathedral, and the Opera House.  It gave us a good overview of the main landmarks we wanted to see. We then went back to the Airbnb to warm up before heading out for the second half of the day. First we stopped for lunch at 100 Montaditos. Claire had heard of this place from a friend of hers and we decided to try it out, all we knew is that they had really cheap sandwiches. This turned into the first meal of many at this Spanish fast casual spot. They have over 50 different sandwich options (hmmm… maybe 100, based on the name? I didn’t count myself.). All the sandwiches are Tapas-sized, so you can order a bunch to try. We each ordered 3, and it was great!

From there we walked toward the Grand Via, which is the main street for shopping. I had seen a Primark on the map, and I wanted to check it out (they have them in the US now, but nothing compares to the giant ones in Europe).  We popped in and out of several stores on the main street including the official Atletico Madrid store where we bought our official team scarves. We are true fans now :). Then we strolled over to the Royal Gardens next to the Palace to check them out.

The Temple Debod was really intriguing to me since it’s an ancient Egyptian temple that was dismantled and rebuilt in Madrid, one of the few places you can see an actual Egyptian temple without being in Egypt! The view at the Temple was still good, but the sunset was full of clouds — not as epic as we had hoped. From there we ventured to a sherry bar, La Venencia that my friend had recommended. It is VERY old; Ernest Hemingway used to drink there. Also, forget computer systems  — they write your bar tab on the bar with chalk to keep track of how much you owe. Also also, you are not allowed to take any pictures inside (back off Instagrammers). The sherry was pretty good, though it was so strong that I don’t think I could handle more than a glass. It was intimidating approaching the old Spanish man at the bar when we had no idea what we were getting into or what to order, but then a nice young man helped us and we settled right in with our sherry and olives.

From there we went to Casa Gonzalez (another recommendation from the same friend) where we got some wine and more toasts. I got turkey (a rare appearance of white meat in this land of pork). It was a great find haha. I was still lacking veggies at this point but at least I had a little variety in my protein.  Our final stop of the night was to satisfy my neverending sweet tooth! We went to Mimi’s Crepes close to where we stayed at Plaza Mayor. There is nothing like a nutella banana crepe to end the night :)

Today was another travel day! We woke up and decided to hit up the “Central Park of Madrid,” Parque de El Retiro. It’s the largest park in Madrid and used to belong to the Spanish Monarchy until they made it public in the late 1800s.  After a quick stop at 100 Montaditos for some egg sandwiches, we were on our way. We entered the park and walked to the Palacio de Cristal which was a towering structure made largely out of glass. We passed a lake inside the park where people were rowing boats and came out of the park near the Puerta de Alcala (a big arch).  From there we had to head back to the Airbnb to check out and grab our bags.

Our next stop was the Museo Del Prada for some Goya.  The Museo Del Prado is the main national art museum in Spain and though we aren’t exactly big art enthusiasts, we needed somewhere to go that would have a place to store our bags (free at the museum!) We had both heard that this museum was worth going to by friends, so it seemed like a logical choice. The Black Paintings which were originally murals in Goya’s home are absolutely haunting, and he’s got many other works in the museum, even including some cartoons commissioned by royalty. The difference between those two is so stark, it’s hard to believe they were painted by the same guy. When we wrapped up at the Prado, we headed over to where we would catch our bus for the airport and found a restaurant Sushi Store for Yakisoba and Dumplings.  There were veggies and some familiar flavors I hadn’t had in a long time, so I was very happy about it.  We were early but left the restaurant to head to the bus which got us to the airport in no time at all and only cost 5 euros. Next up was our flight to Ibiza!