Adventures in Madrid

There is a saying that goes "Once you visit Europe, you're gonna want to go back" and boy is that true. When I learned I was going on my next adventure, I was ecstatic! I couldn't wait to go to Madrid!

So how did this trip come to fruition? Well after months of planning, we bought the tickets. This time, rather than book everything through costco travel, we did our booking through AAA, with no added transportation.

Our journey once again begins at Tom Bradley International. After checking our bags at Iberia, we headed straight to security. That day was so exhausting. Since i am a nervous flyer, I remember not even eating anything since the morning. After we passed through security, i went straight to one of the stores at the airport and bought a Gatorade. As I began munching, my stomach started getting nervous. To top it off, my vertigo was getting the best of me. Shortly before boarding I took my anti nausea medication. Once we boarded Iberia, we were greeted by the flight attendants. While I had read horrible reviews about Iberia, I was pleasantly surprised with the kindness and the service they provided. Our flight departed at 5pm. As we were taxing to the runway, I started breathing heavily and felt like I was going to faint, I was that nervous, especially with my fear of turbulence! Alas, once we were in the air, the fears went away........ until after dinner when we caught heavy turbulence! After some time, I fell asleep. Contrary to our Air France 🇫🇷 flight, it was hard for me to sleep on this trip.

After taking some medication, I slept till the morning. Once they served us breakfast, the pilot made the announcement we were going to land in less than half an hour. As soon as we landed, I was so happy to be back in Europe!

After collecting our luggage at the airport, we stayed there for a good three hours as we were debating if we should take a bus or a car to the hotel. At that point, I was getting exhausted! I had not eaten, I was starting to lose balance and it was 105 degrees! Our Uber didn't arrive until 330. I was so tired from waiting, that I fell asleep in the Uber on the way to the hotel.

Our hotel was INNside by Melia Madrid Gran Via. Located in the heart of Madrid, we had all the shops around the area. From Primark, to MAC to Zara's. As we waited for our other party, we sat in a chair next to the hotel, where the waitress kicked us out. She stated since we were not ordering food from her restaurant, we had to move. This is when I realized that Spaniards are very rude!!

As we headed upstairs to try and check in, i was falling asleep and was starting to get irritated since it was humid and hot. After settling in to our rooms, we went to walk outside. We walked the streets of Madrid at night, but it was still humid. We went to the Mercado de san Miguel, but it wasn't as interesting as tourists say. I can honestly say that I ate less in this trip than the previous one. I hadn't eaten anything since the previous day when we left L.A.X. and yet somehow, my head did not hurt at all.

We then walked backed to our hotel and I went to bed without eating. The following day we went upstairs to the buffet. Contrary to Paris, Venice, Florence and Rome, the food in the buffet in Madrid was not that great. There was not a lot of choices to choose from. The only way I got by with breakfast for the 7 days we were there, was egg white with bread and butter and a cappuccino.

In my next blog post I will write about how I ended up on YouTube and our visit to El Retiro Park.

Iberia: 10/10

Uber: 6/10

Spaniards: Rude

Hotel: 7/10

Buffet: 6/10