When In Spain – Madrid Day 1 – It rained in Spain

When we arrived in Madrid on a weekend night, we found people  sitting in outdoor cafes and lapping up beer, tapas and the great weather. We reached our hotel  at 9 PM and there was a cafe just outside. But the only thing we wanted just then was a nice warm room and a comfy bed to cosy into after the 2 ½ plus 7 hours of air travel, first from Mumbai to Dubai and from there to Madrid.

We started Day One of our stay in Madrid with much enthusiasm. We were to take a city tour which was complimentary with the hotel booking.  For some reason we thought it was going to be a bus ride and dressed up accordingly, also wearing summery clothes instead of warm ones. We were in for a nasty surprise as the weather chose to remain wet throughout the time we were outdoors. Also we were not sitting on a bus and staring out, but walking on the cobbled streets of Madrid.

                          Some interesting landmarks in Madrid

                            Ratoncito Perez – Spain’s version of a tooth fairy

           A memorial and looking into the window of one of the oldest restaurants in the world

But every inclement cloud usually has a silver lining. Our tour started at the Opera where a handful of tourists from all over the world had gathered. We trudged along through by lanes and open plazas for about two and a half hours until we arrived at the Campo del Moro gardens and Palacio Real de Madrid,  the royal palace. Capturing for us, the history of the city in a nutshell, was Gonsalo, our tour guide, who made the narration interesting and fun. A great way to explore the city especially if you are a newcomer and don’t know what to expect, was the unanimous rating the family gave the experience as a whole.

                  The penultimate attraction were the Royal Palace of Madrid and the Cathedral

We spent the evening exploring the area, grocery shopping and discovering the delightful multi-brand store, El Corte Inglis, where for some strange reason we landed up initially to pick up groceries. We found groceries later at a Carrefour closer to our hotel. We took a stroll down Calle de Feuncarral, a street lined with shops on either side and hardly any vehicular traffic. Dinner was at 100 Montaditos, a restaurant chain which I’d suitably located on the internet before leaving on our holiday.

                                                                   A promenade in the city

                                                     A window shoppers’ delight – Fuencarral

PS:

There is an ongoing dog show on the streets of Madrid. We spotted every imaginable breed, from chihuahuas to pure bred Pomeranians, German Shepherds to Tibetan Mastiffs.  Make sure you don’t miss a step and take a tumble as you admire them beauties…