Madrid - Day 1 and 2

Our flight departed from Hamburg to Madrid in the morning and Ryanair surprisingly had a one-hour delay... So we arrived later than agreed at the vacation apartment, but thanks to the Spanish mentality, it was not a problem.

Our first exploration led us through the old town, along Calle Mayor to Plaza de la Puerta del Sol, where we saw many oversized plush animals (waiting for photos for a fee), locals, and tourists.

The landmark of Madrid (a bear with a strawberry tree) was very popular with photographers. However, why strawberries grow on trees in Madrid remains a mystery to us...

We continued through Calle del Arenal, past the Royal Theater (Teatro Real) to the green Plaza de Oriente.

From there, we could see the huge building of the Royal Palace, and we walked along its outer wall to the cathedral.

In the alleys of the old town, we looked for a restaurant. The waiter brought us a long beer menu. When we asked for wine, we were told that there was only one available in the restaurant. So we took that one and only realized afterwards that we had ended up in a 'Cerveceria' (beer bar)...

We finished our tour late at night (at least for us - the Spaniards were just starting dinner) at Plaza Mayor, one of the largest squares in the city, which houses numerous restaurants.

The streets were lined with stalls, and many tourists and locals were out shopping.

We found the basin with numerous turtles, basking in the midday sun, particularly fascinating.

After a little refreshment, we set off for a walk through Retiro Park, which covers an area of 125 hectares and attracts many locals and tourists on Sunday afternoons.

In the park, you can recharge in various cafes. In one of them, we tried the typical 'Chocolate con churros' of Madrid. It is a hot, thick chocolate served with deep-fried pastry (which was actually very greasy). The pastry is dipped into the chocolate, and so you can quickly meet your calorie needs for the day...

 Chocolate con churros  

Right next to the park is the 'Prado' museum, the most famous museum in Madrid. If you visit in the last two hours before the closing time in the evening, admission is free. So we didn't have much time, but we could get a good impression of the diverse collection.

The free app 'Paseo del Arte' was also helpful, allowing us to listen to short contributions about selected works in various museums in Madrid.