Highlights: Barri Gotic, Picasso Musuem, the Pope!
to be completed
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Day 4 - Madrid-Granada
Highlights: Palacio de Communicacion, Prado Museum, depart for Granada
to be completed
to be completed
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Day 2 - Madrid
Highlights: Santigo Bernabeu and Retiro Park
Woke up to gorgeous weather, no more rain!
Jetlagged and excitement got the better of us and we were up and about at 7:30am. Went for a chilly morning stroll around the hotel's neighbourhood Gran Via and then over to Sol.
The neighbourhood is really pretty! What a welcoming area to go out into in the mornings, and to return to in the evenings. Some evenings I totally looked forward to going back to the hotel which is rare for me unless I am absolutely exhausted.
On the way back and in search of a hot breakfast, we walked past a couple of lovely looking bars serving fresh pastries but unfortunately the "next-one-could-be-better" syndrome kicked in and before we knew it we were back in front of the hotel. So Faborit it was. Wonderful hot chocolate (:
3 pastries + 2 hot beverages = 8.80 Euros
ESTADIO SANTIAGO BERNABEU
This was probably one of the trip highlights for Steven. Locating it was a no-brainer since it was right outside the station named after the stadium. Speaking of metro stations, we were constantly harrassed by aggressive school girls who would try to stop us for donations which I read before the trip to be mostly scams. It was a bit of a buzz kill sometimes to have to deliberately go around these girls or to put on a mean face so they would back off. While they mostly would leave me alone, Steven often had to yank his jacket free from their grabbing hands.
Back to the glorious Real Madrid stadium. We were so excited at arriving (so was the little girl in the psychedelic pink parka) that we took a right and went a complete round of the entire HUGE stadium only to find the taquilla was less than 50 metres to the left of this picture.
More queuing in the cold. 45 minutes easy.
Seats over 80,000 spectators. How much do they made on a sold-out match? cha chink$$!
this one is huge!
eeks to sweaty men sharing a hot tub
Man U plays Real Madrid
shopping!
Good times (:
RETIRO PARK
We were famished after visiting the stadium so our guide book led us to Alfredo's for some burgers. Alfredo's is a quaint little pub which was crazy busy when we arrived. As the weather seemed nice we decided to do a little picnic at Retiro, which was just as well sinec there wasn't any available tables. Perched by the bar, we waited an hour salivating before we got our food.
Picnic wasn't the best decision we made, we got our fingers completely frozen by the time we were done! The chilly winds did it. Nonetheless, it was hell of an experience sitting by the playground watching local children having fun whilst trying to wolf down our burgers before our fingers fell off. Also, the burgers were awesome! Perfectly grilled, it was smokey and slightly charred on the outside byt moist and pink on the inside.
Retiro Park is beautiful. We had deliberately planned to come on a Sunday to join the multitudes of couples and families spend time at this popular local destination and be entertained by street performers.
Kitty taking a stroll
Cristal Palace lake
mr. and mrs swan
all in couples <3
Woke up to gorgeous weather, no more rain!
Jetlagged and excitement got the better of us and we were up and about at 7:30am. Went for a chilly morning stroll around the hotel's neighbourhood Gran Via and then over to Sol.
The neighbourhood is really pretty! What a welcoming area to go out into in the mornings, and to return to in the evenings. Some evenings I totally looked forward to going back to the hotel which is rare for me unless I am absolutely exhausted.
solidarity of Sol in the early morning, and is that a bear with a giant broccoli (:
On the way back and in search of a hot breakfast, we walked past a couple of lovely looking bars serving fresh pastries but unfortunately the "next-one-could-be-better" syndrome kicked in and before we knew it we were back in front of the hotel. So Faborit it was. Wonderful hot chocolate (:
3 pastries + 2 hot beverages = 8.80 EurosESTADIO SANTIAGO BERNABEU
This was probably one of the trip highlights for Steven. Locating it was a no-brainer since it was right outside the station named after the stadium. Speaking of metro stations, we were constantly harrassed by aggressive school girls who would try to stop us for donations which I read before the trip to be mostly scams. It was a bit of a buzz kill sometimes to have to deliberately go around these girls or to put on a mean face so they would back off. While they mostly would leave me alone, Steven often had to yank his jacket free from their grabbing hands.
Back to the glorious Real Madrid stadium. We were so excited at arriving (so was the little girl in the psychedelic pink parka) that we took a right and went a complete round of the entire HUGE stadium only to find the taquilla was less than 50 metres to the left of this picture.
More queuing in the cold. 45 minutes easy.And then we're in!
Seats over 80,000 spectators. How much do they made on a sold-out match? cha chink$$!
this one is huge!
eeks to sweaty men sharing a hot tub
Man U plays Real Madrid
shopping!
Good times (:
I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed this visit even though I have close to zero interest in the sport. But one stadium visit would be enough for a lifetime. For me. I think.
RETIRO PARK
We were famished after visiting the stadium so our guide book led us to Alfredo's for some burgers. Alfredo's is a quaint little pub which was crazy busy when we arrived. As the weather seemed nice we decided to do a little picnic at Retiro, which was just as well sinec there wasn't any available tables. Perched by the bar, we waited an hour salivating before we got our food.
Picnic wasn't the best decision we made, we got our fingers completely frozen by the time we were done! The chilly winds did it. Nonetheless, it was hell of an experience sitting by the playground watching local children having fun whilst trying to wolf down our burgers before our fingers fell off. Also, the burgers were awesome! Perfectly grilled, it was smokey and slightly charred on the outside byt moist and pink on the inside.
Retiro Park is beautiful. We had deliberately planned to come on a Sunday to join the multitudes of couples and families spend time at this popular local destination and be entertained by street performers.
Kitty taking a stroll
My favorite part of the part was the area near the Crystal Palace, and the glasshouse itself. See how picturesque!
Cristal Palace lake
mr. and mrs swan
We spend a couple of tranquil hours exploring the park and reluctantly left in search of the Prado Museum which is located next to the Park. We wanted very much to locate the status of the Fallen Angel - Lucifer. It was interesting that the statue is erected at 666m above sea level. Sadly we couldn't locate it before we had to leave.
all in couples <3
Bye bye Retiro!
We wanted to visit Prado then because of the free admission the museum offered on Sundays from 5pm to 7pm. Alas, the queue was horrendous and we decided we would rather buy tickets then to waste precious time standing in queues.
For dinner I went in search for the fantastic McD CBO! Fell in love with this burger during my previous trip to Prague. Also discovered the McBacon.
We wanted to visit Prado then because of the free admission the museum offered on Sundays from 5pm to 7pm. Alas, the queue was horrendous and we decided we would rather buy tickets then to waste precious time standing in queues.
For dinner I went in search for the fantastic McD CBO! Fell in love with this burger during my previous trip to Prague. Also discovered the McBacon.
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