Another post from Spain – and another Guest Blogger. This time it’s Shawn Klein! Usually I’m the editor and photo selector – but this time the writer as well!
After leaving San Sebastián – sunburned and full of pintxos – we hopped aboard the train for three quick days in Madrid before continuing our beach vacation in Portugal. Madrid is elegant and beautiful – like the Paris of Spain. We stayed at a great, clean and well air conditioned apartment in the Cortes region [https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/18150744?euid=e6fd923a-3d63-04ab-89c2-027d8f8bfa14]. Thank god for the air conditioning because Western Europe was in the middle of a heat wave and it was over 100 degrees every day.
Despite the heat, we were able to walk around our quaint Madrid neighborhood and enjoy fantastic tapas in Santa Ana Plaza at a restaurant called Lateral [http://www.lateral.com/en/restaurants/santa-ana/]. Large shade umbrellas and cool misters also made a big difference. For dinner our first night we walked through the cobblestone streets till an Argentinian steak restaurant caught our hungry eyes. Restaurant Cabana Argentina was delicious and is definitely one we would recommend [http://lacabanaargentina.es].
The following day, we took the advice of Linda Rosen and toured the nearby city of Toledo with a private guide booked through visitoledo.es. It was good we booked a private tour because the train we’d hoped to take was full and had to wait over an hour to catch the next one. Based on that, we recommend buying your Madrid to Toledo train tickets in advance.
Toledo is a fantastic UNESCO world heritage site which was settled in pre-Roman times. It sits perched on a hill and is filled with winding cobblestone streets and historic buildings. The city is most known for housing three cultures – Jews, Muslims and Christians – who co-existed peacefully for long periods of time. It’s definitely worth a visit and we recommend visitoledo.es as they are authorized to take their customers to underground parts of the city which are normally locked up.
On our final Madrid morning we raced through town to a restaurant called Ojala [https://grupolamusa.com/en/restaurante-ojala/] for brunch. We were running late and were told that they would only hold the reservation for 15 minutes. Natalie had been told that this place was really good and really wanted to go so we ran through the cobble stones street in the extreme heat and arrived very hot to some refreshing Mojitos for breakfast!
The restaurant was actually a really funky place with extremely low couches in an below ground room with a beachy vibe that included a sand floor. Definitely a millenial place (because old people can get uncomfortable sitting on low floor cushions) but the food was really very good.
After indulging, we decided to visit the famous Prado museum – which we can attest is well worth the visit. Even though we decided to go on the day the museum happened to have free admission, we were surprised to find that it wasn’t too crowded and was easy to enjoy. Totally recommend the Prado.
All in all, we loved Madrid and would go back in a heart beat – but maybe in a cooler month.
