Darcy's Paris Blog

On our way to Madrid

Today Mike and I flew to Madrid. He really wanted to go to Spain while he was here, and he chose Madrid over Barcelona – probably the right choice if you want to see the real Spain. We metro’d down to meet Lynn and Sally at their lovely hotel on the Places des Vosges (Pavilion de la Reine) for breakfast, which was fantastic. Sally told me that she and Lynn really liked Mike, and I have to say that I did, too. We took the train to Orly around 11:30 via Bastille, just to check it out – and I have to say, there’s not much to look at there anymore. Guess it all got blown up in the Revolution. We had a 2:00ish flight direct to Madrid on easyJet. We met a nice Canadian couple in line to board; the guy was from South America, and he and Mike joked about visiting "the motherland." I gently suggested that we might hang out in Madrid, but they didn’t bite. Oh, well.

When we got to Madrid, we took the train from the airport to the city for 1 euro. 1 euro! It was over 9 to Orly. Plus the train line to the Madrid airport is brand-new – it wasn’t there the last time I was here a couple of years ago. We checked into a fantastic hotel in Madrid, just north of Retiro Park. We laid around for just a little bit, then headed to Puerta del Sol – a must-do on the to-do list. It was terribly crowded down there, but we got a few cheap tapas & drinks just off the square. The crowds were starting to get to us and it was starting to rain, so we went to Plaza Mayor and got more tapas (or as Mike called it, the Plaza-not-so-Mayor.) (Mike bought a nice silver cross for his mom on the way.) When we needed a break from the eating and drinking, we walked towards the Palais Royal, just to check it out. Then walked back towards Plaza Mayor to find real food – preferably paella – but we ended up getting drinks at nice patio area, on same the square where I’d eaten a few years ago off the Paseo del Prado. On the recommendation of the waiter at the Plaza Mayor bar, we went to Calle de Huertas for going out, where we checked out a few places and finally landed in an Irish pub. After more drinking, we decided we needed to balance it out with more food, so we went to a great little tapas bar nearby. It was nearing midnight, but on the Spanish eating schedule there were still large friend groups still eating. After they kicked us out from there, we cabbed home – for 4 euro! Gotta love those Madrid prices…

posted by Darcy @ 10:36 PM