Madrid: La Mallorquina, Chocolatería San Ginés, Plaza Mayor, El Rastro, Mercado San Fernando, San Cayetano Church, Mercado de San Miguel, lunch at Botin, Royal Palace of Madrid, Catedral de la Almudena, Museo Nacional del Prado. Night at Hotel Pozuelo.
Madrid:
From our hotel, Hotel Pozuelo, located in Pozuelo de Alarcon, right outside of Madrid, the hotel recommended that we drive and park in Madrid, rather than take public transportation to get into the city. So that's what we did. We parked in one of the car parks in the city center, Aparcamiento Sevilla, and spent the day walking. It was about a 20 minute drive (approximately 16 kilometers).
La Mallorquina, a cafe and pastry shop founded in 1894. Madrid, Spain.
Napolitana de crema on the left and napolitana de chocolate on the right. La Mallorquina, Madrid, Spain.
Inside La Mallorquina where you can order the pastries to go. Madrid, Spain.
Inside La Mallorquina, the bar where you can order coffee and eat the pastries inside. Madrid, Spain.
After La Mallorquina, we walked over to Chocolatería San Ginés for chocolate y churros. Madrid, Spain.
Chocolate y churros at Chocolatería San Ginés. You order inside and then sit down at a table and they will bring the food and drinks to you. Madrid, Spain. There's a place we went to towards the end of our trip in Barcelona which I thought was actually better than here.
Plaza Mayor, Madrid, Spain.
Plaza Mayor. A lot of people were selling old coins and stamps. Madrid, Spain.
El Rastro. An open flea market held every Sunday and public holiday. Madrid, Spain.
Mercado San Fernando. After El Rastro, we walked over to Mercado San Fernando. It was just barely opening. Madrid, Spain.
Inside Mercado San Fernando. Madrid, Spain.
From Mercado San Fernando, we made our way towards Mercado de San Miguel, and this church, San Cayetano Church, was on our way, so we took a little peak inside. It is a Catholic church, Baroque style. Madrid, Spain.
This is the intersection of Calle de Embajadores and Calle San Cayetano. To the left, on Calle San Cayetano, were people selling picture frames on the street. To the right, on Calle de Embajadores, there was a small Sunday open market. Madrid, Spain.
On Calle San Cayetano, these people were selling frames on the streets. Madrid, Spain.
On Calle de Embajadores, a small farmer's market open only on Sundays. El Mercado de la Buena Vida, Madrid, Spain.
Mercado de San Miguel. It is the last remaining iron market hall in Madrid, originally built in 1916, it was renovated and reopened in 2009. It's not a traditional grocery market, but more of a gourmet tapas market.
Jamón. Inside Mercado de San Miguel. Madrid, Spain.
A pizza stall inside Mercado de San Miguel. I think he was telling me to post his photo on Instagram with some kind of hash tag, but I half understood what he was saying in Spanish. He was super nice and excited to take the picture. Madrid, Spain.
Inside the iron hall market. Mercado de San Miguel, Madrid, Spain.
There's some non-traditional tapas at Mercado de San Miguel. We didn't eat anything here because we were waiting to eat lunch at Restaurante Botín, which opens at 1 p.m. Madrid, Spain.
Inside Mercado de San Miguel. Madrid, Spain.
After Mercado de San Miguel, we walked over to Restaurante Botín for lunch. It was founded in 1725 and is the world's oldest running restaurant, Guinness Book of Records recognized. The artist, Francisco de Goya, had worked there as a waiter, and the writer, Ernest Hemingway, includes Botín in his writings.
Restaurante Botín, Madrid, Spain.
We didn't make any reservations so we stopped by before they opened for lunch and asked if we'd have any chance of eating here without reservations. They told us to come back about 10-15 minutes before it opened and when it opened, they would seat us. They then let us take some pictures of the wood-fired oven and the suckling pigs. Restaurante Botín, Madrid, Spain.
The suckling pigs waiting on shelves, ready to be roasted in the wood-fired oven.
Restaurante Botín, Madrid, Spain.
The wood-fired oven inside
Restaurante Botín. Madrid, Spain.
The first floor of
Restaurante Botín. You can also be seated upstairs or downstairs in the cellar. Without reservations, they sat us here. Madrid, Spain.
Ensalada Botín (Botín salad), cordero asado (roast baby lamb), cochinillo asado (roast suckling pig), flan de huevo con nata (homemade creme caramel). Restaurante Botín, Madrid, Spain.
After finishing lunch at Restaurante Botín, we headed over to the Royal Palace of Madrid. This was one of the views from our walk where Calle de Segovia and Calle de Bailen cross. Madrid, Spain.
The Royal Palace of Madrid as seen from Plaza de la Armeria. We didn't pay to go inside the palace. Madrid, Spain.
Catedral de la Almudena. Located next to the Royal Palace of Madrid. Madrid, Spain.
After the Royal Palace, we walked across the city center to get to Museo Nacional del Prado. On Sundays, the museum is free from 5pm-7pm. This is the line to get in during the free hours. The line moves quite fast and isn't as bad as it looks. Madrid, Spain.
You probably need more than the 2 hours free admission they give you. The collection of artwork here is extensive and ranges from the 12th century to the 19th century. It is also the largest museum in Spain. Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid, Spain.
The sky as we were leaving the museum. Madrid, Spain.
Pretty exhausted from the full day of walking around Madrid and from the last 2 days of driving in a new country, trying to figure out all the roundabouts. Headed back to our hotel in Pozuelo de Alarcon.
