Madrid

Weekend getaway, short or long holiday, staycation, you name it, I’ll take it.

I know it would take a lot more than a weekend to cover the magnificent city of Madrid and see all the beauty of it but I’m happy with any amount of time I can get off my work.

Visiting Madrid in October was unexpectedly pleasant. The weather was great with temperature around 25 degrees Celsius, so it was a perfect opportunity to spend time outdoors.

We walked more than 50 km in these two days trying to explore the coolest areas and although there are many commuting options such as metro, taxi, bikes and scooters, we chose to explore by foot.

We stayed in a Room Mate hotel in the Gran Via street which is located in the city center and what I loved about it the most apart from the cozy rooms and awesome view, is that we could go to the rooftop anytime and just watch sunrise or chill on the balcony.

Upon arrival and check in, we took a quick shower and stormed out to find some good coffee and breakfast.

Streets of Madrid are uniquely painted with graffiti especially in the part called Malasaña that is very artistic and retro.

We found many minimalistic coffee and breakfast stops, but also florists, tattoo studios, antique shops, shops with hand-made decorations, butcher's shops, and of course bars and bistros.

One thing I have noticed is that there is a lot of garbage on the streets in all shapes and forms, containers, bags or simply on the floor, you name it, they have it. Again, didn’t notice this in other areas but the center of the city is like that. Somehow, it’s charming.

After a little tour, we went back to hotel to take a break, shower and change and meet a friend for dinner and drinks.

One of the strongest impressions of Madrid was that it’s so alive!

Everywhere you look there are people of all ages socializing, having dinner, walking, commuting. It was insanely busy throughout the whole day, except mornings, those are the quiet hours.

The next day I woke up at 7:30 AM and to my surprise it was still dark. I googled the sunrise hours and it was showing 8:20 AM.

That gave us a chance to go to the rooftop of the hotel and watch a peaceful sunrise.

The following hours we managed to walk to the Barrio de Salamanca which is one of the most elite areas of the city and its main streets such as Calle de Serrano are famous for luxury brands and fine dining.

All along the way, I couldn’t help but literally stopping every two minutes and admire the architecture of Madrid.

The ones that impressed me the most are: Plaza de Cibeles, Plaza de Colon, National Archaeological Museum, Iglesia de Santa Barbara, Plaza Mayor, Four Seasons Hotel, Plaza de la Armeria, Temple of Debod and Royal Palace.

All of these are able to see by walk if you’re located in Gran Via like we were. I’ll attach the gallery so please feel free to share which one was your favorite in the comments!

After 18 km of walking, we were hungry and exhausted, but that didn’t stop us from going out with friends again and tasting some good croquets, fried seafood and cold beer.

For the final day, we were taking it easy and roaming around the areas called La Latina and Sol where we saw beautiful botanical garden called Jardin San Francisco el Grande, that is located just next to Royal Basilica of San Francisco el Grande.

In it, we found 21 different types of roses and a sculpture El sueño de San Isidro, a work by Santiago Costa.

It was a short, but so worth it visit. There are very famous museums that I wished to see, but with limited hours to spend, it was quite challenging. This is just an excuse for me to go back to Madrid again.

I’ll also leave a list of coffee and breakfast places we tried and loved, who knows, maybe it will be of use to you or someone you know. 🥰

That would be it! Thank you for being here and thank you for reading this article.

Hope you enjoyed it! 😍

Let me know your thoughts on Madrid!

Yours,

Kat