¡Hola Madrid! Day 2

We started day two in Madrid with a hearty breakfast down at the buffet. Because of the time difference, we were all awake really early so had plenty of time in the morning to charge up for the day ahead.
Our first stop on day 2 was a long stroll around the big park, Parque del Retiro.

It was really lovely weather, a bit warmer than the day before so we were all a bit overdressed in our thick jackets, hats and mittens.
We so enjoyed walking around the park, here the Estanque lake where you could hire boats to row, and with the Monumento a Alfonso XII in the background.

The Crystal Palace, built 1887 and inspired by its British namesake:

It was so lovely with all the beautiful colours in the park, such a paradise in the middle of a busy city:

In the Rose Garden, which holds more than 4000 roses representing over 100 different varieties:

The statue of the Fallen Angel, by Ricardo Bellver:

The oldest tree in Madrid! It was brought over to Spain from Mexico in 1632, and it's about 30 metres high. So big that the French army installed an entire battery in its branches during the War of Independence!

We stopped to re-energize at Starbucks. I had the first Gingerbread Latte of the season, mmm! Maybe extra yum because we enjoyed it outside!

The Royal Palace with Plaza de la Almeria in the foreground. The different monarchs that have ruled Spain have lived here since 1764, although today it's only used for official ceremonies and important celebrations. It is really more like an enormous museum than a house.

La Catedral de la Almudena:

And when in Spain, what to eat for dinner..? Well, we had an endless amount of tapas with our wine this evening (for every drink we got a free plate of tapas!); but then also decided to order some paëlla, just because we could. Mmmm!

So very full and a little bit tipsy, we called it a night, after two very busy days in Madrid.
¡Fantástico!

¡Hola Madrid!

This week the kids had an extra long weekend because of National Day and Martyrs Day. Lovely with some extra time off, it was well needed.
Nathan had bid for, and got, a trip to Madrid, for us to come along! It might seem insane, to travel halfway across Europe for only two days, but you can actually cover quite a lot in that time.

We left Abu Dhabi in the middle of the night, and with the time difference we arrived at the hotel in Madrid just in time to have a bit to eat before the breakfast buffet closed. After Nathan had got a few hours of rest, we took the hotel shuttle into the city center to start our adventures, and disembarked by Puerta del Alcalá:

We walked, and walked, and walked a bit more. It was a bit chilly, but sunny and nice.
Puerta del Sol:

What to eat for lunch? Well... jamón, of course! In every form - yum!

Linnea got herself her own guide book, which proved rather useful. It was written especially with children in mind, and gave us a lot of knowledge while walking about central Madrid:

We found a stand that sold some of the biggest donuts we'd ever seen!

Plaza de Oriente with the Royal Palace in the background:

The Teatro Real, the great opera house of Madrid.

Plaza Mayor, the main square of Madrid.

At the very center of Spain! Kilometer Zero, this is from where every distance to and from Madrid is measured:

After a long day of walking, a lot, we took the metro back to the hotel:

Since everybody were really tired, we settled for a quick dinner in the hotel restaurant.
Suckling pig... mmm!

And that was our Day 1 in Madrid!