Madrid, 14.-19. März 2025

Well, here we go starting another family trip. The last one as a family??? I don't know, the kids have grown up, etc.

Honestly, like always, the trip doesn't really start today. The idea was a family trip ahead of Harel's enlistment and Shahar's release. Harel, like Harel, wanted to see the most expensive match of Barcelona. So we are going to watch the Barca game against Atletico Madrid in Madrid.

As always, I'm digging deep to find a flight and I found a flight with Air Europa to Madrid from March 14-19 when the game is on the 16th.

Now we just have to purchase tickets for the game and accommodation. Since there are five of us, an apartment is better than a hotel.

Tickets were purchased on the Wow site, and wow, how much it cost us...

We settled on an apartment at Casa Monson.

We arranged transportation to the airport through Mitzvot Hamemari.

Day one

The day begins with our taxi arriving right on time, a spacious Mercedes van just as I ordered, the ride was fine and arrived on time in a big car.

We arrive at the airport and everything works pretty smoothly, checked in our luggage and security check. Now at duty-free, waiting to board.

See you in Madrid!!!!! Ola

The flight was fine, the plane was good. I took advantage of the time to watch two movies I downloaded from Netflix that I had wanted to see for a long time.

When we arrived, Maurizio's brother was waiting for us with a sign with my name and took us to the car. As if by magic, or not, it was the same car as back home, a luxury Mercedes van.

When we got to the apartment, a child was waiting for us. The apartment is truly charming.

The apartment is a 3-minute walk from Plaza Espana.

We got organized and went out to eat at an Italian restaurant on the main street.

We did another round, but it was cold and we were tired from the flight, etc.

So we returned to our apartment - to sleep.

Good night.

Monday

Today we're taking a tour to get to know the city better and also to get tips on what and where to go.

The tour

The tour started from the main McDonald's branch on the main street - Gran Via.

The guide was Izzy, an Argentinian guy who came to Israel with a project, moved here with his wife, and they arrived in Madrid.

The tour revolved around squares throughout the city center, the food market, and the royal palace.

The first square we reached was Puerta del Sol, named after an ancient gate that was in the wall that surrounded Madrid many years ago. From there we continued to Plaza Mayor, where the guide bought churros for everyone with hot chocolate. There's a statue of the bear eating from a tree. We took pictures and continued.

The next stop was the Mercardo de San Miguel, an amazing food market full of tapas and good beer. We enjoyed eating and then returned to continue the tour.

We continued to the cathedral near the royal palace and then to the palace; we didn’t enter the palace during this tour. There will be a separate tour for that.

The tour ended and we continued to wander alone. We returned part of the way back to reach the official Barca store. Then to the Apple store – as the guide from the tour said, a tour of temples, and this is even before Zara and Primark.

Finally, we went to visit Plaza de Cibeles, which is the square where Real Madrid celebrates its victories.

On the way back, we entered another Madrid establishment, Steakburger, for lunch.

Now we're going back to the apartment to recharge for the evening outing.

Michal and the kids jumped to the clothing temple - Zara. Everyone came back with bags. Meanwhile, I received the tickets for the game and had to deal with that.

When they returned, we set out to explore the Malasana neighborhood - a young student neighborhood. The ambiance is really nice with dozens of small bars and a youthful vibe in the air.

After a walking tour in the alleys, we found a small and charming bar to sit in. The kids are grown-up and they all know how to drink. Shahar took a beer, and we all had cocktails, yes even Matan. It was fun to sit with my older kids to drink alcohol in a bar.

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Tuesday

We are heading to El Rastro, which is a flea market that operates only on Sundays.

First trip on the Madrid metro - awesome experience.

We arrived at the market with ease.

A flea market just like how a flea market sounds. Lots of second-hand clothing stalls, but not only, many stalls of second-hand books! Lots of stalls of all sorts of things that people sell, from old glasses to shoes, combs, and more.

We took the metro back to Plaza Espana, right under our nose where our apartment is located, there is Plaza Espana and from there the Riu hotel from which there is a view of the whole city.

We strolled in the square, really a beautiful square.

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From there we split up. Michal and Shahar went for some last-minute shopping at Zara. Harel went to buy empanadas and I went to look for the Yamaha store for musical instruments - I found it, but it was closed.

Now we are heading towards the Metropolitano for a stadium tour and then the game. To get to the Metropolitano, we took the metro from Plaza Espana on line 10 and switched to line 7, the exit is right at the stadium. Inside, there is a worry that the tickets will be fine and hopefully, there won’t be any issues.

Stadium tour.

Because of the game today, the tour starts at the stadium itself including the field itself and only afterwards in the museum. The field is very impressive, large, and beautiful. The atmosphere is felt in the stadium even when it is empty.

The Atletico museum is small compared to that of Barca but still very interesting and exciting.

After the museum tour, we went to eat at a restaurant in the stadium. There was a performance of a really cute band at the restaurant and they played really well, I enjoyed a lot.

And then........... we entered the game.

Just before the anxiety that the tickets might be fake, we start scanning each ticket and..... it works. One minute and we’re in the stadium, the tickets went through.

And the game....... oh wow what a game. The game starts with a ball hitting the post - a second from a goal, but the half ends 2-0 to Atletico. The kids' expressions were downcast and there was a feeling that we came all the way here to watch Barca lose?

We move to the second half, and amid a nerve-wracking drama, Barca scores 4 goals, two of them after the 90 minutes.

What a crazy drama and the kids are on cloud nine with screams like crazy, even Michal screamed like a madwoman, yes, so did I. But even Atletico fans couldn’t remain indifferent to the greatness of the hour despite their disappointment.

The way back on the metro was crowded and especially hot, but the heart, oh the heart was wide and big, thanks to Barca for an amazing game with a perfect comeback when they were trailing by 2 goals and won 4-2 - indeed a great team.

Now we’re going to sleep - tomorrow is a busy day.

Wednesday

Today is Monday of the week. Michal and I got up and went out for coffee and groceries at the supermarket. We decided to go to the nearest Dia branch, and on the way, we stopped for coffee at a cute little café that was nicely decorated.

We returned to the apartment, in the meantime, the kids woke up, and we prepared breakfast, better than any meals we ate outside. Fresh baguettes, cream cheese, vegetables, salmon, and scrambled eggs that the kids love.

We went out to the royal palace. On the way, I stopped by the Yamaha store, I had to buy something to remind me of Madrid. I bought a tablet holder and some Madrid brochures.

We entered the palace, a palace like any other, full of artworks, splendor, grandeur, and madness. We were in 28 rooms out of over 3600 rooms - yes, yes that’s the number!

After that, we wandered around downtown on the way to the Barca store. Shahar wanted a shirt. In front of the store was a robotic coffee machine which is a gimmick but a nice gimmick too.

After that, we sat down to eat churros with chocolate. - A must-do in Madrid.

Now we split up, I’m going to Primark, Michal and the kids went to Uniqlo and Zara. I probably bought enough for the next two years. It was so hot in the store. Outside it’s barely 6 degrees, inside Primark at least 30 degrees.

I finished shopping and met the family at the Five Guys burger joint.

We returned to the apartment for a few minutes just to drop off the bags and headed out to the observation deck in the Riu hotel.

27th floor, nothing spectacular, but still nice. We took pictures and sat down to drink. This is already the second time on this trip we sit down to drink alcohol with the kids. Shahar and I took sangria - another must-try in Spain/Madrid.

We returned to the apartment to gather strength for the outing to the San Anton food market.

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We arrived at the market, and although the market itself is indeed open until midnight, all the shops were closed.

We decided to go for the pizza we saw on Gran Via. We bought some pizza squares, Harel bought a couple of those tempting cinnamon rolls, and we had a lovely night meal in the apartment.

Thursday

Today is split up!

Shahar and I are taking the tour to Toledo.

Michal, Harel, and Matan went to the Turkish hamam in Plaza Mayor.

Shahar and I met the group on Gran Via and set off on a bus to the city of Toledo.

At the entrance to the city, there is a square with a statue with an inscription in three languages, including Hebrew. The square has the inscription 'Abeautiful scenery from the capital of the King.'

The bus stops at a certain point and then we have to climb 300 stairs - but there are also escalators.

We reach the top and then divide for coffee/breakfast. We meet again and then split into two groups.

The tour continues, emphasizing that the city of Toledo is a city of the three religions. Although in the end, there wasn’t a place for Jews in this city or Spain in general.

We arrive at a small bakery that makes cheeses and marzipan, and the owner is a kind of Tzippi Shavit, a Spaniard. She shows how she makes marzipan in various shapes.

I bought a marzipan kit for Michal and the kids and we continued with the tour.

We toured the Muslim quarter. There you can see the wars and conquests over the years and the mosque that was built on a church and vice versa – we will return to that.

From there we continue to the Christian quarter, arriving at the great cathedral. In front of the cathedral stands the town hall building with four flags: the flag of Toledo city, the flag of Spain, the flag of the province of La Mancha, and the European Union flag.

Also in the square is the cardinal's residence, from which there is a bridge to the cathedral, so that the cardinal does not meet the outside crowd.

There in the Christian quarter, right on the edge of the Jewish quarter, the guide brings us through a shop that looks completely normal but then leads us down a hidden staircase to a 2000-year-old natural mikveh, beneath the shop's floor. The place is undoubtedly a Jewish site which was probably used throughout the years of Muslim or Christian conquest.

There is a nice story about Joshua who discovered this mikveh, and together with his wife decided to convert and preserve this place.

We exit and enter the Jewish quarter. The sidewalks and paths are embedded with Jewish symbols, the symbol of the menorah and the word 'Spain' in Hebrew. We arrive at the synagogue of Don Yehuda Halevi, who was the treasury minister of the king and built this synagogue in the courtyard of his private house. After the expulsion of Spain in 1492, the place became a church and only in the 1970s was it returned to the Jewish community as part of a deal between Israel and the Spanish government. Today, the synagogue serves as a museum and a pilgrimage site for tourists.

At this point, we leave for a lunch break, and each of the group members chooses what and where to eat, with the meeting time set for 16:00.

Shahar and I weren't hungry, so we snacked on churros with chocolate.

After that, I finally found a hat that I liked, and even Shahar approved it.

There was a beautiful girl with us on the tour who started talking to us about how we should listen to young people - it seems that Shahar caught her eye, but she is 23, so it was less suitable, but they had a pleasant conversation about South America.

That’s it, the tour ends, and we go back down the 300 escalators. We meet the bus on the way back to Madrid.