The last day of our trip started off with a downer. It was raining and the place where we had had breakfast the first morning – and wanted to have breakfast again – was closed. We quickly headed back to our hotel and had breakfast in the bar there. For a little amount of money, we got an amazing ham and cheese sandwich and a glass of orange juice. At least that could brighten our moods a bit.
Braving the rain, we headed to the flea market that I had heard many great things off. El Rastro is situated in Calle de la Ribera de Curtidores and the surrounding streets and is held every Sunday. We had read on tripadvisor that it would be a good idea to go as early as possible since it could get very busy. But the rain obviously made the people of Madrid stall. Most of the merchants were still setting up and there were hardly any people browsing. It looks just sad and chaotic.
Since it was still raining, we decided to quickly move on to the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, our second stop of the day and last stop of this trip. The museum was supposed to have free entry on Sunday morning, which is why we waited until then to visit it, but when we arrived, the free entry times seemed to have changed recently. Which meant we had to pay 10 euros.
Initially I’d only wanted to go visit Reina Sofia because of Picasso’s Guernica that’s hanging there, but since we had to pay to get in – and we had plenty of time left – we took our time walking through most of the museum. But I won’t lie, Guernica is definitely the most impressive painting that you can find there. It was a lot bigger than I expected. (Once again, we weren’t allowed to take any pictures of the painting.)
Since we still had a lot of time left before the transfer was supposed to pick us up at our hotel, we headed to an old american diner we’d walked across a few times the past few days; Tommy’s Mel. It was all perfect to a T, with ketchup and mosterd on the tables, 80s music and even the waitresses were dressed accordingly.
I wanted to try literally everything on the menu, but in the end settled for a BBQ burger with a ‘Ben & Jerry’s Chocolate Fudge Brownie’-milkshake. Okay, I admit, my stomach didn’t appreciate the combination, but I needed that milkshake more than life. And Goooood, it was so worth it. A perfect way to end an amazing long weekend in Madrid.
So yup, that was the end of our trip. Madrid is definitely a lovely citytrip destination that offers a bit of everything. You won’t find a Eifeltower, Big Ben or equally monumental attraction in this city, but it’s just the combination of it all that makes it so interesting.
Until next time,
With love, Ellen
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