28th of April - 1st of May 2018
Introduction:
Definitely I can’t complain about the first 4 months of 2018. Indeed, Madrid has always been on the agenda and I am happy I managed to do it.We have booked our tickets by in end of January with Julien, and Benoit decided to join us two weeks before going: great team!
So here we go:
28th of April
We all do have a positive image of the weather in Spain in general. And especially when you look at the statistics end of April it looks like a great period to visit Madrid. Well I guess we arrived on the wrong week... the temperature was around 10C° which made us keep the shorts in the suitcase... of course that wouldn’t stop us visiting!
In the late afternoon we reached Madrid and 30min we were at our apartment which was located at Puerta Del Sol. After checking in and a beer, we went looking for a dinner which wasn’t complicated as all the streets around our apartment were full of restaurants. Our choice has been made on a traditional one XXX all covered with colored XXX (a bit like in Portugal) with quite a nice atmosphere. Full of locals and tourists. Even if we had to wait for 30min (which give us time to have a drink) the restaurant was exceeding my expectations: paella, French fries with ham and eggs, chilly potatoes, tapas... very healthy food for sure!
The plan next was a drink and then going to a club. A former athlete of my father have told me that the best club in Madrid is Opium. So we finished by going there... I wouldn’t say that it is the kind of club I do like. Indeed, it looked too pretentious for me, very similar to the clubs in Bulgaria for instance, with a lot of girls who seemed like “booked” somebody’s particular table drinking champagne. Well we spent an hour or something there and went back home.
Definitely I can’t complain about the first 4 months of 2018. Indeed, Madrid has always been on the agenda and I am happy I managed to do it.We have booked our tickets by in end of January with Julien, and Benoit decided to join us two weeks before going: great team!
So here we go:
28th of April
We all do have a positive image of the weather in Spain in general. And especially when you look at the statistics end of April it looks like a great period to visit Madrid. Well I guess we arrived on the wrong week... the temperature was around 10C° which made us keep the shorts in the suitcase... of course that wouldn’t stop us visiting!
In the late afternoon we reached Madrid and 30min we were at our apartment which was located at Puerta Del Sol. After checking in and a beer, we went looking for a dinner which wasn’t complicated as all the streets around our apartment were full of restaurants. Our choice has been made on a traditional one XXX all covered with colored XXX (a bit like in Portugal) with quite a nice atmosphere. Full of locals and tourists. Even if we had to wait for 30min (which give us time to have a drink) the restaurant was exceeding my expectations: paella, French fries with ham and eggs, chilly potatoes, tapas... very healthy food for sure!
The plan next was a drink and then going to a club. A former athlete of my father have told me that the best club in Madrid is Opium. So we finished by going there... I wouldn’t say that it is the kind of club I do like. Indeed, it looked too pretentious for me, very similar to the clubs in Bulgaria for instance, with a lot of girls who seemed like “booked” somebody’s particular table drinking champagne. Well we spent an hour or something there and went back home.
29th of April
First day of visit, the weather looked sunny but it was actually cold and rainy... well, no choice. We decided to follow the guide I have booked:
First day of visit, the weather looked sunny but it was actually cold and rainy... well, no choice. We decided to follow the guide I have booked:
- XXX covered market: even if it doesn’t look impressive it was a great place for a lunch. A lot of tapas again and delicious food. A very interesting place where tourists meet locals.
- Tabacareria - a former tobacco factory transformed into art gallery. Really interesting building with huge spaces. There were one artist and a photographer exposing: one of them, Ramon Mateos, was denouncing the policy Europe has to refugees; and the second one, Isabel Muñoz, who was translating through her pictures the beauty of a body. Even if some of the pictures were shocking it was a nice spent time.
- XXX which was a shared coworker space with a nice coffee shop and a great terrace on the roof.
- One of the main missions I had when coming to Madrid was seeing Guernica of Picasso exposed Reina Sofia museum... we reached the museum but when we saw the queue we abandoned and decided to go next day. Which also was the last opportunity as the 1st of may the museum was closed.
- We continued to Retiro Gardens which is one of the biggest parcs around. Right in the middle there is lake where you can rent a boat and cafés to sit down. Right after we reached it, it started to rain... :( well, no choice, beer time! We walked then to the Crystal Palace and art gallery nearby which gave us an opportunity to hide from the rain again.
- We finally walked back home through the Arc of Triumph (I guess that now every country has its own arc) and XXX street which is one of the most famous one in Madrid. The buildings around were really beautiful indeed.
30th of April
I woke up without a great hangover which was good. As the rest of the team was still sleeping and considering that it is the last opportunity of seeing Guernica I left by myself a bit before 11am.
The queue at the Reina Sofia museum was again huge and I was really lucky that it was raining because I wasn’t having anything to protect me from it. After an hour waiting I managed to get in! Victory !!!
Gosh this museum really impressed me, by its size (a former hospital) but moreover by the paintings inside. Indeed, the second floor is the one hiding all the permanent exhibition of Picasso and Dali. Before talking about Picasso, i need to say that I am really fan of the paintings and the personality of Dali. I was happy seeing some of his masterpieces exposed there as I have seen them only in the books.
It came time for Guernica... a huge room was reserved only for it. No pictures allowed there which made me a bit sad, but this feeling disappeared right away when I was standing in front of this huge painting. Trying to record all my Spanish classes talking about it, checking some of the small details I have heard of. It is crazy how much sadness could be fit in one painting. Unfortunately this didn’t stop the WW2 neither the recent events in the Middle East... it seems that the world hadn’t learnt a lot since 1937. And i pray that the world becomes a better place and living in peace.
After more than two hours inside the museum (of which 40min in front of Guernica) I went out meeting Benoit and Julien. We sat down in the café Nubel which was located in the new part of the museum build by the French architect Nouvel. The atmosphere of the café matches the modern art of the museum above and even the cheese cake I ate was looking as a modern piece of art.
The plan of the afternoon was going to the Royal Palace and its surroundings. While walking we got again under heavy rain which wasn’t bad as we went to the cover market San Miguel where we ate a bite and had a beer while waiting for the rain to stop. Much more crowded and touristic than San Fernando market.
In the late afternoon we reached the Royal Palace. The queue was huge and so we decided not visiting it. Instead, we got into the Almudena cathedral facing it. Quite an interesting building because it looks, I guess, like a cross from above and makes you feel that there are several churches combined in one.
We finished by a coffee at plaza Mayor, a cocktail at Baton Rouge (really great cocktail bar similar to the ones I love going to Paris), a dinner at the same restaurant we ate the first night and a drink at la Latina district.
1st of May
Day of departure but we still had a half day to spend in the city. The weather was perfect for a terrace at Plaza Ana where we could enjoy the sun and the delicious Spanish food.
Some souvenirs stop and then airport.
I woke up without a great hangover which was good. As the rest of the team was still sleeping and considering that it is the last opportunity of seeing Guernica I left by myself a bit before 11am.
The queue at the Reina Sofia museum was again huge and I was really lucky that it was raining because I wasn’t having anything to protect me from it. After an hour waiting I managed to get in! Victory !!!
Gosh this museum really impressed me, by its size (a former hospital) but moreover by the paintings inside. Indeed, the second floor is the one hiding all the permanent exhibition of Picasso and Dali. Before talking about Picasso, i need to say that I am really fan of the paintings and the personality of Dali. I was happy seeing some of his masterpieces exposed there as I have seen them only in the books.
It came time for Guernica... a huge room was reserved only for it. No pictures allowed there which made me a bit sad, but this feeling disappeared right away when I was standing in front of this huge painting. Trying to record all my Spanish classes talking about it, checking some of the small details I have heard of. It is crazy how much sadness could be fit in one painting. Unfortunately this didn’t stop the WW2 neither the recent events in the Middle East... it seems that the world hadn’t learnt a lot since 1937. And i pray that the world becomes a better place and living in peace.
After more than two hours inside the museum (of which 40min in front of Guernica) I went out meeting Benoit and Julien. We sat down in the café Nubel which was located in the new part of the museum build by the French architect Nouvel. The atmosphere of the café matches the modern art of the museum above and even the cheese cake I ate was looking as a modern piece of art.
The plan of the afternoon was going to the Royal Palace and its surroundings. While walking we got again under heavy rain which wasn’t bad as we went to the cover market San Miguel where we ate a bite and had a beer while waiting for the rain to stop. Much more crowded and touristic than San Fernando market.
In the late afternoon we reached the Royal Palace. The queue was huge and so we decided not visiting it. Instead, we got into the Almudena cathedral facing it. Quite an interesting building because it looks, I guess, like a cross from above and makes you feel that there are several churches combined in one.
We finished by a coffee at plaza Mayor, a cocktail at Baton Rouge (really great cocktail bar similar to the ones I love going to Paris), a dinner at the same restaurant we ate the first night and a drink at la Latina district.
1st of May
Day of departure but we still had a half day to spend in the city. The weather was perfect for a terrace at Plaza Ana where we could enjoy the sun and the delicious Spanish food.
Some souvenirs stop and then airport.
In conclusion, really great time spent in Madrid with Benoit and Julien!
My love for Spain is one more time confirmed. I loved the style of Madrid, the architecture, the street art and the food. Definitely a place I would love to go back.
While waiting for it, gracias Madrid!
My love for Spain is one more time confirmed. I loved the style of Madrid, the architecture, the street art and the food. Definitely a place I would love to go back.
While waiting for it, gracias Madrid!