On our last full day in Madrid we had our friend take us around the City. We asked her to take us to Juan Valdez Cafe for a good cup of Colombian coffee. I have no idea which way we walked but it was not a short walk. We got to Juan Valdez and it was CLOSED!!!
Our personal tour guide took us on a walking tour of the Serrano and La Castellana neighborhoods and to Plaza Santa Ana. We had lunch at Lateral, a restaurant right across from the Plaza Santa Ana. This is probably one of my favorite restaurants now. The food was delicious and the Sangria too. The service was not great but this was true for ALL of the restaurants in Madrid. They treat you like they are doing you a favor. I believe it is because tipping is not a custom so servers don't have to work hard for their money.
There are always shoes hanging by electric cables - no matter in which City
Love Bocaditos (small bites)
Plaza Santa Ana
After lunch we walked to La Puerta del Sol and took some pictures around. We got in the train to another of Madrid's shopping districts. The problem with walking with a local is that I don't pay as much attention to were we are going. I asked for some shopping time since we were done with the sight-seeing that we had planned. I bought a carry-on bag especially for the "damage" that I was about to make. I had heard that shopping in Madrid was amazing. I ended up just buying the bag and a book!!! The bag was very useful for the following day but I was disappointed. I did not shop for a lot of things that I wanted earlier in the trip because I was afraid that I was going to run out of money or that we wouldn't have room in the bags for it.
Busy taking pictures
At La Puerta del Sol
One of Madrid's symbols
The plan for the night was to go to a tablao to watch some typical spanish dancers. Flamenco is from the south of Spain but I there are shows everywhere. We took a nap and nobody woke us up!! When we woke up it was already too late for the show. I will have to keep singing the song just at Ceviche. Ceviche is my favorite restaurant in Tampa. They serve tapas, great sangria, and they have live music every night including flamenco.
The other song that I was singing all the time while we were in Spain was "El Toro y La Luna". I sing it all the time not just in Spain. Besides, Gypsy Kings is one of my favorite bands and the sing a version of this song. I added the song just in case anybody else likes it.
While we were in Madrid, most of Norther Europe flights were grounded due to an ash cloud coming from Iceland. If you do not remember the news, a volcano eruption in Iceland produced an ash cloud that moved towards Europe. Spain's airports were not closed but most of Europe's airports were. We went to bed not knowing if the cloud would be moving south. We wanted to stay to watch a Real Madrid soccer match the following day but, unfortunately we were worried about getting back to work. We had an early wake up time for the next day and I was guilty to waste the night but at the same time we needed to go to sleep for the long day ahead of us.
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