Day 45 - Madrid sightseeing

Another exciting, fun-filled & sweltering day in Madrid with the temp reaching 39°!!

Jose took the day off work today to be my tour guide 🙏🙌. We left on the metro around 10.30am and headed for the city centre where he showed me soooo much history - Malasana, the Royal Palace, Chueca, Sol, Plaza Mayor! - to name but a few - seriously, the sights & attractions are endless in this place!

The beauty in the architecture, the gardens, and the people are enough to make you want to come back for more! ❤️

I was introduced to Vermut (maybe we call it Vermouth?!)... we sat outside in the sun with the complimentary olives 🫒 drinking our fortified vino!🍷...very nice!

I saw the most interesting scene today, which made me laugh... so we are walking up Grand Via and I see all these Nigerian men with tarps laid out displaying bags, shirts, sunglasses etc... but they are holding ropes?! Why?! 🤔... this boggled my mind, so I asked Jose what they were doing!!

He explained that they are selling illegally! So if they see a policeman, they can quickly pull the ropes to close up all their wares and RUN 🏃‍♂️!!! 🤣

It's like a game of cat & mouse as this is what they do ALL day! About 30mins later, I saw this exact scene play out in front of me and caught it on video! ...love this footage, which is attached! 😂

We ventured back to my 'home away from home' around 2pm and met Lissy, who had now finished work. We then had some lunch and a siesta! 😴

At 6 p.m., we left Jose to watch the Madrid vs. Germany soccer game, and we headed to a shopping centre for some retail therapy!

He was a very happy chappy when we got back, as Madrid had won! 😄👏... we had a bikini sandwich (ham & cheese toastie) with some salad and tortilla for la cena (dinner) 😋

I have absolutely loved my Madrid stopover and have been blessed by these amazing people who've taken me under their wing as one of their own! From a 3 hour friendship to now feeling like I've known these guys forever, it is yet another example of some camino magic! ✨️❤️Leer más