Spain - Madrid 15-18 October 2009

We flew to Madrid to meet up with Kieran’s friends Katie and Carlos as she had not seen Katie in

a long time and it was as always a good excuse to go away to another country. When we landed we

had an easy trip from airport to hotel didn’t get lost or struggle with the language too much. The metro system is good and seems to be cheap although we had to buy a lot of tickets for the trips we took. It took us from place to place easy and the changes were just like any metro in the world. We arrived late at night and decided not to meet up with the others so we just texted them that we would meet up the following day.

Kieran and I went to a café over the road for breakfast. Not knowing too much Spanish we managed to order some food and drinks which turned out like a win as it was all really good stuff. (the next day was a much different experience). As we were going to be meeting the others around mid-day we decided to walk into the heart of town as it was a lovely day. We had the time and why spend more time underground when you don’t need to. The walk ended up being longer than I thought but it was good exercise and we saw much of the city.

We wondered around the city and found a nice plaza (Mayor Plaza) we could just sit in and wait. There was a lot happening in here with street performers and all. Once we had met up with Katie and Carlos, we found a place to eat and sat down to enjoy the sun, food and catch up. That afternoon we had a guided city tour, though we

didn’t hit many spots of interest. It was more us following one guy who would walk us down the road and then talk in the one spot for a very long time. That night was spent drinking and eating tapas.

The following day we went on a day trip to Avila to see some old churches and other buildings. It was a bus tour. We saw an old monastery and the place when St Therese came from. We even saw her dead ring finger...cool but gross.

The next day we just walked around a bit had lunch with the others and relaxed in a park

soaking up the sun that we had missed living in the UK and just took a relaxed time getting back to the hotel and onto the airport. Finishing this way was a wonderful way to end a long weekend away.