i arrived in madrid around 6:45 am on friday, april first. my friend liz met me at the airport to pick me up and the plan was to check my bag for our next flight so i wouldn’t have to lug it all around madrid.
here are a couple of travel tips for you.
one. never ever fly ryanair.
two. check, double check and check once more before you leave the weight restrictions on checked luggage.
when i left america the weight limit was 20 kilos (about 44 pounds). my bag weighed 39. golden.
when we checked my bag in madrid the weight limit was 15 kilos (about 34 pounds). damn.
after a quick repacking adventure we checked my bag (in order to avoid the 50 euro charge) and hopped on the metro into down town madrid and went to principe pio (a mall) for breakfast and walking around time. after breakfast at burger king, shopping for a couple of hours, and then a snack at starbucks we made our way back to the airport via metro.
this is where i had my first experience with traditional spanish food. we stopped at the cafe in the airport and had bocadillos (baquettes) filled with chorizo, tortilla and jamon y camambert (spicy sausage sliced paper thin, a potato/egg mixture and ham with camambert cheese).
die. go to heaven. it is about the same thing.
the rest of the afternoon was pretty uneventful. we flew to lanzarote in the canary islands, checked into our hotel and made our way poste haste to the beach. here, liz introduced me to my new favorite beverage.
these things are delicious! sweet and a little tangy with a nice apple-y aftertaste. my mission is to find them in the states and then stock up.
i will let you know when i find them so you can buy stock in them first. 🙂
we played on the beach that afternoon and i took a few pictures with my new camera. then we had dinner at a restaurant called portobella’s where i had some of the most amazing pasta carbonara i have ever had. after the long day we were pooped and called it a night.
the next day we walked down and had breakfast by the beach.
then we put on our bathing suits and laid by the pool. all. day. long. we took a short pause to walk down to the beach and lay in the sun there.
i made the executive decision to stay an extra day.one full day of blissful relaxation just wasn’t enough for me. we spent a couple of hours changing our flights and booking another night in our hotel.
we ran down to the nearest store and bought stuff to make dinner, more bocadillos. baguettes, chorizo, salami, semi-cured cheese, and herbed butter. we toasted the baguettes in the herbed butter and layered them with meat and cheese.
served with beans (the europeans loooove their beans) and paprika chips. it was a perfect dinner that we ate in the bed while we watched a movie and got ready to go out!
we left the hotel about one a.m. and found the only bar that was still open.
liz and i have a knack for that.
you know, finding the one seedy bar that is still open that late and managing to have fun till four in the morning with the owner and two of his friends and all the while not paying a cent for anything the whole time we are there… oh and sometimes wearing our pajamas. {<– true story}
there are no pictures documenting this experience. thankfully.
needless to say, we slept in until 2 p.m. the next day.
oops.
stay tuned for day three & four! 🙂
this sounds fab! the beans on toast with fries (chips) and that potato cake are the exact thing i ate for breakfast every single morning when i lived in england for the summer in college! i could eat it right now! can't wait to hear more!
That sounds exciting and like soo much fun. That food sounds delicious, and I can only imagine how beautiful Spain was. 🙂
Wow, what an AMAZING trip! I'm only a little jealous….
Soo jealous, looks like a fabulous trip! I'm with you on the Magners! I studied abroad in England last year (and brought my hubby home with me) and Magners quickly became my favorite drink. AND you CAN get Magners in the states. I live in Kentucky, and we get ours by going to the Liquor Barn, Walmart liquor store, or Molly Brooke's. Molly Brooke's is an Irish liquor store. Since Magners is an Irish drink, they always have loads of it in stock! Check your local liquor store though, just ask to see their cider beverages, I'm sure you can find it fairly easily!