Ola amigos! Vamos a Madrid! Si Si! Strange but true, but for a long time the Spanish capital was not on our list of visited European cities. Barcelona, yes. Several times even. But the Royal city was clearly crying out for a visit. We immersed ourselves for 5 days as Madrileños in the city of Los Merengues and saw that it was great! 7 highlights not to miss when in Madrid:
Note from the editor: this trip was undertaken pre corona.
1. Visit a city park
Cities can be busy. And what a pleasure it is to be able to take a break in a blissful, comforting park! Madrid has several parks but the absolute green lung of the city is Parco Retiro! Here you can relax with the Madrilenos who pass by for their lunch break or Sunday Pic-Nic. Stroll through the beautifully landscaped gardens, rent a boat on the lake or just have a nice ice cream in the grass. Don’t forget to stop by the glass house. This is a sort of greenhouse with perfectly symmetrical lines in which you lose yourself in a play of mirrors that either block or reflect the sun. Magnificent!
Address: Plaza de la Independencia, 7, 28001 Madrid, Spain
2. Visit the palace of the Casanova or Don Juan Carlos ?
5000. With so many women, King Juan Carlos shared the royal sphere. Today, the king was exiled from Spain for allegedly misusing public funds. In Palacio Real you can take a peek inside and imagine how many women he showed the corners of the rooms. There is plenty of room in the palace, which has 3418 rooms. Well, yes. Today, the Spanish palace is only used for official celebrations and banquets. The Palace opens its doors to the general public and from 5 pm onwards you can enter for free. Immerse yourself in so much royal splendour from the time of the armadas until now. Don’t follow the beaten track and start your visit on the left side of the palace in the cellars. Here you’ll be catapulted back into the days of the great Spanish Empire including chainmail and goedendags! Top!
Address: Calle de Bailén, s/n, 28071 Madrid, Spain
3. Visit a real food market!
Nearly a day passes without Belgium having a food market or food truck festival. If you want the real deal, you have to go to Madrid, of course. The city is the walhalla for the true foodie and offers several covered food halls. We went for the Mercado San Miguel in the city centre. Here we found an exquisite range of all kinds of snacks, tapas, pintxos (the Portuguese version of tapas), delicious wines, seafood, Iberico hams and of course delicious desserts. Compose your own menu by strolling through the food market and let yourself be blown away by the culinary delights of San Miguel, who saw that it was good and gave his blessing!
Address: Plaza de San Miguel, 3, 28005 Madrid, Spain
4. Put on Eden Hazard’s football boots!
Big, bigger, biggest. 3 words sum up the palmares of Real Madrid. Located in a suburb of Madrid, yet easily accessible by bus or tram, is the football temple of Spain and by extension of the world. Go for a tour in the ‘Stadium of dreams’ and imagine yourself a football star for a moment. The track in this football temple is really amazing. Top of the rock you stand at the top of the stadium for the ultimate selfie of the football arena and pitch. Afterwards, you will be swept away in an interactive whirlwind through more than 100 years of football history, more than 30 Spanish titles and countless European triumphs. Highlight is definitely the visit to the dressing room (Eden, move your ass!) and the grass that you can smell from the players’ bench. You would have to be a sourpuss not to like this visit! Tip: avoid the queues at the stadium and buy your ticket at one of the many newspaper kiosks in town!
Address: Av. de Concha Espina, 1, 28036 Madrid, Spain / Line 10 by metro or bus 14 from the centre and get off in front of the stadium
5. Go epic art spotting!
The Spanish 20th century gave birth to a trio of top artists including Dali and, of course, Pablo Picasso. In the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía you can see all this splendour of the golden Spanish century. Go especially for the temporary exhibition of Picasso with ‘Guernica‘. Guernica’ is one of the most impressive works of all time and can be admired in all its splendour in this museum in Madrid. The work of art denounced the Spanish Civil War and the bombing of the town of Guernica. The immense canvas, measuring 3 metres high and 7 metres wide, is a splash of pain and splendour at the same time. More intimate but at least as beautiful are the sketches in preparation of Pablo’s ‘piece de resistance’. Do it!
Address: Calle de Santa Isabel, 52, 28012 Madrid, Spain
6. Eat paella at the city’s oldest paella restaurant
The original paella comes from Valencia, but of course they do not neglect this Spanish delicacy in the capital! Since 1935, a Madrid family has been behind the cooker here, making the best paella in town. The setting is simple classic as is the menu. Paellas here are invariably served in pairs straight from the pan. The restaurant boasts that it is the favourite place to eat for the Royal Family. We have eaten here anyway excellent!
Address: La Baracca, Calle Reina, 29, 28004 Madrid, Spain
7. Get blown off your gastronomic socks
Spanish gastronomy is reaching unprecedented heights. In the Basque country, they know a thing or two about it, but in the capital, too, they are happy to take part in the debate. Madrid counts 7 star restaurants of which we picked Ramon Freixa (2 star Michelin Guide). You can read a more extensive report in our review further on the website. We can already tell you that we were completely in the gastronomic starry sky!
Address: Calle de Claudio Coello, 67, 28001 Madrid, Spain
Practical:
.Flying can of course be done from Brussels. We chose Brussels Airlines. Reckon on 200 euros per person for a one-way trip.
Hotels: plenty of hotels in Madrid, of course. We chose the trendy Hotel Urban in Madrid, where design meets pretty people.
Address: Carrera de S. Jerónimo, 34, 28014 Madrid, Spain
Website: https://www.hotelurban.com/en
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