I definitely looked up the lyrics to “My Favorite Things” before writing this post. I went with the better known Raindrops on Roses and Whiskers on Kittens, but I think my favorite is probably Snowflakes that stay on my nose and eyelashes. Snowflakes will probably always be my favorite. Good luck to me in Cali, huh?
Anyway, you might have guessed already since I hinted at it in a previous post, but, you see, this post is about my favorite places in Madrid.
5. Side streets
That’s totally cheating right? To pick all of the side streets? Well I was going to limit it to Malasaña but when I was picking out pictures a lot of them were from different parts of Madrid, so I decided to broaden it to “side streets”. It’s the side streets in every part of the city that have that Spanish charm.
So pretty, right? But the best part of the side streets is the plazas and terrazas!
For the record, that cheesecake tasted just as good as it looked.
4. Palacio Real & Catedral de la Almudena
These two go together because they are so close to each other and thinking of one always seems to make me think of the other. So here they are, the two of them together.
I really liked hanging out outside the Royal Palace. And it wasn’t even because I want to be royalty; although let’s be honest, who doesn’t? I should clarify though, I would want to be princess but I don’t think I’d ever want to rise to the rank of Queen. I don’t want the responsibility.
In all my time spent standing outside of the palace, I haven’t actually been inside. I probably did go inside when I studied abroad six (seven?) years ago, but I haven’t gone inside this time around. And you know why? Because when you’ve been inside one you’ve kind of seen them all, you know? They’re always filled with that old-fashioned (read: stuffy) regal decor. There’s incredibly intricate wallpaper. There’s heavy red velvet everywhere. Hmm, I think finally understand why George wanted to drape himself in velvet. And if there’s not velvet, then there are cherubs painted on ceilings. All of the kinds of things that make you think ‘Wow, this is stunning. But how about a little eggshell? Maybe a nice, pale blue perhaps?’
Anyway I’ve found that I can get my fill from the outside. It’s a pretty amazing building and even though there are guards stationed outside of the entrances you could go right up and touch it. Though that might be weird. And if you can’t take it all in while you’re up close to it (it is a pretty big building) you can get a great view from the gardens or…or the Catedral de la Almudena next door. They have a museum and look-out point that you can access for 6€. The view alone is well worth it.
While you’re at it, you might as well take in the city and the mountains.
Not to mention the Cathedral itself…
Moving on, as I said, the views from the gardens are pretty nice. Heck, the gardens are pretty nice.
But the real treat about hanging out outside the palace is that you are sometimes able to stumble upon some really cool things. There was the time that I got to see the King…twice!
By which I mean the King’s hand. I got to see the King’s hand! Twice!
Then there was the time that I stumbled upon the tail end of a concert with a somewhat curious choice of pieces.
It is with great sadness that I regret to inform you that I just missed the opportunity to hear the Royal Band play Star Wars. I heard it from afar and rushed as fast I could, it’s not my fault!
3. Plaza de España / Templo de Debod
These two go together too because I can’t visit one without visiting the other. Plaza de España is an open plaza with a couple of fountains, a reflecting pool and Don Quijote and Sancho Panza. I visited them regularly throughout my time here and had to officially bid them farewell on my last day.
The Templo de Debod is practically right around the corner. I think I wrote about the history of it before, but if not here it is in a nutshell:
The Temple was originally built in southern Egypt in the second century BC as a dedication to the god, Isis. Almost two thousand years later, Spain was awesome and provided assistance in the relocation of some of the Abu Simbel temples during the construction of the Aswan Dam in 1968. As a show of gratitude, the Templo de Debod was donated to Spain and placed in Parque Oeste in Madrid in 1972.
My favorite time to go was always during the morning before it got filled up with people; however, sunset is beautiful too. It doesn’t hurt that the park has a pretty awesome view too.
My last weekend in town was a holiday in Madrid for their patron saint, San Isidro. As part of the festivities, there was a classical violin concert next to the Templo. Don’t mind if I do.
2. Dehesa de la Villa
I spent a lot of mornings or afternoons or sometimes evenings running in the park. Running is very relaxing, it clears my head and I rock out to music. Lately I discovered the joy of running to the Pirates of the Caribbean soundtrack. Is that weird? It’s surprisingly motivational. I can picture Jack Sparrow (Captain, Captain Jack Sparrow) stepping off his sinking boat or sword fighting or just drinking rum and suddenly I am ready to crush that hill. Yeah, that’s probably weird but it works for me. It also helped that when I was running this was the scenery that surrounded me.
1. La Mina
I suppose it will not come to a surprise to my family at all that a bar would be my favorite place in Madrid, but it is what it is. Maybe it’s the Boston girl in me. Maybe it’s the Irish that I try to claim (anyone who is Irish in and around Madrid has the accent to back it up!) But I’m a pub girl. Give me a corner bar and I’ll make it my home. I promise you that they also serve coffee so half of my visits were to have coffee. Okay, maybe only a third. Okay, fine, a quarter. What do you want from me? The Spanish start drinking at 9:00AM.
But I like to become a regular. It makes me really feel like I’ve made myself at home. In Boston it was Thinking Cup. First Tremont Street, then Hanover Street, then Newbury Street. It’s like they kept opening up a new one to suit my ever-changing needs. Maybe they’ll open one in Oakland next! It just felt nice to have them wave and start my order when I walked in the door. I didn’t always order the same thing when I went to La Mina so they couldn’t be the same even if they wanted to, but it still felt like home.
I had every intention of posting this my last night but the internet had other plans. And then I figured I would do it in the airport but again the internet had other plans. So I wrote it then and added the pictures later. And boy is that time-consuming. But hopefully it pays off because there is a lot to see in this post and only a small part of it is words!
This may be the end of Spain (for now at least) but I plan on sticking around. Maybe there will be a post or two snuck in about Boston. If not, then the next stop is California!