Madrid City, Walking tour
Awake at 4.12am, my body clock is all over the place. After trying my hardest to continue sleeping, I finally give up and get out of bed at 6 am. It seemed like midnight, that’s how dark the morning sky was on an Autumn morning here in Madrid.
A quick shower and change, I hit the street in search for some coffee. To my delight, 5 mins up the road, I found Starbucks, well what can I say, I am a creature of habit. I find myself smiling, ear to ear ….. it was hard to hide my excitement. (Just an advice, if you can not think of the Spanish words when ordering coffee or any food for that matter, do not say it in French or Hindi …… Try English, they have a better chance of understanding). After enjoying the biggest cup (Venti) of Chai Latte, I go on a self-guided walking tour.
From all my travel experiences, I have learned that if you follow a map you will only see what you came to see. So when I travel, I go for a walk, wondering the unknown, taking in all the good and bad about the place. The true magic is when you feel emotions that comes from your heart, out of your eyes and rolls down your checks….. that’s when you know you are a Traveller, not a Tourist.
Its almost 9 am and the sun has just started to shimmer through the clouds and with it come to the warmth. A Pleasant walk down Gran Via, admiring the Artichture, listening to people talk, laugh and tourist running with suitcases etc.
I come upon this big open space, in the middle of this open space was a Statue of a horse. People where busy taking photos, of cause I had to as well. Later I figured this place is called Plaza De Sol. Surround with shops, cafes, and apartments. When you look up, the balconies of these apartments have little flowers hanging off it, which looked very pretty, like a picture of a fairytale. A smell of baking took me to this amazing cafe. The window was full of pastry, cakes, slices, you name it, they had it. The smell was making me so hungry, I had to try something ….. even though my waistline was saying to me DO NOT DO THIS TO ME…
I continue with my walk, the side of my eye caught the entrance to Mayor Plaza. I saw a photo of this once, It is so much bigger than the photo. Again, Statue in the middle, cafes, shops, apartments. Tourist everywhere, enjoying the sun, having some lunch, I sit in the middle of this historical square imagining what it would have been like when this place was first built. The cobblestone and orange colors stood out from miles, my favorite part was walking through the big arch entrance…. like I am the queen walking in my castle.
Continuing with my walk, I stumble upon a Market Of San Miguel, I see lots of people walking in and out of this place, my curiosity got better of me, I walk in, wow…. all my sense come alive, the smell of beautiful Spanish Food, Wine, Beer…. I was not hungry, even though it was almost 2 pm. I found myself walking round and round trying to figure out what I should try. Since I haven’t really tried any market style Spanish food before, guess what I did…… you got it …. have a little of everything. Why NOT??
On my way back, I spotted the Starbucks shop from the side street, which made me laugh, that’s a short way back, I walked all around the Madrid city center, almost haha. Just as well, since I have eaten for 10 people.
It’s almost 7 pm, I make my way back to my room. Tired as, in a food coma and happy as a pig in the mud…… What a wonderful day in Madrid.
Travelquote: “And then there is the most dangerous risk of all — the risk of spending your life not doing what you want on the bet you can buy yourself the freedom to do it later.” – Randy Komisar
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