Madrid

After a couple of weeks driving through rural Spain and enjoying some small town life, we made our way to Madrid and transitioned to some big city exploring. We did experience a couple of the tourist hotspots in the city, but what we enjoyed most was just walking around and taking in the vibe. Madrid felt like a very livable, non-touristy city and was filled with cute corners, nice parks, and beautiful buildings.

Plaza de Toros de Las Ventas

The first touristy excursion on our Madrid bucket list was the bullring. There is a movement in Spain to end bullfighting, and many bullrings are not in operation any longer. But Madrid’s bullring still holds bullfights every Sunday as well as every day in the month of May. I can understand the movement against the sport, I have mixed feelings about it myself. That being said, if we had been there on a Sunday I would have gone to an event. It seems like something worth experiencing once! But we were not in Madrid on a Sunday, so we settled for a self-guided tour of the facility. I have to say, the tour really made me want to see a bullfight! I found the tradition behind the practice to be fascinating, the process of becoming a fighter, the rituals employed by the matadors, the raising of the bulls. It was all so interesting! They even had the bloodied clothes of some famous bullfighters who died in the ring. I’ve made up my mind, I will see a bullfight before I die.

Toledo

Not far from Madrid, about a 30 minute train ride south, lies Toledo – the capital of La Mancha and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Toledo is known as “The City of Three Cultures” because of the cultural influences of Christians, Muslims, and Jews throughout its history (yes, I took that right from Wikipedia). While we were a little turned off by the hundreds of tourist t-shirt and magnet shops throughout the town, it really was a beautiful, old walled city.

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As the town’s history would encourage, we made it a point to visit the Catholic church, Jewish synagogue, and Muslim mosque within the old city walls. They were all interesting in their own right, but damn…those Catholics know how to make an impression.

The Palace

The last tourist destination on our list was the royal palace. It is the largest palace in Europe with over 3,000 rooms and almost 1.5 million square feet of floor space. Absolutely insane. We were allowed to tour a small part of it. The decor inside was so over-the-top and gaudy, I almost got dizzy in some rooms. It was interesting to tour it, but so strange. They didn’t allow photos inside the living area, but I managed to sneak one of the dining rooms. Actually, I wasn’t very sneaky – I was immediately scolded by the guard in the photo.

Food & Drink

And, of course, we enjoyed one of our most cherished traveling activities – eating and drinking. Madrid was packed with bars and restaurants and I loved wandering around waiting to see which one would draw us in. We enjoyed plenty of cañas at small neighborhood bars, classic tapas, fabulous Argentinian food, a whole street full of Indian restaurants, and a sweet little oyster stand that made Alex swoon.