London - bye!
28. august 2015, England ⋅ ⛅ 17 °CLeaving London and the UK to start the European part of my trip.
Leaving London and the UK to start the European part of my trip.
Landed in Madrid. First thing I noticed was the super modern airport terminal, something I kinda wasn't expecting. This was true of the rest of Madrid too, (and I know this sounds bad but) for someLæs mere
My hostel is on a quiet side street where everything seemed to be closed. Not sure if due to siesta our economic issues (arrived in 30°+ weather, around 5 pm). However, it's close to everything,Læs mere
The Hostel provides a free walking tour, so decided to tag along instead of the usual free "New Europe" tour. Bit of a mistake - the guide didn't seem to know too much about most places we visited,Læs mere
I did another walking tour today, learned a lot more history than on the hostel's walking tour, but mostly visited the same stuff. Here's a picture of the royal palace gardens and a neat 3D doorLæs mere
I wandered over to the west side of the central city to see an Egyptian temple on a hill - not very spectacular, but there was a decent view from there.
Walked down the main street (Calle Gran Via) -Læs mere
Madrid has a huge park east of the city center, kind of like the Auckland Domain but bigger, nicer, and more popular. It has tons of paved/dirt walkways, fountains, statues, buildings, and a lake.Læs mere
Briefly visited another art museum. Interesting building with glass elevators on the outside. Took a photo of a Picasso before the attendant told me off (there were no photo-prohibiting signs aroundLæs mere
Last day before conference, wandered back through another part of Retiro park and to Atocha train station, where they had converted an old terminal into an indoor park (with a tortoise pond!).
The one hotel I'm staying in during this trip. Living it up! Nice to have a whole bed/bathroom/space to myself but feels so isolated compared to hostels. Not much in the surrounding area either. MyLæs mere