Madrid, Spain -day 3

We woke up very late today. Our bedroom has this screen that you pull down from the outside to protect the window. It acts like a cave barrier making the inhabitants think it’s night time for way longer than necessary.

When we woke up we booked a hotel and train to Malaga. We needed to go back to the beach!

We made an epic feast of Mr Noodle, frozen spring rolls and left over salad. We still had peanut butter and crackers to eat, so we scarfed that down too.

Leslie did her own thing today, and Shay and I decided to explore the other direction today. I wanted to see Palais Real so we headed in that general direction. It was overcast today, so the temperature was quite comfortable. It started to drizzle again so we popped onto an umbrella covered patio. It just so happened to be another Cervezeria, and it was Sunday so all of the tapas and beer were a euro. We indulged a little and waited out the rain, reading. It didn’t last long.

We headed through a cheap little tourist market where Shay bought replacement sunglasses for his which had broken. We could see the palace through the trees, and headed over.

Plaza de Espana

It was big.

The Royal Palace

Palacio Royal (Royal Palace)

We walked through the Alice in Wonderland trimmed hedges (Sabatini Gardens), and took pictures through the gates. You could pay 10 euros for a tour, inside and out, but we were too tired to invest any time in it. We just walked around the premises. There was a big church beside it as well.

Almudena Cathedral

Then we headed back towards our place, looking for a market to grab some fruit. We knew there was one towards the gluten free bakery, which we went back to for tomorrow’s breakfast. We also noticed a Turkish restaurant across the street and figured that would be good for dinner. We walked into a shop just as the rain began again. This time each drop, splashed on our bodies like tiny water balloons. We were lucky to have some cover. We waited for it to stop…7 minutes or so, then continued to the bakery and grocery store.

Many things are closed on Sundays here. We were hopeful to catch a movie too but all of the theatres around us weren’t showing anything with English or subtitles. We went back to our apartment and met up with Leslie. She was debating a Mc Donald’s run on account of the disappointment experienced missing it yesterday. She ran out to get it, just as the clouds opened up again expelling golf ball size drops of rain.

The door phone rang, and I ran down to let a very wet Leslie in with her soggy Mc Donald’s bag. "Totally worth it", she exclaimed.

We went out to grab our Turkish dinner, I think the place was called Boroso or Mundo Kebab? Something like that. It was good. We had rice, salad, falafel, chicken skewers and a few other traditional items that I don’t know the names of. Very tasty.

Waiting for the grub

We didn’t stay up late as we had to catch a 9:30 train in the morning.

Valencia to Madrid

Early morning. We got up, packed, and left for the bus. Shay wanted to get his horchata, and luckily there was a horchateria open on our way to catch a taxi to the bus station. It tasted kind of coconutty. I wasn't a fan. We bought some pastries for the long journey, and took a taxi to the station for 6 euros.

On route to Madrid

The bus was easy, I think it was Avanza Bus? We just had to show our e-tickets to driver. He didn't need printed tickets or ID. Buses here are like Greyhounds, but without washrooms. They also assign a seat, but everyone just sits where they want when they get on. But for some reason, there is always someone who is looking for their actual seat. Leslie moved twice, until finally just staying seated and speaking only English to the person who was trying to take her seat. 

It was a long bus ride. We stopped at a rest station off the highway. There wasn't any hot food, it was pretty pathetic in comparison to France. There was tea, coffee and pastries as well as big wheels of cheese and oil. Random.

Back on the bus, we watched a French movie dubbed in Spanish. It was actually really good (what we understood of it).

We got to Madrid and took cab to our apartment. It was off of Gran Via, a very good location in Madrid. Up until our arrival it was very hard to communicate with our host Miguel who owned the apartment we were staying at. He spoke no English at all. He kept telling me to use google translate to translate his messages and his instructions on his site on how to get to the apartment, but there were many sentences that didn't make any sense at all.

We ended up getting there fine, and we texted him, and he showed up in the window above. He let us in, and wrote everything on the computer for us to read as a translation. The fridge was filled with juice and water which was extremely welcoming!

The apartment was awesome. It was like staying in Barney Stinson's bachelor pad. It had a double rain shower, ac, an induction range and oven, red counter tops, two large flat screens, two bedrooms…a very nice place.

Leslie's room

Our room

Best shower ever.

We rested a bit, and got groceries at a dingy Asian grocery around the corner. We would be eating some Mr. Noodle to save on money here! We picked a place where we wanted to eat for dinner. It was delicious.

The restaurant was called Gastromaquia. It was on Calle de Palleo. We ate grilled rabbit, ribs, fajitas, a goat cheese app and sausage app… all delicious. Probably one of the best meals of the trip. The restaurant was close and we could walk there from our apartment. We could walk everywhere!

We walked back through town, through what must be the gaybourhood, as there were many gay clubs and male strip clubs around.