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Published: March 6th 2009
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I know I've been a big slacker lately in updating my blog and I have A LOT to post about the cities I visited in Spain the pas two weeks!!
But first off, I just wanna say that whoever said that Madrid is a busy, crowded, noisy and filthy city...I seriously doubt you have ever set foot in the city any time recently!!
Madrid is one of the cleanest, liveliest yest laid back, and most modern cities I have ever been to, in addition to the fact that the traffic is far from chaotic. My feeling is that the different squares and plazas make for charming spots to grab a bite, chill, meet friends, have coffee, or simply do some people watching (which has been my favourite activity throughout the tour!) Did I mention that the weather's been amazing throughout our stay in Madrid?? Beautiful and sunny in the morning with a bit of a chill at night..the sweetest surprise of the trip.
Our first stop was Parque del Retiro! The park was a 10 minute walk from our accommodation and boy was I glad that it was so close! During my research prior to the trip, I made
up my mind that this was one of the must-see's while in Spain. You can imagine how happy I was to know it was sooooo close:-D
Anyway, the park is just H U G E! No one would be able to see the whole thing in one day...just too big. You can spot people from every age, race, doing different things from walking to jogging to roller blading to cycling..just about every type of sport enthusiats could be seen around the park. Musicians and pets can also be spotted all over the park😊
We could only snap pics at every corner and next to every tree..the views were too good to miss and the sun jwwas the perfect natural lighting.
Since it was Valentine's day, love boats were all over the lake and we so badly wanted to take one of our own - but we didn't 😞
I felt like I could just spend the whole day in the park not getting bored or tired! One of the loveliest places in Madrid *sigh*
With the help of my friend Victor, who is a local of Madrid, we walked all the way to Puerta Del Sol which, being a
weekend, was PACKED with people. Ok, let me explain...for those who live in Dubai, this square is the outdoor version of Mall of the Emirates. Shops, restaurants and cafes on both sides, not to mention two separate buildings of El Corte Ingles (the biggest department store all over Spain), street artists and musicians were available in abundance here. It was a bit of hassle to walk down that street since it was way too crowded for a leisurely stroll. And since I'm not a huge fan of shopping, I opted to sit in one of the cafes (Cafe & Te) and just watch the people pass by, while my friends decided to check out the latest in fashion trends.
Later on we walked to a place where there is an ancient Egyptian Temple having been gifted by the Egyptian Government to Spain some time in the past. Can't remember the name of the area now..yet it was lovely. Being on a higher plane, it was quite nice to sit there by the fountain and just watch the sunset and the world go by, with the temple behind us (and honestly it was more to give a break to our tired
feet!)
The sweet ending of the day was at Valor, the chocolate cafe - YES, we drowned ourselves in chocolate😊))
Valor is a little cafe in Puerta del Sol that really attracts big crowds..you will almost always find queues at the door which is guarded by one big man who lets people in if and only if there are seats available, otherwise you gotta wait outside - in the cold! The waiting list can be long but surprisingly enough, no one has to wait that long to get a seat. The menu is kind of limited but what they have I think satisfies any chocolate lover...there was white choco, milk choco, dark choco, choco with cinnamon, choco with pepper, choco with coffee, all available with churros for dips! You can even simply drink the chocolate! That is, of course, besides the wide variety of chocolate ice creams offered at the cafe. A big THANK YOU to Victor for taking us there, I'm already a fan!
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