Hola from Madrid! After a one hour delay, and the longest taxiing of an airplane, we took off for Madrid.
Made it without any problems, and were met by the wonderful people from Gate 1 travel. Arrived at our hotel Nacional located in the Centro district of Madrid. We were greeted by our tour manager Derek, who was raised by his Spanish mother and British father in both London and Barcelona.
After getting squared away with our passports, hotel room and luggage storage, we made our way to a coffee shop for some much need and very delicious coffee, pastries and breakfast. Per Derek’s recommendation, we tried to make our way to Plaza Major.
Now Madrid does not appear to have a major river flowing through it that adds in finding your way around the city. The route we took led us through many twist,turns, small, narrow, but beautiful streets. After a few stops and starts, while all the while admiring this beautiful architecture of the city, we finally found our way to Plaza Major, and the other recommended spot, Mercado de San Micuel.
Mercado is kind of like a Reading Terminal of Madrid. A bustling building full of all kinds of delicious Spanish foods, and of course, beer, wine and sangria!
Alas, it was very busy, so after a drink and a delicious variety of fresh crab snacks, we continued our journey through this part of Madrid.
Made our way through another section and stopped for some delicious sangria and drinks at another spot. Continuing back to our hotel, and found a lovely garden cafe, that we just had to stop for a late lunch and more drinks, before making back to our hotel.
After a much needed shower and rest, met with our tour group and manager, before setting of for a short walk to our restaurant for tonight for an “early “ 8:00 Spanish dinner.
Here we were treated to a delicious meal of charcuterie, bread, salad, the most delicious mussels, either fish or pork, and a wonderful cheese cake/pie that is made from cheese from the Basque region, all yummy! Of course some great Spanish wines were included .
It’s been a very long 36 hours, so off for some much needed sleep. Tomorrow brings a tour of Madrid, and an excursion to Toledo.