Kapital in the Capital
Last weekend we took a quick trip to the Capital of Spain, Madrid. It was actually cheaper for us to book a flight than a train so a quick 50-minute flight on Friday afternoon later, we were there. We quickly got lunch and went straight into some sightseeing.
We stopped by a burrito shop that just had a window, no seating. We received our burritos and started walking towards Puerta Del Sol. Perta Del Sol originated as one of the gates in the city wall that surround Madrid centuries ago. Now, it is one of the busiest areas in the city, the center of the radial network of Spanish roads, and known for a famous Spanish new years tradition of the eating of the 12 grapes. We hung out here briefly, finished our lunch and kept the day moving as we were fighting daylight.
Our next stop was Plaza Mayor, the central plaza of Madrid dating back from the 1500’s. Plaza Mayor is a rectangular shape surrounded by a beautiful red building around the perimeter. While we visited there was currently a Christmas market going on. We briefly walked through, but from there continued on our way walking through Madrid.
Madrid is a beautiful and very unique city. It feels quite different than Barcelona, and if you are visiting Spain it is worth checking out both. The culture feels different; the city is very uniquely structured and feels a lot larger. While there, I kept drawing comparisons in my head to Barcelona being similar to Chicago and Madrid being more like New York. It’s a little more crowded, a little more hectic, and you feel like there is so much going on around you.
After walking through the city we made it to the Plaza de La Almundena, which is located right near the Royal Palace of Madrid and Almundena Cathedral. The Royal Palace of Madrid is the official Palace of Madrid but it is only used for state ceremonies. The Royal family actually resides in a more modest palace on the outskirts of Madrid. Almundena Cathedral. An interesting fact about the Cathedral is that when the capital of Spain was transferred from Toledo to Madrid back in the late 1500’s, Madrid did not have a cathedral; therefore plans of this cathedral began than, but were not constructed until the late 1800’s. The reason for this is because it was imperative for the cathedral to be one of the largest the world had ever seen, but at this time the higher priority was to allocate funding towards keeping and expanding the empire.
We experience some quite cold weather and some high winds, so after this, as the sun began to go down we headed towards our Air BnB. On the way, we stopped by the famous San Miguel Market dating back over 100 years for a quick snack.
That night we were planning on going out. We had heard great things from multiple friends about the club Teatro Kapital, a 7-floor club. What we didn’t quite realize beforehand was that this club had a dress code that we didn’t quite pack for. So before dinner, we headed over to Primark, (a large well-known quite cheap European store) on Gran Via.
What we didn’t know was that this Primark was absolutely massive, a 5-floor store that is nearly the size of a mall itself. The store was absolute chaos. However, we were able to get in and out with some cheap shoes and nice shirts for the night. From there we headed to dinner and began the night.
The club Kapital did not let down. It was one of the first times Abby and I have gone to a club just us two since we’ve been in Europe. We had a lot of fun and the 7-floor is like nothing either of us had ever seen. We decided to call it a night before it got too late because we had one more site we wanted to see the next day and did not want to spend too much time at the club and ruin that.
The next day we woke up and it was already the afternoon. I guess we spent a little more time at the club than we realized. Isn’t it funny how alcohol can do that?
We got some food in us and headed over to the famous Buen Retiro Park. Although not quite the size of Central Park in NYC by any means, Buen Retiro Park is a 350-acre park that solidified my Chicago-Barcelona, Madrid-NYC comparison. We walked around the beautiful park for about an hour, saw some of the sites, and then hopped onto a rowboat for a while in the Retiro pond.
This was so relaxing and pleasurable to row around the pond for a little bit and not be as focused on a time focused agenda. We spent at least an hour rowing around before the coldness started to get to us. From here, we headed home before the sunset. Towards the end, Abby got a little splash on her pants and the coldness plus the wet water equaled time for some heat. (It wasn’t my fault I promise).
That night we had some dinner, walked around through Puerta Del Sol and saw the big lit-up Christmas tree, then headed back to Gran Via. Gran Via is known as the Spanish Broadway for its upscale shopping and active nightlife. (Ok does my NYC comparison come full-circle now, or what?). We strolled up and down, looked around in a few shops, and called it a night before our early flight the next day.
Madrid is a very cool city that I highly recommend to anyone visiting Spain. We’ve now been to Barcelona, San Sebastian, Pamplona, Valencia, and The Canary Islands (technically Spain). While all of these are very different, Madrid is probably at the top of the list right beside Barcelona in my opinion. I felt the touristy attractions may not be the most interesting, but the vibe and activity of the city are very cool. We both really enjoyed our day in the park, and are very happy we made it to Madrid. However, if you ever get the chance to go, maybe avoid December. It was a little colder than we anticipated!
