Madrid

Madrid

This is our second visit to Madrid. We came in Nov 2015, as the first stop of our first ever Europe experience, Spain and Portugal. This time, it will be the last stop of our second Europe experience, Italy and Spain. Both visits included 5 nights in Madrid.

We loved Madrid the first time round, and the love deepened this second visit. Our favourite churros and chocolate cafe, Chocolat in Calle Santa Maria is still as good, with additional "heart attack in a cup" combinations on their menu. Kai and I swoon over Bora Bora, a mocha made with their dreamily thick fudgy hot chocolate, strong coffee, condensed milk and whipped cream. Talk about swooning, Alfonso the owner was eye candy swoon worthy 2 years ago, and he is every bit so 2 years on. He does not speak any English, so we communicate through his staff who translates for us. I have watched Alfonso interact with his staff and customers and have concluded that he is just the nicest, sweetest man ever. When he found out that it was Kai's birthday, he played "Happy Birthday" over the music system as he presented her with an enormous slice of his yummy chocolate cake with a candle. Kai was horrified that happy birthday played in every conceivable language, and was left playing all the time she was in the café. Most hilarious.

We also revisited our other foodie haunt, Mas El Sur, for dinner. Again just as delicious as we remembered, and the staff are lovely, although they are all different from 2015. Whilst having dinner there on our second last night, we met John, a gay guy from Philippines who now lives in Munich. He and his friend sat at the table next to us, and as the tables are quite close together, we got chatting. Within half an hour, we got the life story of him and his entire family. It was most entertaining, and he was delightful dinner company. "Darlings, I've been to Perth, but what is there to do in Perth for a gay guy? So I had to, Had to, visit my friends in Melbourne and Sydney. Perth. It's so quiet, I can hear the birds!"

We also paid our respects to our other Madrid acquaintances (the artworks) in the Museo Reina Sofia, Museo Sorolla, and Museo del Prado, all art galleries. Some familiar faces were there, and it was lovely to meet new ones. They were all still as captivating in their beauty and composition. The big change that we noticed that was that photography was not allowed anymore in the Prado. All the attendants said that it was only allowed in the main gallery, but no one seems to agree on where the main gallery was. Some said that it was in the basement, whilst others said that it was on the first level. So, we did not take any photos. Grace thought that we did progress through the gallery much faster not taking any photos. We were all there from 10am till 6pm, with about an hour for lunch. Grace and I retired after to a food court on the 9th floor of El Cortes Inglese to watch the last sun set on our wonderful 82 day holiday, and to await the girls who still had stamina to shop.Read more