Madrid is majestic by night
We got fantastic tickets to Madrid. For both my husband and myself (with air and hotel) we paid only $1068 total. The flight was wonderful, we booked it as a direct flight. It was supposed to be American Airlines but was operated by Iberia. The planes were upgraded and had a great movie selection, decent food, and had a USB port to charge up phones and devices.
It still looks like airline food, but it taste better (and look shrimp!)
The hotel was Hotel Regina Madrid. It is centrally located and has a metro stop right next to the hotel. The rooms are updated, but they gave us a room with no window (we paid for a superior room), I would have asked for it to be changed if we spent any more time in the room, apart from sleeping. If we were awake we were exploring Madrid.
On our ride to the hotel, the population welcomes refugees 🙂
We arrived about 2 or 3 hours before check-in and the room was not ready yet, we gave in our luggage to the bellman. Our first stop was Chanel. The weather was warm and the walk felt fantastic. It took us about 35 minutes to walk there. Unfortunately Chanel did not have what I wanted, I was offered other Le Boy Bags, but not what I wanted and I did not want to get a bag just to get a bag. I asked for brooches and again nothing tickled my fancy. As a last ditch effort I asked for driving gloves and they only had the beige with black CC, I imagined that within about a week they would be dirty and look quite horrid. I told my SA (sales associate) that it was my birthday (it really was) and I was quite disappointed. She was quite lovely and asked for champagne to be brought out and chatted with us about where to eat in Madrid and gave me her contact info to see if they had more stock on Tuesday.
On our walk to Chanel, this corner is one of my most favorite in Madrid
We walked back to our hotel to charge up our devices and freshen up a bit. We walked down towards Mercado de San Miguel to grab a late lunch. I really love how fresh and diverse the food offering is in the Mercado. We grabbed fresh juices, and the tapas offerings.
In San Miguel Market, delicious crab meat sandwich
After, we walked down towards Real Basílica de San Francisco el Grande, it is a beautiful church and worth a visit. Tickets are for sale for about 3 euro a person.
The church is much more impressive on the inside, but sadly no photos allowed.
The day was full of walking so we took an Uber to the Museo Nacional del Prado which is free from 5 on Monday to Saturday and from 4 on Sunday. This is the museum to visit if you love Raphael, want to see the most amount of Velazquez in any one place, admire the “The Garden of Earthly Delights” by Hieronymus Bosch, and many other Masters, this is the museum to visit.
Near the National museum
For dinner we were too late to eat in one of the recommended restaurants so we ate in one on the way, El Porrón Canalla. It is a good place to eat with interesting dishes and fresh seafood. Not exceptional but good. It is very busy on a Saturday night (some people even dressed up). We passed by on a Monday night and it was quite empty. I would recommend the Shrimp with egg dish (the egg is mixed in at the table).
Very good, not dry very soft with a crispy outer layer
Next day we were supposed to have a tour so we went to sleep early that night. MISSED IT! Lol (more on that in the next post)
Madrid: Day 3; Toledo and Segovia
Madrid Day 4: Last Day
More Photos from the 1st Day
Our breakfast on the plane
Walking up Paseo de Recoletos
St. Andrew’s Church
Statue to Velazquez (royal Spanish Court painter) near the National Museum.
One of the most impressive paintings to see in real life, and it was completed in 1510 “The Garden of Earthly Delights”
Panel from the same painting
Statue near San Francisco el Grande Church
Random building, but the architecture is like lace, beautiful
On our way to dinner on the Gran Via