Layover in Madrid

Our flight from Frankfurt got us back to Madrid just in time for lunch. Instead of eating and returning to Sevilla, we had decided to stay in Madrid for a night and see a bit of the city. Especially since Monday was el Día de Andalucía, a holiday in southern Spain, so Katie didn't have class. Luckily, I never have class on Mondays. We met up with Daniel, our CouchSurfing host in Madrid, for lunch. What we didn't realize is that Daniel loves CouchSurfing and was hosting four other people that night as well. One was a Brazilian woman studying abroad in Portugal for the year and the other three were French students traveling to Madrid for the weekend. Our party of 7 enjoyed a nice lunch, although much more expensive than Sevilla, before splitting up for sight-seeing. Katie and I went and visited the Real Madrid Futbol stadium before meeting up with another of her friends from school, Don. 

Don is studying abroad in Madrid this semester, so we were happy to have him walk us around La Plaza del Sol, one of the main plazas en Madrid, as well as a few parks. Then we headed to a restaurant called Nebraska for dinner- authentic American food in Spain. They simply don't do it as well as well do- I think the proportion size and the amount of grease are both off. 


After an early night, we got up early to do some more sight-seeing before our bus back. We saw the Royal Palace and the Madrid cathedral, la Plaza Mayor, the Bank of Spain and much more. 

Basically, we did our own walking tour of the city so we've got it down. Next time I plan to hit up El Prado, La Reina Sofia (both art museums) as well as take a tour of the Royal Palace. We did one last lunch in Madrid before heading to the train station. Unlike in Sevilla, where tapas reign, Madrid restaurants typically have a Menu of the Day. Unlike in the US where these are daily specials, the Menu of the Day is all that restaurant serves for that particular meal. It usually consists of a first course, second course and dessert, and includes bread, wine or beer, and coffee. There are usually 3-5 options for each course for each diner to choose from. Still quite delicious, but I prefer the family-style tapas where everyone gets to try everything. And they're cheaper too!