(211117) Barcelona, ES -> Madrid, ES
Now it is time for the last destination before flying above the atlantic ocean. Our ride was around 6 PM so we had the half day for preparing and organising things for Cuba. For Madrid we booked a hostel for 3 nights in advance. Couchsurfing did not seem to work this time. Everybody was out of the city ^^.
In the late afternoon we caught the ride and arrived in Mardrid around 1 AM the following day. Because I had no water anymore I was looking for a „Späti“ and I did find one. I did not expect that.
(221117) Madrid, Day 1
Our friends from Barcelona gave us a map from Madrid with their recommendations where to go. The first day we checked out the closer east area around the „Parque de el retiro“ and the park itself. I want to take you on a journey with the following photos (:
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| El Àngel Caído, Madrid, Spain, 11/2017 |
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| Palacio de Cristal, Madrid, Spain, 11/2017 |
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| Parque de el retiro, Madrid, Spain, 11/2017 |
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| El estanque grande, Madrid, Spain, 11/2017 |
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| Fuente de la Alcachofa, Madrid, Spain, 11/2017 |
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| Puerta de Felipe IV, Madrid, Spain, 11/2017 |
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| Parroquia San Jerónimo el Real, Madrid, Spain, 11/2017 |
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| Museo Nacional de El Prado, Madrid, Spain, 11/2017 |
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| La Puerta de Alcalá, Madrid, Spain, 11/2017 |
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| Madrid, Spain, 11/2017 |
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| Madrid, Spain, 11/2017 |
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| Madrid, Spain, 11/2017 |
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| Palaca of Communication, Madrid, Spain, 11/2017 |
The center of Madrid seemed to be big for the first view but after we walked a little bit around we realized, ok, take it slow, because the center is walkable and you do not need to hurry up.
In our hostel we found a card of discount for Subways so that we ate dinner there. I have not been there for a long time and I really enjoyed the sandwich. We ate at Subways in the following days again ^^. If you have any discount for Subways you should use it because it is worth it. There are often promoter around a store who can make you a nice offer. We always tried to find anything possible with a discount. Even at the souvenir stores we negotiated for the stickers 😀
(231117) Madrid, Day 2
The hostel offered every morning breakfast. It was easy but okay to not start the day with an empty stomach. On this day we wanted to discover the surroundings of the metro station Callao including the Egypt Temple, Royal Palace and the historical library.
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| Historical Library, Madrid, Spain, 11/2017 |
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| Egypt Temple, Madrid, Spain, 11/2017 |
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| From the view point near the Egypt Temple, Madrid, Spain, 11/2017 |
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| Cathedral de la Almudena, Madrid, Spain, 11/2017 |
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| A guard from the Royal Palace, Madrid, Spain, 11/2017 |
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| Inside the Royal Palace, Madrid, Spain, 11/2017 |
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| From the Royal Palace, Madrid, Spain, 11/2017 |
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| Royal Palace, Madrid, Spain, 11/2017 |
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| Royal Palace, Madrid, Spain, 11/2017 |
At the Royal Palace you have free admission from monday to thursday from 4 PM to 6 PM (oct-mar) and 6 PM to 8 PM (apr-sep). A lot of people knew this and the waiting line was pretty long.
(241117) Madrid, Day 3
The checkout time of the hostel was at 10:30 AM but we could leave our backpacks in the hostels luggage room to go into the city. It was Black Friday and we went to the San Anton Supermarket which has a nice rooftop to sit down for eating. Also some food stores had special offers and we got cheap pizza. We were close to a shopping street and just had a look around if we find something useful that is cheap. Like a rainjacket ^^.
One thing we wanted to try were the Churros which are served with a cup of warm melted chocolate. Do not forget the additional sugar ^^.
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| Churros with hot melted chocolate, Madrid, Spain, 11/2017 |
Later in the hostel we got our backpacks and enjoyed another Subways sandwich before going to a friends place in west Madrid. There we spent one night before going to the more outer Madrid.
(251117) Madrid -> La Navata
Our next destination was still in the area of Madrid but we needed to take the train to get there. It was the parents place of a girl we met in Portugal. We were curious about the environment outside of Madrid. The parents received us friendly and we had some pasta. Both speak spanish but the mum was also able to talk in english if we could not understand in spanish. After dinner we made a trip to El Escorial to a nice viewpoint and visited the university which also owns a church.
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| El Escorial, Spain, 11/2017 |
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| El Escorial, Spain, 11/2017 |
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| El Escorial, Spain, 11/2017 |
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| Universtiy, El Escorial, Spain, 11/2017 |
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| Market place, El Escorial, Spain, 11/2017 |
(261117) La Navata, Day 1 We were closer to the mountains and the landscape is hilly. Close to the house is a park with a river and an old bridge. In summer you can find snakes there but in the late november we could not find any animals. The weather was sunny but in the shadow it was still fresh.
Wir waren jetzt näher an den Bergen und die Landschaft ist hügeliger. Nahe des Hauses ist ein Park mit einem Fluss und einer alten Brücke. Im Sommer kann man dort Schlangen finden aber im späten November haben wir dort keine Tiere mehr entdeckt.
Das Wetter war sonnig, aber im Schatten wars trotzdem kalt.
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| Do not know what kind of plant this is (:, La Navata, Spain, 11/2017 |
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| Park south of La Navata, Spain; 11/2017 |
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| Park south of La Navata, Spain; 11/2017 |
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| Puente de la Alcanzorla, La Navata, Spain, 11/2017 |
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| Puente de la Alcanzorla, La Navata, Spain, 11/2017 |
(271117) La Navata, Day 2
This day we used to prepare some things and rest a little bit.
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Madrid was a cold last stop and we had a nice time there. Three days were enough to get around and the two days in La Navata as well. Personally I prefer the nature with mountains, rivers and great places to rest for a while (: