Lunch was
alright. The catering service is offered by this eatery company called DoEat,
which translates into a lot of wraps, ready-made yogurts and hipster food. Not
my kind of thing, but I was hungry. I met some of Erin’s friends, Nicole and Fabi,
who were really nice and joined us on the tour of the residence- gym, swimming
pool, loft terrace… Amazing views by the way!
After lunch
we chilled for a bit before heading to Calle de Fuencarral to do some sales
shopping. We made our way down the street towards Gran Vía and then to Sol. I
didn’t really buy much – there were so many people! I did get a nice black
skirt and a denim dress which were really nice.
Once back in her room we
decided to order pizza and I introduced Erin to Domino’s. So easy to order and
get it delivered it might become a bad habit, but the food was glorious! I was
starving and craving freshly baked cookies! That night we attempted to watch
The Da Vinci Code and failed after it
crashed. It looked like a really good adaptation of the book so I have to get
round to watching it again…
On Saturday
we decided to go for an early brunch at 11. I learnt that
pain au chocolat is called a
napolitana
in Spanish and felt like a stranger to my mother tongue. I also ate
tortilla for breakfast and met some
other friends of Erin’s, Belén and Álvaro. Quite a few new things for a short
amount of time! Then we walked towards the
Estación
de Chamberí in Andén 0 museum. The day was sunny but chilly and we had to
queue outside and wait inside for ages before we were allowed in, but it was
definitely worth it! The station was closed in the 60s and has been restored
and opened to the public for free. It was pretty busy as there is a quota of
people who can access at a time, but if you’re ever around Madrid,
that is a more “alternative” thing to
do. I’ve been to Madrid so many times that this time round I wanted to visit
some different places and Andén 0 did not disappoint. They showed a very
interesting video about how the Metro was first built and how it has changed
over the years and then the actual station looks amazing – vintage signs still
up and so are the original ticket offices! Definitely worth a visit!
After that
we headed to the nearby Casa Sorolla museum. We thought we’d have reduced
tickets and, lucky us, since it was Saturday afternoon we got in for free. The
house looks like an Andalusian haven in the middle of the concrete city –
orange trees and Spanish pottery decorations.
The house itself is amazing; it is full of original objects and, of
course, Sorolla’s paintings. I particularly enjoyed his study, which showcased
his brushes and some of his most known works, but also I loved seeing his piece
‘Madre’. It was a lovely visit, another successful decision.
Then we
were free for a couple hours so we decided to head over to the nearby Natural
Sciences Museum. I think this was an alright one, nothing extraordinary. I have
definitely seen better ones in other parts of Europe, but to be honest this one
is worth a visit at least once, particularly if you have children. I do have to
mention how strange I find that you have to pay to get into the museum – I’ve
been spoilt in England, most important museums being free to the public!
Then we
made our way to Sol to meet with Sofía. Bad decision because that station has
like four different exits into a crammed and busy square, especially on a
Saturday afternoon. I happened to stumble across Barbara from Bath who is doing
her Erasmus in Madrid – what a small world! When we finally managed to find
Chopi, we headed towards El Retiro and stopped at Starbucks to grab a snack. I
swear, I made those two girls see more Madrid while I was there than all the
time they’ve been living in the city! We strolled around the park and saw the
lake and then went to
Palacio de Cristal
only to have the door shut on our faces. It was beautiful to watch from the
outside anyway though… We ended up chatting away while eating strawberries on a
park bench. Once the sun started setting we made our way back to
El Prado – snaky queue going along the
building as it was free entry time. We went towards Lavapiés, which is a really
cool area I hadn’t been to before. Perfect if you are of a more hippie vibe and
looking for international food and enjoying a
caña with some friends. At around eight-ish we parted because Chopi
was meeting with some girls and we were definitely tired and in need of a good
sleep.
Once back
near Erin’s place we stopped at Vips for dinner and happened to be served by a guy
from the Canary Islands – again, what a small world! The food was really good,
berry and mango ice-cream being the best part! That night I skimmed through
Erin’s new book acquisitions:
Milk and
Honey and
This Modern Love. I
really liked both of them and hopefully I’ll have more time in the future to
read them properly.
On Sunday
it was my last day in Madrid. We woke up early to go to El Rastro, which Erin
had never been to either. The streets were crammed with stalls selling all
sorts of things: from clothes and souvenirs to all kinds of junk. We explored
the area and bought a few different things: a Jurassic Park pin, a black
old-school looking belt, a
Thelma &
Louise postcard, some old movie star cards… It was a good bunch of finds.
We then went back to the residence as the market was starting to become really
busy. It was great to go, but watch out for pickpockets!
Back in the
residence I packed my suitcase (well, more like put everything back in) and
then we chilled for a bit before heading to Oli and Gabi’s house for lunch. We
had lunch with them and it was great to see them and catch up. Later it was Oli
who drove us back to the residence so I could pick my suitcase up and go catch
the subway back to the airport. The trip back was fine and I happened to be
sitting beside Ana Oramas, who would’ve known?
It was a
lovely weekend in Madrid before embarking on my Italian adventures. Thanks Erin
for having me! <3
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