Now, it is always wonderful to travel with friends, but it is super great to travel with friends who are similar to oneself and who want the same things out of a trip and who like the same degree of planning and preparation. Megan and I are such friends, and so it was really a lot of fun to spend the weekend with this lovely person. She had done most of the planning and is definitely a better navigator than me, so it was a super easy trip for me - thanks Megan!
Surprisingly, Swiss air had much cheaper tickets than easy jet (which doesn't normally happen), so it was nice to enjoy some "free" food, drinks and Swiss chocolate on the plane. After arriving late in the evening and taking a cab to out hotel we headed out to find some dinner around 10:30pm - completely normal in Spain! Megan had a place in mind that had been recommended, but that one was actually all closed up so our search continued. We ended up splitting a seafood paella which was really yum and marveled at the activity of a big, bustling city which is very different to sleepy and small Lausanne!
After a long sleep and a good breakfast we headed out to the Royal Palace of Madrid to get our dose of oppulence. Our visit was accompanied by a lot of "oohs" and "aahs" and "that's crazy, can you imagine living like that" - what a different world it must have been back in the day! We also walked through the cathedral which was majestic, but done in a very different style (neo-gothic, modern) to what I had seen before. After some much needed hydration (it was hot - yeah!) and people watching we headed to this market (Mercao de San Miguel) that had been recommended to us as good lunch-spot.
Now the word "market" does not do this place justice and this activity was probably my favourite of all the weekend. On arrival, we discovered a collection of tapas bars all laid out in this enclosed space, like a market. We did a tour to scout out our choices and decided on some calamari rings, some great olive sticks (olives with things like salmon, cheese, ham, sundried tomatoes), bread with some kind of cheese and fruit jam, and another one topped with a Spanish omlette... I had a fresh raspberry juice for dessert and Megan had some strawberries and cream. It was so yummy - I love eating bits and pieces and trying different things - so this made me really happy. We saw some crazy things in this place - a lot of meat and seafood, and sea-urchins, but the atmosphere was incredible and I would go back! It is a completely chaotic way to eat, and you have to be quite assertive in getting what you want, but it was so lively and communal.
We meandered down some shopping streets (and bought a bag of sweeties - ah, childhood memories!) before returning to our hotel to enjoy the rooftop pool and terrace where we enjoyed the sun and some rest. We headed out in the evening to find some dinner around 21:00, and went to another place that had been recommended (Juana La Loca) and it was delicious!
We had this warm potato and tomato mix on bread; duck spring rolls; brie, bacon and chilli on bread, and artichoke, garlic and Parmesan on bread again. All beautifully prepared and totally yummy! We finished off with lemon meringue and this amazing fondant type dessert. It was made with dulce de leche in the middle encased in a banana type bread with banana ice-cream - so delicious! We washed it all down with sangria- ah, when in Spain!
We slept in late on Sunday and enjoyed a leisurely breakfast before visiting an art museum for some culture and history. I'm really ignorant when it comes to art, but I do appreciate the immense talent of other people and I'm always interested to see how religious themes dominated most of the art. We followed our brochure and stopped at all the "masterpieces" as indicated, although other than recognizing a few famous names, I wouldn't be able to tell you why these were masterpieces and the others not.
We then went to visit the botanical gardens - largely disappointing- but then made up for it by visiting another park which was beautiful. Here I had a yummy iced chocolate and coffee drink and we did some more people watching (always interesting, and especially so in another country!)
At about 4pm we decided it was time for lunch and so went to find the "ham museum" another spot that came recommended. Naturally, this is a place to eat ham, and so we did! The inside is covered in dried legs of ham hanging everywhere and basically the thing to eat here is different types of ham on bread in sandwhich form or plates of ham and cheese. It is possible to join in the lively crowd clustered around the bar and small tables who are ordering as they eat... But our limited spanish and weary legs meant we chose to sit at a table outside. We ordered a plate of different dried hams and cheese, some bread and a salad (we had to at least attempt to be balanced). I wanted some beer and our waiter generously informed us that a 1.5l jug was cheaper than one glass, so that is what I ended up with, which I thought was kind of amusing! It made me think back to a family trip to a beer garden in Germany where I was photographed holding a beer glass that was far too large for any child!
Before retuning to the hotel and heading to the airport, it was time for some frozen yoghurt. Sadly, frozen yoghurt does not exist in Switzerland, and it is something I miss a lot! We found a place where you select your own flavours (I had apple, strawberry, vanilla and Greek yoghurt) and topped it with everything - cocunut, cookies, smarties, fruit, chocolate covered nuts and dulce de leche.... Hhhm delicious!
Our flight was an hour late leaving Madrid (this is an inherent risk associated with flying out late in the evening, you get stuck with the accumulated effect of the day's delays), but considering we were on Spanish time, arriving in Geneva at midnight seemed kind of appropriate! Thankfully Megan had driven us to the airport, because train connections to Lausanne at that time of night are scarce, and although it was a fantastic weekend, I was still very happy to climb into my own bed.
The weekend was full of laughter, sun, good food and good conversation and was such a treat after a busy time at work. On to the next one...
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