Today has been a beautiful day in Madrid, and not really an average winter day. It’s normally 6 degrees Celsius and today was 15 degrees Celsius, so pretty hot.
We visited many places. First we visited El Portal del Sol which is basically one of the most important plazas in Madrid, which to be honest was ok. Next we went to a market, El Mercado de San Miguel which was very beautiful and where we also bought some ham.
We were also able to buy some ‘croquetas’ a very traditional plate here in Spain and sit down in the market
Before coming to Madrid I thought it was a much worse version of Barcelona. However, they are really different and I think it’s because Barcelona is a more international destination, whereas Madrid is a more national destination. This means that most shops in Barcelona’s center are fake traditional places for tourists who don’t know about Spanish culture, and Madrid’s shops and restaurants are actually family or traditional, since most tourists are Spanish and will know when something has a bad quality or is ‘fake’.
Here are some pictures I took of the streets and its emblematic places:
However, my favorite thing about the city was ‘El Retiro’ a park on the city center. It was soooooo beautiful and I even forgot I was in Madrid. There were fountains, a pond, el palacio de cristal (the glass palace) and of course many trees. We went in the afternoon so we saw the sunset which was stunning.
Although I’ve always said that Barcelona is better than Madrid I loved ‘El Retiro’ and I think that a park like this one would be perfect for Barcelona.