My backpacking journeys have taken me to the corners of the world, tis just one such vacation when I reached Madrid in search for aristocracy, history and the food which Europe offers.
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We took the Flixbus at Bercy Seine, to reach Madrid From Paris. It was a tiring journey of 12 hours. After getting down at the bus stand, we took help from Google navigation to find our way to the nearest metro station ‘Príncipe pío’. At the subway, we were confused about which metro we should take. As a newbie, We didn't want to make the mistake of taking the wrong train and getting lost and waste our precious time in Madrid. Once we figured out the right train, we hopped in and it took hardly 11 mins to reach our destination station ‘Tribunal’ from there our hostel was at a walk able distance, so we decided to walk there while exploring a bit.
It was a nice walk from the subway to our hostel ‘Bastardo Hostel Madrid’. As we get closer to the hostel, I started getting a good vibe from the place and people. It looked like the hub of the Party and shopping. We had booked the room in advance and only the payment process was due when we arrived at the hostel, which was a much easier option for us travelers.
After all the formalities were completed the hostel manager handed over the key for a Beautiful room which was a 6-bed common dorm with an attached common washroom.
The room was “U-shaped” and right next to the main door of the dorm, on the left, there was a huge white marble basin decorated with a single orchard flower and lights which draped perfectly over the basin. There was even a full floor length mirror opposite the basin.
One of the bunk beds was already taken by a fellow travelers who were not present at the moment; we figured that they probably had gone out for a tour. We found our bunk bed a bit further inside the room. I chose the lower bed and my friend took the upper one. We were provided with two lockers under the bed to keep our luggage and valuables safe. The ‘U- shape’ of the room gave us little privacy from other travelers in the room.
We freshen up quickly since we wanted to explore the area before it gets dark since the sun sets around 7 pm during winter, we then came down to the common area which had a small Resto-bar where the hostel organizes Musical performances for travelers. Unfortunately, no one was playing that day. The caretaker provided us with the details of other hostels that had pub-crawls on their schedule for the night. We had enough time to go sightseeing before the pub-crawl started at 09:30 pm.
We went to the shopping street which was just 200 meters away from our hostel. Name any branded shop, and it was there. It was a lite place with many happy faces moving around and people performing musical Instruments like cellos and harps. We decided to have a light dinner there itself before heading to the suggested hostel for our pub-crawl.
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Right in front across the street, there was McDonald’s, which was perfect for my vegan friend. The freshly baked burger was amazing and the quality of food was way better than the one we get in Indian McDonald's. After our dinner, we joined the group of other pub crawlers. It was only 15 Euros per person to join the group, and that included 5 shots of vodka. There were around 15 to 20 travelers from around the world hanging out in the common room, playing games, singing, dancing, and exchanging travel experience. After a few minutes of initial awkwardness, it was a lot of fun hanging out with them. Our organizer informed us that the pub crawl would start at 12:30 am. Midnight parties in clubs start at 1 am. While waiting, the group of 15 became 30+ as other travelers kept joining the group. We went to 3-4 pubs which were fully packed. At each pub, they gave 3 free shots of flavored vodka, which tasted sweet and smelled good. Later that night, we went to Madrid's popular international party venue called ‘Fucking Monday’ and it is organized every Monday. They play EDM, Commercial and Latin music on different floors. We first went to the Latin music floor to try a few dance moves. We then saw people having more fun in the lower deck where they were playing commercial music so we ran there and that was fun too. The party went on till 04:30 in the morning.
We were tired and exhausted, so we headed back to our hostel to get at least a few hours of sleep.
The second day we woke up at 10:30 A.M and got ready for the day. We had noodles and bread butter for breakfast at the hostel’s kitchen. Then we took the subway from Tribunal to Retiro station, and across the road from the station, there was El Retiro Park. It’s one of the largest parks in central Madrid.
At first, when we entered the park it looked like any other normal park for jogging or to walk dogs. But as soon as we reached the Jerónimos water fountain, we were in awe of its sheer beauty. The fountain was a circular shape and looked perfect with a flower bed around it. While roaming in the park we got the chance to interact with locals. We met an old lady in a wheelchair with her son and started chatting. She wanted to know about us and all places we have been to. It was nice to experience her care towards us strangers in a foreign land.
Further along our walk, we saw lake people boating, kayaking, and people sitting near the lake. There was also a puppet show for kids, musicians playing their instruments and people doing yoga. We took a few pictures near the lake. The park was massive and we enjoyed exploring the massive park along with all the monuments, statues, and galleries the park offered.
We then took a walk from Retiro Park to San Jerónimo church. It looked beautiful glowing in the setting sun’s light. Unfortunately, we did not get the chance to go inside as the church was closed for the day after mass. Just opposite the church, there was a museum known as Nacional Del Prado, which is the royal museum housing many painting and sculptures and is a great place for art enthusiasts to explore. We decided against visiting it after seeing the long queue for tickets and returned to our hostel. (If you are interested you should go and check out.) Since it was already dark we decided to call it a day and went to buy a few souvenirs and have dinner. After a heavy dinner of delicious tenderloin burger and sangria in the hotel’s restaurant, we retired to bed early.
We started the third day in Madrid with a hearty breakfast huevos rancheros with chicken and coffee. We then went to the Julia Travel Tour and Tickets office which is near the Royal Palace of Madrid. We decided to take the Toledo day tour package. This full-day tour included an air-conditioned bus, local official guide fluent in both English and Spanish, a radio guide system, and admission to the Church of St. Tomé, the Synagogue of St. Maria la Blanca, the Monastery of San Juan de Los Reyes and the Cathedral of Toledo. Half an hour after payment, our tour guide introduced herself to the group of travelers. The journey was one hour from Madrid to Toledo distance of 72 km. We got a great chance to see the lovely Spanish countryside during the day time. 45 min into the journey, the bus stopped at a souvenir shop near Toledo I bought 3 fridge magnets and one Spanish hand fan in which the famous dance flamenco was printed. We reached our first stop in another 20 min.
I was mesmerized to see the grand old city of Toledo surrounded by the Maumee River. We were instructed by our guide to stick with the group or else it's quite easy to get lost in the old streets which look all the same. So we followed our local guide for the walking tour and she also told us that the city is a perfect mix of Christian, Jewish, and Arab culture.
We learned about the fascinating heritage and coexistence of culture from centuries, which influences the current architectural style.
We walked through the courtyard cloisters and royal coats of arms at the San Juan de Los Reyes Monastery. After that, we went to see the royal mausoleum sponsored by Queen Elizabeth in Castilla. It is considered one of the most important constructions by the Catholic Monarchs.
We visited the St. Maria la Blanca, a fantastic museum of Mudejar. Our final destination was the Cathedral of Toledo, Considered as one of the most important Gothic Cathedrals in Spain. After we spent 30 mins to take pictures on the bridge which connects the old Toledo city to the main road after that we headed towards Madrid.
As soon as we reached Madrid, we walked back straight to the hostel. It was chilly outside so we wore warm clothes before going out again to spend our last day in Madrid. We went to the shopping street to take a walk, had dinner and called it a day. The next morning we needed to catch the train to Valencia.
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