Spain: Sightseeing in Madrid

Spain was always on my bucket list of travel places to visit. However when I dreamed of Spain my thoughts leaned towards the Seville and Barcelona. I thought Madrid would be my least favorite part of my recent trip there but I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed the sights and food.

We started off our most recent visit checking into the modern style Hotel Regina (see room above). The hotel was affordable and in walking distance to most areas of interest – including Puerta del Sol where we saw these ladies below trying to work the crowd.

We also saw elmo and others but could only deal with so many poorly made character costumes so we headed over to Plaza Mayor where we saw this really weird goat thing.

Bubble fun…..

Interesting frescos in plaza.

Later on in the evening we happened upon a used book store.

And a store all about SHUTTING YOUR MOUTH.

Puerta del Sol was much nicer in the evening. Many people gathering around socializing. Madrid is a very social city.

Walking back to our hotel.

The next day we set out for the Royal Palace.

Official designs of the royal palace.

After we visited the palaces we stopped for tapas. Olives and sardines are a staple of tapas cusine.

We also had some chicken and tripe soup.

And Churros con chocolate

If you wander around the city enough you will happen upon small markets like this one. I liked the war machines made out of bullets.

There was also a great supply of Greek sweets.

And some fur accessories if you need them.

Nice fountain near the market.

Some beautiful night views of Madrid.

And back to our hotel to bed.

If you want to experience more of the food night life of Madrid, visit the past posts of Mercado de San Miguel and Tapas in Calle Cava Baja.

La Boqueria in Barcelona

My second favorite market in Spain is La Boqueria in Barcelona. While it did not have all the late night drinking options that the Mercado de San Miguel had in Madrid, one could still pick up a sandwich, fruit bowl, and juice there. I enjoyed looking over all the food options. I wish we had a market this big where I live.

East End Market

One of the things I love to do when traveling is to visit the local markets. I have fallen in love with markets in Spain and Provence. In the last week my city of Orlando got a market of its own. The East End Market opened up in Audubon Park. We were lucky to visit on a rainy day before the crowds arrived. It was delightful. I can tell I will be spending much more time here.

Local Roots

Local foods and beers.

La Femme du Fromage

Houndstooth Sauce Company

Fatto in Casa

Gardens out front.

SkyeBird Juice Bar

I stopped by to get a tasty drink at Skyebird juice bar.

Lineage Roasting

A couple of days after my first visit I stopped by the market at 7:00 am to get some really good and strong coffee at Lineage and a tasty morning treat from Old Hearth Bread Company.

Mercado de San Miguel

One of my favorite food places in the world is the Mercado de San Miguel in Madrid. The mercado is what I would call food heaven. After our first visit all I wanted to do is return again and again while we were in Madrid. You can get small samples of anything you can think of Spanish related. We had so much fun going from booth to booth tasting things. We ended up spending a large amount of time at the Vermut (Vermouth) and Sherry tasting booth. It is there that I discovered my new love for Vermouth. Evenings there are fun but crowded. Serious eaters should arrive earlier to avoid the lines.