Hello from Madrid!!! If you haven´t figured it out from the title of this post, then I will tell you now: I am in MADRID!
That’s right, I am here earlier than anticipated (I wasn’t supposed to arrive until tomorrow morning), but the stars completely aligned (seriously, I don’t know how I got so lucky) and I was able to come a bit earlier. Want to know how they aligned? Well, I waited until the absolute last second to decide I needed a new student visa to come back to Spain, which meant I waited until the last second to order a background check (can take up to 4 weeks to arrive- only took 5 days), then my Mom and I had time to go to Harrisburg and get an apostille (could take a week if mailed in), then I was able to get an earlier appointment at the New York Consulate and my visa came back in less than 5 days (can take up to 3 weeks) and THEN there was a very inexpensive flight available last Thursday night (left 10:30 pm and I slept for 6.5 hours STRAIGHT). Seriously, those stars could not have aligned better and I feel very lucky! One more thing, I SURPRISED Luis! He had no idea I was coming back early, so with the help of my friend, Cristina, I was able to show up at his work and give him a good scare 😉 It was fun hahaha….
This was at the airport with the two best people in the world:
And here is when I got back to Madrid and was getting ready to go show up at Luis´office. I couldn’t stop giggling…as seen in this photo.
Anyway, long story short, I am live blogging from Madrid and here to tell you about a super fun weekend!
Friday
After showing up at Luis’ office and nearly giving him a heart attack, we decided to have a quick lunch so walked over to LaMucca, which is one of my favorite places in Madrid. Their ‘menú del día’ is a little pricey, but the food is good and now they have Budda Bowls! And that burger was delicious, too.
After saying bye to Luis, I headed to Lavapiés to meet my friend, Cristina, and we chatted while I got my nails done. They needed a manicure- badly! Nothing to report from the rest of the day, but I think I fell asleep around 9- completely exhausted from the excitement of the day.
Saturday
Saturday started the best way- with a super yummy breakfast of blueberry-peach smoothies and then a run all the way to Lavapiés.
We had a couple errands to ‘run’, so we just killed two birds with one stone 😉 We stopped along the way at Mercado de la Cebada in La Latina, which people had always told me was one of the best markets in Madrid, yet I had never been. Nowwwww I see why they say it’s one of the best!
The place was abolustely bumpin’ with people! We shared a burger from one stall and then got a slice of tortilla española and a croquetta, plus a cold beer.
After the market, we walked along Calle Cava Baja, one of La Latina’s most famous streets for tapas, and, this too, was bumpin’! Spaniards love them a sunny Saturday with beers and tapas. We stopped at Pez Tortilla for a quick slice of tortilla española (with onion) and another beer.
We biked back to the Bernebeu area and then went into turbo speed to get things done before getting dressed and heading back out the door.
We didn’t have any set plans, so after a quick bite at home, Luis and I headed to La Carbonera (a cheese bar) to taste some yummy cheeses and wine.
Granted, I’m the one that likes to eat cheese for complete meals, but Luis found this place and told me he thought I would like it. He was right.
We tried 4 different cheeses – one that was cured for 24 months, a blue cheese, gruyere, and a smoked cheese. We liked them all, but interestingly, I preferred the 2 that Luis liked the least and vice versa.
From there, we headed to a couple bars for some gin & tonics. We had passed by these places before, and noted them as good places for cocktails in Madrid. Our first stop brought us to Macera TallerBar, which was absolutely packed with people and had a bar lined with gin&tonics. We ordered a couple different flavors – ginger for her, licorice for him. Unfortunately, we both agreed that the drinks lacked any real flavor. We thought it was possibly due to the fact that the bartenders were incredibly busy and moving very fast, so they didn’t give the drinks the attention they deserved. Luckily, the next place made up for it- Lola 69.
Luis ordered a couple of different drinks and they were both so tasty- super refreshing and flavorful and a little strong 😉
We had a little too much fun with those despedida party favors we found…
Sunday
The next morning was a slow one, to say the least. We wanted to go to brunch, but knew that breakfast #1 first would be a smart idea.
After we finished and cleaned up (more or less like 3pm haha), we grabbed MadridBici bikes and rode to the center of Madrid for brunch at Cafe Federal, one of my all time favorite brunch spots in Madrid. It’s totally the place that everyone and their mother goes, but for very good reason. There is always a line, but at 3 pm, there was less of a line. We ordered a couple things to share, but both agreed that the egg skillet was a better choice.
After brunch and some magazine reading (they have The Economist- Luis was thrilled), we walked around Malasaña, which was ALSO bumpin’ with people. I’m not sure what has happened, but Madrid just seems to be bursting at the seams with people and fun activities.
We happened to walk down Calle Pez, which had a huge fiesta happening! Apparently Mahou (the beer), will be hosting parties to help ‘celebrate the street’ this year. They had beers (obviously), music, and a ton of people and good vibes. Also, check out this incredible market-research idea! You grab a ball of yarn and go from post to post, answering questions about your age, where you like to hang out, where you like to travel, when you like to go out, how you travel through Madrid, and more. Such a smart idea!
As if we hadn’t been eating out enough, we decided to stop for a piece of cake and a little coffee to share from Maricastaña. We tried the carrot cake, which was super tasty, or ‘una bomba‘ as Luis puts it. Next time, we will try the cheese cake…
Last, but not least, some homemade chili con carne and strange corn bread to end an amazing weekend!
And in case you have been sleeping well and no longer want to sleep well, something to haunt you:
Happy week!!!
