I set off mid-morning on Friday in the gorgeous sunshine (which it has been all week, not to brag or anything), and jumped on línea 1 that took me straight to Sol, the main station in Madrid. The first thing on my list was Plaza Mayor. Though not much to do here apart from eat in the cafes and restaurants, the beautiful architecture of the square was definitely worth a visit. I then walked on to visit La Catedral de la Almudena, before going to El Palacio Real de Madrid. The line to get in was 45 minutes long according to a nearby tour-guide, and because entry is free Monday-Thursday 16:00-18:00 and I'll be in the area for a little longer shall we say, I thought I'd leave that until another time. On my way to Casa de Campo (an absolutely gigantic park to the West of Madrid, I stopped in at one of the vegan cafes on my list - Dulce & Vegana enjoy ethically. I had some fantastic chocolate cake and the lovely lady who worked there offered me a free scoop of vanilla ice cream to which I couldn't refuse! Afterwards I stumbled across Campo del Moro (the gardens of the Palacio Real, and decided to have a mosey around and take in its natural beauty and exceptionally well cut lawn. I finally got to the Lago Casa de Campo and walked all the way around its perimeter. Templo de Debod was next on my list as it was in the area, and so I got the metro to its nearest station: Plaza de España. The Egyptian Temple was rebuilt by the Spanish in the late 60s as part of a UNESCO World Heritage project, but I went at the wrong time of year - the lack of rain over the summer meant that it's surrounding and supposedly lovely water/moat had completely dried out! Maybe I'll go back once it has rained again. With all my plans for the day finished and it still only being 16:00, I decided to head over to Gran Vía (Spain's broadway) and check out a little more of the modern Madrid. Just before heading home, I had to swing by Freedom Cakes, another vegan cake shop which happened to be near by - it would have been rude not to wouldn't it? I had a tasty ración of the carrot cake and a super rich mango milkshake which was absolutely heavenly! I left feeling slightly sick, but still with the intention of returning at some point to try the rest of the menu.
Saturday I got up a little earlier to try and fit a little more in - a mistake to say the least. I arrived at Sol at around 10:00 and realised that most of Spain is still in bed. Bus tours didn't start until 13:00, and so I headed over to Banco de España and Parque de Retiro. I flirted with the idea of hiring a bike provided by the Madrid's public transport system, but quickly decided against it after realising a 150 euro deposit was required for what would have been a 6 euro trip. No thanks very much. Retiro was quite underwhelming to start with, entering the park next to some building works and under an overcast sky. But after exploring the vast majority of it in what took around two hours, I had fully changed my opinion. There were so many trails and paths to explore in between the trees - somewhere perfect to escape the hustle and bustle of city life! This is why it's a very popular spot for runners - shame its a 40 minute commute from me... I then walked back across the city to buy a ticket for the bus tour. On my way I passed a number of Churrerías and realised that I'd been in Spain for 5 days, and I still hadn't had any churros, so naturally I had to get some. After buying a ticket and reaching the bus stop half an hour before the start time, I went to el Mercado de San Miguel seeing as it was within spitting distance. Full of people and every type of tapas imaginable in what was a theme park for my senses, the phenomenal atmosphere struck me as extremely similar to that of Borough Market in London! As it turned out, I'd pretty much seen everything on the bus tour. But I did realise that the Bernabéu Stadium was about a 20 minute walk from my flat - something I'd been completely unaware of beforehand. At 17:15 I arrived at el Círculo de Bellas Artes, which is known for its rooftop terrace and view over the city - just in time as a matter of fact, as 20 minutes later the queue was about 50 yards long. The view was super! Admittedly it didn't meet my expectations, but I had to remind myself that its very hard to compare city views when you've been lucky enough to see the view of Tokyo from the Sky Tower! Before heading home, I walked across to el Museo del Prado, one of the city's corners of its golden triangle of art, only to continue walking past it trying to find the back of the queue. About 10 minutes of walking and a lot of chuckling in despair later, I reached the back of the queue and decided to give it a miss and come back another day. I'd arrived (intentionally) during the hours when the doors are opened to the public for free, but as it turns out this was also well-known to the probably 600+ other people waiting in line. That evening I met up with my friend Tom from my Spanish class at UoB and a few others for drinks and to see how we were both getting on. We ended up in a gastrobar called Viva Chapata in Lavapies (completely uncoincidentally on my list of vegan places to visit. Although it was quite a small place, the atmosphere was exactly how I had envisioned a Spanish gastrobar - loud, full of merriment (*cerveza*), good company, and good cheap food! We were served hummus and bread as a free tapa with our first round of drinks, but for some unknown reason, after Tom asked for one of his jarras to be re-pulled because of his (albeit legitimate) claim that about a third of it was head, we didn't receive any more free tapas... This was in vain as Tom didn't even receive a better pint; he got one exactly the same. So I ordered their hamburguesa vegana (made of oatmeal) and it was fab! After paying the bill, we realised that I'd paid less for three cañas (smallest measure of beer available, about 25cl) than Tom had for a jarra (about a pint) - so I guess I had the last laugh after being called a lightweight at the start of the night.
Today my flatmate Abdullah and I went to visit the famous Rastro flea-market in the south of Madrid., which was nice as it gave me the chance to get to know him a bit better. The market itself did not disappoint! The stalls weren't necessarily what I was there for (although I did get a niche wooden sign with Madrid written on), rather it was the atmosphere (sensing a theme with what I like about city yet?). The streets were packed and there were loads of really good busking bands! We returned to Tetuán surprised to be confronted with to a huge street party/festival along the main road! There was a fantastic drumming band, and loads of bouncy castles and other activities. I looked it up and turns out it was el Día del Niño - which explained all of the children and the somewhat young-nature of all of the games. Another good thing to note for the day - I found two ATMs that don't charge for cash withdrawals - here's to not being exploited by the banks.
So this brings us to now, Sunday evening. Tomorrow I actually start uni which I'm a bit unhappy about really. I was quite getting used to enjoying myself and having no worries apart from what cool thing to see next or which vegan restaurant to try. Not really sure what to expect - except the unexpected I suppose. Time to knuckle down during the daytime now and get some work done. I'll probably do another update at some point next weekend with how my first week has gone. ¡Buenas noches a todos!
Saturday I got up a little earlier to try and fit a little more in - a mistake to say the least. I arrived at Sol at around 10:00 and realised that most of Spain is still in bed. Bus tours didn't start until 13:00, and so I headed over to Banco de España and Parque de Retiro. I flirted with the idea of hiring a bike provided by the Madrid's public transport system, but quickly decided against it after realising a 150 euro deposit was required for what would have been a 6 euro trip. No thanks very much. Retiro was quite underwhelming to start with, entering the park next to some building works and under an overcast sky. But after exploring the vast majority of it in what took around two hours, I had fully changed my opinion. There were so many trails and paths to explore in between the trees - somewhere perfect to escape the hustle and bustle of city life! This is why it's a very popular spot for runners - shame its a 40 minute commute from me... I then walked back across the city to buy a ticket for the bus tour. On my way I passed a number of Churrerías and realised that I'd been in Spain for 5 days, and I still hadn't had any churros, so naturally I had to get some. After buying a ticket and reaching the bus stop half an hour before the start time, I went to el Mercado de San Miguel seeing as it was within spitting distance. Full of people and every type of tapas imaginable in what was a theme park for my senses, the phenomenal atmosphere struck me as extremely similar to that of Borough Market in London! As it turned out, I'd pretty much seen everything on the bus tour. But I did realise that the Bernabéu Stadium was about a 20 minute walk from my flat - something I'd been completely unaware of beforehand. At 17:15 I arrived at el Círculo de Bellas Artes, which is known for its rooftop terrace and view over the city - just in time as a matter of fact, as 20 minutes later the queue was about 50 yards long. The view was super! Admittedly it didn't meet my expectations, but I had to remind myself that its very hard to compare city views when you've been lucky enough to see the view of Tokyo from the Sky Tower! Before heading home, I walked across to el Museo del Prado, one of the city's corners of its golden triangle of art, only to continue walking past it trying to find the back of the queue. About 10 minutes of walking and a lot of chuckling in despair later, I reached the back of the queue and decided to give it a miss and come back another day. I'd arrived (intentionally) during the hours when the doors are opened to the public for free, but as it turns out this was also well-known to the probably 600+ other people waiting in line. That evening I met up with my friend Tom from my Spanish class at UoB and a few others for drinks and to see how we were both getting on. We ended up in a gastrobar called Viva Chapata in Lavapies (completely uncoincidentally on my list of vegan places to visit. Although it was quite a small place, the atmosphere was exactly how I had envisioned a Spanish gastrobar - loud, full of merriment (*cerveza*), good company, and good cheap food! We were served hummus and bread as a free tapa with our first round of drinks, but for some unknown reason, after Tom asked for one of his jarras to be re-pulled because of his (albeit legitimate) claim that about a third of it was head, we didn't receive any more free tapas... This was in vain as Tom didn't even receive a better pint; he got one exactly the same. So I ordered their hamburguesa vegana (made of oatmeal) and it was fab! After paying the bill, we realised that I'd paid less for three cañas (smallest measure of beer available, about 25cl) than Tom had for a jarra (about a pint) - so I guess I had the last laugh after being called a lightweight at the start of the night.
Today my flatmate Abdullah and I went to visit the famous Rastro flea-market in the south of Madrid., which was nice as it gave me the chance to get to know him a bit better. The market itself did not disappoint! The stalls weren't necessarily what I was there for (although I did get a niche wooden sign with Madrid written on), rather it was the atmosphere (sensing a theme with what I like about city yet?). The streets were packed and there were loads of really good busking bands! We returned to Tetuán surprised to be confronted with to a huge street party/festival along the main road! There was a fantastic drumming band, and loads of bouncy castles and other activities. I looked it up and turns out it was el Día del Niño - which explained all of the children and the somewhat young-nature of all of the games. Another good thing to note for the day - I found two ATMs that don't charge for cash withdrawals - here's to not being exploited by the banks.
So this brings us to now, Sunday evening. Tomorrow I actually start uni which I'm a bit unhappy about really. I was quite getting used to enjoying myself and having no worries apart from what cool thing to see next or which vegan restaurant to try. Not really sure what to expect - except the unexpected I suppose. Time to knuckle down during the daytime now and get some work done. I'll probably do another update at some point next weekend with how my first week has gone. ¡Buenas noches a todos!
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