Being on East Coast work time and Spain being 6 hours ahead, we were always awake and ready to go as the city was waking up and getting going. The weather was absolutely beautiful the entire time we were there. We had no plans for any of our days (except for the futbol game of course), so we just set out walking to see the sights and find something to snack on.
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| Another beautiful morning in Madrid |
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| San Jeronimo El Real |
The public spaces (plazas, parks, and such) were all so beautiful. One thing I LOVE about Europe is the fact that it is so old and filled with so much history. For example, the cathedral...you cannot find anything like this here in the US...we just aren't old enough. Just imagining the time and effort that went into such a massive structure back before all of modern day technology and convenience. Also, with economies and such, no one would even think to build anything like this now a days. It makes me feel old to say that, but we are such a disposable society, that we would never think to building something that would endure the ages....and the fact that this was all done with physical manpower blows my mind!
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| Such a beautiful day |
It was a beautiful Sunday, the entire city was out and about enjoying it, so we just followed along into the park. This park was massive: playgrounds, common sitting areas, a lake with boats, soccer/futbol fields, tennis court, and lots of running trails.
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| A nice stroll through Parque del Retiro, I drew these types of trees when I was little and I was told to be more realistic! |
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| Parque del Retiro: The Central Park of Spain |
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| Paella (we tried as many versions as possible) and baked eggplant...SO DELICIOUS! |
So one thing that you will quickly notice about Spanish cuisine is that it is tapas (small plates) style. Meals are not really a thing here nor is eating something by yourself. Eating in Spain is a social event and their food is built around this concept. You get multiple tapas to taste a little bit of everything the establishment has to offer and you share it with the table. Honestly, I think this is the best method in the world! You are not really ever having to decide between dishes and feeling like you missed out on really great dish and you are expected to be social and enrich your relationships with others. I really think that the US could improve a lot with this concept!
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| Puerta de Toledo |
The city of Madrid, being such an important city throughout history, was always on the verge take over by one empire or another, so there was previously a huge wall that encompassed it. The wall is no longer standing but many of the gates that allowed entry into the city still exist. This is on of the Puertas (doors) throughout the city, not just imagine massive wooden doors within the stone gate.
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| The other side of Puerta de Toledo |
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| Oh yes...time for some homemade Sangria...my favorite! |
Lunch time! Oh yes, there was sangria several times over on this trip. It really is the perfect drink, combining my love of red wine with fresh fruit, there is nothing more refreshing!
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| Yes, this is me eating sardines...picking meat off the bone, and I would do it again! |
LOOK MOM! I am eating tiny fish...with bones...and I am loving them! Haha...as mentioned in the previous post, this is a HUGE feat for me. Also, I am rocking out my sun hat here too. Being whiter than most, with my blond hair and blues eyes, the sun and I are not very good friends. I always wear a base of SPF 30 daily lotion and add SPF 75+ (yeah, I know, probably no more effective, but my mind hopes otherwise) when I know that I will be outside. Despite this, the sun hat, and long sleeves, I had pretty decent color after this day.
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| Metro up to the Real Madrid game |
We are on our way to the game! We took the Metro all over the place and it was the best way to get up to the game since it is really far north in the city, and this idea was apparently shared by the masses. People were literally being pushed onto the train to get the doors to close, a new experience for me, but no one seemed upset or bothered in the least. Luckily we boarded at an early stop in the journey, so we had no issues getting on and getting situated. It was actually a really fun experience, as everyone was SO excited and traveling for a common goal.
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| Game time! |
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| My excited husband...we were there early. Look how close we are to the field! |
This picture of him is one of my favorite from the entire trip...he is just so excited. What we did not know is that if we had gotten the same seats behind the other goal, we would have been right in the middle of the Real Madrid fan club. These fans were insane with their screaming chants, songs, noise makers, heckling, and cheering...it was AWESOME. They lead the entire stadium in song and such. Behind and above us were the fan club for the rival team, though they were a significantly smaller group (how do you compete with 80,000 fans!?!?), they really put their heart and souls into support their team and letting their team know that they were there, and giving the home team crowd a run for their money.
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| The view from our seat...not zoomed in |
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| Eagerly awaiting the start |
Note how full the stands are comparatively!!!
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| Game on...us and 80,000 of our closet friends! |
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| Such a great time |
I must admit, I was nervous as to how leaving the stadium was going to go with there being 80,000 people leaving at the same time, but it went really well. It took us sometime to make it to the metro but once we were on it was smooth sailing. Of note, there is not really food and drink sold at the stadium so we didn't have anything (and were starving). We didn't risk bringing a bag or anything because the stadiums and events here in the US do not allow bags or external food...NOT the case here. In fact, EVERYONE had brought full on meals with them. So lesson learned and information passed on to you should you ever venture to such an event outside of the US. Security is significantly more lax in Europe...except for Lisbon Airport, but that adventure is yet to come.
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| Toasted cheese with sardines and olives |
Post game treats.
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| More sardines and olives, seriously, amazing! |
