I had been looking forward to this trip for several weeks because I had not seen my cousin in two years! I took the usual bus and then a plane for an altogether 5+ hours of travel, but it was so worth it. My cousin, Grace, met me at the metro station and took me to her very cute apartment! I quickly learned that in Spain people do not have dinner until 10pm and go out around midnight, which is a huge change from my 11:30 bedtime. On Sunday Grace and I toured half of Madrid. I was introduced to tostada y tomates con aceite (my new favorite food toast with tomatoes and olive oil) for breakfast at a cute, little cafe. Disregard every time I say 'new favorite food' because the food in Spain was all so delicious and I'm very sad that I won't be able to eat it for a long time. We went on a self-guided tour of the cathedral, the Royal Palace of Madrid, lots of statues, and the palace gardens!
Continuing with our food tour, of course we had to eat some churros con chocolate! I learned from Grace that sometimes the Spanish natives will drink the chocolate. Don't get me wrong, I'm also a chocolate addict, but I'm not about to drink a cup of straight melted chocolate. I was lucky to visit right after Thanksgiving because Grace and her roommates threw a friendsgiving, so I was able to eat some traditional Spanish food made by Hispanics. I had tortilla, plaintains with pico de gallo, and other American dishes. On Monday we toured almost everything that we didn't see the day before: the Buen Retiro Park, Crystal Palace, Gran Via, the Plaza Mayor, and even the Temple de Debod. The Temple looked over all of Madrid, so I could see the Royal Palace, which is where we were the day before. The Crystal Palace is in the Buen Retiro Park and was probably my favorite structure that I saw in Madrid.
I ate so much food that day. I had mini sandwiches at cien montaditos, which literally means one hundred little sandwiches. For dinner Grace and I had tapas at a restaurant called Taste. Their patatas bravas and tostada y tomates were amazing. I would say that those were better than any of the potatoes I've had in Ireland, and that's saying a lot. I would highly recommend eating patatas bravas at Taste. I had very good timing with my visit to Madrid because the christmas lights and markets were up while I was there. I was even able to walk under one of the fake christmas trees!
Since Grace was working all day Tuesday, I went to visit Toledo for the day! As soon as I saw the city, I was blown away by how beautiful it is. It was really nice to just walk around the city and stop wherever and whenever I want to. Of course I had tostada con tomates as a snack before I really ventured anywhere. In Toledo I was able to see the Mirrador del Valle, the Monastery of San Juan, and the Catedral Primada! They were all so beautiful, but my favorite was the Mirrador del Valle where I was able to see all of Toledo from afar. For
For my last meal in Madrid, Grace and I went to a Mexican restaurant called Takos. They sell mini tacos at 1 euro a piece. I had two pollos (chicken), one suadero (beef), and one queso/papas/chorizo. My favorite was definitely the beef. I was really sad to leave Madrid because for the next week and a half, I am studying for my final exams! Wish me luck!