Madrid: Galentine’s Weekend in the Capital

February 14th-16th

I spent this past weekend in Madrid on a field trip with my school, CEA. The whole trip was included in my tuition so that was super nice. We got up bright and early on Valentine’s Day and headed to the train station. We were greeted by some of the teachers from our school and we were off! The trip took about 3 hours and the train was much nicer than the others I have been on so far. When we finally got to Madrid it was a beautiful sunny day. From there we walked 15 minutes to our hotel, the TRYP Madrid Achota Hotel, and were able to check in right away. Lily and I got our own room and Emma and Marissa’s was right next door. 

Immediately after setting our bags down in the room we headed out for Takos al Pastor, one of the most highly recommended places to eat in Madrid. We got there right when it opened and still had to wait in a 25-minute line, but it was so worth it! The tacos were each one euro and the quesadillas were two. The place was tiny and within 5 minutes of ordering your food, it was at the table. Because this place always had a line out the door the workers cleaned up the plate off of the table just as you’ve picked up your last bite in order to keep the flow going. On the way back to our hotel we walked through Puerta Sol. I’d say that the biggest differences that I picked up on between Madrid and Barcelona are that Madrid has a larger amount of wider streets and plazas than Barcelona. I enjoyed walking around and looking at the pretty buildings. 

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The next thing on the agenda was to go on a bus tour that the school organized to see the city. We had done one of these in Barcelona during orientation and enjoyed it, but this one was a disappointment. We really didn’t get to see much because the windows in the charter bus weren’t great and the tour guides went on and on about stuff that went right over my head. The only two things that I took away from it was seeing the Real Madrid stadium and learning that they have an underground parking lot that’s a mile long. Once we got to the Royal Palace of Madrid gardens and the guide said we weren’t going to walk five minutes to see the front of it, my friends and I ditched the tour and went off on our own to see it which was worth it.

After that, we got to walk through Plaza Mayor on our way back to the hotel. Along the way, we stopped Chocolatería San Ginés for some churros con chocolate. The chocolate was so piping hot that when I dripped some on my hand it really burned. The churros were way better than any I’ve ever had before and we ate them so fast that no one even stopped to take a picture. Next, we passed by a bakery called La Mallorquina and treated ourselves to some festive heart-shaped cookies. Sugar overload! That night we got all dressed up for a Galentine’s celebration and went to Mercado de San Idelfanso. On the way, it took us longer to taxi than it would have to walk. The streets were so packed all day and all night long. The place was two stories of different booths that sold all different kinds of foods from all around the world. There we shared a bottle of Cava, which is Spain’s sparkling wine. Then we went to another cocktail bar right next door called Harvey’s. All my friends ordered martini’s and I ordered a weird margarita of course. After that, we called it a night. 

The next morning we got dressed and headed to Park Retiro. The park was huge and so beautiful as it belonged to the Spanish monarchy before it became public. In the park, there is an artificial lake that we waited in line to get on a rowboat. The line took 45 minutes but it was a gorgeous day so the time flew by while we were standing there and chatting. One thing that cramped my style was that I stepped in dog poop while waiting in line. I freaked out for a second, cleaned myself up and forgot about it. I don’t know what it is but this this the third time something like that has happened to me! One thing I’ve noticed about the Spanish cities is that you constantly see people walking their dogs on the streets but you need to be paying attention to where you’re stepping on the sidewalk because of it. The minor issue didn’t get in the way of the fun we had out on the lake it was the most amazing weather. 

After leaving the park we decided to go to Círculo de Bellas Artes which has the coolest rooftop bar that I’ve been to so far in Europe. We hung out there for hours and drank sangria and mojitos with a beautiful view of the city. For dinner that night we went back to Takos al Pastor again. This time the wait was over an hour but it was so worth it considering all of the Mexican food we’ve had so far has been subpar. For dessert that night we had bubble waffles with ice cream at Mad Waffle. These things were on every corner in Madrid so we couldn’t resist. The next day our last stop before heading back to Barcelona was the glass market which is called Mercado de San Miguel. It was much fancier than the other markets I’ve been to in Spain so far. We had bruschetta, stuffed olives, and a fruit kabob. It was so fun to go around to all the different booths to grab a bite. 

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I’m happy to say that I have now explored the three largest cities in Spain all in different regions of the country. I’ve enjoyed my time in Valencia and Madrid but I can easily say that Barcelona has my heart.