I just arrived back from my first-ever trip to Spain and there is so much to share. If you haven’t visited Madrid and Barcelona, once I tell you about these fabulous cities you’ll want to hop on the next plane. Be sure to get a copy of Frommer’s EasyGuide To Madrid and Barcelona before you leave!
One of the best parts of this year’s vacation was having a chance to travel with my daughter A and my sister N. We were tres senoritas on an adventure and it was so much fun.
So where did we go? What did we do?
First Stop Madrid
Our Madrid apartment was in the La Latina area.
We rented an apartment via airbnb.com in the La Latina area which was convenient to most major sites. It was a large three bedroom on a quiet side street. The owners Marta and Adolfo were friendly and recommended restaurants to try during our stay.
Madrid is a very manageable city to navigate and after a few days of walking around town we were pros at finding our way. (Okay, okay, I admit it was nice to have my daughter A with us who was especially good with a map.) Our feet took us everywhere, we never once used the metro, although the La Latina station was right nearby. Taxis were equally easy to find and they take credit cards, similar to NYC.
Tapping Out On Tapas and Perfect Paella
Most evenings we ate dinner very late past 9:00 p.m., as is typical in Spain. The food of choice was tapas. We dined on a variety of Spanish cheeses, including manchego from the milk of sheep. We sampled Jamon Iberico, cured ham from black Iberian pigs. We devoured dozens of Spanish olives, which appeared whenever we sat down and if they didn’t appear we ordered a bowl. No meal was complete without a pitcher of sangria.
One night we took home tapas from Txakolina, not too far from our apartment. There were so many choices – crab salad, sliced eggplant and smoked salmon with a drizzle of balsamic. Delicioso!
“You have to enjoy paella at La Barraca,” said Adolfo. We made a reservation for lunch on Sunday. The restaurant is located in the Chueca section and is on a side street behind Grand Via. We ordered a tuna salad, olives and mixed paella, made with shrimp, pork, calamari and chicken. We agreed that La Barraca’s paella was the best meal of our trip. (Note 1: I bought some paella spices in one of the markets and promise to make a batch for my boyfriend L. Have to find a recipe. Will let you know how it turns out.) (Note 2: Ooh, ooh, ooh, do you know who ate paella at La Barraca years ago? Princess Grace and Prince Rainier of Monaco. So excited to see their picture on the wall at the restaurant.)
Magnificent Sites To See In Madrid
There are many magnificent sites to see in Madrid and we tried to see as many as possible in our few days there:
♦ Plaza Mayor: We walked around the historic cobblestone square and sat and enjoyed a drink and tapas at one of the outdoor dining spots. It felt like we had stepped back in time as we sipped sangria and listened to the musicians in the plaza.
The historic square at Plaza Mayor.
♦ Mercado de San Miguel: Outside the gates of Plaza Mayor is a modern day market filled with food stalls – empanadas, ham, seafood, paella, wine and oyster bars, pastries, fruits and vegetables and more. The market stays open late so we ventured there on Sunday evening for a night snack.
Jambon Iberico at Mercado de San Miguel market.
♦ Palacio Real: The royal palace sits high on the hill and has a beautiful view for picture taking. We bought tickets and toured the grand halls. My sister N said it reminded her of Versailles in France. (Never been to Versailles, must add to my bucket list for my life after 50.) The gardens outside the palace are lovely and we dined at the terrace at Cafe de Oriente which looks out over the palace.
Tres senoritas at Palacio Real.
♦ Real Jardin Botanico and Museo del Prado: Sunday was a sunny day to visit Madrid’s beautiful botanical gardens. According to Frommer’s Guide, the gardens contain more than 104 species of trees and 3,000 types of plants. Afterwards, we toured the famous Prado museum to see “Las Meninas,” the masterpiece of Felipe IV’s royal family painted by Diego Velazquez.
Museo del Prado and Real Jardin Botanico
Tres Senoritas Shop
Our last full day in Madrid was spent shopping. We headed to the chic Salamanca neighborhood to ooh and ah over the shop windows and go inside some of the upscale boutiques. Zara, a stylish Spanish clothing store, was on my daughter A’s ‘to do’ list. Salamanca has the nicest Zara store in the city and prices are cheaper in Spain than in the U.S.
We also explored the trendy Chueca neighborhood, but found it caters to a younger crowd with many brand names that you can find in the States.
My favorite purchase: espadrilles!
My favorite stop was an espadrille shoe shop near Plaza Mayor called Lobo. (Did I say I absolutely, positively adore espadrilles? I do, I do, I do.) I wanted to buy a pair in every color, but I held back. I purchased dark purple flats and striped wedges. My daughter A bought two pairs too. (Note: The owner told us that you can buy Lobo’s espadrilles online at www.calzadoslobo.com. I checked out the website and it is in Spanish, but it said on my receipt that they ship worldwide. (Ooh, ooh, ooh, maybe I will become an exporter of Spanish espadrilles as part of my second career during my life after 50. What do you think?)
On Tuesday morning, we packed our suitcases and headed out to the Madrid Atocha Train Station for a three hour ride to Barcelona. Zip, zip, zip – the first half of our trip was over.
What do you think? Are you packing your bags yet? If not, just wait till my next blog post when the tres senoritas take on beautiful Barcelona, our second stop on our travel to Spain.
Adiós por ahora.
Judi
P.S. – I forgot that Ernest Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises takes place in Madrid. OMG, I really like that novel. Will have to read it again now that I’ve been to Madrid. OMG, may have to go back and follow Hemingway’s steps per writer David Farley’s feature in The New York Times, “A Tour of Hemingway’s Madrid.”
Oh, what a lovely, memorable and magical trip you had. A once-in-a-lifetime kind of thing. Thank you for sharing it with us. Brought me back to our trip to Spain over 20 years ago!
Cathy, thanks so much for your kind words. Glad the post brought back positive memories. You’ll have to go again. It’s worth it!
What a great trip! I went to Spain for the first time two years ago: Lisbon overnight on the way then Seville, Granada and Barcelona. I was sad to miss Madrid. I was happy to hear that you had olives everywhere. In the cities we visited, olives were not a staple. You had to ask, and mostly, they were boiled. You might also enjoy reading Leaving the Atocha Station by Ben Lerner, published in 2012 winner/runner up of lots of literary prizes. Can’t wait for Barcelona
Allison, it sounds like you had a nice trip to Spain too. I would love to go back and visit some of the cities you mention. There is so much to see. Will have to check out the novel by Lerner. Thanks for sharing.
I loved reading this. I wish you lived close by and I could meet up with you for coffee. Lol! You would be an awesome girlfriend!
Kathy, thank you so much for your kind words. Having readers like you who are my virtual friends is a big reason why I blog. Hope you return.
You brought back so many wonderful memories of Spain – I want to go back!
Sheryl, Spain is definitely worth another trip. It was much more reasonable than our trip to France last year.
Wahoo it seems very interesting after reading your blog especially the place Palacio Real, I wish and want to visit Spain soon. We also have some information for baby boomers..kindly visit http://www.bloomerboomer.com.
Definitely plan a trip to Spain during your life after 50.