We can definitely refer to the 80′s movie titled Planes, Trains and Automobiles for our trip. From our move from Lisbon to Madrid, we took a taxi, plane, bus and then two metros to arrive at our hotel. We counted up that we will have 7 plane rides in 2 weeks, not to mention the countless metros, buses and trains we have taken. Kinda exhausting, but so worth it! Our Madrilleno hotel, Melia Princesa, is located right off the metro, so again, we’re pretty happy with the location. Welcome to the land of Spanish! Lori is so excited! We started our night exploring with Plaza Mayor- the grand square and one of the most notable landmarks in Madrid. As we got off the Sol metro stop, it was insane- thousands of people, musicians in the streets, a Christmas market that more resembled a fair, kids running around with sparklers, carolers singing, and anything you can imagine. Apparently with so many people still on holiday, the squares and plazas remain busy in the days leading up to New Year’s Eve. We tried a dinner recommendation from a girl we met on the plane- El Botin, the oldest restaurant in the world. Unfortunately it was booked for the evening, but as we were walking out and saw a pig leg mounted on a table in the kitchen area, I can’t say that we were too disappointed. After dinner at another Spanish restaurant, we started making our way back to our hotel. Around Puerta del Sol, we strolled the surrounding streets and saw many Museos de Jamon (Ham). Apparently Madrid is known for ham? These places were packed with people eating ham sandwiches and drinking beers. Also of excitement this evening…As we were on our way back to the metro, we saw tons of street vendors selling fake Gucci and Burberry wallets, bootleg dvd’s, and designers perfumes. We noticed an elastic band around each of their display sheets and even asked ourselves what we thought the strap was used for. I mentioned that it might be for when the cops come. Well sure enough, the cops came. It was crazy, within seconds the street vendors snatched up their goods and were running away from the Policia on motorcycles. It was like a cat and mouse game.
We've finally arrived!
Puerta del Sol
People everywhere
The famous Tio Pepe sign in Puerta del Sol
All of the streets leading to Plaza Mayor were decorated with festive lights
Plaza Mayor
El Botin
