As
promised, here is my beautiful and fulfilling experience in Madrid and
Barcelona. You all have no idea how excited I was. Booked my tickets way back
in December 2013 and I have to wait 3 months to actually go on this trip.
Before
I go into all the juicy details, I have to say, I'm in love with Quatar Airway.
Fly anywhere with Quatar and you will never be bored. The selections of movies
were AMAZING!!! If you are those kinds who can't sleep in the plane, next time,
try Quatar. The movies selection will entertain you throughout your journey
because they have most of the popular movies whether is it old or new.
It was
a long and tiring flight from Singapore to Madrid since I have to transit twice
(SG-Doha-Barcelona-Madrid). The exhaustion soon disappears when we finally
reached Madrid. I was all hyped up and ready to go.
It was only a 15-20mins ride from the airport to
our hotel (Hotel Regente) at Gran Via. The architectures and surrounding
environment were breathtaking and with such beautiful weather, it's definitely
a plus plus. The hotel we were staying is located in the central of Gran Via,
its surrounded with shops and cafes like Zara, Sephora, Loewe, Starbucks, etc
and right behind this building, were 2 different El Corte Ingles.
Settled down for quick lunch at one of the
Japanese Restaurant when a brunch of people holding flags starts walking down
the road protesting. Roads were blocked from cars to ensure no one gets hurt.
As time passes, more and more Protestants covered up the roads. Since the roads
were blocked and the Protestants were friendly to us, we took this opportunity
to take photos on empty roads and slowly enjoy the walking around Gran Via.
Walked down the street of Calle de Alcala (also known as the longest
street in Madrid), this is the street where most of the attractions are located
such as Metropolis Building, Plaza de Cibeles, Alcala gate and etc. If you walk
toward the Alcala gate, you will be able to see the northern entrance of Buen
Retiro Park.
Headed to Buen Retiro Park,
one of the largest parks in Madrid. The park was OMG WOW! Near the northern
entrance were the Retiro Pond and the Monument to King Alfonso XII. People were
sitting on the stairs by the pond and some were rolling in little boats, it was
beautiful. And then there were Paseo de la Argentina and Crystal Palace. We
couldn't finish this park because it was way too big and we need some coffee
break to ease the jet lag. This park is definitely the place where you want to
be hand in hand with someone you love and enjoy every part of it. My parents
were enjoying it and being the third wheel, I just got to do my own
sightseeing.
After that, we headed to
Calle de Jose Ortega y Gasset to boost the economic (if you know what I mean).
Its one of the best shopping area in Madrid where you can find most of the
luxury brand boutiques here so if you are into buying luxury goods, this is
definitely the place you want to go. There's Hermes, Louis Vuitton, Valentino,
Chanel, etc etc. There's also El Corte Ingles down the street so you might want
to check it out.
Since the weather turns
really cold at night and we were freezing, we popped into one of the hotel
there called Villa Magna to warm ourselves up and ask for direction. Man this
hotel is gorgeous!!! One word, GRAND! This is the hotel everyone wants to stay
in. Even though we were just finding shelter, they welcome us and help us with
direction. Friendly and helpful service is what every customer is looking for
and they have it. My parents were impressed, I was impressed, and how we wished
we found this hotel rather than the one we were staying at. Another reason why
I didn't bother to even blog about it. Everything about it is just bad except
it's location.
Anyway, my first day in
Madrid ended with a late dinner and sore legs. Walked way too much and totally
knocked ourselves out. No more intense walking for the rest of the trip because
my dad hurts his leg. Anyway the cab fares in Madrid is really cheap so why
suffer when you can just hired a cab right?
To be continue...
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