A bit longer summer - that was the plan. And hardly had Athul and I stepped off the plane, the Spanish capital greets us on the runway with a pleasant 27 degrees.
Then we go - completely underground - from the airport to the city center. We emerge at the surface at Puerta del Sol and find ourselves in the midst of a huge tent camp. A permanent protest action by Fridays for Future, as it turns out.
Fridays for future camp
Pushing past construction sites, through narrow paths with way too many people, we squeeze two hangry (hungry + angry) travel mice through to our hotel. Finally arrived! A quick freshen up, snack on some nuts and then off we go in search of tapas.
Strawberry Mojito without alcohol 🍋🟩 🍓
At Plaza de St. Ana, not far from our hotel, there are supposed to be many tapas bars, so we head to the square. After having a very delicious Ensaladillo ruso ('Russian Salad', a kind of potato salad with tuna) and three other, less impressive tapas, we almost fall off our chairs when the bill is 70 euros 😱 maybe the spot in the middle of the old town wasn’t such a good choice for a meal after all.
Ensaladillo ruso
We walk to the Palacio Real, which is no longer inhabited by the royal family today. The palace and the associated cathedral are bathed in golden light, and from a terrace, we overlook the Casa de Campo, the former royal hunting ground.
Palacio Real - the Royal Palace The cathedral at the royal palace View from the palace over the former hunting grounds.
Beautiful, despite the crowds. We sit for a while at Plaza de Oriente on the backside of the palace and watch people strolling by. Then it starts to get a bit chilly.
A lot going on at Plaza de Oriente on the backside of the palace
On the way back, we grab a snack at the supermarket for dinner, and then we watch Ocean's 11 in the hotel room. A tired but beautiful first day!
P.S.: More photos are available if you click the gallery at the top! ☺️
At a glance
Automatically extracted from the post
Length of time
1 Day
Weather
Summer · 27–27°C
Accompaniment
For two (2)
Mood
CulturalCulinaryRelaxing
Highlights
Ankunft in Madrid bei 27 Grad
Tapas an der Plaza de Santa Ana
Besuch des Palacio Real und der Plaza de Oriente
Blick auf die Casa de Campo im goldenen Abendlicht
Topics
CityCultureEatArchitecture
Cost
Rechnung für Tapas€70
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