It was off to catch the red-eye flight from Halifax to Heathrow (12:20 AM departure) for the 6 hr journey across the Atlantic. We left on time and it was a routine flight. However, not really a great opportunity to sleep. Might have nodded off for a bit, but I really have to admit that I still get pretty excited diving into these travel binges! Janie and I arrived on time in London and walked to a waiting bus that took us from Terminal 2 – Terminal 5. As per usual, we traveled light with one carry on bag each. It allowed us to move through lines/airports quickly and efficiently.
Heathrow is massive, but good signage and sporadic information guides provide just enough direction to get around. We made our connection easily with some down time to spare and had a good trip from Heathrow to Barajas Airport ahead of schedule. Barajas is a beautiful building with lots of color and space.
We bypassed luggage (it was on our backs) and had a quick stop at customs before locating the metro into the city. Kind of fun occurrence here… we were approached by two tourists from Germany heading home who offered us a pair of tourist passes. Great find, as we used them to get into Madrid via the subway. Took us a few minutes to orient, but we were soon off to the races. “Danke” to our German friends!
Our first stop was Puerta del Sol and Hotel Europa, our home base for the next four nights. We quickly checked in and familiarized ourselves with the surroundings. Great room, view and wifi which we used extensively. The space overlooked the square below and became a form of endless people watching and entertainment for us. Buskers, suits, gypsies, commuters, protestors, young lovers, bad jugglers, pickpockets… You name it! Basically the core of the city with access to virtually everything via metro, or on foot, at our disposal. We “saved” our valuables, cleaned up, and began our look at Madrid.
We hit the streets almost immediately in an effort to learn a bit about our neighborhood this very busy Friday evening. Walked to Plaza Mayor… One of Spain’s most famous squares. It’s history ranges from days of The Inquisition to today’s tourist laden food and drink services. Gorgeous architecture… With painted frescoes and Hapsburg influence.
A short distance through the western gate of the square lies Mercado San Miguel… Full on upscale market with all of Spain’s favorites. The beautiful glass / metal framed structure houses a bounty of foods including meats, cheese, candy, pizzas, fruits and vegetable (not to mention open sales of beer, wine, and spirits)! We had a great sampling of wine and some Jamon Iberico (See photo). All was eaten at the counter top while watching the world go by! Expensive and trendy, but a fun treat!
By now we were hitting the wall and returned home, taking note of eateries and options along the way. After some people watching (demonstration in the square) and a local convenience store stop, we dropped for a comfortable sleep. We faded to the hum of a busy Puerta del Sol in the background, which continued through the night.