Landing in Barajas and taking money out of the Banco Popular ATM, I fondly remembered my time in Madrid back in 2003. We got on the metro with the familiar voice that states “proxima estacion – sol, correspondencia con linea __ y __.” We got off at Plaza de Espana and located our hostel just a few meters away. Too bad it was 7:30 am…so we had to drop off our bags in the kitchen and not return until check-in at 2 pm. So we decided to be tourists for the day, walking around the Palacio Real, Plaza Mayor, Sol, and Principe Pio.
We lay down for a few minutes on a park bench and relaxed while listening to relaxing music in English while the park set up for a basketball tournament. And then we decided we needed air conditioning and internet so to McDonalds we went. A few cheeseburgers and ice cream cones later, it was 2:30 pm and we were ready to go to the hostel. We took a long nap, each of us on our own bunk bed. And by the time we awoke, it was time for dinner. So we took a recommendation from James, a British guy staying at the hostel, and went to the Mercado de San Miguel, an artisan market. There we bought fresh cod (bacalao) smeared on toast as well as smoked salmon with dill on toast. We downed these tapas with delicious sangria on ice. Since happy guy was still hungry, we went to the nearby grocery store and bought a baguette and slices of jamon. We should have known then that we would be eating a lot of jamon in Spain. On our walk home, we observed that Madrid is a city alive at night. There is more traffic at night than during the day, and people eating dinner after 9 pm. During our next two days in Madrid, we repeatedly went to the Museo de Jamon for cold beer and bocadillos de jamon y queso. We also visited the Palacio Real and Prado museum. Along with Las Meninas and the family of Carlos IV paintings at the Prado, the rainforest and turtles in the Atocha train station were memorable. We spent nearly a whole day with my cousin Maziar who treated us to a delicious Persian/Spanish lunch at his home including beef kabobs, rice, chicken, and of course olives, sardines, and salchichas for appetizers (aperitivos). Along with his son Vaju and another cousin Neima from Texas who was going to live in Valencia for the year, we walked to Parque de Retiro and took a wonderful 45 minute boat ride, where Vaju insisted on rowing and happy guy and I took lots of photos. We finished the day with a driving tour around the city highlighting Madrid’s beauty at night: the Post Office building, San Bernabeu stadium, and Templo Debut.