Living the Madrid-ian life

In 2020, I spent a few weeks in Madrid during fall when the pandemic had slowed down a bit but most places around were still closed. The main reason to go to Madrid was just to get out of London for a change, so even though I did not get a chance to explore Madrid a lot, it was ok. I still got to see how it would be like living in Madrid and I enjoyed it totally.

Funnily enough, Madrid was shutdown, and travel to and from the city was not allowed, other than flying in! The flight there was an interesting experience for me too as I was flying for the first time since the lockdown and had to kind of re-learn it all. Some things were the same, but a lot had changed too.

The airport had more people than I expected, though there were boards everywhere telling people to be careful. In the airline lounges, only table service was allowed. So one could order food to eat on the table using the app. It actually felt quite luxurious rather than inconvenient. Also I had reached the airport 2 hours before the flight as I wasn't sure how many checks there were. That was something that hadn't happened for a long time. But turned out, I didn't really need to come in so early. Also, the flight turned out to be quite empty, with everyone sitting at a distance from each other (at least that used to be the case in fall 2020, it's changed ever since).

Autumn in Retiro

The views from the air felt very refreshing and almost freeing. After so long. And then I was in Madrid, where I spent the next 3 weeks. It was already getting cold and rainy as it was October, but we had some really sunny warm days too which were a welcome relief. It was a relaxed and comfortable stay for me. Most of the days, I went out for a daily walk to the areas around and just experienced how living in the city would be like.


Museums

The only touristy thing I could do was to visit some of the museums in the city. You could visit them only if you made a booking in advance. And given my new-found love for painting, it was the perfect activity for me 😊. There are many famous museums in Madrid, and I visited 4 of them - Thyssen Bornemisza, Reina Sofia, Sorolla and Prado. The Velazquez Palace, Crystal Palace and MAN museums are also worth a visit but I couldn't get to them.

Each of these museums had some evenings when they were free to visit, and I mostly booked my trips during those times. Because of the pandemic, they were all less crowded than usual and that gave me more time and space to enjoy them at my own pace. They all turned out to be quite different from each other too and that made it all more enjoyable.

Thyssen Bornemisza: The museum has paintings from the personal collection of the Thyssen family and it was my favourite of the lot. It housed paintings from medieval times to the modern ages. Given it was a personal collection, it had a wide variety of pieces, and was a nice way to see how art has evolved over the centuries. My blog on it is here.

Sorolla: This is the private house of the painter Sorolla which has been converted into a museum, full of his own paintings. It was a nice small house with a beautiful garden. And the paintings were just my type - bright and happy. My blog on it is here.

Outside Prado museum

Prado: I have visited Prado earlier but on this visit, I was able to explore only a part of the museum with limited paintings, as only one floor was open to visitors due to the pandemic. The museum is huge and has a lot of impressive art collected by Spain over the years. It also has the Botanico garden nearby which was full of autumn colours and nice to walk through.

Reina Sofia: This was my least favourite museums of the lot as it was a modern art museum. It is famous for its Dalis and Picasso's Guernica. And I liked a few of them, but for the most part it was too abstract for me. Walking to this museum was fun though. It seems like it is in the older part of town, and the streets around it were very pretty - old style cobbled lanes, with wooden grill windows and some very cute small bars and cafes all around. I wanted to come back there later someday, on the next visit. My blog on the museum is here.


Parks in Madrid

Autumn in Retiro

Retiro Park: We spent one of the sunny weekend days in the Retiro Park (Hyde Park of Madrid) and it was gorgeous. As it was fall, there were a few autumn colours and it looked extremely charming. With its yellow and orange tree lined avenues. There was a large lake in the centre but we stayed away as it was too crowded (Which by the way got completely empty during lunch and siesta time!). 

Lake in Retiro park

There is also the Crystal Gallery and Velazquez Palace within the park which houses an art collection and some sculptures. We however just walked around enjoying the views of the red and yellow leaves on the trees and taking in the beauty of nature all around, as it was a rare sunny day after a few cloudy and rainy ones.

Berlin Park

Parque de Berlin: One of the days, we walked to another nearby park, the Berlin Park. It was a usual park but near one of the fountains, they have remnants of the Berlin Wall - a few huge parts of it that were brought here when the wall fell. It was quite an interesting sight to see, especially at night with the twinkling lights coming on.


Shopping areas

Central Madrid

I spent a lot of time walking through Central Madrid when visiting the museums, and ambling through some of the shopping areas like Serrano street, Paseo del Prado, Paseo de Recoletos and the Colon area. There were tons of shops there, open air cafes and people enjoying a nice day out. 

 

Central Madrid

All the museums were along on these streets, one after the other. It was always fun to walk here, up and down (as Madrid seems like a hilly city), through wide boulevards with grand buildings on both sides, churches, monuments and other things to do. Sometimes you would run into random art structures on the sides, sometimes into benches to stop and stare, sometimes through grand architectural marvels and so on. It was a fun experience by itself and I always found something new to admire everytime.


Impressions of Madrid

Madrid from the top

I was staying in the Chamartin area and we had a rooftop apartment, so we enjoyed the views from the top everyday. On some clear days, we could even see the mountains at a distance and the small villages on top of them, which were lovely.

The area we were living in felt very modern and there were loads of new apartments (unlike many other European capitals), with some really stylish ones too. Some streets had some huge bungalows, all in different shapes and sizes. It was all very cosy and pretty, especially when walking along the small streets. There was a very fresh and open feel to the city everywhere, especially after the rains. The roads were wide and lined with green (and then yellow) trees. But there weren't a lot of parks around, which I missed a bit.

Streets of Madrid

I went a few times to the local Chamartin Market, which had lot of fish and fruits and meat. It was a small place and everyone in the market knew everyone. It was like coming into a small little town. We ate outside a few times too and terraces were most popular given the corona rules. They were covered though as it was already quite cold.

Everyone wore a mask when outside, which I found quite impressive. It was nice to interact with the locals too. And even though not everyone spoke English, people did try to speak in English and were extremely warm and friendly. I really liked that. Overall, I enjoyed my time there exploring the city and its museums. And almost feel like I know the city.

Even though it was all shut down, a friend did send me a long list of things to do, so here are a few from the list in case its helpful (and things are open!)

• Puerta de Alcalá
• Plaza Mayor
• Royal Palace
• Crystal Palace at Retiro Park (and the rest of the park is cool too, but it's a park...)
• Circulo de Bellas Artes
• Temple of Debod by sunset
• Stroll in Gran Vía. Start at Plaza Cibeles and go up and down till Plaza de España
• Walk around Justicia neighborhood
• Local Markets: Vallehermoso, San Gines (near Prado)
• Breakfast at San Ginés (churros with chocolate)
• Tortilla at Juana la Loca or Casa Dani (located inside Mercado de la Paz)
• Lunch at Ten con Ten - book a table or on the bar
• Dinner at Casa Lucio (ask for the eggs)
• Drinks at the City Hall's terrace