After arrival into Madrid, we settled at the hotel and headed into town. We had watch some YouTube videos and plotted a course from Puerta del Sol, down Gran Via, and try to get into a trendy rooftop bar – thr Azotea and the Bella Artes (Museum of Fine Arts).
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We were successful but by the time we got into the bar, it was crowded a very long drink line, no where to sit, and our (my) fashion wasn’t fully up to par – so we took some pictures from the famous viewpoint and left pretty quickly and had dinner at street level with the non-influencers. We kept walking down Gran Via and Calle De Alcala (actually a nicer street) and ended up back where we started near Puerta del Sol as a very art deco bar. As we found out the next day, the architecture was from the 1920’s and is known as the “Spanish Broadway”.
Gran Via and Calle de Alcala
Retiro Park
The next day we walked from our hotel through Retiro park (similar to Central Park), before the major heat of the day settled in, and then over to Salamanca where we had to do some emergency shopping.
Visiting Neighborhoods and UCL Final
Part of the objective of the visit was to see which neighborhood we might want to have an extended stay in the future. After we left Retiro, we took the hop-on/hop-off bus to get out of the heat a bit and get a better feel for the city before heading over to the La Latina neighborhood to a Mercado for a late lunch which had a very authentic feel. Later we visited Malasaña and Salamanca and walked around a bit – Malasaña has a bohemian feel and edgy reputation while Salamanca is like Bethesda – we would likely lean Bethesda. However, when Claude was asked to find a neighborhood similar to St. Kilda in Australia – AI says “For the St. Kilda vibe specifically — artsy, a bit rough around the edges, great nightlife, street culture — Malasaña is your spot.”
Headed to an Irish Bar to watch the Arsenal-PSG UCL final – good environment with the fans split 50/50. Of course it went to penalties and English held form. Arsenal had beaten a Madrid team to get to the final – so it would have been quite a circus if Atletico Madrid had been playing. Off to Plaza Mayor for dinner.
Palacio Real and the Prado
Our last day was focused around the Palacio Real (Royal Palace) and the Prado. Both world-class attractions. Although we had advance tickets for both – didn’t need them. No pictures in the Prado – which is better as you then aren’t completing with people taking selfies and a more peaceful experience.
Travel note – We had a split ticket coming back – Iberia to Dublin and Air Lingus to DC. When I checked into Iberia, only my first leg was apparent. So when we got to the airport at 5:20am we went to the bag drop for Dublin – after 40 minutes in line the machine wasn’t working and the airport person said we were in the wrong line (I checked – we weren’t) and he send us to another line which said “US flights” and one person working with one distressed traveler. So another worker told us that we had been in the right line, but go to this new one that just opened (and 50 people slid in). After waiting 10 minutes and not moving, we took a chance back at the one lady – it wasn’t the right line but she was very helpful and connected our bags all the way through to DC (instead of having to leave security in Dublin). After that, we had many more stops for immigration, customs, trains, etc and only made our flight because she helped us.
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