Spain: Day 5, Madrid

We arrived in Madrid in early afternoon of the eve of New Year’s Eve.  We stayed on Calle Cava Baja, just south of Plaza Mayor, at a hotel above a restaurant in a suite for the 4 of us (the kids were on a murphy bed—it was a very modern, well-designed, and surprisingly quiet room…Cava Baja is known for its late-night tapas bars).  After enjoying a few tapas and drinks (I had a glass of vermut negre—unlike the vermouth you drink here—with a slice of orange and it was one of the best things I consumed while in Spain), we headed out for a walk up to Plaza Mayor, over to Plaza Oriente and the Royal Palace, and then back to the area north of Plaza Mayor for some snacks and shopping.  We couldn’t miss having churros con chocolate at the famous Chocolatería San Gines on our first evening in Madrid.  Nearby at El Corte Inglés, we also enjoyed the Christmas lights show and exploring the huge department store.  We had 10pm reservations at Sobrino de Botín (a restaurant founded in 1725 that is said to be the oldest restaurant in the world still in operation).  This was probably our latest dinner while in Spain, but we figured we needed to push our nights a bit later to make it past midnight the following night on New Year’s Eve.  The food was delicious and it was definitely an experience to eat in the cavernous Botín. 

{From left to right, top to bottom: the view from our hotel room; the tapas-bar lined street our hotel was on; Plaza Mayor, all decked out with a Christmas market; beautiful architecture of Madrid (off of Plaza Oriente near the Palace); Ella LOVED the bread (pan) in Spain…meanwhile Beavis and Butthead (a.k.a. Jack and Jonathan) were chuckling, “That says panis, heh heh.”}

{Almudena Cathedral; Belén in front of the cathedral; the cathedral was completed in 1993, 100 years after construction started; gardens off of Plaza Oriente near the Royal Palace; in front of the cathedral; in front of the Royal Palace.}

{All looking into the grounds of the 18th century Royal Palace—this has been the location of Madrid’s center of power since the 9th century.}

{Sights on a walk from Plaza Oriente to Plaza Mayor.}

{I love seeing how travelling as a family brings us all together—Ella and Jack were best buds on our trip (not that they aren’t usually, but there is a bit of squabbling if they usually spend a bit too much time together).  The united goal of trying to reach Chocolatería San Gines for a snack of churros con chocolate before our late dinner at Botín, the world’s oldest restaurant still in operation (per the Guinness Book of World Records).}