Mad for Madrid
After a few days in Cinque Terre, Haochen and I headed to Madrid and met up with my future HBS classmates! Despite an early morning flight, we somehow didn't get going until 3pm (we got locked out of our Airbnb!). To start the day, we went for lunch at Bar Asturias. I wouldn't recommend — it was very salty and overall quite mid. The tapas didn't hit like I hoped, but could also be because we ordered only fried, heavy plates like patatas bravas, croquetas, veal/ham/cheese schnitzel, and octopus.
Something noteworthy about Madrid: some stores spray mist from their awnings! It reminded me of the "Coca Cola Zone" at Canada's Wonderland. We're getting closer to outdoor AC (the dream). It was a welcome reprieve when the weather felt boiling hot, although strong wind gusts meant that the weather was really all over the place. But by the evening, Madrid was surprisingly pleasant (dare I say, even jacket weather despite being 25-27ºC?!).
Madrid on foot
At any rate, the mist and breezes were crucial, since we did a lot of strolling. We first explored the Atocha train station area. It's the largest train station in Spain and supposedly the biggest tourist attraction in the area! I liked the cool botanical garden and greenhouse in the station. The neighbourhood here had extremely niche stores. For example, one store solely specialized in door and window handles, and another only sold toilet seats. This area also had stoplights for the tiiiiniest intersections. I had no idea why!
This is all inside the train station!!
From there, we also walked around Sol. The area seemed beautiful, but there was a ton of construction everywhere. I went to an Oysho here (our new luv) and bought a haul of NINE items (for $200 CAD!!). The tank tops remain the most comfortable I've ever owned.
Then we walked through Plaza de Espana, which had liveable NYC vibes. There were Broadway-style shows and tons of big ads like Times Square. Walking around here brought us to Temple of Debod for sunset. Rather than the temple itself, the best part was actually the sunset views in the park beside it. The light really hit the Palacio Real de Madrid in a beautiful way.
To cap off the night, I got horchata from a random gelateria (would not recommend late-night street-side drinks... I clearly got the dregs of the machine with a bunch of sediments).
We also lined up for the FAMOUS Chocolateria San Gines. These churros were a REVELATION — the best ones I've had in my life!! Neither the churro nor the chocolate was too sweet. I loved that the churro wasn't coated in cinnamon sugar and that the chocolate was thinner than expected (allowing for a light coating of the velvety dark chocolate). We loved this place so much, we went twice. I even convinced Andrew to take a long walk to try the churros here a year later via video chat in our early courtship days. He agreed it was worth the late-night stealth mission, sitting outside late at night munching and chatting (virtually) for hours.
Post-churros, we walked along Plaza Mayor. It was big and open, reminding me of Portugal. Haochen swore it reminded him of China somehow?! Then we walked between Centrale and our Airbnb, noticing a ton of random shisha bars along the way. Interesting how such random stores are so concentrated in Madrid.
Parks and grand plans
The next day, we stumbled upon a cool street of booksellers by the Madrid Botanical Garden! I wish we spent more time here. We made plans to go back, but didn't end up doing so. Instead, we headed to a nice spot called Motteau for pastries. Madrid is quite the foodie heaven. I got a croissant and pistachio raspberry chocolate tart (which one would assume matches my taste profile perfectly, but I actually found it a bit too sweet!).
From there, we walked through Retiro Park. It was HUGE! This place seems like the perfect spot to bike around, but it didn't seem like bikes were permitted. I really liked the rose garden and Crystal Palace. The vibes were immaculate with classical musicians busking. There was also a cardboard art installation in the crystal palace, although it kinda ruined the aesthetics. The lake in Retiro Park had cute paddle boats. We also planned to do this once the line died down, but we never ended up going back.
Instead, we pursued a few other (failed) plans: we tried doing some duty free shopping at fnac (unsuccessfully), passed by the Puerta de Alcala only to discover it was under construction, and walked by the Plaza de Cibeles.
Best dish at Lua
For lunch, we sat down for a marathon tasting menu at Lua (a one-starred Michelin restaurant). It went on from 1:30-4:30 pm, and I was absolutely STUFFED after. I guess the time coincided with the hottest time of day. Tasting menu > siesta, I suppose! I once had a conversation with Berv that the "thing to do" in Madrid is to just pull up the Michelin guide and go to literally any spot. Lua fits the bill for that kind of Madrid experience for sure.
Afterwards, we went back to the Temple of Debod with HBS folks. This time, we actually got in line to go inside! The queue took over an hour and was super underwhelming. There were just a couple of appropriated Egyptian stones inside. But the conversation was worthwhile — amazing to think that this is where I got to know Erik R, Nick M, Stephen M, Thomas O, and Edgard M for the first time. This group grabbed more churros from San Gines (repeat: must-eat) and granitas (don't bother; just get them in Italy).
Afterwards, we checked out Mercado San Miguel. It was one of those food markets/food halls with touristy bread-style tapas. Pass! I ended up failing to go to Habanero for a late dinner with the HBS folks since I forgot to bring a mask. 2022 really was a fever dream in that sense. Instead, at the Airbnb, I booked a ticket for the Veld music festival (yay Chainsmokers) and did some intense logistical planning for Jenny to join the Portugal leg of the trip!
Holy Toledo!
Since we'd seen a lot in Madrid over just a couple days, we decided to take a day trip to Toledo! I would definitely recommend doing this. Toledo is sooo pretty. It was a bit of a trek to get here though — in classic Murphy's law fashion, we missed our first train, and the second one was delayed. We almost missed the second one too (by staring at the departures board, lol), but thankfully got the information we needed by asking the help desk.
We packed the morning in Toledo by checking out touristy spots like Puerta de Alcantara (nice view!), Plaza de Zocodover (underwhelmingly similar to other plazas, but at least there was no construction here), and an alcazar turned museum. I wish it wasn't so... developed? In the same way that Americans begrudge gentrification, I begrudge overly developed touristy spots (e.g., beaches completely covered in beach chairs and cabanas; alcazars turned museums).
For lunch, we went to a spot called Ludena to try a local specialty: carcamusas! I actually didn't really like the carcamusas (too salty), but the flan that came with the set menu was good.
Toledo is where Christianity got its first foothold in Spain, and visiting the Cathedral was the highlight of this day trip. It was HUGE and stunning! Definitely worth a visit. Meanwhile, Monasterio de San Juan was like... "cathedral at home." It only cost 4 euros to enter (vs. 10 euros for the cathedral), and it showed... it was much less impressive.
Would I have been considered tall by ancient Toledo standards?
After visiting these two spots, we took a hop=on, hop-off bus for two hours just to see a view of Toledo from Mirador del Valle for a few minutes. Honestly, iconic behaviour. It was just such a sweltering day, so the bus was more enjoyable than the viewpoint. If you go when it's less hot (and don't hop on the bus at such a point that it basically has to do the entire route to get to our desired spot), I imagine Mirador del Valle would be a nice, pleasant walk.
After our hours of transit, we went back to Madrid to deal with fnac duty free nonsense and ate seafood paella for dinner (love!). I also got a McDonald's minion towel (100% begrudgingly, I tell you!!) for my dear friend Kenny. We really do the darnedest things for friends.
Trip dates: July 6-9, 2022