Madrid airport. I was in love with the architecture here already.
Plaza Mayor at sunrise.
Many people told me I should spend more time in Barcelona and that I would like it more, but they were wrong. Not that I didn’t like Barcelona, but I feel like Madrid is underrated. I loved Madrid for its old cobblestone streets, the architecture, the random flower shops, the huge park where I went for a sunrise jog, and all the colors and history.
Mercado de San Miguel was a food hall with lots of vendors selling jamon, wine, tapas, and I loved it. I loved walking around trying out different things.
Tapas for 1 Euro each!
Jamon everywhere.
A glass of wine was only 1 Euro more than water, so I ordered wine everywhere I went.
Chocolateria San Gines for churros and hot chocolate
Street XO, a casual hip gastronomic restaurant whose menu features these:
StreetXO is Chef David Muñoz’s more casual and affordable restaurant. We waited for maybe 15 minutes before getting a seat at the bar where we got to see the chefs work right in front of us.
PORK BELLAYYYY! All of their dishes were creative and the decor reminded me of a Willy Wonka world.
And amazing, unique cocktails:
Suckling pig at Botin, “oldest restaurant in the world” — tourist destination
Rioja is a must.
Of course I played around with some nighttime photography.
On my sunrise jog the next morning, I stumbled upon a glass palace inside el Parque del Retiro:
Loved the details.
This park reminded me of Central Park in NYC. I loved running solo here, and I felt safe. I used my offline Google Map (that I downloaded ahead of time) to get from the hotel in Plaza Mayor to here (~1.5 miles) and back. Highly recommended if you like to run on vacation.
Sunrise + rainbow!
