Madrid, Spain

If you speak Spanish you will love Madrid. Otherwise you'll have some problems getting food and other services as many of the locals don't speak English. It is still a wonderful city, I've loved it every time. And I don't speak Spanish. :)

One of my favorite cities. We had a chance to take part to partying at the university. There were a huge number of students everywhere at the campus and everyone had a pint-sized plastic cup filled with either beer or red wine mixed with coke or sprite. And the next day we headed to the downtown bars. It seems that there's always a party going on in Madrid..

I spent 4 full days in Madrid which I think was definitely enough to see a lot of the city. We even ended up spending a full half day at the Madrid Zoo.

Madrid is great and the weather is perfect, although sometimes when I step out of a station the last thing I need is a tazxing walk to my accommodation. Thankfully I found this place AC Curzo (see link below) which was nearby Colombia station and fantastically comfortable, as well as being a health and fitneess suite. Perfect.

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Mama Ines on Calle Hortaleza is a relaxed café in a gay-friendly neighbourhood. The cakes are delicious and the atmosphere is modern and friendly. I also loved the photographs on the walls.

Try all the different variations of the HUEVOS ROTOS (broken eggs), a combination of fried eggs - broken! - fries and serrano ham!

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This hotel is by far the most memorable. We arrived in the night. The hotel is a medival castle that sits on the edge of a gorge. We dined in the castles main hall on suckling pig.

These are experiences that cannot be valuated in monetary terms.

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Great park with full of action at least on a sunny sunday. There were people playing drums and guitar, playing ball and practicing capoeira. And others just laying on the grass having some wine or sangria. Good place to chill after a night in bars.

Hotel Praga is just too far away from the city centre. Otherwise a decent place with a lots of small shops for getting breakfast or drinks. Bus number 23 goes front of the hotel to centre and takes about 20 mins.

The Palacio Real has a loads of things to see. Armoury is nice, like some of the fancily decorated rooms. Good value for the 8 euro.

Huge market and nice tapas on Sundays

This is a huge flee market in Madrid. It´s open on Sundays. Lots of stalls and people. You can find here bags, jewelleries, scarves, shoes, some clothes. Because there are lot of people, so you have better wacth out your wallet.

This Italian restaurant belongs to restaurant chain called Ginos. Food were great and atmosphere were warm and friendly. I ate pizza and for dessert a tiramisu. Pizza was crispy and the tiramisu was heavenly :) yam!

This palace belongs to king of Spain. He uses it in different ceremonies, but doesn´t live there. There have lived lots of kings in Spain´s history. The inner court of palace is huge. When you´re there you feel yourself so small. All the rooms have different names and they are decorated in different colours. There are seen lots of old items from different centuries and decades.

This is big and the most famous park in Madrid. It´s an ideal place to have a picnic on weekends with friends and family. Also Madrilenian families favour this park. It´s a popular park among joggers, but you can find there also street performers and musicians, sidewalk painters and other artists. You can hire a pedal boat and take around the small lake with that.

Restaurante La Galette II.El lugar prometía pero la cena me decepcionó, probé pimiento persa de entrada (pimiento a la plancha relleno de arroz, lenteja, alguna verdura, algo especiado y con pimienta y queso gratinado) y de segundo curry rojo con verduras que venía acompañado de un arroz basmati que estaba bastante pasado (en mi casa lo hago mejor, perdón por la modestia) y de postre un batido de yogur con melón. A lo mejor no acerté con los platos, pero creo que con lo que pagué debe exigirse que sea de calidad. Los ingredientes que componían mis raciones no creo que excedan de los 6 euros. El vaso de vino de la casa era de calidad.

La cena fue correcta, pero sin más, yo creo que por los 30 euros que pagué podía haber cenado mucho mejor en otros sitios, pero debo reconocer que el lugar tiene encanto, es muy cálido y acogedor, romántico diríamos, decorado con mil y un detalles y una iluminación indirecta que se crece al calor de la luz de las velas sobre las mesas.