24 Hours In Madrid
Our first stop on our trip is a favorite city, Madrid, Spain. It was our 3rd time in Madrid, as it’s an easy landing spot on American Airlines from Dallas. We only had 24 hours in Madrid this time, so we went to a couple of old favorites and checked out some new sites and restaurants.
We headed to Plaza Major, the un-official center of Madrid. Plaza Major was originally built in the 15th Century. While it is a huge plaza, it’s not actually the largest plaza in Spain. When we arrived mid-afternoon on a Sunday it was packed with people as we found out there was a festival and concert about to start.
There are restaurants all around the inside of the plaza, but beware, they take advantage of the tourists and are very expensive.
(Note the look of just two hours of sleep)
Another shot inside the Plaza Major. The other half of the plaza had a giant stage set up.
Next, we went to one of our favorite places in all of Spain, Mercado de San Miguel. It is essentially a large food hall with individual stalls from different vendors. You can purchase your vino or cava and walk around enjoying different tapas (or small bites). Once again, it was the most crowded I have ever seen it. People are definitely out and about again.
While there are tables, we could hardly find a place to stand to have our small bites. Definitely worth a visit but go early and if on a weekend, be prepared for crowds.
We managed to find plenty of delicious food and some cava. It was as good as we remembered.
Next we headed over to the Royal Palace or Palacio Real de Madrid. It is one of the few Royal Palaces open to the public. We did not go in as we were limited on time. It is 1,400,000 sq feet with over 3,400 rooms, making it the largest palace in Europe. But get this, no one actually lives there anymore. It is only used for state functions. That’s a lot of house for no one to live in.
Plaza de Oriente
This plaza sits right in front of the palace. In the center is a monument to King Phillip IV of Spain. There are hundreds of monuments all over Madrid that you could spend days just visiting these!
After getting in our 10,000 steps in that afternoon we went back and rested up before going out to a great dinner.
We went to a Michelin rated restaurant called Rocacho. There are 19 Michelin rated restaurants in Madrid, compared to zero in Dallas. In Spain overall there are 224, more than the US, which is part of what makes Spain a foodie paradise. This was our paella, a traditional Spanish rice dish. It was for two and there was no way we could finish it, but it was delicious! After a great dinner we headed back to rest up for the next days adventures.
We chose to spend our last few hours in Madrid in the beautiful Parque del Buen Retrio (Park of Pleasant Retreat) The entrance was a 5 minute walk from our hotel. Like so many big cities, Madrid has done a terrific job carving out space for city parks. The difference is that this one is much older than most, with tons of sculptures and fountains, dating back hundreds of years.
One of the most famous sculptures and ponds is called the Alfonso XII Monument named after, King Alfonso XII. This particular monument was completed in the early 20th century.
Even though it was a weekday, we saw boats out on the water and lots of people wandering through the park.
One last wide angle shot of the entire pond and monument.
We walked just outside of the park to the Puerta de Alcala. This famous arch was completed in 1778 as an entrance to the city. It served as a gate to beautify the drab walls of the city.
After taking a few pictures at the arch, we went back into the park in search of the Crystal Palace. Funny enough, this very famous building in the Retrio Park, is well hidden in the trees. We walked by it 3 times before finally discovering it.
This glass pavilion is known as “Palacio de Cristal” and was inspired by similar structure in London. It was completed in 1887 and served originally as greenhouse. Today it is owned by the Sofia Museum and houses different installations. During our visit there was a giant structure inside made entirely of cardboard on temporary display. I’m sure some saw beauty in the sharp contrast between the gardens, the glass and the brown structure, but I thought it took away from the Crystal Palace’s stunning setting. Art is definitely something everyone interprets differently.
A couple more pictures of this beautiful crystal palace in a quiet spot inside a city park. So worth the adventure to find it!
After getting our 10,000 steps in before noon it was time for lunch. On this beautiful day we simply found an outdoor café. Here we had our first traditional Spanish sangrias along with our lunch. It was delicious!
After lunch our fast 24 hours in Madrid were over. We grabbed out luggage at the hotel and headed for the train station. Madrid is such a great city. So much history, such great food and so very clean. We hope to be back again another time!
