Last Days in Madrid

Hello all!

So we've left Madrid and got into Barcelona this morning around 7:00.

So the last two days in Madrid were wonderful. On the 4th day we were trying to find the decorative arts museum, found it, but didn't open until 5. So instead we walked around that side of Madrid, the Atoche Renfe train station, and it seemed to be mostly a business area which was nice to see. After a nice stroll through the streets, we found a tourist information center and got some booklets and pamphlets on flamenco shows for the evening! (lovely)

And for lunch! OMG lunch was amazing! Best meal in Madrid. Up to that point, I've been stuck eating sandwiches with ham or cheese, and not combined. I'm not a big fan of sandwiches so when we got to this restaurant it was like heaven. They served a variety of pizzas and salads and some other stuff, but I only paid attention to the pizza list. I got this amazing calzone! Mmmm so good! There's artichokes, mushrooms, spinach, cheese, and so much good delicious vegetables in it. Each bit melted in my mouth. I loved it.






Later on that night we went to see a flamenco dance! It was amazing! There were about 4-5 dances in the performance. It went on for 2 hours and was so amazing. Everything about it was amazing. It was held in a small restaurant with a nice angled stage. There were 6 flamenco dancers, 3 musicians playing the Spanish guitar and then about 3 singers. I loved watching the dancers' feet going crazy fast and also listening to the music that they were creating. Really awesome. I would love to see another performance.

Next day I we made plans to head over to the Archaeological exhibit but never found it. So instead we lounged around in a nice park and then made our way to a market to get bread, cheese, and turkey and ate lunch on a bench down a random street. Good stuff. What was really funny was that we were sitting right across from a restaurant with outside seating eating awesome food that cost us about 4 euros each compared to their 15 euro meals. Fantastic.






And I think after that we just made our way back to the Sol station area, sat at a cafe, had some drinks and did some more people watching and then walked on over to the shopping area. After that we went over to the train station to get onto our night train that ended up being the worst ride ever. But that's for next time.

Madrid: A chill place with great sightseeing and shopping. Like Paris, the people like to take their time and lounge at the parks, sit at fountain areas. They enjoy sitting at cafes and restaurants between 5 and 9 drinking. Overall, I liked the city. I didn't expect the pace to be slower than Paris though. That was a huge change, but it was nice. They have many plazas and parks where people can rest in and enjoy the day. That's what I'm really liking about Europe, the resting, relaxing, recreational time. It's so nice. I'm hoping that I'll be able to continue that in Athens. Pretty wicked.